Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers, Supreme Court Rules

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, handing the movement for L.G.B.T. equality a stunning victory.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html

Brazil’s President Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus’ severity.

Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in capital Brasilia.

https://apnews.com/8ceb44235a63dfb59da10f2ceffb9160

U.S. Supreme Court Rebuffs Trump’s Immunity Claim, Lets Prosecutor Get Financial Records

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday firmly rejected President Donald Trump’s arguments for sweeping presidential immunity and ruled that a New York prosecutor can obtain his financial records but prevented — at least for now — Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from getting similar documents.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-trump/u-s-supreme-court-rebuffs-trumps-immunity-claim-lets-prosecutor-get-financial-records-idUSKBN24A1C6

John Lewis, Towering Figure of Civil Rights Era, Dies at 80

Representative John Lewis, a son of sharecroppers and an apostle of nonviolence who was bloodied at Selma and across the Jim Crow South in the historic struggle for racial equality and who then carried a mantle of moral authority into Congress, died on Friday. He was 80.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/us/john-lewis-dead.amp.html

Regis Philbin, Television Personality and Host, Dies at 88

Regis Philbin, the genial host who shared his life with television viewers over morning coffee for decades and helped himself and some fans strike it rich with the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” has died at 88.

https://apnews.com/ce8c2fa52e977706aa6d66a092309878

Hong Kong Leader Says Key Election Postponed, Blow to Pro-Democracy Camp

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Friday postponed a Sept. 6 election for seats in the city legislature for a year because of a spike in novel coronavirus cases, dealing a blow to the pro-democracy opposition hoping to make gains in the vote.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN24W1IX

Massive Blast Rips Through Beirut, Killing 78 and Injuring Thousands

A powerful blast in port warehouses near central Beirut storing highly explosive material killed 78 people, injured nearly 4,000 and sent seismic shockwaves that shattered windows, smashed masonry and shook the ground across the Lebanese capital.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN25021M

New York Sues to Break Up NRA, Accuses It of Corruption

New York state's attorney general sued to dissolve the National Rifle Association on Thursday, alleging senior leaders of the non-profit group diverted millions of dollars for personal use and to buy the silence and loyalty of former employees.

The lawsuit filed in a Manhattan court by Attorney General Letitia James alleges NRA leaders paid for family trips to the Bahamas, private jets and expensive meals that contributed to a $64 million reduction in the NRA's balance sheet in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN2522BG

U.S. Sets Record as Coronavirus Cases Top 5 million

The United States set a record for coronavirus cases on Saturday, with more than 5 million people now infected, according to a Reuters tally, as the country’s top infectious diseases official offered hope earlier this week that an effective vaccine might be available by year-end.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN2540XB

Lebanon Government Resigns After Deadly Beirut Blast

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced on Monday the resignation of his government after a powerful Beirut port explosion sparked public uproar against the country’s leaders.

Diab, in a televised speech, said the detonation of highly-explosive material warehoused at the port in the capital for the last seven years was “the result of endemic corruption”.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN256258

Democrat Joe Biden Chooses Senator Kamala Harris for White House Running Mate

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday tapped Senator Kamala Harris as his choice for vice president, making her the first Black woman on a major party presidential ticket in U.S. history and providing him with a partner well suited to go on the attack against Republican President Donald Trump.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN2572MZ

Billionaire Sumner Redstone, Media Mogul Who Headed Viacom, Dead at 97

Viacom and CBS Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone, the media mogul who took his father’s movie theater chain and built it into an empire that included Paramount Pictures, CBS and MTV, has died at 97, ViacomCBS and National Amusements said on Wednesday.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN2581K2

President Trump says UAE to open diplomatic ties with Israel

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state.

https://apnews.com/abcb0ed9a84e2d3da7d87c28641ccc21

Robert Trump, the Younger Brother of President Donald Trump, Dead at Age 71

Robert Trump, the younger brother of President Donald Trump, died at age 71 on Saturday at a New York hospital, the White House announced.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/15/politics/robert-trump-dead/index.html

Mali President Resigns After Detention by Military, Deepening Crisis

Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned on Tuesday and dissolved parliament hours after mutinying soldiers detained him at gunpoint, plunging a country already facing a jihadist insurgency and mass protests deeper into crisis.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN25E1AF

Michigan to Pay $600 Million to Victims of Flint Water Crisis

The state of Michigan is expected to pay about $600 million to victims of the Flint water crisis, according to two people with knowledge of a major settlement that is set to be announced this week.

The money would largely be designated for children in Flint who were poisoned by lead-tainted tap water after officials changed the city’s water supply six years ago, setting off a crisis that drew national attention and remains a worry for many residents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/flint-water-crisis-settlement.amp.html

Sports Come to a Halt: NBA, WNBA, MLB Postpone Games as Players Protest Jacob Blake Shooting

The NBA’s restart inside a restricted bubble at Disney World, which has proceeded smoothly for more than a month without any positive coronavirus tests, came to a screeching halt Wednesday when the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court for a playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. The other two games scheduled for the day were postponed as well.

The unprecedented decision to postpone the games was quickly followed by a similar decision by the Women’s National Basketball Association, which canceled its scheduled games across the state in Bradenton.

In Milwaukee, the Brewers announced they would not play their game Wednesday night against the Cincinnati Reds. The Seattle Mariners’ game against the San Diego Padres was also postponed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/26/bucks-boycott-nba-playoff-game/

New Zealand Court Sentences Mosque Shooter to Life Imprisonment Without Parole

A New Zealand court sentenced a man who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand’s deadliest shooting to life in prison without parole, the first time such a sentence has been handed down in the country.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN25M2QF

Laura Makes Landfall in Southwestern Louisiana near Texas

Hurricane Laura made landfall Thursday morning in southwest Louisiana as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana. It had maximum sustained winds of 150mph (240 kph), making it the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. so far this year.

https://apnews.com/bac3a77342fb9d59ada088e9133cb748

Ailing Abe Quits as Japan PM as COVID-19 Slams Economy

Japan’s Shinzo Abe on Friday said he was resigning because of poor health, ending a tenure as the country’s longest-serving prime minister in which he sought to revive an economy stricken by deflation and push for a stronger military.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN25O00F

Massive Smoke Clouds, Thick Air Darken Western US Skies

People from San Francisco to Seattle woke Wednesday to hazy clouds of smoke lingering in the air, darkening the sky to an eerie orange glow that kept street lights illuminated into midday, all thanks to dozens of wildfires throughout the West.

https://apnews.com/dfb39a63c12522ec0b83207ad6c671fe