| DC Police release body camera footage from fatal shooting Posted: 03 Sep 2020 12:31 PM PDT  Police in the nation's capital on Thursday released body camera footage from the officer who fatally shot a Black teenager a day earlier, leading to protests outside Mayor Muriel Bowser's home and a police station. Deon Kay, 18, was shot in the chest Wednesday afternoon in the midst of a foot pursuit with police officers. The officer turns around, sees Kay running a few feet behind him and fires a single shot into Kay's chest.
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| Mark Zuckerberg says he personally told President Trump that some of his 'rhetoric was problematic' Posted: 04 Sep 2020 08:11 AM PDT  Facebook's new election policies will apply to the president. Trump's campaign responded by saying he's being "silenced by the Silicon Valley Mafia."
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| A shark latched onto a Florida man’s arm and decided to stay awhile, video shows Posted: 04 Sep 2020 11:58 AM PDT  A small shark hung onto a Florida beachgoer's arm relentlessly over the weekend, and the victim acted like it was no big deal.
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| 19 Black families purchase 96 acres of land to create a 'safe haven' for Black people Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:51 PM PDT  Nineteen Black families purchased more than 96 acres of land in Georgia to create a safe space free of oppression. Eventually, they hope to grow the area into an incorporated, self-sustaining community.
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| Remains of sailor killed in Pearl Harbor returned home Posted: 03 Sep 2020 09:34 AM PDT  Navy Fireman First Class Hadley Heavin, 23, was on the USS West Virginia when torpedoes and bombs destroyed the battleship on December 7, 1941.
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| Part of Trump’s border wall at risk of collapse just months after it was built Posted: 04 Sep 2020 06:57 AM PDT  Part of the Trump administration's border wall between the US and Mexico is at risk of collapsing just months after it was constructed, new engineering reports claim.The border wall, constructed at the shore of Rio Grande, which forms part of the border between the US and Mexico, is at risk of collapsing due to construction flaws, new reports to be filed in federal court this week allege.
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| 2 'fat-phobic' Airbnb hosts have been slammed for banning guests weighing over 220 pounds Posted: 04 Sep 2020 03:40 AM PDT  "Specifying a certain weight is fat-phobic as it's discriminating against people who have a larger body," fat activist Lindsay McGlone said.
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| Portland shooting suspect killed by police during arrest Posted: 04 Sep 2020 12:19 AM PDT  A suspect in the fatal shooting of a supporter of the Patriot Prayer group in Portland was killed on Thursday night when authorities moved to arrest him, the New York Times reported, citing officials familiar with the investigation. The suspect, Michael Reinoehl, was killed in Lacey, southwest of Seattle, according to the report. The Oregonian newspaper reported Reinoehl was under investigation in the killing that took place after Aaron Danielson, one of the supporters of President Trump who came into downtown Portland, clashed with protesters demonstrating against racial injustice and police brutality. Portland police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a video interview published by Vice News on Thursday, Reinoehl said he had acted in self defense during the shooting as he thought he and a friend would be stabbed. "I had no choice. I mean, I, I had a choice. I could have sat there and watched them kill a friend of mine of color. But I wasn't going to do that".
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| President Trump urges Iran to spare life of popular wrestler Posted: 04 Sep 2020 01:04 AM PDT |
| Mark Zuckerberg reportedly intervened after a Facebook employee posted a controversial defense of police in the wake of Kenosha shootings Posted: 02 Sep 2020 06:25 PM PDT  The post about "well-intentioned law enforcement officers who have been victimized by society's conformity to a lie" sparked outrage from employees.
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| Iranian judge in Romania committed suicide, prosecutors say Posted: 04 Sep 2020 06:50 AM PDT  A fugitive Iranian judge whose corpse was found in a Bucharest hotel in June had committed suicide by jumping from a hotel's 5th floor, Romanian prosecutors said on Friday. Gholamreza Mansouri, 52, fled corruption charges in Iran last year, one of several judges accused during a high-profile trial. European pro-democracy groups had also accused him of human rights violations.
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| California making 'a lot of progress' on reopening theme parks, but Gov. Newsom isn't ready to say when Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:02 AM PDT  California is making "a lot of progress" toward reopening Disneyland and other theme parks, Gov. Gavin Newsom says. But he isn't ready to talk dates.
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| McEnany begins WH briefing criticizing Pelosi for hair salon visit, shows video on loop Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:40 AM PDT  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany opened Thursday's White House press briefing by criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after a video surfaced showing Pelosi inside a salon without a mask, which violates local health guidelines.
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| Iowa Sen. Ernst suggests COVID-19 deaths inflated, later issues clarification Posted: 03 Sep 2020 04:38 AM PDT  The Republican lawmaker's comments echoed a baseless conspiracy about the virus. Her state is a pandemic hot spot.
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| Oregon governor, others call for end to protest violence Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:56 PM PDT  With protests in Portland nearing the 100-day mark, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and other Democratic leaders on Thursday called for an end to violence even as federal agents were continuing to arrest protesters who allegedly assaulted law enforcement officers. Protests have erupted daily in the Pacific Northwest city since the killing of George Floyd. The statement does not single out the small minority of left-wing protesters who have been setting fires, vandalizing buildings and throwing objects at police.
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| President Trump "celebrated" teen gunman, lieutenant governor says Posted: 04 Sep 2020 08:29 AM PDT  "He's virtually celebrated this person who has killed two people on our city streets and severely injured another," he told "CBS This Morning" co-host Anthony Mason Friday.
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| Trooper arrested after video shows him ripping off protester’s mask in Tennessee Posted: 04 Sep 2020 12:13 PM PDT  Harvey Briggs was fired after video of the incident went viral.
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| Image of Palestinian under Israeli soldier's knee sparks outrage Posted: 04 Sep 2020 08:09 AM PDT  Footage of an Israeli soldier throwing a Palestinian activist to the ground and kneeling on his neck has sparked outrage in the Palestinian territories and beyond.
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| A Florida high school student was charged with a cyberattack that caused chaos during the first week of online classes Posted: 04 Sep 2020 07:57 AM PDT  The attack crashed the district's online learning platform and blocked students from logging on during the first week of online classes.
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| Israel announces partial national lockdown after coronavirus surge Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:59 AM PDT  Israel will impose a partial national lockdown next week to battle a coronavirus infection surge, the head of its pandemic task force said on Thursday, shouting his exasperation in an emotional television address. The health official, Ronni Gamzu, said Israel was facing a "pivotal moment" in trying to contain the spread of COVID-19, with some 3,000 new cases now reported daily in a population of nine million. Other health experts have said political in-fighting among members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government has led to a slow response to a second wave of cases after a national lockdown flattened the infection curve in May.
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| Congresswoman blocked from touring mail facility by Postal Service police Posted: 04 Sep 2020 01:38 PM PDT  "If DeJoy thinks he can just throw a bed sheet over what's going on behind these doors, he is sadly mistaken," the congresswoman said.
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| Why were police at Breonna Taylor's home? Here's what an investigative summary says Posted: 04 Sep 2020 06:00 AM PDT  The reason for targeting Breonna Taylor's apartment for a search warrant after midnight has been a key question since she was fatally shot.
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| Japan bracing for dangerously powerful typhoon Posted: 04 Sep 2020 03:15 AM PDT  Japan is bracing for a dangerously powerful typhoon approaching its southern regions this weekend on the heels of an earlier storm that injured dozens of people in the country and on the Korean Peninsula. Typhoon Haishen, or Sea God in Chinese, could bring nearly unprecedentedly severe rain, rough waves and high tides to Okinawa and Kyushu by early Sunday, Japan Meteorological Agency officials said. Agency weather forecaster Yoshihisa Nakamoto, in a televised news conference, urged people in the typhoon's path to take precautions and secure extra stocks of water, food and other necessities.
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| Trump directs federal agencies to defund 4 Democratic cities, other 'anarchist jurisdictions' Posted: 02 Sep 2020 11:22 PM PDT  President Trump released a five-page memo Wednesday directing federal agencies to find ways to cut billions in federal grants to four solidly Democratic cities and determine which other "anarchist jurisdictions" he could defund. Trump specifically targeted New York City; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. He claimed these cities have become "lawless zones" that "permit anarchy, violence, and destruction."Trump gave Attorney General William Barr 14 days to identify these "anarchist jurisdictions," and his given criteria include any area that "disempowers or defunds police departments" or "forbids the police force from intervening to restore order amid widespread or sustained violence or destruction." The Office of Management and Budget has 30 days to direct agencies to find ways to restrict federal grants to these justifications, which Trump doesn't name, "possibly for legal reasons," the New York Post reports.As part of his campaign strategy "to shift the public's attention away from his administration's failed response to the coronavirus pandemic," Trump "has repeatedly sought to paint cities as hellscapes that only he can save, regardless of how limited the violent outbreaks have been during broader protests against acts of brutality by police officers against Black people," The New York Times notes. His latest "move is almost certain to face legal challenges."The leaders of the four targeted cities did in fact threaten legal action, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called Trump's "illegal" order another "cheap" and "gratuitous" attempt by a wannabe "king" to "kill New York City," adding that Trump "better have an army if he thinks he's going to walk down the street in New York," their shared home town.The Washington Post's Paul Farhi pointed out that "cutting funding to punish cities that have defunded police" will probably "lead cities to ... further defund police," due to lack of funds. But these cities were never going to vote for Trump, and FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver points out that Trump, perversely, doesn't need them to.> The comparison to Obama in 2008 is instructive because Biden is polling at almost exactly Obama's popular vote margin from '08 now (7.5 vs. 7.3 for Biden). But he's added a LOT of votes in these 5 high-population states, plus possibly MD and IL, which have little polling.> > — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 2, 2020If Joe Biden gets huge wins in Washington, New York, and Oregon, it won't help his "Electoral College chances at all," Silver notes.More stories from theweek.com Rose McGowan vows to 'expose' Alexander Payne after he denies misconduct allegations Trump administration reportedly orders military newspaper Stars and Stripes to shut down Why Trump's 'losers' and 'suckers' slurs cut especially deep for Marines
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| Does $27 million have a smell? That’s how this agent found it, U.S. Customs says Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:02 AM PDT  A $27 million smuggling operation got sniffed out Saturday before the ferrying boat could reach the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Puerto Rico said.
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| Another record-breaking heat wave is building in the West Posted: 03 Sep 2020 10:24 AM PDT  In some areas the heat will be even more intense than the historic heat wave just a couple of weeks ago.
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| Fact check: Jacob Blake is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, not a child Posted: 03 Sep 2020 11:34 AM PDT  Claims that Jacob Blake has raped a minor or is facing sexual assault charges involving a teenager are false.
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| Nepal protesters defy virus lockdown, clash with riot police Posted: 03 Sep 2020 05:04 AM PDT |
| White woman charged with hate crime over beach confrontation Posted: 04 Sep 2020 04:26 AM PDT  A white woman has been charged with a felony hate crime after she initiated a confrontation with a group of Black men.
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| Trump news – live: William Barr says unclear if illegal to vote twice after president suggests it and Biden to visit Jacob Blake’s family in Kenosha Posted: 03 Sep 2020 01:00 AM PDT  Donald Trump's suggestion that voters cast two ballots in November's presidential election, one by mail and a second in person to "check'' the former, has placed the US attorney general under pressure, with William Barr declining to be drawn on the matter other than to say the legality of doing so is uncertain."I don't know what the law in a particular state says", he said in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, in which he joined Mr Trump in disparaging mail-in ballots as "playing with fire" and said Black Lives Matter's crusade against white police violence was a "false narrative".
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| One killed, three people wounded in Miami-area shooting, police say Posted: 04 Sep 2020 03:18 AM PDT  One man was killed and three others wounded in what Miami-Dade County police say was a drive-by shooting late Thursday night.
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| 3 deaths, 147 coronavirus cases now tied to Maine wedding Posted: 04 Sep 2020 12:57 PM PDT  The three people who died as a result of the outbreak did not attend the wedding.
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| U.S. to allow Indian air carriers to conduct ground handling operations Posted: 03 Sep 2020 02:20 PM PDT |
| Texas Governor Declares a Victory Over COVID. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Posted: 04 Sep 2020 12:55 AM PDT  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already seen his state's reopening waylaid by a resurgent coronavirus pandemic this summer, so a recent tweet from the governor that seemed to indicate he could be ready to do it all over again has alarmed local officials."I'm concerned about how far he goes," Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, a Democrat, told The Daily Beast. "I'll have to wait and see where he goes."The dynamics are just the latest in ongoing tensions between the red state governor and local blue leaders. In a tweet Monday, Abbott touted that he "said last month that Texas wouldn't have anymore lockdowns—despite demands from mayors & county judges insisting on," such a move. "Since my last orders in July, Covid numbers have declined—most importantly hospitalizations," Abbott said in the tweet. "I hope to provide updates next week about next steps." The governor's tweet came in response to an account called "Deep in the Heart of Texas" tweeting at Abbott that "those of us in the restaurant industry need this clarity in our future," after pointing to a video of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis saying earlier that day "we will never do any of these lockdowns again." No other details were given by the governor and a spokesperson for Abbott did not respond to requests for comment seeking more information. The stakes for Abbott are high in Texas after the state's reopening capsized this summer and cases surged, hitting nearly 10,800 new daily cases on July 15, according to state data. That same month, some Democratic leaders called for the governor to give them the power to do local stay at home orders.The state's situation may have improved since then, but Peter Jay Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, said Texas still has "a pretty high level of transmission." "I don't know what the goals are then by rolling back," Hotez said. "There's no victory here. There's still a very poor quality of life in the metro areas in Texas." As of Wednesday, the state's test positivity rate stood at 8.98 percent, according to state health data, while hospitalizations in the state had fallen from nearly 10,900 on July 22 to 4,075 as of Thursday's report with the daily new case number coming in at 3,899. And with those numbers in mind, the upcoming flu season is seen as another challenge that wouldn't be made easier if the state reopens too quickly. "Whether it's Texas or not… I don't really understand why we would consider relaxing any type of public health measures that we have in place like masking and distancing and certain high risk areas being off limits, more or less, until we get past the flu season at least," said Dr. Rodney E. Rohde, professor and chair of the clinical laboratory science program at Texas State University. Texas Just Hit 10,000 COVID Deaths, and It's 'Flying Blind'A handful of elected officials and public health experts stated bluntly that now isn't the time for the governor to make a reopening push, with the possible reopening of bars in the state a major worry for some like Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. "If the governor opens bars back up, or makes masking permissive rather than a requirement then he'll squander the gains that we've worked so hard for and the community has sacrificed so long for and we'll be right back in the mess that we were in a month after Open Texas," Jenkins, a Democrat, warned. The Houston area in particular has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and in Harris County the risk level is still listed as severe, meaning there is "a severe and uncontrolled level of COVID-19," according to the county's website. As The Daily Beast previously reported in July, a surge in cases were flooding the area's health care system as calls for a lockdown became more persistent. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who in mid-July called for a two-week shutdown, picked the governor apart in a statement this week about the Republican's handling of the pandemic pointing to "disastrous" results following the state's reopening in May as he worried about the future. "And now that numbers are better like in April, the governor is about to embark on the same course again," Turner, a Democrat, said. "It is frustrating that he is making decisions that impact all of us without including local officials in the process. The State is about to repeat its mistake, expecting a different result."After Texas began reopening in May, Abbott's reopening push fell apart in late June as the state's coronavirus situation worsened and he halted the state's re-opening over concerns about hospitalizations and new cases. In the days to come, the Republican also closed bars, limited restaurant capacity and made a statewide mask executive order for "counties with 20 or more positive COVID-19 cases," according to a July 2 statement from the governor's office. More than 40 counties are exempt from the order, according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management. When both policies and behaviors in Texas became more relaxed in early May that led to "alarming increases in cases and hospitalizations," in some places the following month Lauren Ancel Meyers, the director of the University of Texas at Austin COVID-19 modeling consortium, told The Daily Beast. The stricter policies and change in behavior that came about because of that then slowed transmission of the virus, Meyers said. "The longer we hold on to the precautionary behavior and the policies the more we will see cases and hospitalizations continue to decline," Meyers said. "It's reasonable to consider changes in policy that may provide some economic and social relief, however, only if done with extreme caution and really strong messaging around the responsibility we all have to take precautions when we're going out in public, to not go out in public if we or anyone in our household even has the slightest symptom of COVID. " While some local officials were clearly troubled by what could come from Abbott's office next week, Deaf Smith County Judge D.J. Wagner welcomed the idea of easing statewide restrictions. "Oh absolutely," the Republican said. "Yeah, we've got to get on with life." That wasn't a feeling shared on the Texas/Mexico border by Maverick County Judge David Saucedo. The local Democrat warned that he didn't think "we're out of the woods yet," and lamented that numbers in border communities have been "pretty high.""In my community, I'm seeing that we're still a hotspot," Saucedo said. "…After every holiday we've seen an uptick in cases go up and we don't want to get into that danger zone again."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| The Trump administration is looking at banning more Chinese apps, as TikTok sale talks stall Posted: 04 Sep 2020 07:35 AM PDT  The US is looking to block more Chinese apps over national security risks, according to the White House chief of staff.
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| College professor with COVID-19 symptoms dies after struggling to breathe during Zoom lecture Posted: 04 Sep 2020 10:31 AM PDT  A college professor in Argentina experiencing COVID-19 symptoms died after gasping for breath while conducting a Zoom lecture.
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| Humans almost solely responsible for mammal extinctions in past 126,000 years, study finds Posted: 04 Sep 2020 10:27 AM PDT  Human activity was the cause of 96 per cent of mammal extinctions in the past 126,000 years, rather than climate change, according to a new study. The arrival of humans to Australia around 65,000 years ago and the Americas some 24,000 years ago caused particular spikes in animal extinctions, according to the study in Science Advances. The researchers found similar results in Madagascar and the Caribbean, where animal extinction rates shot up after the arrival of the first humans. The study by a team of researchers from Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK predicts as many as 558 species could be lost in the next hundred years, amid the highest spike in extinction rates since non-avian dinosaurs disappeared 66 million years ago. That compares to just 351 mammal species extinctions since the beginning of the Late Pleistocene 126,000 years ago, although rates have already been rising rapidly, with 80 species lost in the last 1,500 years. The conclusion that historical extinctions have been driven by human activity contradicts earlier studies which have suggested that climate change was responsible, in particular for the extinction of megafauna such as woolly rhinos and mammoths 12,000 years ago. The scientists compiled a large dataset of fossils and found "essentially no evidence for climate-driven extinctions", said co-author Daniele Silvestro. But the authors of the study, which was published in Science Advances, warned that climate change now poses a unique threat to animal species. "Together with fragmented habitats, poaching, and other human-related threats, it poses a large risk for many species," said Mr Silvestro. Current extinction rates are around 1,700 times higher than those at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, the authors say. "Reconstructing our past impacts on biodiversity is essential to understand why some species and ecosystems have been particularly vulnerable to human activities – which can hopefully allow us to develop more effective conservation actions to combat extinction," said co-author Professor Samuel Turvey at ZSL (Zoological Society of London).
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| Alleged Boogaloo members face terrorism charges in Minnesota Posted: 04 Sep 2020 03:41 PM PDT  Two men who prosecutors say are members of an anti-government extremist group, who toted guns on Minneapolis streets during unrest following the death of George Floyd and spoke about shooting police, blowing up a courthouse and killing politicians, have been charged with federal terrorism counts. Michael Robert Solomon, 30, of New Brighton, Minnesota, and Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, of Hampstead, North Carolina, are members of the "Boogaloo Bois," authorities say.
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| Letters to the Editor: Trump reportedly thinks my dead brother is a 'loser.' What a contemptible president Posted: 04 Sep 2020 10:50 AM PDT  A reader and veteran speaks up in defense of his late brother, who served in the Air Force and was seriously injured serving his country.
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