Black Lives Matter is just tip of iceberg. Economic gain, worker protections, voting also key

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

'My work is about uprooting structural racism from every aspect of our society — our economy, our government and our communities.'

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Kim Klacik: President Trump is producing real results for the Black community

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Republican congressional candidate Kim Klacik joins Maria Bartiromo on 'Sunday Morning Futures.'

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Paul Rusesabagina: Hotel Rwanda film hero arrested

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Paul Rusesabagina's efforts to save people during the Rwanda genocide were depicted in a film.

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Swift Boat mastermind to launch massive super PAC to boost Trump

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The late effort, expected to include some of the party's biggest givers, comes as Trump has been overwhelmed by Joe Biden on TV.

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Will my child be sent home for cough, runny nose? What to know about day care guidelines during COVID-19

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

With flu, cold and allergy season around the corner, experts say a runny nose or cough is almost inevitable at daycare facilities.

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‘We Germans,’ Alexander Starritt by the Author: An Excerpt

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Unwitting Progressives for Trump

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Facebook Could Block Sharing of News Stories in Australia

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Frustrated by Election Boycott, Venezuela’s Leader Pardons 100 Opponents

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A Teacher and Congresswoman Confronts School Reopenings

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Trump Fans Strife as Unrest Roils the U.S.

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A series of primaries in Massachusetts could be a bellwether for the Democratic Party.

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The US president suggests right-wing activists in Wisconsin and Oregon acted in self-defence.September 01, 2020 at 05:44AM

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Five years on from the migrant crisis of 2015 hundreds are still dying in the Mediterranean.September 01, 2020 at 05:28AM

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For some people Covid just will not go away – one woman’s Instagram diary of her long-haul illness.September 01, 2020 at 05:27AM

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The US, China and Russia are pouring money into aircraft that can fly at five times the speed of sound.September 01, 2020 at 05:04AM

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Prashant Bhushan refused to apologise to the Supreme Court and got a symbolic one-rupee fine.September 01, 2020 at 05:04AM

Trump defends supporters accused in deadly clashes

from BBC News - World The US president suggests right-wing activists in Wisconsin and Oregon acted in self-defence. https://ift.tt/2EOY2AE

Hundreds of migrants still dying in Med five years since 2015

from BBC News - World Five years on from the migrant crisis of 2015 hundreds are still dying in the Mediterranean. https://ift.tt/2QEZRme

Still ill with coronavirus six months later: 'I have no idea how to get better'

from BBC News - World For some people Covid just will not go away – one woman’s Instagram diary of her long-haul illness. https://ift.tt/34QT9Sw

Rival powers jockey for the lead in hypersonic aircraft

from BBC News - World The US, China and Russia are pouring money into aircraft that can fly at five times the speed of sound. https://ift.tt/3lzayFi

Prashant Bhushan: India finds an unlikely hero in lawyer-activist

from BBC News - World Prashant Bhushan refused to apologise to the Supreme Court and got a symbolic one-rupee fine. https://ift.tt/3lBalla

Why this black drive-in cinema is a big hit

from BBC News - World Drive-ins are booming, of course. But this one is also responding to the other big story of the year. https://ift.tt/3hKtMWl

Jon Rahm Sinks a Big Putt to Win Playoff at the BMW Championship

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More than 20 people were hospitalised after attending the party in the Norwegian capital Oslo.August 31, 2020 at 06:24AM

Norway bunker partygoers poisoned with carbon monoxide

from BBC News - World More than 20 people were hospitalised after attending the party in the Norwegian capital Oslo. https://ift.tt/3lyzLje

U.S. military identifies two soldiers killed in Black Hawk training crash

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Chicago police respond to 10 shootings in about 3 hours Sunday, including 3 homicides and an attack that left 2 officers seriously wounded

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A couple received an anonymous note calling their unpainted house an "eyesore," then they received over $48,000 to help with repairs

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

A couple that has suffered multiple health issues received a note shaming them for their unpainted house. A GoFundMe page raised money for repairs.

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

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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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"His politics are appalling": Steve Mnuchin's family speaks out in disgust over his fealty to Trump

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

His family has not only criticized him but publically accused him of racism

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Kentucky AG has received ballistics in Breonna Taylor case

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Kentucky's attorney general has received a long-awaited FBI ballistics report in the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. Attorney General Daniel Cameron tweeted Sunday that there is additional analysis needed now that the report is in his hands, and there would be no announcement on the investigation this week. “We continue to work diligently to follow the facts and complete the investigation,” Cameron tweeted.

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

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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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Trump to visit Wisconsin city on Tuesday where police shot Black man in the back

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, the city that has seen unrest since a white police officer shot a Black man in the back, a White House official told reporters on Saturday. Trump will meet law enforcement officials and assess damage in the city where the officer shot Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down and remains in hospital, the official said. A 17-year-old boy is being held by authorities in Kenosha on suspicion of shooting three people who were protesting the shooting of Blake.

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SpaceX may attempt 3 rocket launches on Sunday

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SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace company, has scheduled two back-to-back Falcon 9 launches in Florida, just nine hours apart.

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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

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

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German govt condemns 'unacceptable' attempt to storm Reichstag

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The German government Sunday slammed the "unacceptable" behaviour of protesters during a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions in which hundreds were arrested and an attempt was made to storm the Reichstag parliament building.

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Stories of 2020: Five Lives Caught in a Year of Upheaval and Pain

By BY PETER BAKER, JOHN BRANCH, JOHN ELIGON, REID J. EPSTEIN, DAN LEVIN AND MARC STEIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3gJPdVW
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More than a million people arrived in Europe in 2015. Five years on, we reflect on what's changed.August 31, 2020 at 05:42AM

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Christian Kroll is the boss of Ecosia, which donates 80% of its profits to tree-planting projects.August 31, 2020 at 05:05AM

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It is a time of reflection 10 years after the country was promised a rebirth, writes Waihiga Mwaura.August 31, 2020 at 05:49AM

Mauritius oil spill: 'We want to protect our island'

from BBC News - World Young locals are helping to prevent environmental damage after an oil leak from a ship that ran aground. https://ift.tt/2QEtapm

Europe's migrant crisis: The year that changed a continent

from BBC News - World More than a million people arrived in Europe in 2015. Five years on, we reflect on what's changed. https://ift.tt/2ET2wpK

The search engine boss who wants to help us all plant trees

from BBC News - World Christian Kroll is the boss of Ecosia, which donates 80% of its profits to tree-planting projects. https://ift.tt/2YPoIZg

Letter from Africa: Why Kenyans are no longer cheering their constitution

from BBC News - World It is a time of reflection 10 years after the country was promised a rebirth, writes Waihiga Mwaura. https://ift.tt/3baM8wW

Belarus protest: Dozens arrested at mass rally

from BBC News - World The country's been gripped by mass protests since the August election, widely thought to have been rigged. https://ift.tt/2QCVnfZ

Searching for the lost dogs of the Beirut blast

from BBC News - World Many pets ran away after a massive explosion in Beirut, leaving Leila Molana-Allen pining for a missing puppy. https://ift.tt/2Dc3oFN

'They wanted to drown me at birth - now I'm a poet'

from BBC News - World Kuli Kohli has always used writing as a means of escape from the prejudice she has experienced as an Asian woman with cerebral palsy. https://ift.tt/3gFymDK

Begum Rokeya: The forgotten 19th Century feminist

from BBC News - World Begum Rokeya was a writer, educationalist and reformer who tirelessly fought for women's rights. https://ift.tt/2QCwJwg

Algeria's lessons from The Plague in the age of coronavirus

from BBC News - World Finding parallels between the famous novel and how Algeria is coping with coronavirus amid political upheaval. https://ift.tt/3hJHdWg

Migrant rescue: Dozens evacuated from overloaded Banksy ship

from BBC News - World The Louise Michel had sought help saying it had rescued so many people it was unable to move safely. https://ift.tt/3b701fT

ICYMI: Aquarium art and crop portraits

from BBC News - World Plus a newborn puma and pioneering women statues in our round-up of stories you may have missed this week. https://ift.tt/3gCMLkh

Man booked in slaying of 3, including Fort Hood soldier

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Does Kyle Rittenhouse Have a Self-Defense Claim?

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Kenosha, a city of 100,000 in Wisconsin’s southeastern corner, now confronts the question of when lethal force is justified in two different cases. One, the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer, I addressed yesterday. The other is the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is alleged to have killed two people and injured one during the civil unrest this week, and who has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, reckless homicide, and other offenses.Rittenhouse is a 17-year-old from Antioch, Ill., about a half hour’s drive from Kenosha. Inexplicably, this underage police cadet from out of state wound up on the streets after curfew in a place where a riot was likely imminent, doing interviews with journalists and openly carrying an AR-15–style rifle.There can be no question that Rittenhouse and whatever adults were in charge of him made idiotic decisions. Minors should not stand guard at riots play-acting at being cops. But even people who knowingly put themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time are allowed to defend themselves against attack when they get there. So the biggest legal question is: Did Rittenhouse defend himself against attack with an appropriate amount of force, or were the people he shot the ones acting in self-defense by trying to disarm him?The very beginning of the situation is not on video that I am aware, but the complaint against Rittenhouse contains some key details from Richard McGinnis, a Daily Caller reporter who was interviewing Rittenhouse at the time:> McGinnis said that as they were walking south another armed male who appeared to be in his 30s joined them and said he was there to protect the defendant. McGinnis stated that before the defendant reached the parking lot and ran across it, the defendant had moved from the middle of Sheridan Road to the sidewalk and that is when McGinnis saw a male ([Joseph] Rosenbaum) initially try to engage the defendant. McGinnis stated that as the defendant was walking Rosenbaum was trying to get closer to the defendant. When Rosenbaum advanced, the defendant did a “juke” move and started running. McGinnis stated that there were other people that were moving very quickly. McGinnis stated that they were moving towards the defendant. McGinnis said that according to what he saw the defendant was trying to evade these individuals.After that, much of the situation was recorded, and the New York Times has done an excellent job of stitching the videos together. This Twitter thread from a co-author of the piece nicely explains the events and (for those willing to watch graphic footage) provides the key clips:> A teenager faces charges in shootings that left 2 people dead in Kenosha, WI. The @nytimes Visual Investigations team reviewed hours of livestreams to track 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse’s movements during and leading up to the shootings. [THREAD] https://t.co/FRCYlS5wgH> > -- Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) August 27, 2020 The first video starts with people already chasing Rittenhouse, one of whom throws something at him. One person even fires a handgun in the air — and another, Rosenbaum, charges at Rittenhouse, who shoots him. After that, there are more shots from an unknown source, and Rittenhouse calls a friend on his phone and leaves.But again he’s pursued, with some protesters urging others to join in, and this time he falls down. Several people move in on him, and he takes shots at three, hitting two. One is holding a handgun and survives a shot to the arm; the other has a skateboard and dies. Again there are additional mysterious gunshots after the fact.Obviously, a big unanswered question right now is how this all really got started. But as we wait for that information, let’s take a gander at the Wisconsin laws at issue.There are two extremes here: justifiable use of deadly force and first-degree intentional homicide. So let’s see what the law says about those two situations, bearing in mind that other charges can apply if Rittenhouse’s behavior fell in between them. (There are plenty of options: Rittenhouse is charged with reckless homicide for the first fatal shooting, first-degree intentional homicide for the second, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the nonfatal one, in addition to charges for reckless endangerment and bearing a dangerous weapon as a minor.)Quite typically for a U.S. state, Wisconsin allows civilian use of deadly force when one “reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.” One major issue, then, will be whether Rittenhouse reasonably thought that the folks engaging with him meant to inflict serious injury, not just disarm him.But what if Rittenhouse provoked the confrontation to begin with? That’s bad for a claim of self-defense, but it doesn’t preclude one. Here’s another excerpt from the Wisconsin statute books:> (a) A person who engages in unlawful conduct of a type likely to provoke others to attack him or her and thereby does provoke an attack is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense against such attack, except when the attack which ensues is of a type causing the person engaging in the unlawful conduct to reasonably believe that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm. In such a case, the person engaging in the unlawful conduct is privileged to act in self-defense, but the person is not privileged to resort to the use of force intended or likely to cause death to the person's assailant unless the person reasonably believes he or she has exhausted every other reasonable means to escape from or otherwise avoid death or great bodily harm at the hands of his or her assailant.> > (b) The privilege lost by provocation may be regained if the actor in good faith withdraws from the fight and gives adequate notice thereof to his or her assailant.> > (c) A person who provokes an attack, whether by lawful or unlawful conduct, with intent to use such an attack as an excuse to cause death or great bodily harm to his or her assailant is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense.So, even if Rittenhouse bears some responsibility for the initial conflict, he can still argue that he did everything he could to escape the situation and withdraw from the fight. Both shooting incidents began with him running away.Moving to the other extreme, to prove first-degree intentional homicide, prosecutors will have to show that Rittenhouse “cause[d] the death of another human being with intent to kill that person” and will have to disprove the existence of any “mitigating circumstances” the defense asserts. If the prosecution fails at the latter task, the offense is knocked down to the second degree.Mitigating circumstances include “adequate provocation,” meaning the victim did something “sufficient to cause complete lack of self-control in an ordinarily constituted person”; “unnecessary defensive force,” meaning Rittenhouse “believed he . . . was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that the force used was necessary to defend [himself],” even though the belief was unreasonable; and “prevention of felony,” meaning he believed his actions were necessary to stop the “commission of a felony,” even though the belief was unreasonable. In other words, even if Rittenhouse unreasonably thought his actions were necessary, he can get the charge downgraded, though in that case he’ll still have committed a very serious offense.Rittenhouse is already a hero to some and a supervillain to others; in that sense, he is the Bernie Goetz of 2020. The highest charge against him strikes me as a stretch, but beyond that I don’t have any bold opinions yet. The outcome for each shooting will depend on whether Rittenhouse reasonably feared for his life, which in turn might depend on broader context we lack thus far — and even if all three shootings were justified, there are still firearms and reckless-endangerment charges for him to contend with.Where the f*** were this kid’s parents?

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Biden notes 'the violence we're witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me.'

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There's been a lot of talk at this week's Republican National Convention about the dystopian hellhole of "Joe Biden's America." On Thursday evening, Joe Biden said he wasn't sure President Trump is aware he's been in charge of America for the past three and a half years. "If you think about it, Donald Trump saying, 'You're not going to be safe in Joe Biden's America,'" he told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "All the video being played is in Donald Trump's America." (Or, to be fair, Spain.) Biden formalized that idea in a statement.> Inbox: "Is Donald Trump even aware he's president?" pic.twitter.com/tFLtRNXFW5> > — Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) August 27, 2020"Is Donald Trump even aware he's president?" Biden asked. "These are not images from some imagined 'Joe Biden's America' in the future. These are images from Donald Trump's America today. The violence we're witnessing is happening under Donald Trump. Not me. It's getting worse, and we know why." Trump "refuses to even acknowledge there is a racial justice problem in America," he added. "Instead of looking to calm the waters, he adds fuel to every fire. Violence isn't a problem in his eyes — it's a political strategy. And the more of it, the better for him."White House counselor Kellyanne Conway had actually made a similar point on Thursday morning, telling Fox & Friends that "the more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order."Biden said he has "made it clear" there's "no place for violence, looting, or burning. None. Zero." He predicted that Trump would attack him again in his RNC acceptance speech. But, he added, "when Donald Trump says tonight you won't be safe in Joe Biden's America, look around and ask yourself: How safe do you feel in Donald Trump's America?"More stories from theweek.com Trump's RNC polling bounce more about 'subtraction on the Biden side,' pollster suggests 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Many uninsured coronavirus patients reportedly don't qualify for Trump's coverage program because of other illnesses

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Kenosha police union gives its version of Blake shooting

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

The Kenosha police union on Friday offered the most detailed accounting to date on officers' perspective of the moments leading up to police shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, saying he had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock and shrugging off two attempts to stun him. The statement from Brendan Matthews, attorney for the Kenosha Professional Police Association, goes into more detail than anything that has been released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is investigating. The Sunday shooting of Blake, a Black man, put the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin and triggered a series of peaceful protests and violence, including the killing of two people by an armed civilian on Tuesday.

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

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

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Forecasters eye two developing systems in the Atlantic: Nana, Omar could be next up on the heels of Hurricane Laura

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Although the remnants of Hurricane Laura are still drenching parts of the US Friday, there are already concerns about more storms stirring in the Atlantic.

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Portland protesters occupied mayor's presumed condo complex

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Police declared a riot at another protest after a fire was set at the police union building.

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Judge agrees to free Chinese researcher in visa fraud case

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Australia open to talks over where NZ mosque shooter serves life sentence

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Australia's prime minister said on Friday he was open to discussions over whether Australian mass killer Brenton Tarrant, jailed for life without parole this week for the New Zealand mosque shootings, should serve his sentence in his home country. Scott Morrison told broadcaster Channel Seven he had not received a formal request from New Zealand for such a transfer, although New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters suggested it after Tarrant was sentenced on Thursday. "We'll have an open discussion and look at the issues around this," Morrison said, adding that the views of the affected families would need to be considered first.

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Mary Trump says GOP convention 'disturbing to watch,' calls portrayal of president a sham

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The president's niece said on MSNBC that she was appalled to see her uncle described as a caring family man.

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Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satellite

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The "hot-fire abort" derailed plans for three launches in just two days from Florida's Space Coast.

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‘It Was Challenging’: Bucks Return, Balancing Basketball and Activism

By BY MARC STEIN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/31GQF7a
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Coronavirus Around the World

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Many pets ran away after a massive explosion in Beirut, leaving Leila Molana-Allen pining for a missing puppy.August 30, 2020 at 05:20AM

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Kuli Kohli has always used writing as a means of escape from the prejudice she has experienced as an Asian woman with cerebral palsy.August 30, 2020 at 05:14AM

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Begum Rokeya was a writer, educationalist and reformer who tirelessly fought for women's rights.August 30, 2020 at 05:03AM

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Finding parallels between the famous novel and how Algeria is coping with coronavirus amid political upheaval.August 30, 2020 at 05:17AM

Amazon fires: Are they worse this year than before?

from BBC News - World Blazes are continuing to rage in the Amazon rainforest, despite the Brazilian president's fire ban. https://ift.tt/31FfZuC

Cloud gaming: Are game streaming services bad for the planet?

from BBC News - World Remote streaming services may be the future but could cause a sharp rise in emissions, a study shows. https://ift.tt/2EN8etf

Week in pictures: 22-28 August 2020

from BBC News - World A selection of remarkable images taken around the world this week. https://ift.tt/2EC3ZB5

Bihar: Destroyed lives and submerged homes in flood-hit India

from BBC News - World Homes and livelihoods have been swept away by monsoon rains in India's Bihar state. https://ift.tt/2YJnfDw

Trump’s Voter Fraud ‘Proof’ Turned Out to Be the Real Fraud

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Citizens throughout the nation are counting on using mail ballots to vote in November without placing their lives at risk. President Donald Trump is determined to prevent them from doing so, if they live in heavily Democratic metropolitan areas, that is. Trump claims that allowing widespread mail balloting is an invitation to massive and systematic fraud, saying: “What they're doing is using COVID to steal an election. They're using COVID to defraud the American people.” But when a judge ordered Trump’s campaign to come up with evidence for the president’s fraud claims, the campaign produced absolutely nothing. Still, there’s ample evidence that if Trump gets his way, hundreds of thousands of duly registered voters will not be able to vote, or will have their ballots go uncounted—more than enough to sway the outcome of a close election.On June 29, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit demanding the voiding of the efforts of Pennsylvania’s state officials to facilitate mail voting during the pandemic, pursuant to a recently enacted law. Among other things, Pennsylvania is allowing the use of ballot drop boxes, so voters can avoid returning ballots through the mails. In light of revelations that Trump’s recently installed Postmaster General (and fundraiser), Louis DeJoy, deliberately engineered new inefficiencies and delays at the Postal Service (particularly in Philadelphia), the need for drop boxes is even more clear. But that’s only made the Trump campaign more determined to prevent their use.  Al Gore: If Trump Refuses to Concede, the Military Would Run Him OutAccording to the Trump campaign’s complaint, Pennsylvania voting officials “have sacrificed the sanctity of in-person voting at the altar of unmonitored and unsecured mail-in voting and have exponentially enhanced the threat that fraudulent or otherwise ineligible ballots will be cast and counted in the upcoming General Election.” Trump’s complaint uses the word “fraud” no fewer than 51 times. Given the centrality of Trump’s fraud claims, on Aug. 13 the Pittsburgh federal judge hearing the case, Nicholas Ranjan (a Trump appointee), ordered the campaign to provide any and all evidence supporting its allegations “concerning potential or actual fraud or voter misconduct,” including “from the use of drop boxes, absentee ballots, or vote-by-mail.” When the Daily Beast asked the Trump campaign for a copy of the materials it produced, the campaign declined to share one. It later became clear why, when the campaign’s interrogatory responses were disclosed. The filings contained virtually no evidence of mail-in or drop-box ballot fraud, let alone fraud of a nature and scale remotely sufficient to change the outcome of a statewide election. Instead, the document contained a grab bag of examples of campaign irregularities, errors and misconduct, many taken from newspaper articles, and none substantiating the massive mail voting fraud claims the campaign made in its complaint. Indeed, the campaign was reduced to making the absurd contention that it does “not need to demonstrate any evidence of fraud to prove” its case, even though the campaign’s complaint was laced with, and grounded on, claims of a grave risk of fraud. Of course, it’s nothing new for Trump and his associates to make claims without evidence. Apart from the president’s now regular rants about “rigging” the upcoming election, Attorney General William Barr has repeatedly contended that “if you have wholesale mail-in voting, it substantially increases the risk of fraud." Barr has even joined Trump in asserting that foreign nations are poised to engage in massive counterfeiting of mail in ballots to sway the outcome of the election. But when asked if he had any evidence whatsoever to support his claims, Barr has repeatedly admitted, most recently before Congress, that he has none, and instead is relying entirely on what he calls "common sense.” A senior official of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently contradicted Barr, stating that the intelligence community has no evidence that foreign powers intend to manipulate mail-in ballots. In fact, as election experts have demonstrated, Barr’s claim that mail ballots are a likely source for massive, systematic fraud—let alone a foreign power’s scheme to sway an election—is entirely contrary to common sense. A database maintained by the conservative Heritage Foundation indicates that, over a period of nine years, there were all of 15 cases of voter fraud in the five states that employ universal mail-in voting; furthermore, as election expert Rick Hasen has explained, it would likely require thousands of counterfeit or otherwise fraudulent ballots to sway the outcome of a state’s election, something that would be virtually impossible to carry off.  A senior FBI official similarly recently stated that “[i]t's extraordinarily difficult to change a federal election outcome through [coordinated] fraud alone.”Trump lost a round when the Pennsylvania federal court case was temporarily stayed by the judge hearing it in favor of allowing the Pennsylvania law issues in the case to first be addressed by state courts; but it will likely be revised.  In the meantime, the Trump campaign can be expected to continue to peddle its bogus fraud claims in every court in which it can be heard. But there is now no doubt that the Trump challenges to mail voting are grounded on phantom, and indeed, fantastically fraudulent, claims of fraud. But there’s nothing speculative about the consequences of allowing Trump to get away with his scheme to suppress and limit mail voting. If Trump succeeds, thousands of eligible voters will be prevented from casting their votes, or will complete ballots that are not counted. The Washington Post reported that more than 534,000 mail ballots went uncounted during the recent primaries, many in battleground states, including because signatures were rejected or ballots were received past the deadlines. The vast majority of these ballots were cast by duly registered citizens who had every right to vote. At the end of the day, of course, the Trump campaign has no actual interest in preventing voter fraud; rather, the president wants to make it even more difficult for people who reasonably fear going to crowded polling places in heavily Democratic metropolitan areas from effectively voting by mail, and thereby from voting at all. That is a classic voter disenfranchisement scheme, and it is directly at odds with the principles of democracy.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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Laura thrashes Louisiana, nearby states face tornado threats

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

One of the strongest hurricanes ever to strike the U.S., Laura barreled across Louisiana on Thursday, shearing off roofs and killing at least six people while carving a destructive path hundreds of miles inland. A full assessment of the damage wrought by the Category 4 system was likely to take days, and the threat of additional damage loomed as new tornado warnings were issued after dark in Arkansas and Mississippi even as the storm weakened into a depression. “It is clear that we did not sustain and suffer the absolute, catastrophic damage that we thought was likely," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

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A soup kitchen in Pakistan has been serving hot meals for 20 years, but is being pushed to the limit in the pandemic

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The kitchen, Khana Ghar, charges a token amount for each meal so that customers feel like they've earned it and "their self-respect remains intact."

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Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend says she had nothing to do with alleged drug crimes

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The ex-boyfriend of Breonna Taylor speaks out and claims she was not involved in illegal activities. Breonna Taylor‘s ex-boyfriend has come forward in an attempt to clear up her alleged involvement in any criminal activity. Jamarcus Glover, 30, was the target of the narcotics investigation leading to the execution of the no-knock warrant that resulted in the police shooting and killing Taylor, the Courier-Journal reports.

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Hong Kong: China arrests 10 after intercepting boat 'fleeing Hong Kong'

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Activists were among those detained off Guangdong province on Sunday, Hong Kong media say.

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Man arrested after wallet stolen from California firefighter battling wildfires

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The sheriff of Santa Cruz County said the suspect admitted the theft and wrote a letter of apology.

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Republican senator, swarmed by protesters after Trump speech, calls for FBI probe

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Republican Senator Rand Paul on Friday called on the FBI to investigate a crowd of protesters that swarmed him as he departed the White House after listening to U.S. President Donald Trump accept his party's nomination for re-election. Paul told Fox News Channel he believes the group chanting his name and pushing against his impromptu police escort was paid to incite a riot. "I believe there are going to be people who were involved with the attack on us that actually were paid to come here and are not from Washington, D.C., and are sort of paid to be anarchists," Paul said.

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Hurricane Laura's 'unsurvivable' storm surge: It looks like Louisiana was spared, but some rural areas likely hit hard

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Gov. John Bel Edwards said Louisiana "caught a break" on storm surge. The National Hurricane Center says the surge was likely as bad as feared.

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Rights groups call for release of Jordanian cartoonist

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A former SpaceX intern says she reported sexual harassment to HR — and it cost her the opportunity for a full-time job

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In a new lawsuit, the former SpaceX intern says her manager made inappropriate comments and wanted to take her to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

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Fox News' Chris Wallace calls out co-hosts for defending armed vigilantes

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Fox News' Chris Wallace has a brief legal reminder about vigilante justice.On Wednesday, a 17-year-old who appeared to be aligned with an armed vigilante group was arrested after allegedly shooting and killing two people during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Tuesday night. Several Fox News contributors and hosts discussed the situation in Kenosha on Thursday, with Katie Pavlich saying "on the topic of vigilante justice, when you have no police around ... then there is a void that is filled."Pavlich's comments spurred Wallace to "push back" against the "implication vigilante justice was understandable or justified by the lack of sufficient police action." But Pavlich and the other hosts tried to talk over Wallace and insist he hadn't heard what was just said. "Just as it's fair to say that rioting and looting is a completely inappropriate response to George Floyd or Jacob Blake, vigilante justice is a completely inappropriate response to the rioting on the street," Wallace eventually said, forcefully reminding them "vigilante justice is a crime."> Wallace pushes back in the next segment> > "I've got to push back ... there seemed to be the implication that somehow vigilante justice was understandable or justified by the lack of sufficient police action ... you were saying it filled a void, I don't think that's right" pic.twitter.com/MuWTi4Rio9> > — Lis Power (@LisPower1) August 27, 2020Protests have gone on for days in Kenosha since police shot Jacob Blake on Sunday, with peaceful daytime demonstrations turning violent at night. Fox News' Tucker Carlson is among conservatives defending the alleged killer.More stories from theweek.com McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat' 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Biden's latest ad puts Trump's weirdest moments and empty rallies to a Bad Bunny song

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Right-Wing Goons Hype Kenosha Vigilantes. Locals Tell Them to Get Lost.

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As Kenosha, Wisconsin, continues to reel from the police shooting of Jacob Blake, residents are increasingly turning their anger to so-called outside agitators who some say invaded the city to sow chaos amongst the protests—and even kill demonstrators.“They [outsiders] tore up our neighborhood, this is our neighborhood, this is where we shop at. These are not Kenosha people,” Lonnie Stewart, 60, told The Daily Beast. “They’re coming to Kenosha, Wisconsin to destroy our city.”Immediately after a Kenosha police officer shot 29-year-old Blake in the back several times as he tried to get into a van with his kids on Sunday, the Wisconsin city descended into fiery unrest against police brutality. Buildings burned, and cars were razed as activists decried yet another act of police violence against a person of color.That alone provided new fodder for the “outside agitator” narrative—that rogues from out of town have used protests across America over wanton killings by cops as an excuse to riot or incite violence. Those claims haven’t always been baseless, though they are most often used as a premise to crack down on activists. This week, they were also in keeping with the be-very-afraid spirit of the Republican National Convention, which has ignored police violence except to dunk on the unrest that follows it.But after two nights of tense altercations between police in tactical gear and residents and regional activists who defied citywide curfews, hoards of heavily-armed counter-protesters arrived in Kenosha to murderous effect on Tuesday. Police say 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, a Blue Lives Matter fanatic carrying a military-style semi-automatic rifle, killed two people and injured a third after traveling from Illinois to co-mingle with other armed vigilantes looking to protect the city. Prosecutors filed five felony charges against him on Thursday, including first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide—as well as a misdemeanor charge of possession of a deadly weapon.Residents say not all “outside agitators” are created equal—and they want the far-right hordes who have taken to cheering on Rittenhouse as some kind of hero to know that.Here Are the Athletes and Teams Boycotting Games to Protest the Shooting of Jacob Blake“I was terrified when I heard that news and I really had hoped it was just talk and that they wouldn’t actually do anything,” Angie Aker, a 41-year-old Kenosha native, said of armed groups. “Kenosha is a peaceful place. It still has a small-town feel to it—almost everybody knows everyone or is only like one or two degrees of separation. There isn’t usually any of this widespread chaos.”Right-wing media have predictably emerged as staunch defenders of the teenager, even justifying his deadly alleged actions as a necessary evil. “Kenosha has devolved into anarchy, the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Wednesday night. “People in charge, from the governor of Wisconsin on down, refused to enforce the law. They stood back and watched Kenosha burn.”“So are we really surprised this looting and arson accelerated to murder?” he continued. “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would? Everyone can see what was happening in Kenosha. It was getting crazier by the hour.”Rittenhouse appeared on multiple videos taken throughout the night as the peaceful demonstration veered toward something more sinister. The Lake County Public Defender’s Office, which is listed as representing the teenager, declined to comment. Attorney Lin Wood, who represented Covington Catholic graduate Nick Sandmann, had a team gearing up to provide support to Rittenhouse, his assistant told The Daily Beast. The lawyers have also established a defense fund on the teenager’s behalf.In one gut-wrenching video, an armed man matching Rittenhouse’s description tripped over on a street before firing at people who seemed to be making an attempt to disarm him. During the exchange, one person was shot in the head and another in the chest around 11:45 p.m. and never got up. Another video appears to show the teenager firing several shots—before getting up and walking toward police vehicles with his hands up in apparent surrender. A third video appears to show him running away and holding his rifle, where he is heard apparently uttering into his phone, “I just killed somebody.” While authorities have not yet released any names, family and friends have identified Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, and Joseph “Jojo” Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha as the two who were killed, according to several local media outlets. Friends also say Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was shot in the arm during the incident and was expected to survive. Grosskreutz was in Kenosha with the social justice reform group the People's Revolution Movement of Milwaukee, a spokesperson told The Daily Beast.“I had to watch my friend die on Facebook, I had to watch my city burn down,” Marcus Starks, a 35-year-old Kenosha native, and friend of Huber, previously told The Daily Beast. He proceeded to turn his ire to Rittenhouse, the new vigilante prince of the far-right.“That boy had no business being here, let alone with open carry,” Starks told The Daily Beast, adding, “If you’re gonna close this town, close it all the way down.”Officer Rusten Sheskey Identified as Cop Who Shot Jacob BlakeIn a separate video seemingly shot at the boarded-up gas station where Rittenhouse appeared in a Daily Caller video, an individual resembling Rittenhouse is seen chatting with police officers and other vigilante guards. Rittenhouse, whose social media accounts are rife with support for pro-police causes and his affinity for guns, also was interviewed by a Daily Caller reporter before the shootings. “So people are getting injured and our job is to protect this business,” Rittenhouse replies in the video posted on Twitter after being asked what he’s doing at the protest. “And part of my job is to also help people. If there is somebody hurt I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle because I need to protect myself obviously. I also have my med kit.”The Kenosha Police Department said Friday nine people were arrested for disorderly conduct on Aug. 26 after officers received a tip about “suspicious” vehicles with out-of-state license plates meeting up in a remote parking lot. Cops followed the vehicles—which included a black school bus, a break truck, and a tan minivan—to a gas station where some people were attempting “to fill multiple fuel cans.” The vehicles contained items like helmets, gas masks, protective vests, illegal fireworks, and suspected controlled substances, cops said.A Facebook spokesperson said Thursday that none of Rittenhouse’s accounts were reported prior to the shooting. Nor did the company find any evidence that suggested the teenager followed a self-declared militia group, the Kenosha Guard, on the platform—nor was he invited to their event for Tuesday evening, according to Facebook.Still, he seemed to establish himself quickly on the scene. And while outsiders often show up at BLM protests purporting to keep peace, they have also shown a remarkable capacity for—deliberately or otherwise—inciting violence.One of the first prominent instances of property damage tied to George Floyd-era protests, in which a masked man smashed windows in Minneapolis in late May, appears to have been the work of a white supremacist disguised as an anti-fascist, investigators later claimed in an affidavit. Meanwhile, even as initial reports suggested most or all arrests at the Minneapolis-area chaos were from out of state, nearly all of those people were later revealed to be locals. This week, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was one of the first on the far right to fervently defend Rittenhouse, stating on his show Infowars Wednesday that the violence was just an act of self-preservation against what he described as “a community overthrow of the country.” “I told you they’re going to ratchet this up toward the election and try to make the whole thing racial. But it’s not—it’s about a globalist takeover,” Jones said.Jones was among several right-wing pundits defending Rittenhouse’s actions. The Gateway Pundit, a conservative blog, wrote multiple articles based on the extremely graphic videos, seemingly justifying Rittenhouses’s actions as self-defense.In a post now taken-down by Twitter, Ann Coulter declared Rittenhouse should be her president. A contributor for Turning Point USA, a right-wing pro-Trump student organization founded by Charlie Kirk, defended the actions as a “justified shooting,” while former Major League Baseball player Aubrey Huff tweeted on Thursday that Rittenhouse is a “national treasure.”Unrest in Kenosha was also an implicit theme during the third night of the Republican National Convention—even if no one appeared to explicitly embrace Rittenhouse’s alleged actions. Vice President Mike Pence condemned "the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country.”“The violence must stop whether in Minneapolis, Portland, or Kenosha too,” he added. Even Donald Trump Jr. has inched toward Rittenhouse's defense: The president’s son on Thursday liked a tweet from far-right conspiracy-theorist Mike Cernovich about the teenager’s “Mostly Peaceful Self Defense Initiative.”Aker, the Kenosha native, said even “pockets of libertarians” in the city were defending Rittenhouse. “In their minds, and the way I’ve seen them talking about it, they’re hailing Rittenhouse as a hero,” she told The Daily Beast. “I think the armed militia agitators, while they don’t represent a lot of Kenosha, showed the world the cooperation that is going on between white racist citizens, the children they’re grooming for violence and hate, and law enforcement,” she added. “It’s been more under the surface until this situation, and this really forced it into plain view. It’s probably a good thing that we’re talking about it and seeing it for what it is now. That’s the only good thing to come out of all this.” Officials on Wednesday were already anticipating—if also perhaps inviting—more chaos with a different kind of outsider: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced National Guard troops from Arizona, Michigan, and Alabama, were being deployed to assist local law enforcement as a city-wide curfew remains in place.“Our town not finna be the same no more,” Elicia Pavlovich, a 29-year-old Kenosha native, told The Daily Beast. “It’s never been like this. Never. Seeing this sight, it just hurts me.”—With reporting by Grace Del VecchioRead 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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Workers will have to pay any deferred payroll taxes by April.

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Rival Themes Emerge as Race Enters Final Weeks: Covid vs. Law and Order

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Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore After Oil Spill Off Mauritius

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Returning to the campaign trail, Trump unloads baseless attacks on Biden.

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Jacob Blake Was Shackled in Hospital Bed After Police Shot Him

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