Rival powers jockey for the lead in hypersonic aircraft

The US, China and Russia are pouring money into aircraft that can fly at five times the speed of sound.

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Coronavirus: How teachers are feeling as schools return

Four teachers share their experiences of the pandemic as they prepare to welcome pupils back to school.

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The traditional crafts in danger of dying out

Who was the last British deckle-maker? Who makes withy pots? And what is an orrery?

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Facebook Could Block Sharing of News Stories in Australia

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI AND MIKE ISAAC from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/32KSNdo

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

By BY ANATOLY KURMANAEV from NYT World https://ift.tt/3hYVvCR

A Teacher and Congresswoman Confronts School Reopenings

By BY REID J. EPSTEIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3jxJ29n

Trump Fans Strife as Unrest Roils the U.S.

By BY PETER BAKER AND MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2YQLyQa

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

By BY JACEY FORTIN from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34OFiMu

American Intelligence Knows What Russia Is Doing

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Biden’s Out-of-the-Basement Strategy: Pummel Trump as Unsafe

For much of the pandemic presidential cycle, President Donald Trump has invariably cackled at what he deems to be Joe Biden’s “sleepy” and “slow” nature, constructing an image for voters of an older guy “who never leaves his basement,” public health precautions be damned.After the Democratic nominee announced that he would soon phase in physical appearances to several battleground states, it still didn’t seem to matter to Trump that the homebound message no longer really applied. He just carried on with the chants. “Here’s what I don’t get,” the president contemplated aloud during his hour-plus speech in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Friday evening. “Sleepy Joe’s coming out, he said, in 10 days. Ten days! That’s a long time. Ten days. Ten days. That’s like, an eternity in Trumpville,” he went on. “Ten days. He’s much better off where he is.”To Trump—and presumably to those who booed the mention of the former vice president emerging after isolation—the news was hardly Hercules returning to Mt. Olympus. But to Biden, it was an opening. With just over two months until Nov. 3, Biden has promised to put himself in front of more Americans after Labor Day. That basic decision is one of the more tangible developments in a general election that has, for many months, been fought from inside homes and behind devices. “One of the things we’re thinking about is I’m going to be going up into Wisconsin, and Minnesota, spending time in Pennsylvania, out in Arizona,” Biden said on Thursday evening, according to a pool report of a virtual fundraiser. “But we’re going to do it in a way that is totally consistent with being responsible, unlike what this guy’s doing.” He elaborated that he will adjust his itinerary to fit the state-specific stipulations required for a safe return. “I’m going to be traveling throughout the country where I can do it consistent with the state rules about how many people can be assembled,” he said. Biden’s campaign consistently consults outside health experts and sticks to best practices dictated from the Centers for Disease Control. In the few events that he has convened in person, reporters have undergone temperature and symptom checks, worn masks, and remained six feet apart at all times. As he returns to the trail this week, officials have further stepped up their preventative measures. The hyper-vigilance comes as both he and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), his vice presidential nominee, have now agreed to take coronavirus tests “regularly,” Bloomberg News reported earlier this month. “The reasons for a candidate for the presidency to get tested is as much about the public narrative and the politics, maybe more so, than it is about the personal risk of the candidate,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pandemic expert at Columbia University (and occasional Daily Beast contributor) who formerly worked on Biden’s health advisory committee. “I was glad to hear that Vice President Biden will in fact get tested,” he said. “It’s appropriate on many levels.”Dem Lobbyists Are Already Cashing in on the Likelihood of a Biden WinBoth Trump and Biden, for months, have displayed opposite styles to public gatherings. Like other Trump re-election events, social distancing and masks were not required at the Republican National Convention—in fact, the last night of the confab featured more than 1,000 closely seated guests, few of whom wore masks, on the White House lawn. The Democratic National Convention, held the prior week, had strict COVID-19 testing protocols that mirrored Biden’s own campaign preferences. But as the country’s consciousness shifts back to an extended period of societal unrest, primarily over police brutality, Trump and Biden have also taken different approaches to traveling. Trump is scheduled to fly on Tuesday to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where agitation has mounted after a Black man named Jacob Blake survived a shooting by a white police officer, a forceful tactic that left him paralyzed. The president will “meet with local law enforcement and survey damage from the recent riots,” Judd Deere, deputy White House press secretary, announced on Saturday. By Sunday, though, there was already strong blowback coming from the highest-ranking statewide official and trickling down locally. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers penned a letter to Trump with a plea: “I write today to respectfully ask you to reconsider,” it read. In one of the more poignant lines, Evers said Trump could make things worse on the ground by showing up.“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” he wrote. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes expressed similar feelings in an interview on CNN. As did Kenosha’s mayor, John Antaramian, who told NPR that, “realistically, from our perspective, our preference would have been for him not to be coming at this point in time.” Biden will not travel to the city ahead of Trump’s visit, Politico first reported on Sunday afternoon, following a New York Times story that seemed to leave room for that possibility. In the latter half of the weekend, Biden’s campaign was instead focused on a separate instance of tumult. The former vice president issued a statement condemning violence in Portland, Oregon, where a man was killed the previous day by a gunshot around the time that tensions broke out between two groups of people, Black Lives Matter activists and supporters of Trump, according to the Associated Press. “The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable,” Biden said, through a release. “Shooting in the streets of a great American city is unacceptable. I condemn this violence unequivocally. I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right. And I challenge Donald Trump to do the same.”While Biden has, for now, opted against touching down in Wisconsin or Oregon, he will head to the southwestern region of his native Pennsylvania on Monday. The stop will be a chance “to lay out a core question voters face in this election: are you safe in Donald Trump's America?” according to a press release distributed by his campaign.Biden’s tentative upcoming travel schedule to strategic election areas like Pennsylvania also comes as Trump has outwardly professed confidence about a handful of post-convention polls that show a shrinking gap between the two candidates. According to a Morning Consult survey, which was conducted over just one day, Biden is currently ahead of Trump among “likely voters” by 6 percentage points, coming in at 50 percent to 44 percent. Biden’s pre-convention lead, per the research group, was 10 percentage points. A YouGov/Yahoo News poll done over two days also showed Biden with a 6-point advantage after the Republican Party’s gathering, down from 9 percentage points ahead of his opponent. Addressing the downturn in those particular surveys, one knowledgeable Democrat familiar with Biden’s campaign downplayed the findings and pointed to signs of internal stability for the party’s nominee.“Trump all of a sudden believes polls. It is a miracle,” the source said.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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Russian opposition activist hospitalised after attack outside his home

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

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'Hero' St. Louis police officer dies after being shot in the head

A St. Louis police officer died Sunday after being shot in the head by a gunman, authorities said.

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Burst of success for progressive challengers in U.S. congressional races may fizzle in Massachusetts

A solid year for progressive Democrats who have defeated at least three incumbents in the U.S. Congress in primaries could fizzle out this week in Massachusetts where three party stalwarts were set to fend off challengers. The progressive model for success has seen an array of mostly young candidates, sometimes minorities, toppling older establishment incumbents. Senator Ed Markey, 74, appeared to be holding off 39-year-old Representative Joe Kennedy III by touting the legislative battles he has waged over more than four decades in the House of Representatives and Senate on issues such as nuclear disarmament and climate change.

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Alarm as FDA willing to issue Covid-19 vaccine before stringent safety testing

FDA under intensifying pressure from Trump, who wants to see a vaccine come on stream or ready to announce before the electionPublic health experts have reacted with alarm to remarks by the head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that he might give the green light for a US Covid-19 vaccine before the normal clinical trial process had reached its conclusion.As the US was on the verge of 6m coronavirus cases on Sunday, Stephen Hahn, the FDA commissioner, told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday that he was prepared to issue emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine before the end of Phase 3 human trials that put the drug through stringent testing for safety and efficacy.He said the standard he would apply instead would be “that the benefit outweighs the risk in a public health emergency”.Hahn told the newspaper that his decision would not be swayed by political pressure amid the febrile atmosphere of the upcoming US presidential election. “This is going to be a science, medicine, data decision. This is not going to be a political decision,” he said.But several public health experts expressed their concern on Sunday about an apparent willingness to consider fast-tracking a vaccine outside what is considered the gold standard testing process.The FDA has come under intensifying pressure in recent weeks from Donald Trump, who wants to see a vaccine come on stream or ready to announce before the November election, and has a public-private vaccine development funding program underway called Operation Warp Speed.Trump has openly attacked the FDA, baselessly citing a supposed “deep state” within it of dragging its feet on the vaccine approval process, despite no evidence to support the latest version of a rightwing conspiracy theory that even one of its most enthusiastic, original Trump administration propagators, Steve Bannon, has dismissed.The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 was approaching 6m in the US by Sunday afternoon, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University, while recorded deaths stand at a catastrophic 182,612 – almost a quarter of all global fatalities.Over the weekend California became the first state to pass 700,000 confirmed cases.Since the beginning of the pandemic in January, Trump has consistently downplayed the severity of the crisis and sidelined scientists, including those at the FDA.Hahn has been criticized for misleading the public about the efficacy of convalescent plasma treatment which takes blood plasma from Covid-19 survivors and injects it into sufferers.At a White House media launch last week Hahn, standing beside Trump, said the plasma treatment would save 35 lives out of every 100 patients when in fact studies put the figure at 3-5 lives. He was forced to apologise.Scientists and public health specialists were quick to issue warnings about Hahn’s comments about cutting short the vaccine trials.Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at New York’s Columbia University, said: “We absolutely cannot tolerate or accept an emergency authorization for any Covid-19 vaccine without reliable safety and efficacy data from phase three clinical trials”.Writing on Twitter, she said it would be unethical to give the go-ahead before the trials had conclusively proved that both the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.It would place “huge numbers of people at risk for massive potential harm” and would deal “a catastrophic blow to public confidence in both vaccines and the regulatory mechanisms in place”, she wrote.Eric Topol of the Scripps Translational Research Institute said that it would take many months for the safety of the vaccine to be fully determined at trial, “irrespective of Stephen Hahn’s subservience to Trump … Any shortcuts will imperil the ultimate rollout of the vaccine and lose the public trust for getting immunized, which is already compromised.”Hahn’s predecessor as head of the FDA, Scott Gottlieb, told CBS’s Face the Nation that “I don’t know what is meant by saying before the phase 3 trials are completed … They are going to wait for these trials to read out before they can make a decision about the efficacy of these vaccines.”The news earlier this month that Russia had produced a vaccine was greeted with widespread skepticism because it had been approved and was being given to people, including one of Vladimir Putin’s daughters, before phase 3 trials.

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

The child has since been found safe, officials say.

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Liberty University opens investigation into 'all facets' of Jerry Falwell Jr.'s tenure

Liberty is also exploring a new coach and mentor to help ensure all Liberty employees are fulfilling their 'spiritual responsibility.'

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U.S. Senate's McConnell eyes revamped coronavirus relief bill, Mnuchin tells Fox Business

The Trump administration and Senate Republicans have been in regular contact over possible coronavirus relief measures and the Senate's top Republican will "hopefully" unveil a new bill next week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday. Asked about the collapse of talks with Democrats over aid legislation, Mnuchin told Fox Business Network that he and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have been speaking regularly with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

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A group of college Republicans is raising money for Kyle Rittenhouse, the gunman suspected of killing 2 people in Kenosha

An Arizona State University student group said it'll donate half of all funds raised to the 17-year-old gunman accused of killing two people at a protest.

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

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

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Ethiopia seeks US clarification on reported aid cut over dam

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New report deepens mystery around Trump’s sudden and suspicious visit to Walter Reed hospital

Vice President Mike Pence was reportedly prepared to take over the presidential duties

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Schools are more segregated than 30 years ago. Here's what's driving the change.

School integration programs once broke down barriers. Today, white and Black students in cities like Minneapolis are growing up apart.

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Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly allowed in person legal visit despite coronavirus lockdown

Ghislaine Maxwell has reportedly been allowed an in-person visit by her legal team in what is believed to be the first permitted in a New York City federal jail during the pandemic lockdown. According to the New York Daily News, Maxwell, who is facing six criminal charges, was allowed to hold a face to face meeting at Sunset Park’s Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Friday morning. All involved reportedly wore masks during the meeting. Other inmates, who have been in lockdown since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, have had neither family, nor legal visits. Maxwell has been held on remand for less than two months. “I’m incredulous really that she was the first one when there are those of us who have been waiting for nearly six months to have an in-person visit with our clients,” Susan Marcus, a lawyer representing detainees in the centre, told the paper.

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Trump's RNC polling bounce more about 'subtraction on the Biden side,' pollster suggests

President Trump's post-Republican National Convention polling bounce was particularly evident among white and suburban voters, a new Morning Consult poll shows.Overall, the RNC helped Trump shrink Biden's previously 10-point lead to a six-point advantage, 50 percent to 44 percent. Among suburbanites, Biden led by 14 points after the Democratic National Convention (54 percent to 40 percent), but after the RNC finished, that had dwindled to a 50-42 margin. Trump also increased his lead from two points to eight points among white voters, though his already-dismal prospects among voters of color got slightly worse.While the results are good news for the Trump campaign, they aren't necessarily that drastic in a larger context. That's because the two conventions are seemingly tied to one another — Biden received a boost in favorability ratings after the DNC, but the numbers went back down to their pre-convention standing after the RNC, which means it was mostly a wash, Morning Consult's Cameron Easley notes. Easley argues the polling suggests something similar when it comes to white and suburban voters in that it was more about Biden losing that extra jolt than Trump surging.> This dynamic was evident in the vote-share movement too. The shrinking margins among suburbanites and white voters were more about subtraction on the Biden side than addition on the Trump side.https://t.co/7E6g1OVpkt> > — Cameron Easley (@cameron_easley) August 29, 2020The Morning Consult poll was conducted Friday when 4,035 likely voters were surveyed. The margin of error was 2 percent. Read more at Morning Consult.More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Air travel in the coronavirus era Biden's latest ad puts Trump's weirdest moments and empty rallies to a Bad Bunny song

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Protests erupt at Portland police building, mayor's condo

Fires set outside a police union building that's a frequent site for protests in Portland, Oregon, prompted police to declare a riot early Saturday and detain several demonstrators. An accelerant was used to ignite a mattress and other debris that was laid against the door of the Portland Police Association building, police said in a statement. As officers approached to move demonstrators away from the building and extinguish the fire, objects including rocks were thrown at them, police said.

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

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

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Jacob Blake's attorney says family has received no word from Trump

Ben Crump, an attorney for Jacob Blake, said during an appearance on Sunday's Face the Nation that Blake's family has not yet heard from President Trump, a week after Blake was shot by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Trump, who did speak with George Floyd's family after he was killed by police earlier this year, is scheduled to visit Kenosha next week as protests grip the city. While there, he plans to meet with law enforcement. It appears as if the president is making it clear which side he stands on regarding the protests sparked by the shooting, but it's at least possible the White House will reach out to Blake's family then. Crump suggested Blake's family would be open to a conversation since they respect "all elected officials." He added that the Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), have already spent time talking with the family.> .@AttorneyCrump says JacobBlake family hasn't been contacted to meet @realDonaldTrump says @JoeBiden, @KamalaHarris spoke to them "for about an hour"> > "They're focused on trying to march for their son because he'll never be able to stand up for himself unless a miracle happens" pic.twitter.com/Yxu5bs925g> > — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 30, 2020Ultimately, though, Crump said their focus isn't on which politicians and officials they've heard from. Rather, they're "trying to march for their son because he'll never be able to stand up for himself, unless some miracle happens," Crump said, referring to the spinal injuries and paralysis from the waist down Blake suffered as a result of the shooting.More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Air travel in the coronavirus era Biden's latest ad puts Trump's weirdest moments and empty rallies to a Bad Bunny song

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Death toll in China restaurant collapse climbs to 29

The number of people killed when a restaurant in northern China collapsed has climbed to 29, state media said Sunday, with efforts to find survivors brought to a close.

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SpaceX may attempt 3 rocket launches on Sunday

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

More than a million people arrived in Europe in 2015. Five years on, we reflect on what's changed.

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

Christian Kroll is the boss of Ecosia, which donates 80% of its profits to tree-planting projects.

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

It is a time of reflection 10 years after the country was promised a rebirth, writes Waihiga Mwaura.

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Government paid influencers to promote Test and Trace

Taxpayer money was used to pay influencers to promote Test and Trace.

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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

Kentucky AG has received ballistics in Breonna Taylor case

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

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

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

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In Colorado town, the post office delivers much more than the mail

Leadville, Colo., has no car dealership, no Walmart, no department store and no dependable internet service. The post office fills important gaps.

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

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

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

The child has since been found safe, officials say.

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3-year-old girl safe after being lofted by kite in Taiwan

A 3-year-old girl in Taiwan was reported safe after becoming caught in the strings of a kite and lifted several meters into the air. The unidentified girl was taking part in a kite festival Sunday in the seaside town of Nanlioao when she was caught up by a giant, long-tailed orange kite.

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Op-Ed: Kamala Harris' vice presidential run is a campaign to be America's second Black president

Black grievances put Harris on the ticket; her's is the face of leadership the country is demanding now.

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

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

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Dramatic last-second launch abort grounds spy satellite

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

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may have a lot to do with Joe Kennedy's primary struggles

Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) could soon be out of politics, and an unlikely colleague may have something to do with it, Politico reports.Kennedy is challenging Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the statewide Democratic primary for Markey's seat, which he's held since 2013. Politico notes that Kennedy tries to hit the 74-year-old Markey by criticizing his support for the 1994 crime bill and the Iraq War when he was in the House, both of which would seemingly put him in trouble with the progressive left. But the incumbent has maintained a lead over his 39-year-old challenger in large part thanks to an army of young voters, who, with a push from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), view Markey as key to the climate change movement.Mary Ann Marsh, a Boston-based Democratic consultant, told Politico that Ocasio-Cortez, the Sunrise Movement, and Justice Democrats have "allowed this remarkable makeover" of the veteran lawmaker who has been in Congress for 44 years, turning him into the "darling of the climate change warriors." Without Ocasio-Cortez, she said, "I think it would've been a much harder effort to make him into the Ed Markey people see in this race, which is very different from the Ed Markey people in Massachusetts have seen in 44 years." Read more at Politico.More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathingly funny cartoons about the Republican National Convention Air travel in the coronavirus era Biden's latest ad puts Trump's weirdest moments and empty rallies to a Bad Bunny song

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Biden: Troops, their families will never have to question what side I'm on

Joe Biden speaks at a National Guard Association of the United States virtual conference.

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

“Operation Not Forgotten” helped locate nearly 40 missing kids.

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Jacob Blake’s Dad: Cops Shot My Son, High-Fived Kyle Rittenhouse

Jacob Blake’s father has questioned the drastically different treatment his son received at the hands of Wisconsin police compared to a white suspect accused of opening fire and killing two people who were protesting Blake’s shooting.Blake was shot seven times by Kenosha Police Department officers last Sunday evening as he got into a car with his family. The shooting sparked days of protests in the city and, on Wednesday night, two of those protesters were shot dead. The suspect has been named as white 17-year-old Blue Lives Matter fan Kyle Rittenhouse.Jacob Blake Sr. spoke to CNN’s New Day on Friday, and spoke of his fury at the difference in how the two men have been treated by Kenosha cops. Rittenhouse was filmed receiving water from police officers before the shooting, and the armed group he was with was told by one cop: “We appreciate you guys... We really do.”“It’s two justice systems,” said Blake’s dad. “That 17-year-old Caucasian shot and killed two people and blew another man’s arm off on his way back to Antioch, Illinois. He got to go home... They gave that guy water and a high-five. My son got ICU and paralyzed from the waist down. Those are the two justice systems right in front of you.”> JUST NOW: "He's a human being. He's not an animal. He's a human. But my son has not been afforded the rights of a human. He's not been treated like a human."@CNN exclusive with Jacob Blake Sr. on @NewDay right now.pic.twitter.com/pXpDHg8TWY https://t.co/CHtPJzi521> > — John Berman (@JohnBerman) August 28, 2020Blake Sr. also described the heartbreaking conversations he’s now been forced to have with his grandchildren, saying: “They’ve said ‘Papa, why did they shoot my daddy in the back? Where’s Daddy?’ They want their father because he was part of their life every day. He’s a person. He’s a human being. He’s not an animal. He’s a human—but my son has not been afforded the rights of a human.”Blake went on: “Sometimes you get a little angry. Sometimes more than a little angry. Because we’ve been going through this so long.”In a separate development Friday morning, Wisconsin’s Department of Justice gave more details on the moments leading up to Blake’s shooting and named two more of the involved officers. In its news release, the DOJ said Officers Vincent Arenas and Brittany Meronek were alongside Officer Rusten Sheskey, who shot Blake. The statement also said that Blake was tased twice before being shot.17-Year-Old ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Fanatic Charged With Murder at Kenosha ProtestThe DOJ said officers were dispatched to the scene after a “female caller reported that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises.” It went on to say Sheskey “deployed a taser to attempt to stop” Blake, followed by another tasing attempt from Arenas, but neither shot incapacitated him. The department states that, when Blake approached his car after allegedly admitting he had a knife, Sheskey fired into Blake’s back seven times.Blake’s father has said the shots left his son paralyzed from the waist down, and said Thursday that, when he visited his son in hospital on Wednesday, he found him handcuffed to the bed.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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Brian Kilmeade wonders why Biden can campaign from his house but 'not the president'

Brian Kilmeade would do well to remember President Trump and Joe Biden's houses are very much not created equal.On Friday morning, the Fox & Friends host and his co-hosts were discussing controversy over Trump's use of the White House for his Republican National Convention acceptance speech. Critics say it was unethical for Trump to use the federal building for a political purpose, and a violation of the Hatch Act for federal employees who participated in the convention. But Kilmeade took issue with criticizing Trump while Biden campaigned from his basement, asking why "Joe Biden can do it from his house but not the president?"> Brian Kilmeade defends Trump using the White House for his nomination speech: "So he wanted to do it from his house. So why is Joe Biden can do it from his house but not the president?" pic.twitter.com/VowKEK6eAO> > — Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 28, 2020Kilmeade is missing a few important facts here. For one thing, Biden didn't actually give his Democratic nomination acceptance speech from his basement. And while Trump has other properties he could've given his speech from without a problem, the home in question here actually belongs to the federal government.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

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Israel strikes Gaza after Palestinian militants fire rockets

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Begum Rokeya: The forgotten 19th Century feminist

Begum Rokeya was a writer, educationalist and reformer who tirelessly fought for women's rights.

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

Finding parallels between the famous novel and how Algeria is coping with coronavirus amid political upheaval.

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Coronavirus: Life chances at risk if pupils don't return to school, Williamson says

The education secretary has written an open letter to parents insisting that schools are safe.

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One in four BHS stores remain vacant four years after collapse

Department store chain closed its last stores in 2016 but finding new uses is a lengthy process.

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Flooding in Hereford: Residents still in temporary homes

People whose houses flooded twice in four months are still in temporary homes.

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

Finding parallels between the famous novel and how Algeria is coping with coronavirus amid political upheaval.

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One in four BHS stores remain vacant four years after collapse

Department store chain closed its last stores in 2016 but finding new uses is a lengthy process.

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‘Enough Is Enough’: New Racial Justice Leaders Rise in Kenosha

By BY JOHN ELIGON from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/34LP95G

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

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

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

After holding the protest in July, Emily Gil received a letter from Mayor Mario Kranjac saying she owed $2,499.26 for police overtime.

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Does Kyle Rittenhouse Have a Self-Defense Claim?

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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France doing everything possible to avoid repeat COVID-19 lockdown, says Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday his government was doing everything possible to avoid another nationwide coronavirus lockdown but added it would be dangerous to rule out any scenario. "We're doing everything to avoid another lockdown and in particular a nationwide lockdown," Macron told journalists. The number of coronavirus infections has spiralled higher in France in recent weeks, particularly among young people, although the number of patients receiving life-saving treatment in hospitals is stable.

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

The 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.”

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Man booked in slaying of 3, including Fort Hood soldier

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

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

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

The 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. 

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'More Than 30' rapists: Israel's #MeToo campaign

Allegations of a horrific hotel gang-rape in Israel where 30 men reportedly waited in line to assault a teenage girl have triggered an outraged campaign echoing the global MeToo movement.

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