| 'Most believe that it was an accident': Pentagon chief contradicts Trump on Beirut explosion Posted: 05 Aug 2020 01:15 PM PDT  Less than 24 hours after President Trump said some "great generals" told him they thought that yesterday's massive explosion in Beirut was an "attack" involving "a bomb of some kind," Defense Secretary Mark Esper seemed less than convinced by that explanation.
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| Virginia mayor urged to resign after saying Biden picked ‘Aunt Jemima’ as his running mate Posted: 06 Aug 2020 09:36 AM PDT  A Virginia mayor has been urged to resign after he allegedly wrote that "Joe Biden has just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick," on his Facebook page.Barry Presgraves, the mayor of Luray, Virginia, posted the comment on his Facebook page over the weekend, but swiftly deleted it after backlash from residents and local officials.
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| Help Lebanon: Remove Hezbollah’s Stranglehold — and Its Dangerous Missile Stockpiles Posted: 06 Aug 2020 08:25 AM PDT  Beirut has been ravaged by a massive explosion, likely caused by careless handling of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at its port. As the city is still picking through the debris and thousands search for loved ones, countries such as Turkey, Iran, Qatar, France, and Israel are rushing to provide support. Yet looming over Beirut even now is the presence of the terrorist group Hezbollah with its network of 150,000 missiles, many stored in civilian areas throughout the country.While Hezbollah has not been blamed for the August 4 warehouse fire that led to the massive explosion, it is alleged to have imported and stored similar stockpiles of dangerous munitions and chemicals, such as ammonium nitrate, used in explosives. Hezbollah also helped create the corrupt and negligent political system whose lack of accountability enabled the careless storage of these deadly chemicals for years. For instance, a new report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies asserts that Hezbollah siphons off billions from around the world into a kind of black market. Money is laundered through Lebanon, allowing Hezbollah to function as a kind of parallel state, one with its own terror army, missiles, companies, financial services, and social servicesThe recent explosion in Lebanon must invite increased scrutiny of the role Hezbollah has played in eroding state institutions and enabling the kind of shoddy negligence that led to this disaster. To shield itself, Hezbollah will scramble to respond, likely either casting blame or portraying itself as riding to the rescue. It has done this before. After launching an attack on Israel in 2006, Hezbollah used the war's devastation to entrench and enrich itself. It did the same with the Syrian civil war in 2011, using the war next door as an excuse to send fighters to Syria and essentially conduct Lebanon's foreign policy in place of the government.The results of Hezbollah's machinations are clear: constant tensions with Israel, and the lurching of once lush and prosperous Beirut from one failure to the next, from brownouts to lack of basic services for citizens. Lebanon is in the midst of a financial crisis and requires some $93 billion for a bailout. Hezbollah has suggested Lebanon turn to China for help, as part of its goal to replace U.S. influence in Lebanon with China, Iran, and other U.S. adversaries. It may try to leverage the devastation to deepen its tentacles over the country using its network of social services and volunteers.What can be done to address Lebanon's mounting problems, now compounded by this tragic explosion, while reducing Hezbollah's corrosive influence? First, Hezbollah needs to be isolated from the financial system and from the flow of weapons coming from Iran. In recent years, Hezbollah sought to acquire precision-guided munitions and to establish factories for them in Lebanon. It has also threatened Israeli infrastructure. In a 2016 speech, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah even threatened to target ammonium-nitrate storage in Israel to cause the kind of explosion that just levelled Beirut. This leaves no doubt that the terrorist group knows exactly the level of devastation it wanted to cause in Israel and the threat it still poses. The Alma Research Center in Israel recently revealed that Hezbollah has 28 rocket-launch sites around Beirut. The recent explosion makes it clear that Hezbollah's use of civilian areas for weapons storage must be stopped in Lebanon.Yet many countries looking to provide support for Lebanon will likely do so without seeking to disentangle Hezbollah. Russia, Iran, and China may be amenable to working with Nasrallah while Turkey, Qatar, and France could turn a blind eye to the group's role. Saudi Arabia, once a major backer of Lebanon and broker of the 1989 accords that ended the country's civil war, opposes Hezbollah's role. As do other Gulf states, such as the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. can help Lebanon, monitor reconstruction, and advise on implementing financial and port-inspection standards, sidelining Hezbollah in the process.In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, aid will be concentrated on finding missing people and avoiding an economic collapse or a health crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Once this period has passed, it is essential that the dust not merely settle with Hezbollah more entrenched and powerful, its system of illicit weapons and warehouses full of munitions still dotting the civilian landscape. If Hezbollah does capitalize on this disaster, it will only accelerate Lebanon's economic collapse, and hold the country hostage in a future war with Israel.
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| MS-13 gang members charged with sex trafficking, other charges in abuse of 13-year-old runaway Posted: 05 Aug 2020 05:19 PM PDT  Federal prosecutors allege that gang members beat the girl, raped her and prostituted her in Virginia and Maryland.
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| Tourist damages 200-year-old sculpture during photo op Posted: 05 Aug 2020 09:50 AM PDT  Surveillance footage shows the man sit on the sculpture for a photo op before noticing the damage and awkwardly leaving the scene.
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| Fox News Host Sandra Smith Grills Kellyanne Conway on Trump’s COVID ‘Misinformation’ Posted: 06 Aug 2020 08:33 AM PDT  On Wednesday, Facebook finally took the long overdue step of removing a piece of Trump campaign content from its platform that pushed misinformation about COVID-19. That didn't stop Kellyanne Conway from trying to defend it Thursday morning on Fox News. The claim in question came during the president's appearance on Fox & Friends that morning, where he falsely stated, "If you look at children, children are almost—and I would almost say definitely—but almost immune from this disease." "Of course there is a debate happening about whether Facebook and Twitter should be arbiters of truth and decide what is fact and fiction," Fox host Sandra Smith began, before sharing the actual facts about confirmed coronavirus cases in children. According to the CDC, she told Conway, children under the age of 18 now make up 7.4% of total cases in the United States. "So kids are getting this disease, Kellyanne," she said. "Yes, they are and thankfully most never make it to a hospital and very few have died," Conway replied, hastening to add, "and every death is a tragedy." As she tried to pivot to glimmers of good news about the spread of the virus overall, Smith brought her back to the issue at hand."I want to stick to children though," the host said. "Because the debate right now is over the spread of misinformation by the president about children being 'nearly immune.'" Smith cited remarks from the Republican governor of Mississippi, who has just instituted a state-wide mask mandate, as further evidence that kids are transmitting the virus in large numbers before asking, "Is it helpful for the president to tell parents that children are 'nearly immune' from this and then have it factually spreading from child to child in places like Mississippi where they've opened the doors to their schools?" Seth Meyers Brutally Mocks Trump's Kindergarten Coronavirus Death ChartInstead of defending Trump's claim, all Conway could do in response was try to highlight other instances when the president didn't spread misinformation about children's susceptibility. "So I think the president is making clear that overall the average age of those who pass away from coronavirus is still about 78," she said, a separate fact that does not mean children are "nearly immune." After Conway attempted yet another pivot to attack Joe Biden, Smith again brought her back to Trump and his lies about the virus. "I get that Kellyanne and that's another conversation," the host said. "But the point is that the president said in that interview on Fox & Friends yesterday morning said it's going to 'go away, like things go away' and that is something many people are taking issue with." She quoted the White House's own health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said, "I do not believe that it will disappear because it's such a highly transmissible virus." "So is the president listening to the advice of the health experts that he has at his side?" Smith asked."Yes he is, and they should be listening to him as well," Conway replied ominously before accusing those experts of saying things on TV that they didn't express in classified task force meetings.Conway had plenty to say after that about Twitter and Facebook, but she could not defend Trump's claim that COVID-19 will magically disappear. Kellyanne Conway Loses It Over Mary Trump Book on Fox NewsRead 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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| Portland's Black police chief says violent protesters have 'taken away from' the Black Lives Matter movement Posted: 06 Aug 2020 03:24 AM PDT  While the protests in downtown Portland have largely been peaceful, there have been violent offshoots in other parts of the city this week.
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| A Uighur man recorded life inside a high-security Chinese internment camp. Here's what he said it was like. Posted: 05 Aug 2020 02:45 AM PDT  Mergan Ghappar smuggled a cell phone into a detention camp, and was able to talk to his family and film footage inside. He has since disappeared.
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| New poll shows plummeting GOP satisfaction with direction of country Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:20 PM PDT  Thanks to a marked shift among Republican voters since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, just 13 percent of Americans surveyed now say they are satisfied with "the way things are going in the United States."
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| Mississippi: More than 100 children and teachers in quarantine due to coronavirus outbreak two weeks after schools reopened Posted: 06 Aug 2020 11:46 AM PDT  More than 100 people in a Mississippi school district have been instructed to self-isolate, due to an outbreak of coronavirus less than two weeks after they reopened.At least 116 people in Corinth, a city in Mississippi, have been told to quarantine for two weeks, after six students and one staff member tested positive for Covid-19 over the past week.
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| Letters to the Editor: Heads up, Joe Biden — Kamala Harris has always been campaigning for her next job Posted: 06 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT  Kamala Harris is the junior senator from California, so what has she done for our state?
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| Ed Rollins: Don’t think Nevada will win battle for mail-in voting Posted: 06 Aug 2020 07:39 AM PDT  Ed Rollins, former Reagan campaign manager, weighs in on the Trump campaign suing Nevada over mail-in voting on 'America's Newsroom.'
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| Passenger on Alaska cruise tests positive for COVID-19, prompting quarantine, canceled sailings Posted: 05 Aug 2020 01:52 PM PDT  Passengers are quarantining on the ship until Alaska "deems it safe for them to return home" after one passenger tested positive for COVID-19.
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| Awaiting disaster, ammonium nitrate was stored at Beirut port for years Posted: 05 Aug 2020 10:31 AM PDT  For at least six years, hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which Lebanese authorities say caused Tuesday's massive blast, were negligently stored in a Beirut port warehouse, waiting for disaster to strike. The odourless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertiliser has caused numerous industrial explosions over the decades -- including the massive one in Beirut that killed at least 113 people, wounded thousands and left 300,000 homeless. A security source said the explosive power of the stored ammonium nitrate was equivalent to at least 1,200 tonnes of TNT -- explaining how the earthquake-strength blast destroyed or damaged so much of the city.
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| The man behind one of history's most iconic supercars just debuted its $3 million successor — check out the Gordon Murray T.50 Posted: 05 Aug 2020 08:19 AM PDT  This may become the greatest modern supercar, thanks to a six-speed manual transmission, a naturally aspirated V12, and and a central driver's seat.
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| China sentences 3rd Canadian to death on drug charges Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:27 AM PDT  China has sentenced a third Canadian citizen to death on drug charges amid a steep decline in relations between the two countries. The Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court announced Xu Weihong's penalty on Thursday and said an alleged accomplice, Wen Guanxiong, had been given a life sentence. Death sentences are automatically referred to China's highest court for review.
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| Esper says he underestimated how much racial injustice affects service members Posted: 05 Aug 2020 03:31 PM PDT  Defense Secretary Mark Esper called George Floyd's death a wake-up call for military leadership.
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| Tensions flare, trucks burn in Chile´s Araucania region Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:06 PM PDT |
| Sarah Sanders: If Biden can't handle basic questions, how can he handle being president? Posted: 06 Aug 2020 04:02 AM PDT  2020 hopeful Joe Biden snaps at a reporter who asked him if he took a cognitive test; former White House press secretary and Fox News contributor Sarah Sanders reacts.
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| California prosecutors asked the NFL to remove its PSA about the police killing of Stephon Clark, arguing it 'misrepresents the facts' Posted: 05 Aug 2020 01:39 PM PDT  Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-year-old Black man was shot eight times by two Sacramento police officers in March 2018.
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| Reporter reflects on Beirut explosion, burying a dog who made 'dystopia more bearable' Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:23 PM PDT  Journalist Nadia al-Faour was at the vet when the Beirut explosion struck: "I will miss Loulou as I walk the streets of a broken city."
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| Lebanese officials unloaded a 'floating bomb' and apparently ignored warnings for years, according to reports Posted: 05 Aug 2020 07:41 PM PDT  Lebanese officials knew they were storing dangerous, explosive materials at the port in Beirut, but ignored years of warnings.
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| Germany floats a new NATO spending yardstick: 10 percent Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:39 AM PDT  Officials are pushing for a new yardstick to measure Berlin's contributions to NATO, suggesting the country could shoulder 10 percent of alliance requirements.
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| Here’s how you can apply for up to $2,000 in COVID relief Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:29 AM PDT  Applications for the program, which kicked off Wednesday, are now available online in English, Creole and Spanish.
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| Trump was ‘stating a fact’ when he said children are less susceptible to coronavirus, White House insists Posted: 06 Aug 2020 02:32 AM PDT  Donald Trump was "stating a fact" when he said that children are less susceptible to Covid-19, a White House official has said after Facebook removed a post in which the president made false claims about the virus.Courtney Parella, deputy national press secretary, accused Facebook and Twitter of "flagrant bias" after the tech giants penalised Trump and his campaign team for promoting a video in which the president claimed children are "almost immune" from the disease.
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| Joshua Wong and other Hong Kong activists charged over banned June 4 vigil Posted: 06 Aug 2020 06:02 AM PDT  Two dozen people in Hong Kong, including pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, have been charged with participating in an illegal assembly at a vigil on June 4 commemorating the crackdown on protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen square in 1989. It was the first time the vigil had been banned in semiautonomous Hong Kong, with police citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings in refusing permission for it to take place. The anniversary struck an especially sensitive nerve in the former British colony this year, falling just as China prepared to introduce national security legislation later that month in response to last year's often violent pro-democracy demonstrations.
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| Chicago rapper FBG Duck killed in brazen daytime shopping attack Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:35 PM PDT  The attack was committed in the Gold Coast luxury shopping district by four gunmen in two vehicles.
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| I tried making Guy Fieri's signature recipes for a week, and I didn't love my whole trip to Flavortown Posted: 05 Aug 2020 11:18 AM PDT  The Food Network star's known for eating comfort food on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," and I tried some of his favorite recipes and meals for a week.
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| Videos show Black inmate John Neville saying 'I can't breathe' before fatal injury; sheriff apologizes Posted: 06 Aug 2020 11:54 AM PDT  A North Carolina sheriff apologized before videos were released showing John Neville telling jailers he can't breathe as he was fatally injured.
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| Within 11 days of schools opening, dozens of students and teachers have gotten COVID-19: 'I truly wish we'd kept our children home' Posted: 06 Aug 2020 12:10 PM PDT  Schools began reopening several weeks ago. Dozens of students and staff have already tested positive for COVID-19.
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| Federal judge rules the government owns an undeveloped island off Key West — not a developer Posted: 06 Aug 2020 01:15 PM PDT  Government, not developer, owns undeveloped Island off Key West: judge
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| Rudy Giuliani wildly claims Black Lives Matter are a 'domestic terror group' who 'hate white men in particular' Posted: 06 Aug 2020 07:18 AM PDT  President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has claimed Black Lives Matter is a "domestic terrorist group," despite the group never being tied to a single terrorism event in a global database of almost 200,000."These are killers, and these are people who hate white people. They're people who hate white men in particular. And they want to do away with a mother-father family," Mr Giuliani said on Fox and Friends on Thursday, although ample evidence debunks that claim.
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| Survivors mark 75th anniversary of world’s 1st atomic attack Posted: 05 Aug 2020 04:25 PM PDT  Survivors of the world's first atomic bombing gathered in diminished numbers near an iconic, blasted dome Thursday to mark the attack's 75th anniversary, many of them urging the world, and their own government, to do more to ban nuclear weapons. An upsurge of coronavirus cases in Japan meant a much smaller than normal turnout, but the bombing survivors' message was more urgent than ever. As their numbers dwindle — their average age is about 83 — many nations have bolstered or maintained their nuclear arsenals, and their own government refuses to sign a nuclear weapons ban treaty.
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| Children rapidly deported from the United States strain Guatemalan shelters Posted: 06 Aug 2020 06:07 AM PDT  Hundreds of migrant children rapidly expelled from the United States under a coronavirus immigration policy are returning to shelters in Guatemala where virus testing and bed capacity are regularly stretched to their limits. Shelter operators, government officials in the Central American nation and international organizations said they are seeing rising numbers of children being sent back to Guatemala alone, with some unable to return to their homes because of domestic abuse or gang violence. "Child protection services, which were already overstretched and under-resourced have now been further compromised by COVID-19," said United Nations children's agency UNICEF spokesman Christopher Tidey.
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| Pope Francis appoints 6 women to senior roles Posted: 06 Aug 2020 08:16 AM PDT  Pope Francis has ensured there are more women officials at the Vatican than ever before.
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| After the FBI raided Jake Paul's mansion, speculation was rampant about his associate 'Armani' Izadi, who is an accused pimp and was also searched by the feds Posted: 06 Aug 2020 11:12 AM PDT  In addition to Jake Paul's Calabasas home, FBI agents also searched the Las Vegas mansion of his associate, 'Armani' Izadi, an accused pimp.
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| These states require travelers to self-quarantine or present negative COVID-19 test Posted: 06 Aug 2020 04:43 PM PDT  States are opening back up, but some still require or recommend visitors self-quarantine for two weeks. Find out where.
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| An emergency medicine physician projects that if schools open in the fall, they'll close by the end of October with COVID-19 outbreaks Posted: 05 Aug 2020 09:20 PM PDT  One doctor said reopened schools could shut down again by the end of October, citing the "confluence" of the flu season and increased exposure.
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| Foreign policy experts propose 6 ways U.S. should change its Russia strategy Posted: 05 Aug 2020 12:15 PM PDT  More than 100 foreign policy experts — including former White House officials in Reagan, (both) Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Trump administrations — laid out six proposals for how the United States should alter its relationship with Russia in an open letter published by Politico on Tuesday.The letter calls for squelching Russian interference in U.S. elections, while also engaging with Moscow about the matter through negotiations "out of the public square." Another top priority, the signatories believe, is for the White House and Congress to restore "normal diplomatic contacts" with Russia after several were shuttered following the Crimea invasion in 2014. "Too often we wrongly consider diplomatic contacts as a reward for good behavior, but they are about promoting our interests and delivering tough messages," the letter reads.The other ideas include taking on a dual leadership role with Moscow in nuclear arms control, focusing on "three-way cooperation" between Washington, Moscow, and Beijing, and emphasizing that even in areas of genuine disagreement between the countries — like Ukraine and Syria — "measured and phased steps" are key to improving the "overall relationship."Finally, the letter argues that Washington's sanction strategy needs to change. While, the signatories agree sanctions should remain part of the U.S.'s Russia policy, they need to be more flexible so they can be "eased quickly" should Russia engage productively in negotiations. At the moment, Moscow lacks the incentive to change course even in the face of sanctions, the letter says, because it considers U.S. sanctions "permanent." Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com Pelosi doubts Republicans will pass generous coronavirus bill: 'Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn' Facebook employees report 'pattern of preferential treatment' for conservatives who spread misinformation The terrible trade-off of keeping schools closed
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| As legal battle over school reopening proceeds, DeSantis stresses importance of sports Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:33 AM PDT  Flanked by coaches, athletes and politicians, Gov. Ron DeSantis Thursday used sports to emphasize his support of school reopenings.
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| Virginia business owner reacts to employee's house arrest for defending shop from robber Posted: 05 Aug 2020 05:56 PM PDT  Worker arrested after defending himself from armed robbery; Arlington Smoke Shop owner Jowan Zuber speaks out.
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| 10 countries account for 80% of Africa COVID-19 testing: Africa CDC Posted: 06 Aug 2020 05:15 AM PDT  Ten countries account for 80% of the new coronavirus testing taking place across Africa, a regional body said on Thursday, indicating that little testing is taking place in many countries around the vast continent. COVID-19 confirmed cases across Africa have accelerated and are close to hitting a million this week, and experts say low levels of testing in many countries means infection rates are likely to be higher than reported. "This number indicates we reached 90% of our goal for the partnership to accelerate COVID testing," Nkengasong told a virtual news conference.
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