| Trump Jr retweets post saying ‘DOJ is dropping the hammer’ as 74 face federal charges over Portland protests Posted: 28 Aug 2020 10:17 AM PDT  Donald Trump Jr retweeted a post that claimed the Department of Justice is "dropping the hammer," as 74 protesters face federal charges over Portland demonstrations.On Friday, the president's eldest child retweeted a post from former Vice journalist and self described "disaffected Liberal" Tim Pool, which claimed "the DOJ is dropping the hammer" over protest arrests in Portland, Oregon.
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| Does Kyle Rittenhouse Have a Self-Defense Claim? Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:14 AM PDT  Kenosha, a city of 100,000 in Wisconsin's southeastern corner, now confronts the question of when lethal force is justified in two different cases. One, the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer, I addressed yesterday. The other is the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is alleged to have killed two people and injured one during the civil unrest this week, and who has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, reckless homicide, and other offenses.Rittenhouse is a 17-year-old from Antioch, Ill., about a half hour's drive from Kenosha. Inexplicably, this underage police cadet from out of state wound up on the streets after curfew in a place where a riot was likely imminent, doing interviews with journalists and openly carrying an AR-15–style rifle.There can be no question that Rittenhouse and whatever adults were in charge of him made idiotic decisions. Minors should not stand guard at riots play-acting at being cops. But even people who knowingly put themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time are allowed to defend themselves against attack when they get there. So the biggest legal question is: Did Rittenhouse defend himself against attack with an appropriate amount of force, or were the people he shot the ones acting in self-defense by trying to disarm him?The very beginning of the situation is not on video that I am aware, but the complaint against Rittenhouse contains some key details from Richard McGinnis, a Daily Caller reporter who was interviewing Rittenhouse at the time:> McGinnis said that as they were walking south another armed male who appeared to be in his 30s joined them and said he was there to protect the defendant. McGinnis stated that before the defendant reached the parking lot and ran across it, the defendant had moved from the middle of Sheridan Road to the sidewalk and that is when McGinnis saw a male ([Joseph] Rosenbaum) initially try to engage the defendant. McGinnis stated that as the defendant was walking Rosenbaum was trying to get closer to the defendant. When Rosenbaum advanced, the defendant did a "juke" move and started running. McGinnis stated that there were other people that were moving very quickly. McGinnis stated that they were moving towards the defendant. McGinnis said that according to what he saw the defendant was trying to evade these individuals.After that, much of the situation was recorded, and the New York Times has done an excellent job of stitching the videos together. This Twitter thread from a co-author of the piece nicely explains the events and (for those willing to watch graphic footage) provides the key clips:> A teenager faces charges in shootings that left 2 people dead in Kenosha, WI. The @nytimes Visual Investigations team reviewed hours of livestreams to track 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse's movements during and leading up to the shootings. [THREAD] https://t.co/FRCYlS5wgH> > -- Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) August 27, 2020 The first video starts with people already chasing Rittenhouse, one of whom throws something at him. One person even fires a handgun in the air — and another, Rosenbaum, charges at Rittenhouse, who shoots him. After that, there are more shots from an unknown source, and Rittenhouse calls a friend on his phone and leaves.But again he's pursued, with some protesters urging others to join in, and this time he falls down. Several people move in on him, and he takes shots at three, hitting two. One is holding a handgun and survives a shot to the arm; the other has a skateboard and dies. Again there are additional mysterious gunshots after the fact.Obviously, a big unanswered question right now is how this all really got started. But as we wait for that information, let's take a gander at the Wisconsin laws at issue.There are two extremes here: justifiable use of deadly force and first-degree intentional homicide. So let's see what the law says about those two situations, bearing in mind that other charges can apply if Rittenhouse's behavior fell in between them. (There are plenty of options: Rittenhouse is charged with reckless homicide for the first fatal shooting, first-degree intentional homicide for the second, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the nonfatal one, in addition to charges for reckless endangerment and bearing a dangerous weapon as a minor.)Quite typically for a U.S. state, Wisconsin allows civilian use of deadly force when one "reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm." One major issue, then, will be whether Rittenhouse reasonably thought that the folks engaging with him meant to inflict serious injury, not just disarm him.But what if Rittenhouse provoked the confrontation to begin with? That's bad for a claim of self-defense, but it doesn't preclude one. Here's another excerpt from the Wisconsin statute books:> (a) A person who engages in unlawful conduct of a type likely to provoke others to attack him or her and thereby does provoke an attack is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense against such attack, except when the attack which ensues is of a type causing the person engaging in the unlawful conduct to reasonably believe that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm. In such a case, the person engaging in the unlawful conduct is privileged to act in self-defense, but the person is not privileged to resort to the use of force intended or likely to cause death to the person's assailant unless the person reasonably believes he or she has exhausted every other reasonable means to escape from or otherwise avoid death or great bodily harm at the hands of his or her assailant.> > (b) The privilege lost by provocation may be regained if the actor in good faith withdraws from the fight and gives adequate notice thereof to his or her assailant.> > (c) A person who provokes an attack, whether by lawful or unlawful conduct, with intent to use such an attack as an excuse to cause death or great bodily harm to his or her assailant is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense.So, even if Rittenhouse bears some responsibility for the initial conflict, he can still argue that he did everything he could to escape the situation and withdraw from the fight. Both shooting incidents began with him running away.Moving to the other extreme, to prove first-degree intentional homicide, prosecutors will have to show that Rittenhouse "cause[d] the death of another human being with intent to kill that person" and will have to disprove the existence of any "mitigating circumstances" the defense asserts. If the prosecution fails at the latter task, the offense is knocked down to the second degree.Mitigating circumstances include "adequate provocation," meaning the victim did something "sufficient to cause complete lack of self-control in an ordinarily constituted person"; "unnecessary defensive force," meaning Rittenhouse "believed he . . . was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that the force used was necessary to defend [himself]," even though the belief was unreasonable; and "prevention of felony," meaning he believed his actions were necessary to stop the "commission of a felony," even though the belief was unreasonable. In other words, even if Rittenhouse unreasonably thought his actions were necessary, he can get the charge downgraded, though in that case he'll still have committed a very serious offense.Rittenhouse is already a hero to some and a supervillain to others; in that sense, he is the Bernie Goetz of 2020. The highest charge against him strikes me as a stretch, but beyond that I don't have any bold opinions yet. The outcome for each shooting will depend on whether Rittenhouse reasonably feared for his life, which in turn might depend on broader context we lack thus far — and even if all three shootings were justified, there are still firearms and reckless-endangerment charges for him to contend with.Where the f*** were this kid's parents?
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| 2 officers fired tasers at Jacob Blake before he was shot Posted: 28 Aug 2020 05:23 AM PDT  Two other officers at the scene were identified as Vincent Arenas and Brittany Meronek.
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| Joe and Jill Biden have been married for 43 years — here's a timeline of their relationship Posted: 28 Aug 2020 12:33 PM PDT  Joe and Dr. Jill Biden have been at each other's sides through successes and failures, joyful celebrations and devastating losses.
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| Sarah Palin can sue New York Times for defamation: court ruling Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:06 PM PDT  A federal judge on Friday rejected the New York Times' bid to dismiss Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit over a 2017 editorial she said falsely linked her to a mass shooting. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said that while much of Palin's case was circumstantial, it was strong enough for a jury to find the Times and former editorial page editor James Bennet acted with "actual malice by clear and convincing evidence." Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, sued over a June 14, 2017 editorial published after an Alexandria, Virginia, shooting that wounded four people, including then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.
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| Stolen Fortnite accounts are being sold on the black market for hundreds of dollars Posted: 29 Aug 2020 05:05 AM PDT  Hackers are using tools that allow them to see if login credentials from past data breaches allow them access to Fortnite accounts.
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| First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection is ‘not surprising,’ doctors say Posted: 29 Aug 2020 09:12 AM PDT  Researchers in Hong Kong confirmed the first known case of coronavirus reinfection, but many doctors and public health officials say it isn't that surprising given what we know about waning immunity from other coronaviruses.
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| New Jersey mayor rescinds $2,500 police overtime bill sent to student who organized BLM protest Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:16 PM PDT  After holding the protest in July, Emily Gil received a letter from Mayor Mario Kranjac saying she owed $2,499.26 for police overtime.
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| Bush's 2004 strategist says 'people's hair would be on fire' if Bush, Obama had used the White House as a re-election prop Posted: 27 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT  President Trump walked from the White House to a stage on the South Lawn to give his Republican National Convention acceptance speech Thursday night, turning "the People's House" into "a partisan prop like no politician has ever done before," Michael D. Shear writes at The New York Times.> This is the image people have in their heads when they write government ethics laws. pic.twitter.com/8ljWmw7pCK> > -- Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 27, 2020"Previous presidents have sought to carefully navigate the propriety of mixing campaigning with governing," Shear noted, and while a few have announced their re-election campaigns from inside the White House, none has used it for such an "overtly political event," with "live crowds flanked by giant Jumbotrons on either side of the White House, serving as immense campaign billboards." If Barack Obama or George W. Bush had tried such a stunt during their re-election campaigns, "people's hair would be on fire," Bush's 2004 campaign chief strategist, Matthew Dowd, said on ABC News.> .@matthewjdowd: "I never thought I would see what I'm seeing tonight on the South Lawn. > > I can't imagine what would have happened if we had done that in 2004 or if Barack Obama had done that in 2012...people's hair would be on fire." https://t.co/AL3W4wottM RNC2020 pic.twitter.com/qy1yItFEzi> > -- ABC News (@ABC) August 28, 2020"It's not only, I believe, unethical, misuse of government power," Dowd added. "It may be illegal, what's happening on the South Lawn, and a bad modeling of behavior in the midst of a COVID crisis."None of the Bushes participated in this year's RNC, nor did any Cheneys, Reagans, or McCains. Also, "several dozen former staffers from Sen. Mitt Romney's (R-Utah) presidential campaign, the George W. Bush administration, and the campaign and Senate staff of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have signed on to an effort to elect Joe Biden," Politico reported Thursday. "For the Romney and McCain staffers, they're working to elect the same man they tried to defeat in 2012 and 2008, respectively." (Dowd was not among the Bush alumni who signed a pro-Biden letter.)But perhaps Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) had the most succinct, on-brand response to Trump's use of the White House as a campaign prop. > Get off our lawn.> > -- Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) August 28, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump's RNC polling bounce more about 'subtraction on the Biden side,' pollster suggests 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Biden's latest ad puts Trump's weirdest moments and empty rallies to a Bad Bunny song
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| Protests erupt at Portland police building, mayor's condo Posted: 28 Aug 2020 09:49 PM PDT  Fires set outside a police union building that's a frequent site for protests in Portland, Oregon, prompted police to declare a riot early Saturday and detain several demonstrators. An accelerant was used to ignite a mattress and other debris that was laid against the door of the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement. As officers approached to move demonstrators away from the building and extinguish the fire, objects including rocks were thrown at them, police said.
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| Kenosha police chief explains why suspect was able to walk away after allegedly shooting 3 people Posted: 28 Aug 2020 01:40 PM PDT  At a press conference on Friday, Kenosha, Wis., Police Chief Dan Miskinis responded to a question about why suspect Kyle Rittenhouse was able to walk by law enforcement after allegedly shooting three people in the aftermath of Jacob Blake being shot by police.
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| A Democratic turf war is raging — even as progressives try to elect Biden Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:00 AM PDT  Off-the-radar battles between moderates and progressives have broken out over health care, police reform and primary challenges.
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| Louisiana avoided Laura's 'wall of water'? Not so, says forecaster Posted: 28 Aug 2020 08:26 AM PDT  The highest surge hit about 15 miles east of where Laura was forecast to make landfall but it "wobbled" at the last moment. Most U.S. media played up a nine-foot surge recorded by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observation station near Cameron, Louisiana, and the NHC was criticized for perhaps raising too much alarm.
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| A California chicken processing plant was shut down after a coronavirus outbreak infected 358 workers and killed 8 Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:03 PM PDT  Heath officials said testing was insufficient so Foster Farms' outbreak became the "most severe and long-lasting" in Merced County.
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| 6 health benefits of turmeric and how to add it to your diet Posted: 28 Aug 2020 11:24 AM PDT  Most of turmeric's health benefits come from its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which can potentially ward off heart disease.
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| Jerry Falwell Jr 'enjoyed watching' his wife have sex, alleged lover says Posted: 28 Aug 2020 06:50 AM PDT  Giancarlo Granda says Liberty University head, who quit over sex scandal, knew of his relationship with Becki Falwell 'from day one'Giancarlo Granda, the man at the center of a sex scandal involving Jerry Falwell Jr, detailed on Friday how the evangelical leader and outspoken ally of Donald Trump "enjoyed watching" his wife and Granda having sex.In an interview with ABC News, Granda said he met Becki Falwell and Jerry Falwell, who resigned as president of the Christian, uber-conservative Liberty university this week, at a hotel in Florida in 2012.Granda, who was 20 at the time, said a relationship developed, which centered around him and Becki Falwell having sex while Jerry Falwell was in the room."He was aware from day one of our relationship, and he did in fact watch," Granda said.Falwell, one of the most influential evangelical figures in the US whose endorsement of Donald Trump in 2016 helped the president win the Republican primary, has had a remarkable fall from grace over the course of August.Falwell resigned from the university on 24 August, after Granda first went public with his story, telling Reuters he had a years-long sexual relationship involving the Falwells.Speaking to ABC's Good Morning show Granda gave a detailed account of the relationship.Granda, 29, said he was working the Fontainebleu hotel when he met Becki Falwell."I'm talking to some guests and I notice this woman behind me, staring at me, and she was noticeably drunk. And she was just flirting with me, and then we start flirting back and forth," Granda said."Towards the end of my work shift, she's like: 'Hey would you wanna go back to my hotel room?' And as a single 20-year-old I'm like yeah, of course."And then she's like: 'But my husband wants to watch.'Granda said: "Immediately I thought it was a bit strange, and I backed off. [Then] she's like: 'Oh no, he's not going to do anything. He's just gonna sit in a corner and he wants to watch and it's his thing.'"An initial sexual encounter developed into a years-long relationship with the couple, Granda told Reuters, with he and Becki Falwell having sex "multiple times a year" while Jerry Falwell watched.Falwell would later go into business with Granda, buying a Miami hostel.After Reuters published the interview with Granda on Monday, Falwell denied he was part of the trysts, and suggested his wife had an affair. "Becki had an inappropriate personal relationship with this person, something in which I was not involved," Falwell said in a statement.The news also emerged as Politico published a story alleging that Becki Falwell had had a sexual encounter with a former Liberty University student, who was a band mate of her son.Liberty University, which was founded by Falwell's televangelist father in 1971, is known for its strict rules over students' relationships."Sexual relations outside of a biblically ordained marriage between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman are not permissible at Liberty University," the university's honor code reads.In a statement to Politico Liberty University reiterated that it has "… policies against employees having sexual relationships with students, as well as having other inappropriate relationships outside of marriage, whether consensual or not".In a statement provided to the Washington Examiner, Falwell said the couple had retained a relationship with Granda to try to suppress the relationship. He also accused Granda of attempting to extract "substantial monies" and claimed, without offering evidence, that Granda "may have targeted other successful women".Granda told ABC: "That's false. That's ridiculous. That's just them trying to smear me."
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| In pictures: Thousands gather for historic March on Washington Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:04 PM PDT  Some 50,000 supporters packed DC's National Mall to demand racial justice and urge people to vote.
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| German police halt march of 18,000 coronavirus sceptics in Berlin after Posted: 29 Aug 2020 03:40 AM PDT  German police Saturday halted a march by some 18,000 coronavirus sceptics in Berlin because many were not respecting social distancing measures. The mass protest against pandemic restrictions had been allowed to go ahead after a bitter legal battle. But it had barely begun at 9am GMT at the city's iconic Brandenburg Gate, when it was forced to stop due to a police injunction. "The minimum distancing is not being respected by most (of the demonstrators) despite repeated requests," the police said. "There is no other option than to break up the gathering." After the announcement, the demonstrators shouted "Resistance" and "We are the people," a slogan often used by the far-right, and sang the German national anthem. Police had vowed to turn out in force and strictly monitor compliance with mask-wearing and social distancing at the protest. Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik had warned that if the demonstrators did not adhere to virus safety rules, police would clear the area "very quickly". "We will not be able or willing to watch tens of thousands assemble and create infection risks," she added. Berlin city authorities had previously decided not to allow the Saturday demonstration to go ahead, fearing that the estimated 22,000 protesters would not keep a distance of 1.5 metres (five feet) apart or comply with face mask requirements. The ban sparked outrage from organisers and their supporters who flooded social media with angry messages vowing to protest anyway, with some even calling for violence. But on the eve of the demo, Berlin's administrative court sided with the demonstrators, saying there was no indication that organisers would "deliberately ignore" social distancing rules and endanger public health.
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| Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satellite Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:17 AM PDT  The "hot-fire abort" derailed plans for three launches in just two days from Florida's Space Coast.
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| California residents didn't want controlled burns near their homes. Some of those homes then burned in a wildfire. Posted: 29 Aug 2020 12:48 PM PDT  Experts say prescribed burns are key to avoiding destructive wildfires. But the concerns of some homeowners sometimes stands in the way.
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| U.S. military identifies two soldiers killed in Black Hawk training crash Posted: 29 Aug 2020 01:41 PM PDT |
| Trump says he will likely visit Wisconsin city where police shot Black man in back Posted: 29 Aug 2020 02:54 PM PDT  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will likely visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, the city that has seen unrest since a white police officer shot a Black man in the back. "Probably so," Trump told reporters in Texas, when asked if he would visit the city where the officer shot Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down and remains in hospital. A 17-year-old is being held by authorities in Kenosha on suspicion of shooting three people who were protesting the shooting of Blake.
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| The Pine Gulch fire in Colorado is the largest in the state's history, ripping through more than 139,000 acres Posted: 28 Aug 2020 11:16 PM PDT  Three major fires burn in Colorado, with the Pine Gulch fire reaching over 139,000 acres, the largest in the state's history.
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| Kenosha police union gives its version of Blake shooting Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:33 PM PDT  The Kenosha police union on Friday offered the most detailed accounting to date on officers' perspective of the moments leading up to police shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, saying he had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock and shrugging off two attempts to stun him. The statement from Brendan Matthews, attorney for the Kenosha Professional Police Association, goes into more detail than anything that has been released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is investigating. The Sunday shooting of Blake, a Black man, put the nation's spotlight on Wisconsin and triggered a series of peaceful protests and violence, including the killing of two people by an armed civilian on Tuesday.
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| Riot in Sweden after anti-Muslim Danish leader banned Posted: 29 Aug 2020 07:24 AM PDT  At least 10 people were arrested, and several police officers injured, in violence which broke out in southern Sweden after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Koran-burning rally, police said Saturday.
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| Derek Chauvin, former officer accused in George Floyd's death, wants murder charges dismissed Posted: 29 Aug 2020 01:01 PM PDT  Attorneys for Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis officer accused of killing George Floyd, have asked a judge to dismiss the murder charges against him.
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| Letters to the Editor: An eviction apocalypse looms for California, but not in L.A. Here's why Posted: 28 Aug 2020 02:59 PM PDT  The state's emergency measure against eviction expires Sept. 1, but L.A.'s tough ordinances will continue to provide protection, Councilman Mitch O'Farrell writes.
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| Biden notes 'the violence we're witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me.' Posted: 27 Aug 2020 08:50 PM PDT  There's been a lot of talk at this week's Republican National Convention about the dystopian hellhole of "Joe Biden's America." On Thursday evening, Joe Biden said he wasn't sure President Trump is aware he's been in charge of America for the past three and a half years. "If you think about it, Donald Trump saying, 'You're not going to be safe in Joe Biden's America,'" he told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "All the video being played is in Donald Trump's America." (Or, to be fair, Spain.) Biden formalized that idea in a statement.> Inbox: "Is Donald Trump even aware he's president?" pic.twitter.com/tFLtRNXFW5> > — Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) August 27, 2020"Is Donald Trump even aware he's president?" Biden asked. "These are not images from some imagined 'Joe Biden's America' in the future. These are images from Donald Trump's America today. The violence we're witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me. It's getting worse, and we know why." Trump "refuses to even acknowledge there is a racial justice problem in America," he added. "Instead of looking to calm the waters, he adds fuel to every fire. Violence isn't a problem in his eyes — it's a political strategy. And the more of it, the better for him."White House counselor Kellyanne Conway had actually made a similar point on Thursday morning, telling Fox & Friends that "the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order."Biden said he has "made it clear" there's "no place for violence, looting, or burning. None. Zero." He predicted that Trump would attack him again in his RNC acceptance speech. But, he added, "when Donald Trump says tonight you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America, look around and ask yourself: How safe do you feel in Donald Trump's America?"More stories from theweek.com Trump's RNC polling bounce more about 'subtraction on the Biden side,' pollster suggests 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Biden's latest ad puts Trump's weirdest moments and empty rallies to a Bad Bunny song
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| Florida man free after 37-year wrongful imprisonment Posted: 28 Aug 2020 12:43 AM PDT  He was wrongly convicted of raping and murdering a teenager in 1983, but newly discovered DNA revealed his innocence. ABC's Megan Tevrizian reports.
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| Prominent lawyer in Haiti is shot and killed at his home Posted: 29 Aug 2020 10:45 AM PDT |
| Researchers at the University of Arizona say they stopped a coronavirus outbreak before it spread by testing students' poop Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:09 AM PDT  Researchers at the University of Arizona say they may have prevented an outbreak of COVID-19 using wastewater-based epidemiology.
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| U.S. executes fifth federal prisoner after 17-year pause Posted: 28 Aug 2020 10:07 AM PDT  Nelson, 45, was declared dead at 4:32 p.m. in the U.S. Department of Justice's execution chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, after being injected with lethal doses of pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate, the department said. It was the second execution this week after Lezmond Mitchell, another convicted murderer, was killed on Wednesday. The administration of President Donald Trump, a vocal supporter of capital punishment for serious crimes, has now carried out more federal executions than took place in the preceding 57 years.
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| Cops found a barefoot missing Memphis girl in Biscayne Park. She led them to her sister. Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Biscayne Park Detective Rodney Schwartz rode his police motorcycle over to Griffin Boulevard early Tuesday morning after being told about a young girl who was "wandering aimlessly." When he found her, Sandra Bates, 13, was barefoot and disheveled and had that "thousand-yard stare," Schwartz said. Schwartz's search through databases was fruitless.
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| Turkey and Greece staring into 'the abyss' as tensions in Mediterranean risk spiraling into conflict Posted: 29 Aug 2020 04:20 AM PDT  As warships bristling with 21st century weapons systems prowled the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey's president drew on a rather earlier era to underline his latest round of sabre-rattling towards Greece. Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose the anniversary of a battle that took place near 1,000 years ago as an opportunity to warn the Greeks that they would be swept aside if they stood in the way of Turkish ambitions in the region. At the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Turkish Seljuk Empire beat Christian Byzantine forces, capturing the Byzantine emperor and forcing entry into the great hinterland of Anatolia. The battle is celebrated as marking the birth of the state of Turkey; nearly a millennium later, President Erdogan was in bellicose mood. "Turkey will take what is its right in the Mediterranean, in the Aegean and in the Black Sea," he said during the speech on Wednesday. "If anyone wants to stand before us and face the consequences, they are welcome to. If not, stay out of our way and we will continue with our work."
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| 'More Than 30' rapists: Israel's #MeToo campaign Posted: 28 Aug 2020 03:01 AM PDT  Allegations of a horrific hotel gang-rape in Israel where 30 men reportedly waited in line to assault a teenage girl have triggered an outraged campaign echoing the global MeToo movement.
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| Child clinging to inflatable unicorn rescued off the coast of Greece Posted: 28 Aug 2020 01:07 PM PDT  Believe it or not, this isn't the first time someone has found themselves stranded on an inflatable unicorn.
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| Thai submarine purchase hits rough seas Posted: 28 Aug 2020 10:13 AM PDT  Thailand's intention to buy two more submarines from China has run into vociferous resistance, with the country's main opposition party questioning the need to go ahead with the acquisition against the backdrop of the economic slump.
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| McConnell campaign hires student from viral DC encounter Posted: 28 Aug 2020 04:05 PM PDT  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign has hired a Kentucky teenager known for his viral encounter with a Native American man at the Lincoln Memorial last year. Nick Sandmann landed a paid position as grassroots director for McConnell's reelection effort in Kentucky, the senator's campaign said Friday. Sandmann started his new role this month, and McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden said they're "excited" to have him on board.
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| Byron Allen’s $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against Charter Communications allowed to proceed Posted: 28 Aug 2020 11:22 PM PDT  Byron Allen's $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Charter Communications will proceed after a district court judge ruled in his favor in a motion to dismiss. Allen's Entertainment Studios Networks, Inc., which is the parent company of theGrio, announced on Friday that Federal District Court Judge George H. Wu once again denied Charter Communications' motion to dismiss the suit in which Allen accused the cable company of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Judge Wu had previously ruled in Allen's favor back in October 2016, which Charter later appealed.
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| Fox News anchor Chris Wallace slams colleagues for appearing to rationalize 17-year-old charged in Kenosha shooting: 'There is no justification' Posted: 27 Aug 2020 06:20 PM PDT  The veteran Fox News host said he didn't think it was right for vigilante justice to "fill the void" of police presence at protests.
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