Niger’s junta asks for help from Russian group Wagner as it faces military intervention threat (apnews.com)
Niger’s new military junta has asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner as the deadline nears for it to release the country’s ousted president or face possible military intervention by the West African regional bloc, according to an analyst....
New Bill Cosby Accuser Files Lawsuit Alleging He Drugged, Sexually Assaulted Her (www.rollingstone.com)
Ford recalls 870K F-150 pickups in US because parking brakes can turn on unexpectedly (apnews.com)
The recall covers certain pickups from the 2021 through 2023 model years with single exhaust systems. Ford’s F-Series pickups are the top-selling vehicles in the U.S.
Passengers were stuck on plane for 7 hours with no air conditioning, no food or water provided, woman says (www.kcbd.com)
Montana otter attack leaves 3 women hurt, including one flown to the hospital (www.nbcnews.com)
Montana wildlife management officials don’t plan to take any further action. Otters can be protective of themselves and their young.
Trump boasts at Alabama fundraiser that he needs ‘one more indictment to close out this election’ (apnews.com)
Former President Donald Trump, fresh off his third appearance in court as a criminal defendant, delivered a speech full of defiance and bluster on Friday night, insulting prosecutors and declaring that the charges he faces only help his 2024 presidential campaign.
Ukraine claims it broke through part of Russia's fearsome defensive line in its counterattack. The next layer is even worse. (www.businessinsider.com)
Russia used concrete to build its deeper defenses, presenting a tougher challenge for Ukraine's counteroffensive, per a top official.
What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain (www.politico.com)
Why do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.
Incandescent light bulbs are officially banned in the U.S. (www.digitaljournal.com)
Gay Louisiana doctor says he’s leaving the state over its ‘discriminatory’ legislation (www.nbcnews.com)
Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, who is just one of three pediatric heart doctors with his specialty in Louisiana, said he feels like the state has targeted families like his.
Mortgage rates climb toward 7% after America's credit rating was downgraded (www.cnn.com)
US mortgage rates jumped this week, climbing closer to 7%. The move follows last week’s rate hike from the Federal Reserve, and the downgrade this week by Fitch Ratings agency of US sovereign debt, and of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Infant RSV shot wins backing of CDC advisors, paving way for fall availability (www.cnbc.com)
The first shot that protects all infants against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, won the unanimous backing of an advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.
Twitter neighbours complain of lit-up ‘X’ sign working at high intensity (www.theguardian.com)
New logo for Elon Musk’s social network strobes over San Francisco neighbourhood, prompting complaints and mobilising building inspectors
Shots again fired at site of Parkland school massacre in reenactment after lawmakers visit (apnews.com)
Gunfire erupted again at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Friday as part of a reenactment by ballistics experts of the 2018 massacre that left 14 students and three staff members dead.
Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet (www.bbc.com)
The average daily global sea surface temperature beat a 2016 record this week, according to the EU’s climate change service Copernicus....
Twitch streamer Kai Cenat's hyped PS5 giveaway sparks mayhem in Manhattan (www.bbc.com)
A YouTuber’s announcement of a video games console giveaway sparked chaos and a major police response in the heart of New York City on Friday....
Oregon’s Greater Idaho movement echoes a long history of racism in the region (www.hcn.org)
Instead of fixing Oregon, the Greater Idaho movement seeks to leave it. White supremacists are on board.
Galveston Beach fecal matter — how bad is it actually? (www.axios.com)
A recent study by Environment Texas found that almost every Texas beach tested positive for unsafe levels of fecal bacteria in 2022.
Phony bank accounts resurface at Wells Fargo, with a twist (www.nbcnews.com)
As a longtime forensic accountant who helps consumer lawyers investigate big financial institutions, Jay Patterson has made a point to do business with a smallish local bank in his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. So he was startled in June 2022 when he received a bank statement from Wells Fargo showing $12 in an “Everyday...
Hackers force hospital system to take its national computer system offline (www.nbcnews.com)
Prospect Medical Holdings, a chain that owns hospitals, as well as more than 165 outpatient facilities, said ransomware hackers had breached its system.
EPA Approved a Fuel Ingredient Even Though It Could Cause Cancer in Virtually Every Person Exposed Over a Lifetime (www.propublica.org)
An EPA document shows that a new Chevron fuel ingredient has a lifetime cancer risk more than 1 million times higher than what the agency usually finds acceptable — even greater than another Chevron fuel’s sky-high risk disclosed earlier this year.
5th Circuit Strikes Down Mississippi’s Jim Crow Era Felony Disenfranchisement Provision (www.democracydocket.com)
On Friday, Aug. 4, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Jim Crow-era provision of the Mississippi Constitution that permanently disenfranchised Mississippians with certain felony convictions. The opinion held that the provision violates the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The...
Trump pleads not guilty to charges that he plotted to overturn election (www.washingtonpost.com)
Former president Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, appearing in the federal courthouse that sits just blocks away from where his angry supporters stormed the Capitol building in an effort to keep him in power.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooter sentenced to death for killing 11 worshippers in 2018 massacre (www.cnn.com)
Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers and wounded six others at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 in the deadliest-ever attack on Jewish people in the United States, was unanimously sentenced to death by a federal jury on Wednesday.
