Saturday, 29 August 2020

Iranian man sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading daughter while she slept in 'honour killing'

Iranian man sentenced to nine years in prison for beheading daughter while she slept in 'honour killing'An Iranian has been sentenced to nine years in jail for beheading his teenaged daughter in her sleep, local media reported Friday, adding that the mother wants him executed. The so-called "honour" killing of 14-year-old Romina Ashrafi on May 21 sparked widespread outrage, with media condemning "institutionalised violence" in the Islamic republic. Media said Romina was decapitated at the family home in the village of Talesh in the northern province of Gilan. "Despite the judicial authorities' insistence on a 'special handling' of the case, the verdict has terrified me and my family," Rana Dashti, the mother, told ILNA news agency. "I don't want my husband to return to our village ever again," she said, calling for the verdict to be reviewed and changed to "execution". Having lived with the man for 15 years, Dashti said she now fears for the life of the rest of her family. Ebtekar newspaper said at the time of Romina's killing that Iran's "eye for an eye" retributive justice does not apply to a father who kills his child, for which the customary sentence is jail time and fines. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has "expressed his regrets" following the girl's killing and called for the speedy passing of several anti-violence bills. Romina had reportedly run away after the father refused to give permission for her to marry a man 15 years her senior. But she was detained by authorities and taken home, despite having pleaded with a judge that she feared for her life if returned. The man she wanted to marry, Bahman Khavari, was sentenced to two years in prison, local media said, without specifying the charge. The legal age of marriage for women in Iran is 13.




Virtually the Best: Kids’ Furniture for an A+ Home-Learning Setup



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

New Jersey mayor rescinds $2,500 police overtime bill sent to student who organized BLM protestAfter holding the protest in July, Emily Gil received a letter from Mayor Mario Kranjac saying she owed $2,499.26 for police overtime.




First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection is ‘not surprising,’ doctors say

First confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection is ‘not surprising,’ doctors sayResearchers in Hong Kong confirmed the first known case of coronavirus reinfection, but many doctors and public health officials say it isn't that surprising given what we know about waning immunity from other coronaviruses.




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

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




17-year-old suspect in Jacob Blake protest shooting charged with 2 counts of homicide

17-year-old suspect in Jacob Blake protest shooting charged with 2 counts of homicideKyle Rittenhouse faces two first-degree homicide charges, as well as two charges of attempted homicide, according to Wisconsin court records..




Israel strikes Gaza after Palestinian militants fire rockets



Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satellite

Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satelliteThe "hot-fire abort" derailed plans for three launches in just two days from Florida's Space Coast.




2 more Kenosha officers named in Jacob Blake shooting

2 more Kenosha officers named in Jacob Blake shooting The Wisconsin Department of Justice named two more Kenosha police officers involved in Jacob Blake's shooting.




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

Hurricane Laura's 'unsurvivable' storm surge: It looks like Louisiana was spared, but some rural areas likely hit hardGov. John Bel Edwards said Louisiana "caught a break" on storm surge. The National Hurricane Center says the surge was likely as bad as feared.




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



26 children — one as young as 3 — rescued in Georgia sex trafficking sting, feds say

26 children — one as young as 3 — rescued in Georgia sex trafficking sting, feds say“Operation Not Forgotten” helped locate nearly 40 missing kids.




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


By BY MARC STEIN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/31GQF7a

Coronavirus Around the World


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What we know about the career of the officer who shot Jacob Blake

What we know about the career of the officer who shot Jacob BlakeRusten Sheskey said in an August 2019 interview that what he likes most about police work "is that you're dealing with people on perhaps the worst day of their lives and you can try and help them."




Louisiana avoided Laura's 'wall of water'? Not so, says forecaster

Louisiana avoided Laura's 'wall of water'? Not so, says forecasterThe highest surge hit about 15 miles east of where Laura was forecast to make landfall but it "wobbled" at the last moment. Most U.S. media played up a nine-foot surge recorded by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observation station near Cameron, Louisiana, and the NHC was criticized for perhaps raising too much alarm.




Biden buys ‘Keep America Great’ domain name and dedicates it to criticising Trump

Biden buys ‘Keep America Great’ domain name and dedicates it to criticising TrumpThe Biden campaign has acquired the web domain KeepAmericaGreat.com and has dedicated the site to criticising president Donald Trump‘s policies and handling of the coronavirus pandemic.When Mr Trump launched his reelection campaign for the 2020 presidential election last year, he revealed “Keep America Great” as its official slogan, following on from his 2016 phrase, “Make America Great Again.”




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

Arrest made after firefighter’s wallet stolen as he battled wildfires, CA officials sayThe thief drained the bank account of the firefighter after the wallet was lifted from his vehicle. officials said.




2 soldiers killed in Black Hawk training crash in California



Fox News' Chris Wallace: Trump's RNC speech was 'far too long' and 'surprisingly flat'

Fox News' Chris Wallace: Trump's RNC speech was 'far too long' and 'surprisingly flat'The reviews are in for President Trump's Republican National Convention address, and Fox News' Chris Wallace, for one, wasn't overly impressed.The Fox News anchor on Thursday gave a tough review to the president's RNC speech, saying he was "surprised" by the "lack of fireworks" in it."First of all, it was far too long," Wallace said of the speech, which ran 70 minutes.Though Wallace went on to praise some of Trump's "good lines" dinging Democratic nominee Joe Biden, he concluded that overall, it certainly wasn't one of the president's best."I thought the president, who we've seen really turn on a crowd, was surprisingly flat and didn't seem to have the bite that he usually does have in his speeches," Wallace said.Wallace wasn't the only one on Fox News who didn't go crazy for the address, with analyst Brit Hume agreeing that it was too long and a bit "flat.""He's done very good speeches from teleprompters before," Hume said, per The Daily Beast. "But tonight he seemed to miss the excitement he generates in himself when he's ad-libbing."This comes after Fox News hosts last week heaped praise onto Biden's Democratic National Convention address, with Hume calling it "very good" and Wallace describing it as "enormously effective." Watch the latest video at foxnews.comMore 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




'A time to pick up:' Hurricane-hurt Louisiana begins cleanup

'A time to pick up:' Hurricane-hurt Louisiana begins cleanupResidents in southwestern Louisiana embarked Saturday on the epic task of clearing away felled trees, ripped-off roofs and downed power lines after Hurricane Laura tore through parts of the state. The U.S. toll from the Category 4 hurricane rose to 16 deaths, with more than half of those killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from the unsafe operation of generators. President Donald Trump toured the damage from Laura in Louisiana and Texas on Saturday.




GOP official warns that a single law is going to delay election results in Midwest swing states

GOP official warns that a single law is going to delay election results in Midwest swing statesThe top Republican election official in Ohio on Thursday said that other Midwestern states where the presidential election was decided four years ago are in a “really terrible situation” because they have so far not allowed mail-in ballots to be processed in an expedited way. 




Kenosha shooting: Hundreds protest in Raleigh and Portland; 2 officers tried to use stun guns on Jacob Blake

Kenosha shooting: Hundreds protest in Raleigh and Portland; 2 officers tried to use stun guns on Jacob BlakeKyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old charged in the killing of two people at protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, did not appear in court Friday.




Friday, 28 August 2020

Quotation of the Day: ‘Panting for Air’ Under Smoky Western Skies


By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/3b6JBUx

Workers will have to pay any deferred payroll taxes by April.


By BY ALAN RAPPEPORT from NYT Business https://ift.tt/2YK73SS

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


By BY KATIE GLUECK, ANNIE KARNI AND ALEXANDER BURNS from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3baWFs3

Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore After Oil Spill Off Mauritius


By BY MICHAEL LEVENSON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3baWhtB

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


By BY PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/31BfL7y

Jacob Blake Was Shackled in Hospital Bed After Police Shot Him


By BY JOHN ELIGON, SARAH MERVOSH AND RICHARD A. OPPEL JR. from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2G2P2s9

Lute Olson, Who Put Arizona on College Basketball Map, Dies at 85


By BY RICHARD GOLDSTEIN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/34ELxCF

El legado de Shinzo Abe, el primer ministro de Japón que anunció su dimisión


By BY MOTOKO RICH AND RUSSELL GOLDMAN from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/2ENAwUQ

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Fox News Breaking News Alert

Accused Kenosha shooter's lawyer claims self-defense

08/28/20 4:25 PM

Sleepy Donald closes out the RNC

Sleepy Donald closes out the RNCAfter four nights of scalding and often shouted slash-and-burn attacks directed at Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, it was quite a shock on Thursday night when Donald Trump nearly lulled America to sleep with his Republican National Convention speech on the south lawn of the White House.It's not that Trump delivered a soothing address filled with warmth and good feeling. During long passages he savaged Biden as a Trojan Horse who would deliver America-hating socialists and anarchists to power. Those were the more lively sections of the speech. The trouble is that the charges against Biden had been made at the convention by many others before Trump, sometimes in identical language.But even when the precise words weren't recycled, they still felt like retreads because the speech was mind-numbingly repetitive. How many times did Trump say that if Biden is elected the Democrats would come for America's guns? That it was time to bring jobs back from China? That the stakes in the election couldn't be higher? It's as if the authors of the address thought everything in it was so important it needed to be reiterated two or three times.And then there were the lists. Lists of personages and events from American history at the beginning of the speech, and then again at the end of the speech. Lists, sprinkled throughout, of all the ways America is gloriously exceptional. Lists of Trump's wonderful, stupendous accomplishments. Lists of the wonderful, stupendous things he will accomplish if he's re-elected. The last of these lists made the latter half of the speech sound more like an interminable State of the Union address than a nomination acceptance.And all of it was delivered in the slurring, monotonous drone that Trump adopts whenever he's reined in by written remarks on a teleprompter. Throughout the second half of the address, you feel him breaking away from the script for a word here, a phrase there, like he was dying to turn the occasion into one of his vulgarity- and mockery-infused campaign rallies where he riffs for 90 minutes about his enemies.Or maybe he was just trying to keep himself awake. I know the feeling.More stories from theweek.com McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat' The X-Files is getting an animated comedy spinoff 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention




In pictures: Thousands gather for historic March on Washington

In pictures: Thousands gather for historic March on WashingtonSome 50,000 supporters packed DC's National Mall to demand racial justice and urge people to vote.




Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Jacob Blake, is a former campus officer who investigated a hate crime, and said he liked being a cop because 'people trust us'

Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Jacob Blake, is a former campus officer who investigated a hate crime, and said he liked being a cop because 'people trust us'Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back on Sunday evening, prompting huge protests and a renewed national movement.




Japan’s Longest-Serving PM, Shinzo Abe, Quits in Bid to ‘Escape’ Potential Prosecution

Japan’s Longest-Serving PM, Shinzo Abe, Quits in Bid to ‘Escape’ Potential ProsecutionJapan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, decided to resign Friday ostensibly because of his health, but also because he fears the unpleasant and unhealthy conditions of a Japanese prison. At a press conference, he cited his painful stomach condition ulcerative colitis as the reason for stepping down, but he leaves at a time when his ratings are plummeting and he is under at least one criminal investigation, with the public clamoring for the reopening of other cases.Abe is not resigning; he is escaping. He is under investigation by the Japanese prosecutors for violations of election laws, similar to those his former handpicked justice minister is now being tried for in the lower courts of Tokyo. Testimony in that case may implicate Abe in the political scandal as well. Abe’s efforts to shield himself from investigation by Japan’s authorities have fallen apart. A high-ranking member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), of which Abe also serves as president, told The Daily Beast on conditions of anonymity, “If Abe had been able to stack the prosecutor’s office with his choice—he’d still be clinging to power. His choice for the next head of the National Police Agency, Itaru Nakamura, was sidelined this month and Abe fears being arrested by either the prosecutors or the police. Resignation now allows him to escape a lot of scrutiny.” Nakamura was the high-ranking police chief that ended the rape investigation of Abe’s unofficial biographer.A source in the Ministry of Justice told The Daily Beast, “It’s a done deal. Abe resigns taking ‘social punishment’ and several criminal investigations into his conduct are going to be closed.” Former special prosecutor Nobuo Gohara says, “It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that he resigns the same week a criminal trial has started in which Abe’s involvement will become a central issue.”  The Tweet of DefeatThis year, Abe’s approval ratings sank as low as 27 percent in opinion polls. You’ll see many things cited in the Japanese press in the coming days about what caused Abe’s grip on power and popular support to fail. There have certainly been many gaffes this year. He ignored the growing threat of the novel coronavirus due to his obsessive desire to hold the Olympic Games, which meant that Tokyo had to appear safe. His plan to distribute two face masks to every household, when masks were in short supply, was an expensive disaster. The masks were too small, dirty, and they were slow to be delivered. They were ridiculed as “Abe No Mask,” which sounds much like “Abenomics” when said in Japanese. Abenomics was the PM’s much-touted fiscal policy that involved the imaginary “arrows” of monetary easing and financial reforms, but the overhaul never came and the policy was a total failure. Abe claimed that Japan’s “if you don’t test, you don’t know” coronavirus policy had worked fantastically, until it failed and the infection rates began shooting up again. This was accelerated by his obstinate push for the implementation of a weirdly named promotional campaign,“Go to Travel,” which ended up translating for many people to “Go to Quarantine” as the pandemic resurged. What has derailed his popularity isn’t his poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but an ill-timed attempt to consolidate his power in the midst of it. SayonaraAbe (in Japanese) was trending on Twitter months ago.  The end of the Abe era began with a single tweet that started his downward spiral in May. There is some irony in a prime minister who invested so much energy controlling Japan’s mainstream media being taken down by social media. On the evening of May 9,  there was a tweet by a 35-year-old female office worker that sparked an inferno of public dissent. The resulting tweetstorm was fueled by Japan’s usually apolitical celebrities and former prosecutors. Even LDP members expressed dissent.The content of the tweet seems rather prosaic. “I protest the proposed changes in the Public Prosecutor Office Laws.” There were 8 million tweets with the hashtag “I protest the proposed revision of the Public Prosecutors Office Law,” by May 14. Here’s the backstory. Abe has slowly exerted his control over government agencies, public broadcaster NHK, and even the media. In 2014, he created a Cabinet Personnel Bureau that gave the cabinet control over the appointment of hundreds of top-level bureaucrats. Ambitious government workers paid attention, and have since worked hard not to offend him and gain favor. He has incentivized them to cover up scandals without being directly asked. He has wined and dined the press to curry favor, and bullied them relentlessly when displeased. Japan’s press-freedom ranking was No. 22 when he took office; it now ranks 66th. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Abe and the ruling LDP lobbied for changes in the constitution that would give the cabinet absolute authority in an emergency. The attempt failed but even conservative magazine PRESIDENT called it in an opportunistic and despicable grab for power. When he tried to put the public prosecutor’s office under his thumb this summer, he was going too far. Fatally Wounded The move against the prosecutors began on Jan. 31, when the Abe cabinet decided to delay the retirement of Japan’s second most powerful prosecutor, Hiromu Kurokawa. Kurokawa was reportedly very close to Abe and cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga. The press referred to him as “the guardian deity of the Abe cabinet.”  The majority of prosecutors are required by law to retire at 63; Kurokawa was allowed to stay on. Abe claimed this was not a problem because his cabinet had “reinterpreted the law” to make it possible. The opposition, legal scholars, and the public vehemently disagreed.The administration stood its ground but later proposed an amendment to the Public Prosecutor Laws. This was seen as a retroactive attempt to justify keeping Kurokawa in office, and clearing the way for replacing the top prosecutor in Japan. Former Prosecutor-General Kunihiro Matsuo and other ex-prosecutors wrote a protest letter to the Ministry of Justice stating explicitly that they believed the revisions were an attempt by the Abe administration to have prosecutors act in accordance with their will. The letter quoted John Locke: “Wherever law ends, tyranny begins.” Abe defended the bill in parliament, “There will be no instances of [prosecutorial] personnel affairs being determined arbitrarily,” he said. Only 16 percent of the public believed him.Typically, Abe would ramrod the bill into law anyway, as he has done with other unpopular legislation. By May 18, his approval ratings had plummeted to 34 percent. The same day, the LDP agreed to temporarily table the legislation. That evening, more than 600 lawyers submitted legal briefs to the Tokyo prosecutors office accusing Abe of misusing public funds to hold cherry blossom viewing parties for his constituents, a scandal that became known as “Cherryblossom-gate.” Bad luck followed Abe’s bad decisions. The weekly magazine Bunshun reported that Kurokawa had routinely played mahjong with reporters, gambling on the games in clear contravention of Japanese law. Kurokawa was given an admonishment and allowed to resign. After nearly a decade in power, Abe has become haughty, declaring in parliament last year “I am the nation.” He has been winning for a long time, but no one’s luck lasts forever. The legislative attempt to subvert the prosecutors may have been, to paraphrase the title of an epic war film, a bill too far. It was later abandoned entirely.  Already on Trial? The current investigation of “Cherryblossom-gate” is not the only problem facing Abe. He is being dragged into the high-profile trial of a close friend and supporter. This June, Katsuyuki Kawai, 57, a House of Representative member and his wife, Anri Kawai, 46, a member of the House of Councilors, were indicted on suspicion of handing out millions of yen in cash to politicians and supporters in Hiroshima Prefecture. This was allegedly in return for their efforts to secure votes in the Upper House elections held in July 2019. Abe appointed Katsuyuki minister of justice in September 2019; Katsuyuki resigned on Oct. 31. Their trial began this week.The LDP headquarters provided nearly $1.5 million (150 million yen) or more in campaign funds to Anri Kawai, and some of that money may have been used in bribing local politicians to help round up votes. If Abe himself, as president of the LDP, approved the whopping funding for Anri, he will move into the spotlight.Former Special Prosecutor Nobuo Gohara told The Daily Beast, “It seems clear from the opening statements by the prosecutors in the case of Kawai, that they will show Prime Minister Abe’s involvement in this case. For a former minister of justice, hand-picked by Abe to be involved in bribing other politicians—outrageous. Even if Abe can avoid criminal responsibility, he has a moral responsibility in the matter.”Gohara sees Abe’s inability to stomach his position as part of the stress of not knowing when or if he will be implicated in the current trial. There is a third fire burning under Abe’s feet, one known as the Moritomo-gakuen case. In 2017, it became clear that government land valued at nearly $8 million had been sold to a right-wing school operator for $1 million, reportedly at the urging of the prime minister and his wife, Akie. The school was going to be named Abe Elementary. When the scandal came to light, bureaucrats in the ministry of finance altered and destroyed documents to cover up Abe’s involvement. One government official, Toshio Akagi, refused to play along and killed himself in protest in March 2018. He left behind incriminating documents that his widow revealed this year. Over 70 percent of the Japanese public now wants a reopening of the investigation into the Morikake case.  He didn’t learnAbe virtually vanished for a month this summer, avoiding all press conferences and parliamentary discussions. He can now avoid discussing the scandals surrounding him very easily. He has seemingly timed his publicized visits to the hospital this week in a way to make sure that questions about his involvement in corruption cases were not asked. By visiting Keio Hospital on Aug. 24, the day before the Kawai trial, attention was shifted from his role in the case, to whether or not he was going to be able to continue as prime minister. Abe’s great escape is not as dramatic as the flight of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, but it’s a valiant effort. Abe was Japan’s longest reigning prime minister in its constitutional history, but never has so little been accomplished in such a long period of time. If he leaves any legacy at all, it is a number of bills passed into law that were so unpopular they now lie like landmines and may blow up Japan’s brittle democracy someday. Those laws include: a draconian conspiracy law that seems right out of the sci-fi film Minority Report; a repressive and Orwellian state secrets law that will muffle the press and whistleblowers; and the Peace Preservation Act, which allows ostensibly pacifist Japan to wage war.This was his second term in office after a disastrous stint from 2006 to 2007. He was able to resurface due to the support of the right-wing Shinto cult Nippon Kaigi, which will continue to yield great power in parliament long after Abe. They say those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps the root of Abe’s folly is that he is a well-known historical revisionist, the grandson of a war criminal, who has never been able to admit to the atrocities committed by Japan in World War II; many of his political appointees and allies admired Hitler. He’s been so busy trying to deny the past that it seems Abe can’t even learn from his own history. His life is a re-run.He leaves office much the same way he did when he stepped down in 2007: unable to handle the job while mired in scandals involving his cronies; unpopular, considered incompetent, and irrelevant. He will not be missed. 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.




Tucker Carlson says teen charged with killing Wisconsin protesters was trying to 'maintain order when no one else would'

Tucker Carlson says teen charged with killing Wisconsin protesters was trying to 'maintain order when no one else would'Fox News host Tucker Carlson has sparked controversy after claiming a teenager charged with killing demonstrators in Wisconsin protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake was trying to “maintain order when no one else would”.The television personality made the controversial comments as protests over the police-shooting of Mr Blake continued throughout the week, after video footage of the confrontation between a white officer and Mr Blake, a black man, went viral and drew national media attention.




Kenosha officer who shot Jacob Blake said he always wanted to be in law enforcement

Kenosha officer who shot Jacob Blake said he always wanted to be in law enforcementRusten Sheskey said in an August 2019 interview that what he likes most about police work "is that you're dealing with people on perhaps the worst day of their lives and you can try and help them."




Laura victims may go weeks without power; deaths climb to 14

Laura victims may go weeks without power; deaths climb to 14The Louisiana coastline devastated by Hurricane Laura began a long and gloomy recovery Friday as hundreds of thousands of people still without water and power confronted the possibility that basic services may not return for weeks or even longer. Eight people died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to unsafe operation of generators, including three inside a Texas pool hall, where authorities say the owner had let seven Vietnamese shrimp boat laborers and homeless men take shelter. Lawrence “Lee” Faulk came back to a home with no roof in hard-hit Cameron Parish, which was littered with downed power lines.




Fox News' Chris Wallace: Trump's RNC speech was 'far too long' and 'surprisingly flat'

Fox News' Chris Wallace: Trump's RNC speech was 'far too long' and 'surprisingly flat'The reviews are in for President Trump's Republican National Convention address, and Fox News' Chris Wallace, for one, wasn't overly impressed.The Fox News anchor on Thursday gave a tough review to the president's RNC speech, saying he was "surprised" by the "lack of fireworks" in it."First of all, it was far too long," Wallace said of the speech, which ran 70 minutes.Though Wallace went on to praise some of Trump's "good lines" dinging Democratic nominee Joe Biden, he concluded that overall, it certainly wasn't one of the president's best."I thought the president, who we've seen really turn on a crowd, was surprisingly flat and didn't seem to have the bite that he usually does have in his speeches," Wallace said.Wallace wasn't the only one on Fox News who didn't go crazy for the address, with analyst Brit Hume agreeing that it was too long and a bit "flat.""He's done very good speeches from teleprompters before," Hume said, per The Daily Beast. "But tonight he seemed to miss the excitement he generates in himself when he's ad-libbing."This comes after Fox News hosts last week heaped praise onto Biden's Democratic National Convention address, with Hume calling it "very good" and Wallace describing it as "enormously effective." Watch the latest video at foxnews.comMore stories from theweek.com McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat' The X-Files is getting an animated comedy spinoff 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention




Six US Air Force B-52 bombers make symbolic sweep over all NATO members

Six US Air Force B-52 bombers make symbolic sweep over all NATO membersThe one-off mission, titled "Allied Sky," is meant to signal the alliance's unity and improve interoperability, say U.S. military officials.




Fake cancer drugs were cooked up in Alabama man’s kitchen — some with hair, feds say

Fake cancer drugs were cooked up in Alabama man’s kitchen — some with hair, feds sayPatrick Bishop, 54, earned millions selling the bogus cancer treatments, according to court filings. Prosecutors said he spent it on houses and luxury cars.




Teen who held BLM event gets $2500 bill for police overtime



Ann Coulter sparks outrage after tweeting that she wants accused Kenosha shooter for president

Ann Coulter sparks outrage after tweeting that she wants accused Kenosha shooter for presidentConservative commentator Ann Coulter tweeted support for accused Wisconsin shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, saying "I want him as my president".Twitter removed Ms Coulter's statements for violating the platform's rules after users took offence at her opinion, made in response to a user saying they wanted the teenager as a "bodyguard".




'It's chaos': Postal workers say mail still backlogged, despite DeJoy's promises

'It's chaos': Postal workers say mail still backlogged, despite DeJoy's promises“Some stations have so much mail backed up, it’s three times more than the volume you would see at Christmas,” a Chicago postal worker said.




The Lincoln Project's newest ad takes aim at Trump's mocking of a disabled reporter

The Lincoln Project's newest ad takes aim at Trump's mocking of a disabled reporterReleased right before the start of the final night of the Republican National Convention, the Lincoln Project's latest ad, "Decency," calls out President Trump for his mocking of a disabled reporter.The ad begins with footage of the first time Democratic nominee Joe Biden met Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old from New Hampshire who went on to speak at last week's Democratic National Convention. Harrington's dad told Biden his son wanted to meet him because he has a stutter, and knew that Biden had one as a child. "Don't let it define you," Biden told Harrington, before offering to call him later and tell him what he used to do to deal with his stutter.Biden told Harrington to ignore the "bullies, the kids who make fun," and the ad immediately shifted to showing video of Trump in 2016, mocking a disabled reporter during a rally. Footage from a different rally is then shown, when Trump told the audience to be on the lookout for people wanting to throw tomatoes at him on stage. "Knock the crap out of them, would you?" he said. "Seriously. Just knock the hell, I promise you I will pay for the legal fees. I promise.""It's time for decency," the ad's narrator then intones. "It's time for Joe Biden." Watch the video below. More stories from theweek.com McConnell inexplicably claims that Democrats want to tell Americans 'how many hamburgers you can eat' The X-Files is getting an animated comedy spinoff 7 scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention




Thursday, 27 August 2020

Belarus detains around 20 journalists preparing to cover protest: Reuters witness

Belarus detains around 20 journalists preparing to cover protest: Reuters witnessBelarusian police detained around 20 journalists preparing to cover a protest in central Minsk on Thursday and confiscated their telephones and identity documents, a Reuters witness said. The Interior Ministry later said the journalists had been driven to a police station for officers to check they had valid accreditaton allowing them to work as journalists. It denied the journalists had been detained.




Jackson Heights, Queens: Walk Where the World Finds a Home


By BY MICHAEL KIMMELMAN from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3lsPjVs

Franklin Graham, key to Trump’s support among evangelical voters, makes the case for his re-election.


By BY MICHAEL D. SHEAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3hANS5d

Suspect in Kenosha Killings Ardently Promoted Blue Lives Matter


By BY NEIL MACFARQUHAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3baiLLl

Watch Live: Republican Convention Night 4 Analysis and Video


By Unknown Author from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3hwfOHk

Trump Heads Into General Election Leading a Party He Has Transformed


By BY ALEXANDER BURNS AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3bfgG0V

COVID-19


By Unknown Author from NYT Briefing https://ift.tt/2Qyebgl

Instead of Evolving as President, Trump Has Bent the Job to His Will


By BY PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3hztLo4

La influencia de Ivanka Trump


By BY ELAINA PLOTT from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/31zWgMI

Despite the virus, Trump will speak in front of a large crowd, seated closely together on the South Lawn.


By BY MICHAEL D. SHEAR from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3hA4rON