What’s a ‘Corn Moon’? What to know about summer’s final full moon

It’s your last chance to see a full moon this summer.

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Decommissioned Navy Warship Blasted and Sunk in Pacific Exercise

Ships and aircraft from ten nations participating the exercise sank the amphibious cargo ship in a live-fire exercise.

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Here Is the Bloody Face of Putin’s New Crackdown

MOSCOW—Yegor Zhukov is the face of a new generation of Putin opponents using social media as well as student rallies to stand up to the regime. On Sunday night, he was beaten up outside his home in Moscow hours after posting a YouTube video criticizing Putin. In a statement to the police, he said: “I have not suffered any property damage, but my face is broken.”An image of the 22-year-old’s bruised face, with bleeding lips and a swollen eye, has already gone viral online—an instant new symbol of Putin’s latest crackdown.The country’s leading opposition figure, Aleksey Navalny, was already comatose in a hospital bed in Berlin, fighting to regain consciousness after what German doctors describe as exposure to a poisonous substance whose effects are consistent with a nerve agent. This has been a summer of doom for Putin’s opponents. The Russian president prevailed in a constitutional referendum in July, which is likely to keep him in power until 2036. Since then, Russians have watched bloody police crackdowns on protesters in Belarus, including alleged cases of torture and rape, ordered by Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator now being aided and abetted by Putin. Last week, the country was horrified to wake up to the news of Navalny’s poisoning in Siberia. The attack on Zhukov—who is really just a kid—only added to a widespread sense of repression. On Sunday, Zhukov posted a video on his YouTube channel, which has 227,000 subscribers, about a crackdown against Putin’s critics at his university, the Higher School of Economics. The school used to be a bastion of free speech in a country where that is increasingly rare.Zhukov, who was arrested last year during anti-government protests and threatened with eight years in prison, was due to begin his studies on the Masters program this fall. The video was posted in response to university administrators who abruptly told him that he would not be enrolled this year, even though he had already been accepted and had paid to start the course.Almost 200,000 people online watched Zhukov say: “Clearly, no professional person, who is serious about political science, would describe Vladimir Putin’s regime as effective.”  Within hours, the student opposition leader was badly beaten outside his house in Moscow by unknown assailants. In the two decades of the Putin era, Russia has seen crackdowns on the media, human rights defenders, and opposition parties. Universities are the latest target. Professors and students believe potential students are blacklisted from enrolling at the Higher School of Economics by the FSB, Russia’s successor to the KGB. “Authorities must be aware of Russia’s history: students have always united in political movements,” former Higher School of Economics professor and founder of Transparency International, Yelena Pamfilova, told The Daily Beast. “There is a giant crisis and not only in Russia: people in trouble, like Zhukov, want to call police for help but there is no trust for police and that is very dangerous.” Intellectuals have long used the Higher School of Economics as a safe space where progressive political and economic ideas could be formulated and shared. “Recently, all professors with skeptical attitudes toward the government have lost their contracts,” Zhukov said. “Our opposition student media was deprived of its status as a student organization.”Last summer, Zhukov, who is morer libertarian than liberal, joined protests triggered by numerous violations at Moscow City Council elections. He was arrested and charged with public appeals for extremism. He could have been sentenced to eight years in prison, but he became a cause célèbre with thousands of students, professors, and ordinary Russians protesting that the charges should be dropped. The case against him was eventually dismissed but the university took action to avoid a repeat of the controversy, and in January all students and university staff were banned from making any political declarations in public or engaging in political activity. Zhukov believes the university was forced to make these announcements by the authorities. “The government got scared of our unity, that we were together with the university’s management. It is hard for me to believe that people who for years built ‘the most liberal university of the country,’ all of a sudden turned into the guardians of the government,” he said. It is unclear who or what scared the university management into the sudden policy change, but some of its best professors stopped working, including Yulia Galyamina, a linguist and opposition leader. Police broke her jaw, cracked her teeth, and gave her a severe concussion when she took part in a protest.  Yelena Lukyanova, another professor who left the university, said kicking out Zhukov had forced the crackdown into the public eye. “At least they told the man everything openly, while all we heard was some indirect hints,” she wrote on social media. Lukyakova and three other former professors have started “the Free University,” an independent educational project free of political pressure and censorship. “There will be no ‘disloyal’ students at the Higher School of Economics, we spoke about these horrible changes six months ago, and here is the nail in the coffin of my alma mater,” wrote former student Roman Kiselyov-Augustus on Facebook. “They can ban you from studying for your political activity.”Zhukov returned home on Monday still badly bruised, but doctors said there would be no lasting damage from the attack. From the hospital, he had repeated the favorite slogan of former Putin nemesis Boris Nemtsov: “Russia will be free.” The Russian opposition leader was assassinated beneath the walls of the Kremlin in February 2015, when Zhukov was 18 years old. In neighboring Belarus, crowds are also demanding freedom after discredited elections. More than 100,000 protesters marched across the bridge in Minsk to the presidential residence, demanding Lukashenko’s resignation on Sunday. The Kremlin had stayed quiet for the first couple of weeks of the protests, while hundreds of Belarusians were detained, many beaten and tortured. Putin has since signaled growing support for the Lukashenko regime. To demonstrate Moscow’s backing, Putin called Lukashenko on Sunday with birthday greetings, while a crowd of protesters was outside chanting, "Happy birthday, Lukashenko, you are a rat!"Putin has also promised to send men from Moscow to help Lukashenko “halt extremist activity in the republic if an urgent need arises,” a spokesman said.Veteran human rights defender and chairwoman of the Civic Assistance Committee, Svetlana Gannushkina, said the two autocrats from the former Soviet Union had been emboldened by President Donald Trump’s calls to violently put down protests in the U.S. “Looking at Trump, they think it is OK to solve problems with the opposition outside of the rule of law,” she said. “In Russia the first target for the Kremlin’s reprisal is always the intelligentsia. Until recently, Zhukov’s university, the Higher School of Economics, was the source of progressive liberal ideas. Clearly it was an unpleasant place for the authoritarian government.” 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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VOA reporters say Trump appointee puts journalists at risk

It's the first time VOA reporters issued an on-the-record protest of Michael Pack, Trump's pick to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

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You Can’t Be Pro-Life Unless You Oppose Abortion

Election times in non-pandemic years can bring out some of the best and the worst of America. Both parties, in their convention productions, were maybe a mix of both. The aspirational, inspirational moments are the best, which, of course, may be a bit too much of a promise about what electing one ticket to the White House could ever possibly do. At the same time, they are important reminders that policy isn’t mere ideological adherence -- it affects human lives, family lives. It’s important, noble work. In campaign season, it can become harder to remember it isn’t everything, though.We don’t get our meaning from politics, politics is a necessary exercise -- our vote and our engagement in politics is one way we live out our civic responsibilities. Politics is not a never-ending reality-TV show for our entertainment or distraction. It’s not religion. As Sister Deidre Byrne put it during her Republican Convention segment, there’s such a thing as eternal life, and this life -- including politics -- should be part of our expressions of gratitude for our very lives and part of how we express hope for something greater. Anything inconsistent with that journey should have no place in politics.This leads us to abortion. There’s a lot of dismissal of “single-issue voters” these days. Believe me, I see it in my inbox. That makes an assumption that isn’t a given -- not everyone who is opposed to abortion is planning on voting for Donald Trump. There are debates about whether voting for someone other than Trump is a cop-out -- “blood on your hands” some on the right will argue. But set that debate aside for a moment: In recent weeks I’ve expressed my disappointment in Joe Biden. The Democrats have refused to give an option to people who consider abortion the preeminent human-rights issue. For that, I have been told I am a “so-called” pro-lifer.I actually agree with all those who insist that pro-life needs to mean more than defending the life of the unborn -- we as individuals and as a society must do all that we can to make life plausible, to ensure that single mothers and families have a fighting chance. We can’t look away from the children in foster care who will never have a shot if someone doesn’t give them the love of a family. Absolutely, pro-life should mean more than opposition to abortion. And anyone who has been around the pro-life movement has seen that it so often is people full of love for a mom who just needs some confidence and resources -- people walking with her, and, yes, for more than nine months.The other day, a Catholic priest responded to one of my columns mentioning Joe Biden and abortion. He explained that he considers Biden pro-life and that he’s voting for him. Here’s the problem with that: While I’m with the priest and believe that we absolutely must help vulnerable children in all kinds of situations, you can’t be pro-life and adhere to the extremist abortion policies of the Democratic Party.There’s a reason that the Democrats didn’t talk much about abortion during their convention -- because that’s not the pitch they want to make to people. The vast majority of Americans want to see some restrictions on abortion, they don’t see abortion as a good, but they want women in desperate situations to have options. “There but by the grace of God go I.” But like other words we use in our politics, the word “pro-life” is drained of meaning if it means contrary things -- if “pro-life” means that you can claim to be personally opposed to abortion but publicly supportive of it through all nine months of pregnancy, and even to the moments after a baby is born, having survived an abortion attempt. Democrats’ current abortion stance is a radical expansion of abortion. Just look to Andrew Cuomo for an example of that. A supposed leading light of Democratic politics expanded legal abortion in a state that was already considered the abortion capital of the country, and he celebrated it by lighting up the Empire State in pink neon. And he is lauded despite his decision that caused so many COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in the state.The Democratic Party has chosen to double down on the death of innocents. That is what abortion is: It is a law that says the unborn can be treated as inconvenient and thrown away. The value of that human life is determined by the mother under the influence of the circumstances and pressures she finds around her. That they have to use euphemisms to make it attractive exposes the underlying rot.I have hopes that in a non-election year, people who call themselves pro-life and those who choose the pro-choice label can work together on foster care and adoption and paid family leave and other issues that we can agree on that are not the A-word. I’d like to see a day when fewer people consider themselves pro-choice, because they see the pregnancy help centers and communities who truly live the Beatitudes and help women and anyone in need. In the meantime, let’s not lose our heads -- or our souls -- over an election. There’s more to life, there’s more to do.Essential to that, too, though, is honesty: The Republicans are far from perfect, to say the least. And the Democrats refuse to stand for the vulnerable unborn. It’s a lie to call them pro-life and an abdication of responsibility not to insist on something better.This column is based on one available through Andrews McMeel Universal’s Newspaper Enterprise Association.

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UN labor body: Qatar 'dismantles' kafala employment system

New labor rules in the energy-rich nation of Qatar “effectively dismantles” the country's long-criticized “kafala” employment system, a U.N. labor body said Sunday. The International Labor Organization said as of now, migrant workers can change jobs before the end of their contracts without obtaining the permission of their current employers. Qatar also has adopted a minimum monthly wage of 1,000 Qatari riyals ($275) for workers, which will take effect some six months after the law is published in the country's official gazette, the ILO said.

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Russian opposition activist hospitalised after attack outside his home

A 22-year-old Russian opposition activist has been hospitalised after what supporters said was a vicious attack by two men outside his house in Moscow. Yegor Zhukov, who came to prominence last year when he was arrested and tried over opposition protests, posted pictures of his bruised and bloody face to social media following the attack. He was taken to hospital for an MRI scan which showed he had “fortunately managed to avoid serious injuries or internal bleeding,” a spokesman said. The activist “remained calm and even joked about what happened,” his team said in a social media post, adding that he was allowed home following tests.

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With peak of hurricane season almost here, forecasters watch four areas for tropical development

The most active day of the hurricane season is around Sept. 10. As the season's peak nears, forecasters are watching four areas for development.

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Hong Kong protests: The flashpoints in a year of anger

A few defining moments in the city’s dramatic year are under the spotlight as arrests gather pace.

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Worth the wait: Yellowstone’s Giantess Geyser erupts for first time in six years

Giantess is one of the biggest geysers in the national park, and typically explodes between twice and six times a year In these troubled times there comes a point where we all need to let off steam.For this huge geyser in Yellowstone park, the moment was now and the eruption was spectacular, after a six-year wait.But, for the rest of us, watching this natural phenomenon is strangely meditative and beautifully distracting from much of the bad news around, despite the violent geothermal forces propelling it.Giantess Geyser spouted for the first time in more than six years in Yellowstone National Park, which straddles part of Wyoming and a little of Montana, on 25 August, according to the US National Park Service (NPS).“She” has more typically erupted between twice and six times a year in the past, according to the NPS website, and blasts a spout up to 200ft high.“The surrounding area may shake from underground steam explosions just before the initial water and/or steam eruptions,” the NPS website adds.Giantess is one of the biggest geysers in the park, alongside phenomena such as the super-tall Steamboat geyser, the largest active geyser in the world, and the park’s most famous, Old Faithful, renowned for its punctual regularity as it soars from the ground about 20 times a day.Colorful hot spring features in the park include the blue-hued Morning Glory Pool and the psychedelic Grand Prismatic spring, as well as whiffy, sulfurous bubblers and roiling natural pots of scalding hot water fizzing out of the rocks.The features are among more than 10,000 hot springs and geysers in the park, a Unesco world heritage site.

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A federal appeals court gutted Congress' subpoena power in a massive ruling in Don McGahn's case

A three-judge appeals court panel ruled that Congress cannot sue to enforce a subpoena before first passing a law authorizing such action.

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Soldier who made ‘vile’ Holocaust joke to 3 million TikTok followers punished, Army says

“He wrote: ‘For legal reasons this is a joke.’ ... Would he look into the eyes of Survivors liberated by @USArmy and tell them this?” the Auschwitz Memorial Museum said in a tweet.

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Biden on protests: ‘These are not images of some imagined Joe Biden America in the future, these are images of Donald Trump’s America today’

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday challenged the Republican talking point that people will not be safe in the United States with Biden as president.

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Brazil Indigenous chief Raoni tests positive for coronavirus

Chief Raoni Metuktire, an Indigenous leader who became a symbol of the fight for the preservation of the Amazon forest in Brazil, was hospitalized with symptoms of pneumonia and tested positive for the new coronavirus, the Raoni Institute said Monday. Raoni previously met several European leaders to denounce Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's calls for the economic development of Indigenous land in the Amazon rainforest.

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'Rest in peace Jay': sympathy for the far right foretells Trump's election strategy

The president has shown a lifelong penchant for inflaming racist hatreds and fears – expect much more of this before NovemberSix months into the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump tweeted a rare statement of condolences, as the confirmed death toll in the US climbed past 183,000.But the expression of regret was not for victims of Covid-19. Instead the president memorialized a member of a far-right group killed in Portland, Oregon on Saturday night.“Rest in peace Jay,” the president tweeted, referring to Aaron “Jay” Danielson, shot dead in clashes after a convoy of Trump supporters drove through an anti-racism protest.Trump is not often given to expressions of sympathy or understanding. But going back to the days when he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times to call for the deaths of five wrongfully accused Black men in the 1989 Central Park jogger case, he has shown a lifelong penchant for inserting himself at raw public moments to inflame racist hatreds and fears.The difference now is that Trump is president, and that penchant has become the centerpiece of his re-election strategy. That much is plain from his Twitter feed, which on Sunday included footage of a Black man assaulting a white woman on a subway platform, apropos of nothing.“I think he only means to agitate things,” said Karen Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “He is campaigning. It’s clear his campaign is all about ‘law and order’, it’s a throwback to the past, and he’s going to do everything to disrupt law and order in this time.”It has been three years since Trump defended the “very fine people” among the white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia. It has been only two months since he branded anti-racist protesters “terrorists” and two weeks since he tweeted that “the history and culture of our great country [is] being ripped apart” with the removal of statues to Confederate leaders and generals.Trump has announced that he will visit Kenosha on Tuesday. The Wisconsin city has been the scene of protests after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, four times in the back as Blake reached into a car in which his children were sitting.Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old who was both a Trump admirer and a self-styled law enforcement enthusiast, brought a semi-automatic rifle to the scene of protests in the city and killed two people, prosecutors say.Trump has expressed his support: on Friday the president “liked” a tweet thread beginning: “Kyle Rittenhouse is a good example of why I decided to vote for Trump.”Of the caravan of trucks flying Trump flags that drove into the anti-racism protests in Portland on Saturday, spraying mace and firing paintballs, Trump tweeted: “GREAT PATRIOTS!”A suspect held in the death of Danielson reportedly described himself as a supporter of “antifa”, a broad label applied to “anti-fascist” groups that Trump and the far right have accused of unsubstantiated acts of violence. Danielson was identified as a “friend and supporter” of the Patriot Prayer group, whose founder, a former Republican candidate for US Senate, has condemned white supremacy but which attracts white supremacist sympathizers.Trump’s planned Kenosha visit was seen by Bass and others as likely to inflame tensions at a time when calls for calm and mutual understanding are needed.“I think his visit has one purpose, and one purpose only, and that is to agitate things and to make things worse,” Bass said.For others, Trump’s plan to visit Kenosha was ominously reminiscent of visits to scenes of other conflicts critics say he has fomented with incendiary tweets and by cheerleading violent actors.After a white gunman who warned of a “Hispanic invasion” killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas last year, Trump visited despite urging from local officials not to. At the scene, Trump boasted about progress on his border wall.A year earlier, Trump paid a similarly controversial visit to Pittsburgh, where a gunman who accused Jews of “committing genocide to his people” killed 11 at a synagogue.Joe Biden has directly tied Trump’s rhetoric to such incidents of violence, and accused the president of unleashing “the deepest, darkest forces in this nation”.“How far is it from Trump’s saying this ‘is an invasion’ to the shooter in El Paso declaring ‘this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas’?” Biden has tweeted. “Not far at all.”The Democratic nominee for president planned to visit Pittsburgh on Monday, “to lay out a core question voters face in this election: are you safe in Donald Trump’s America?”In released excerpts of his speech, he said: “This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can’t stop the violence – because for years he has fomented it.”Trump, Biden added, “may believe mouthing the words ‘law and order’ makes him strong, but his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows you how weak he is.”Writing for the Daily Beast, the columnist Michael Tomasky said trying to convince voters that Biden represents chaos would not work. The piece was titled “White People Aren’t as Racist or Stupid as Trump Thinks”.But four years ago, Trump showed he knew white voters, who made up 74% of the 2016 electorate, better than a lot of people. They voted 54%-39% for Trump, putting him where he is today.

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Mom rips gun and shoe from man accused of kidnapping her 1-year-old, Georgia cops say

The child has since been found safe, officials say.

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Cuomo says state considering indoor dining in NYC, but

Despite progress in New Jersey and other parts of New York, indoor dining in New York City may not happen any time soon, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio suggested on Monday.

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Hundreds of protesters arrested by Belarusian police as 100,000 rally against Lukashenko

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday calling for an end to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's rule, despite heavily armed police and troops blocking streets and detaining dozens of demonstrators. Protests have now entered a third week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 in which Mr Lukashenko claimed victory, while opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was the true winner. An AFP journalist and local media estimated that more than 100,000 people came to Sunday's protest, equalling the scale of the rallies on previous weekends, the largest demonstrations the country has seen since independence from the USSR.

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Indiana Congressman introduces bill to ban protest 'thugs' from receiving unemployment aid

U.S. Rep. Jim Banks introduced a bill that would ban people from receiving unemployment aid if convicted of a federal offense related to protests.

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Canada statue of John A Macdonald toppled by activists in Montreal

John A Macdonald was accused of letting famine and disease decimate indigenous Canadian communities.

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Argentina says it reaches deal to avoid debt default

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Patriot Prayer no stranger to protests in Northwest

The man who was fatally shot in Portland, Oregon, as supporters of President Donald Trump skirmished with Black Lives Matter protesters was a supporter of a right-wing group called Patriot Prayer, which doesn't have a big national footprint but is well known in the Pacific Northwest. Patriot Prayer's founder, Joey Gibson, has held pro-Trump rallies repeatedly in Portland and other cities since 2016. The events have drawn counterprotesters from around the region and had heightened tensions in Portland long before Black Lives Matter demonstrators began nearly 100 days of nightly protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

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U.S. Postal Service tells Congress delivery performance has improved

The U.S. Postal Service told Congress on Monday that delivery performance has improved and returned to early July levels after it came under harsh criticism. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in mid-July made changes that critics said were significantly delaying deliveries. In mid-July, the Postal Service said it emphasized the need to adhere to existing transportation schedules and ensure trucks run on schedule.

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A former Department of Homeland Security official said Trump is letting right-wing extremists 'start a race war'

Domestic terrorism expert Elizabeth Neumann told Yahoo News those at the RNC who cast protesters as a dangerous threat were putting on a "sideshow."

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Researchers at the University of Arizona say they stopped a coronavirus outbreak before it spread by testing students' poop

Researchers at the University of Arizona say they may have prevented an outbreak of COVID-19 using wastewater-based epidemiology.

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Schiff vows to 'compel' intelligence on election security after DNI head Ratcliffe ends in-person briefings

"This intelligence paid for by taxpayers doesn't belong to Donald Trump," Schiff said. "It belongs to the American people."

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Moto G9 to Go on First Sale in India Today

Moto G9 will be available for purchase through its first sale in India today at 12pm (noon) through Flipkart. The new Motorola smartphone debuted in the country last week.

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Trump retweeted a message from the far-right OAN network calling anti-racism protests an attempted 'coup'

The president has been accused of exploiting fear for political gain, and refusing to address the legitimate concerns that have led many to protest.

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New Jersey mayor rescinds $2,500 police overtime bill sent to student who organized BLM protest

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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Mom rips gun and shoe from man accused of kidnapping her 1-year-old, Georgia cops say

The child has since been found safe, officials say.

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Boat carrying nearly 370 migrants reaches Italy's Lampedusa

A fishing boat carrying nearly 370 migrants landed overnight on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where the main holding centre is already overcrowded, prompting the local mayor to call for a general strike to push the government take action.

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Joe Biden to go on the road again as poll lead shrinks

With his poll lead narrowing, Joe Biden is ready to campaign in person after months of being hunkered down in his Delaware basement because of the coronavirus pandemic. The former vice-president will go on the road after the September 7 Labour Day public holiday in the US. No itinerary has been set, but Mr Biden is expected to visit key swing states including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Urban unrest and an aggressive performance by Donald Trump at last week’s Republican National Convention have cut Mr Biden’s lead by several points. According to Morning Consult, Mr Biden now has a six-point lead over the president, compared with 10 points before the Republican convention. Other polls have shown Mr Trump edging into the lead in two pivotal states: Michigan and Wisconsin.

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India records world's biggest single-day jump in virus cases

India registered 78,761 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the biggest single-day spike in the world since the pandemic began, just as the government began easing restrictions to help the battered economy. The surge raised India's tally to over 3.5 million, and came as the government announced the reopening of the subway in New Delhi, the capital. A country of 1.4 billion people, India now has the fastest-growing daily coronavirus caseload of any country in the world, reporting more than 75,000 new cases for four straight days.

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Marijuana is only legal in 11 states but a House vote coming next month could expand legalization to the entire US

The MORE Act, if passed by Congress, would remove marijuana from the controlled substances list and erase criminal records with marijuana charges.

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1 dead in Portland after Trump supporters, protesters clash

It wasn’t clear if the shooting was linked to fights that broke out as a caravan of about 600 vehicles was confronted by counter-demonstrators in the city’s downtown.

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Trump resumes campaign rallies and utters the unthinkable: 'If Biden wins...'

One night after accepting the Republican nomination, Donald Trump resumed campaigning for reelection as though the coronavirus pandemic was a thing of the past, rallying hundreds of supporters at New Hampshire airport hangar.

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If the police officer who shot Jacob Blake can prove he feared an 'imminent risk of death or great bodily harm,' his shooting could be legally justified

An officer shot Jacob Blake while he had his back turned toward them. If they reasonably feared for their lives, it may be legally justified.

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Hundreds of protesters arrested by Belarusian police as 100,000 rally against Lukashenko

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched through the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Sunday calling for an end to strongman Alexander Lukashenko's rule, despite heavily armed police and troops blocking streets and detaining dozens of demonstrators. Protests have now entered a third week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 in which Mr Lukashenko claimed victory, while opposition rival Svetlana Tikhanovskaya said she was the true winner. An AFP journalist and local media estimated that more than 100,000 people came to Sunday's protest, equalling the scale of the rallies on previous weekends, the largest demonstrations the country has seen since independence from the USSR.

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State report shows hundreds test positive for COVID-19 at Florida schools in August

The Florida Department of Health accidentally released a report on COVID-19 outbreaks at schools across the state — from daycare centers to colleges — and found that nearly 900 students and staffers had tested positive during a two-week period in August as schools had just begun or readied to reopen.

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Hour by hour: Hurricane Laura raged outside my front door. I hunkered down for the night.

At night, you can't see tornadoes coming. You can't see how far the trees bend. You can't sleep because of the sounds of the storm.

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Fact check: Biden tax plan would raise rates for those who make more than $400K, corporations

The claim that families who make $75,000 would see their tax rate double under the Democratic nominee's plan is false.

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The real threats to American law and order are Trump's craven enablers

The president railed against ‘violent anarchists, agitators and criminals’ but he surrounds himself with lawless lackeysOne week ago, Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police department, fired at least seven shots at the back of a Black man named Jacob Blake as he opened his car door, leaving the 29-year-old father of five probably paralyzed from the waist down.After protests erupted, self-appointed armed militia or vigilante-type individuals rushed to Kenosha, including Kyle Rittenhouse, a white 17-year-old who traveled there and then, appearing on the streets with an AR-15 assault rifle, allegedly killed two people and wounded a third.This is pure gold for a president without a plan, a party without a platform, and a cult without a purpose other than the abject worship of Donald J Trump.To be re-elected Trump knows he has to distract the nation from the coronavirus pandemic that he has flagrantly failed to control – leaving more than 180,000 Americans dead, tens of millions jobless and at least 30 million reportedly hungry.So he’s counting on the reliable Republican dog-whistle. “Your vote,” Trump said in his speech closing the Republican convention Thursday night, “will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.”“We will have law and order on the streets of this country,” Vice-President Mike Pence declared the previous evening, warning “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”Neither Trump nor Pence mentioned the real threats to law and order in America today, such as gun-toting agitators like Rittenhouse, who, perhaps not coincidentally, occupied a front-row seat at a Trump rally in Des Moines in January.Pence lamented the death of federal officer Dave Patrick Underwood, “shot and killed during the riots in Oakland, California”, earlier this year, implying he was killed by protesters. In fact, Underwood was shot and killed by an adherent of the boogaloo boys, an online extremist movement that’s trying to ignite a race war.Such groups have found encouragement in a president who sees “very fine people” supporting white supremacy.The threat also comes from conspiracy theorists like Marjorie Taylor Greene, the recently nominated Republican candidate for Georgia’s 14th congressional district and promoter of QAnon, whose adherents believe Trump is battling a cabal of “deep state” saboteurs who worship Satan and traffic children for sex. Trump has praised Greene as a “future Republican star” and claimed that QAnon followers “love our country”.And from people like Mary Ann Mendoza, a member of Trump’s campaign advisory board, who was scheduled to speak at the Republican convention until she retweeted an antisemitic rant about a supposed Jewish plan to enslave the world’s peoples and steal their land.> Since Trump promised he would hire 'the best people', 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisonedClearly the threat also comes from hotheaded, often racist police officers who fire bullets into the backs of Black men and women or kneel on their necks so they can’t breathe. Needless to say, there was little mention at the Republican convention of Jacob Blake, and none of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor.And the threat comes from Trump’s own lackeys who have brazenly broken laws to help him attain and keep power. Since Trump promised he would only hire “the best people”, 14 Trump aides, donors and advisers have been indicted or imprisoned.Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W Giuliani – who ranted at the Republican convention about rioting and looting in cities with Democratic mayors – has repeatedly met with the pro-Russia Ukrainian parliamentarian Andriy Derkach, whom American intelligence has determined is “spreading claims about corruption … to undermine former Vice President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party”.In addition, federal prosecutors are investigating Giuliani’s business dealings in Ukraine with two men arrested in an alleged campaign finance scheme.Trump’s new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who had been a major Trump campaign donor before taking over the post office, is being sued by six states and the District of Columbia for allegedly seeking to “undermine” the postal service as millions of Americans plan to vote by mail during the pandemic.Not to forget the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who spoke to the Republican convention while on an official trip to the Middle East, in apparent violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits officials of the executive branch other than the president and vice-president from engaging in partisan politics.You want the real threat to American law and order? It’s found in these Trump enablers and bottom-dwellers. They are the inevitable excrescence of Trump’s above-the-law, race-baiting, me-first presidency. It is from the likes of them that the rest of America is in serious need of protection.

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A teen activist in New Jersey received a $2,500 bill to pay for police presence at a Black Lives Matter protest she organized

Mayor Mario Kranjac of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, said the bill covered police presence and their overtime hours.

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Protests erupt at Portland police building, mayor's condo

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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Kate Bedingfield on Biden's plans to return to campaign trail, civil unrest's impact on race for White House

Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield joins Chris Wallace with insight on 'Fox News Sunday.'

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Report: New York tenants were not aware they would be featured at the Republican National Convention

The tenants were interviewed by a HUD official, they said. The RNC was criticized for blurring the lines between the government and partisan politics.

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6 health benefits of turmeric and how to add it to your diet

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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'How dare we not vote?' Black voters organize after DC march

Tears streamed down Brooke Moreland’s face as she watched tens of thousands gather on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to decry systemic racism and demand racial justice in the wake of several police killings of Black Americans. As the campaign enters its latter stages, there's an intensifying effort among African Americans to transform frustration over police brutality, systemic racism and the disproportionate toll of the coronavirus into political power.

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Arrest made after firefighter’s wallet stolen as he battled wildfires, CA officials say

The thief drained the bank account of the firefighter after the wallet was lifted from his vehicle. officials said.

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Jerry Falwell Jr 'enjoyed watching' his wife have sex, alleged lover says

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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Report: New York tenants were not aware they would be featured at the Republican National Convention

The tenants were interviewed by a HUD official, they said. The RNC was criticized for blurring the lines between the government and partisan politics.

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Top US general says military will not escort Donald Trump from the White House if election disputed

America's most senior general has declared the military will not intervene if Donald Trump were to decline to leave the White House following a disputed US election. In a letter to Congress, Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he did not envisage soldiers playing any role if Republicans and Democrats did not agree on the result. Mr Trump has repeatedly voiced concerns that the election will be undermined by fraud during widespread mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic, and suggested that the result may never be known. Joe Biden, the Democrat nominee, has said he fears Mr Trump will try to "steal" the election but the military would "escort him from the White House with great dispatch." Democrat congresswomen Elissa Slotkin and Mikie Sherrill wrote to the general seeking answers as to what the military's role would be. In a written response General Milley, known to be a student of military history, wrote: "I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical US military. In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law US courts and the US Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the US military. "I foresee no role for the US armed forces in this process. We will not turn our backs on the Constitution of the United States." Ms Slotkin said: "These are just prudent questions to be asking given the things that the president has been saying publicly." She said the general's answers "demonstrated that the chairman recognised the military's role in our elections is to essentially stay out, that the military's role in the peaceful transition of power is to stay out." Last month, Mr Trump said it was too early to guarantee he would accept the election results. He said: "I have to see. Look, I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no."

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