Homeowner shoots woman trying to steal his Nazi flag, Oklahoma cops say

Authorities said the victim is expected to recover.

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Couple draw guns at crowd heading to St. Louis mayor's home

A white couple who stood outside their St. Louis mansion and pointed guns at protesters support the Black Lives Matter movement and don't want to become heroes to those who oppose the cause, their attorney said Monday. Video posted online showed Mark McCloskey, 63, and his 61-year-old wife, Patricia, standing outside their Renaissance palazzo-style home Sunday night in the city’s well-to-do Central West End neighborhood as protesters marched toward the mayor’s home to demand her resignation. Mark McCloskey told KMOV-TV that he and wife, who are personal injury lawyers, were facing an “angry mob” on their private street and feared for their lives Sunday night.

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Xi Jinping’s Internal Great Wall

Like the Great Wall of generations past, Xi’s Internal Great Wall will continue to keep China behind the rest of the world because a nation that suppresses its own people is not a nation the world can trust to do business fairly.

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Netanyahu warns Assad against Iran entrenchment in Syria

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday he would be "risking the future" of his regime if he allowed Iran to be entrenched militarily in his country. "We will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria," he told reporters alongside visiting US pointman on Iran policy, Brian Hook. The two men called for an extension of an arms embargo on Iran, archfoe of both their countries, which expires in October.

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Supreme Court strikes down consumer agency's autonomy in win for Trump administration

The case was a major test of the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

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Ex-Atlanta officer who killed Rayshard Brooks granted bond

The former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks can be free on bond while his case is pending, a judge ruled Tuesday. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick set a bond of $500,000 for Garrett Rolfe, who faces charges including felony murder in the killing of Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man. Appearing via teleconference because of the coronavirus, lawyers for Rolfe argued that he is a native Georgian with strong ties to the community who is not at risk of fleeing or failing to show up for court and is not a danger to the community.

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First coronavirus cases found in sprawling migrant camp at U.S. border

Three asylum seekers have tested positive for coronavirus in a sprawling encampment steps from the U.S. border in Matamoros, Mexico, marking the first cases in a settlement that advocates have long viewed as vulnerable amid the pandemic. Global Response Management (GRM), a nonprofit providing medical services in the camp, said it is proactively testing and isolating all close contacts of the three migrants who tested positive. "We have 5 patients in isolation: 2 who are awaiting results of testing and 3 who have tested positive on antibody testing," GRM Executive Director Helen Perry told Reuters on Tuesday.

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Chinese coronavirus vaccine approved for use in country's military after clinical trials

China's military has approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by its own research staff and a Chinese biotech firm, it was announced on Monday. The vaccine was given the green light for use by troops after trials proved it was both safe and effective, said CanSino Biologics, the biotech firm involved. However, its use for the time being will be restricted to military personnel, who offer a tighter medical control group than the general public. The vaccine candidate, named Ad5-nCoV, was developed jointly by CanSino and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology in the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. It has been in development since March. CanSino said the results showed the vaccine candidate has potential to prevent diseases caused by the coronavirus, which has killed half a million people globally. The company added that it was not yet possible to say if it could be a commercial success, which would depend on being able to produce the vaccine cheaply as well as safely.

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The coronavirus is devastating communities of color. The Trump administration's top doctor blames 'structural racism' and shares his plans to take action.

Dr. Jerome Adams is preparing two calls to action — one on high blood pressure, the other on maternal mortality — to address racial health inequality.

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FCC Bans Funding to Huawei, ZTE over China Ties

The Federal Communications Commission has banned Huawei and the ZTE Coroporation from receiving federal funds because of the companies' ties to the Chinese government.The ban prevents both companies from drawing on the FCC's Universal Service Fund, an $8.3 billion fund paid for by Americans via phone bill fees."The [FCC] has designated Huawei and ZTE as national security risks to America's communications networks-and to our 5G future," FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. "We cannot and will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to exploit network vulnerabilities and compromise our critical communications infrastructure."Both companies have been criticized by the U.S. for sharing data and information with the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly urged allies including Germany and the U.K. not to allow Huawei to develop local 5G networks. Additionally, Pentagon Defense Innovation Board chairman Eric Schmidt, a former CEO of Google, has said Huawei can essentially act as "signals intelligence" for the CCP."The CCP has gained footholds in countries around the world with Huawei and ZTE under the premise that they are independent companies," Senator Ben Sasse (R., Neb.) said in a statement. "The United States will not put US dollars in the communists’ pockets and today’s decision shows that. This is good for our national security and for our shared fight against China becoming the world's leading superpower."

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Russia vs. NATO: Welcome to the Fourth Battle of the Atlantic

The Russian submarine threat is significant.

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Coronavirus: What's behind new US outbreaks?

Cases are rising in Texas, Florida, Arizona and California - here's a look at the data and the theories.

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Judge temporarily blocks tell-all book by Trump's niece

A tell-all book by President Donald Trump's niece cannot be published until a judge decides the merits of claims by the president's brother that its publication would violate a pact among family members, a judge has said. The bookhas been written by Trump's brother's daughter, Mary Trump. An online description of it says it reveals "a nightmare of traumas, destructive relationships, and a tragic combination of neglect and abuse."

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Trump calls Supreme Court ruling a 'historic win for families who want school choice'

Earlier this month, Trump called school choice the civil rights issue “all-time in this country.”

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Time magazine blasted after writer calls for superheroes to be 're-examined' along with police

A piece published by Time raised eyebrows after calling for a cultural reckoning of how superheroes are depicted amid the national dialogue that has cracked down on how TV shows and films portray police and law enforcement.

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Search for Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen turns up human remains nearby; investigators pursue ID

Army officials said Tuesday that human remains found during the search for the Fort Hood soldier missing since April has led them back to an area near the sprawling military installation in Texas.

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Biden presser draws mix reactions: A 'pretty gentle session' for Dem candidate

Joe Biden held his first formal press conference in nearly three months and it drew mixed reviews. 

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Jake Owen seemingly defends Chase Rice over packed concert amid coronavirus concerns

Jake Owen is coming to Chase Rice's defense.

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Tulsa officer shot during traffic stop has died, police announce

A police officer and father of two from Tulsa, Okla. has succumbed to his wounds after being shot early Monday morning, during a routine traffic stop. 

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Yale president reportedly says school not considering name change despite namesake's ties to slave trade

Yale University's president reportedly told the Yale Daily News last week that officials are not considering changing the Ivy League school's name, despite its namesake's ties to the 17th century slave trade.

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Former Hawkeyes RB Akrum Wadley: 'Playing for Iowa football was a living nightmare'

Akrum Wadley, a former running back at Iowa, talked about being mistreated by Hawkeyes coaches on Monday, and he noted that “playing for Iowa Football was a living nightmare.”

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NY Gov. Cuomo announces LGBTQ veterans denied honorable discharge can apply to have state vet benefits restored

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that LGBTQ veterans who were denied honorable discharges due to their sexual orientation can now apply to have their state veterans’ benefits restored.

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Manchin skeptical of fresh coronavirus stimulus, says many states haven't given out money from last bill

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., told "Your World" Tuesday that he was reluctant to support a new coronavirus stimulus bill, noting that much of the money in the last stimulus package has not yet been distributed.

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One man killed and another wounded in Seattle's occupied protest zone

One man was killed and another wounded early Monday in Seattle's "occupied" protest zone - the second deadly shooting in the area. Police said the shooting happened before dawn in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood, near downtown. The Seattle Times reports that Harborview Medical Center said one wounded man was brought to the hospital in a private vehicle at about 3:15 a.m. The second was brought by Seattle Fire Department medics about 15 minutes later. The hospital said one man died and the other was in critical condition, Seattle police did not immediately release more information about the shooting. Demonstrators have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct and a park for about two weeks after police abandoned the precinct following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality.

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Senate Democratic primary heads to finish line in Kentucky

One of Kentucky's most unpredictable political races in years is headed toward the wire Tuesday, but it's taking a full week after the June 23 primary to sort out a possible photo finish in the Democratic U.S. Senate contest. Absentee ballots that stacked up amid the coronavirus pandemic have delayed the vote count in the neck-and-neck race between progressive candidate Charles Booker and establishment-backed Amy McGrath. Both are vying for the chance to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who coasted to victory in the GOP primary in his bid for a seventh term.

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Three men arrested for murder in case of missing California couple who vanished in 2017

Three men have been arrested for murder in the case of Audrey Moran and Jonathan Reynoso, who have been missing since 2017. Manuel Rios, of Coachella, Abraham Fregoso, of Indio, and Jesus Ruiz Jr., of Stockton, were taken into custody on Saturday, June 27, 2020, and booked in Riverside County Jail. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

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The coronavirus is devastating communities of color. The Trump administration's top doctor blames 'structural racism' and shares his plans to take action.

Dr. Jerome Adams is preparing two calls to action — one on high blood pressure, the other on maternal mortality — to address racial health inequality.

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85 coronavirus cases have been linked to one Michigan bar, and patrons who recently visited are being asked to self-quarantine

The restaurant said in a statement that it has closed temporarily and will eliminate lineups and install an air purifying system before reopening.

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Split high court throws out Louisiana abortion clinic limit

A divided Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics, reasserting a commitment to abortion rights over fierce opposition from dissenting conservative justices in the first big abortion case of the Trump era. Chief Justice John Roberts and his four more liberal colleagues ruled that a law that requires doctors who perform abortions must have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals violates abortion rights the court first announced in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. The outcome is far from the last word on the decades-long fight over abortion with dozens of state-imposed restrictions winding their way through the courts.

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See This Odd Plane? Russia Tried to Build a Stealth 'F-35'. They Failed

The story of the ill-fated MiG 1.44.

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Mississippi Becomes Last State to Remove Confederate Emblem from Flag

The Mississippi state legislature voted on Sunday to remove the emblem of the Confederacy from the state flag.State residents had previously been resistant to changing the flag, however polling from the state's Chamber of Commerce indicated that 55 percent of residents now supported removing the Confederate symbol."In the nearly 20 years we have held the position of changing the state flag, we have never seen voters so much in favor of change,” Scott Waller, president of the Mississippi Economic Council, said on Thursday. “These recent polling numbers show what people believe, and that the time has come for us to have a new flag that serves as a unifying symbol for our entire state."Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, said he would sign legislation to change the flag after previously expressing ambivalence."The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it. If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it," Reeves wrote on Facebook on Saturday."I would guess a lot of you don't even see that flag in the corner right there," Mississippi state Representative Ed Blackmon, a Democrat and African American who has served in the legislature continuously since 1983, said on Saturday. "There are some of us who notice it every time we walk in here, and it's not a good feeling."The push to remove the Confederate emblem comes amid massive nationwide demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, an African American man killed during arrest by Minneapolis police officers. Activists have called to remove the symbol of the secessionist states, which broke away from the union to preserve the system of slavery, as well as monuments to Confederate leaders from prominent public spaces. NASCAR has announced that it will ban spectators from waving the Confederate flag at races.

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2 Oklahoma police officers shot, suspect taken into custody

Two police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were shot and critically wounded on the city's east side Monday morning and police arrested the suspected gunman following a more than seven-hour search, authorities said. David Anthony Ware, 32, was arrested about 10:45 a.m., said Capt. Richard Meulenberg. The officers — Sgt. Craig Johnson and rookie officer Aurash Zarkeshan — remained in critical condition Monday afternoon and were “fighting for their lives,” said Police Chief Wendell Franklin.

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Coronavirus overwhelms Afghanistan’s war-ravaged hospitals

Corruption, medical supply shortages and militant attacks have deepened the country's health crisis.

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Coronavirus: How much does your boss need to know about you?

Firms are collecting a lot more information about staff as they try to contain coronavirus risks.

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US ends sensitive defence exports to Hong Kong: Mike Pompeo

The United States said Monday it was ending the export of sensitive military items to Hong Kong, no longer treating the financial hub separately from China. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was taking the measure due to China's push forward with a security law that Hong Kong activists say will curb the city's freedoms.

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Remote School Is a Nightmare. Few in Power Care.

Government should treat the need to reopen schools as an emergency.

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Coronavirus leads Arizona governor to close bars, clubs, gyms for 30 days

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered the closure of bars, gyms, movie theaters, nightclubs and water parks across the state for 30 days in an effort to combat a spike in coronavirus cases. 

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Media members divided over WaPo editor Baron scrapping Bob Woodward report burning Kavanaugh as source

A New York Times report about Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron's decision to spike a piece by veteran reporter Bob Woodward during the battle over Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2018 has divided members of the mainstream media.

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House GOP taps Rep. James Comer to serve as top Republican on Oversight Committee

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., was selected on Monday to be the top Republican on the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee – setting him up for a high-profile role as Republicans seek to combat Democratic oversight moves into the Trump administration.

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LA County warns coronavirus case spike is 'alarming'

Los Angeles County health officials on Monday offered a dire warning over an "alarming" spike in coronavirus cases as the pandemic continues to worsen in the region weeks after a phased reopening. 

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Bipartisan group of senators introduce bill to rein in Trump's ability to scale down troops in Germany

Sens. Mitt, Romney, R-Utah, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Christopher Coons, D-Del., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., are cosponsoring the proposal.

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Ian Poulter admits to farting during Travelers Championship

Ian Poulter admitted that he farted during a golf tournament over the weekend.

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Swine flu strain with 'human pandemic potential' found in more Chinese pigs, scientists say

Chinese researchers have reportedly identified a new strain of the swine flu that has the potential to become a pandemic.

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John Wayne’s son responds to resolution calling for John Wayne Airport to be renamed

John Wayne’s son is speaking out after California Democrats in Orange County recently demanded that the county’s John Wayne Airport be renamed and all likenesses of Wayne be removed from the airport, over “racist and bigoted statements” made by the American icon decades ago. 

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South Pole has warmed at over 3 times the global rate for decades, scientists say

The South Pole has warmed more than three times the global rate for the past three decades, a new study reports.

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Mystery of how flying snakes move is solved by scientists

Flying snakes are able to undulate their bodies as they glide through the air, and those unique movements allow them to make such flights, scientists have found.

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Transcript: Tim Scott on "Face the Nation"

The following is a transcript of an interview with Senator Tim Scott that aired Sunday, June 28, 2020, on "Face the Nation."

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Rolling Stones warn Trump not to use their songs

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Trump Denies Briefing on Reported Russian Bounties Against US Troops

President Donald Trump on Sunday denied that he had been briefed on reported U.S. intelligence that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan, and he appeared to minimize the allegations against Moscow.

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Dustin Johnson wins Travelers to extend career-long season streak

Dustin Johnson won the Travelers Championship on Sunday to end a long drought and extend his career-long season victory streak to 13.

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Father of teen murdered by illegal immigrant says BLM ignored his case: 'I'm black, where's our help?'

The father of a black teen murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2008 told "Fox & Friends" on Sunday that because his son's case was not a matter of police brutality, he received no support from the Black Lives Matter Movement and was forced to mourn on the "sidelines" by African-American leaders.

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Cam Newton signs 1-year deal with New England Patriots, reports say

Former NFL MVP Cam Newton has found a new home.

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Packers 'wasted' Aaron Rodgers' career, ex-rival says

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks of his era.

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Trump signs executive order to punish vandalism against federal monuments

Details of the executive order were not immediately released, but Trump said earlier this week that the order would "reinforce" existing federal law.

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California orders bars in LA, other counties to close due to COVID surge

The order from the state's governor comes as the global death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 500,000 on Sunday night.

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Jeyaraj and Fenix: Outrage mounts over deaths in Indian police custody

The two men died after allegedly being tortured in police custody, raising calls for justice.

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Mississippi takes step toward dropping rebel image from flag

Mississippi has the last state flag that includes the Confederate battle emblem.

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Trump visits private golf course as US battles rapid surge in coronavirus cases

US president heads to Virginia a day after saying he’d stay in Washington DC to ‘make sure law and order is enforced’ amid ongoing anti-racism protests * Coronavirus in the US – follow live updatesDonald Trump visited one of his own private golf courses in Virginia on Saturday as America continued to see fallout from a rapid surge in coronavirus cases. The trip came a day after the US president said he would stay in Washington DC to “make sure law and order is enforced” amid ongoing anti-racism protests.The president has been frequently criticized for the scale of his golfing habit while in office. CNN – which tallies his golfing activities – said the visit to the Trump National course in Loudon county, just outside Washington DC, was the 271st of his presidency – putting him at an average of golfing once every 4.6 days since he’s been in office. His predecessor, Barack Obama, golfed 333 rounds over the two terms of his presidency, according to NBC.The visit comes as the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000, according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday. Many states are now seeing spikes in the virus with Texas, Florida and Arizona especially badly hit after they reopened their economies – a policy they are now pausing or reversing.Trump has been roundly criticized for a failure to lead during the coronavirus that has seen America become by far the worst hit country in the world. Critics in particular point to his failure to wear a mask, holding campaign rallies in coronavirus hot spots and touting baseless conspiracy theories about cures, such as using bleach.On Friday night Trump tweeted that he was cancelling a weekend trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course because of the protests which have rocked the capital, including taking down statues of confederate figures.“I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced. The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped,” he tweeted.Trump’s latest visit to the golf course put him in the way of some opposition. According to a White House pool media report: “A small group of protesters at the entrance to the club held signs that included, ‘Trump Makes Me Sick’ and ‘Dump Trump’. A woman walking a small white dog nearby also gave the motorcade a middle finger salute.”It is not yet known if Trump actually played a round of golf. But a photographer captured the president wearing a white polo shirt and a red cap, which is among his common golfing attire.

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White House does not commit to temperature checks in meeting with U.S. airlines

Top U.S. airline executives met on Friday with Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials but did not come away with any commitments from the White House on mandating temperature checks for airline passengers. Airlines want the U.S. government to administer temperature checks to all passengers in a bid to reassure the public.

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Coronavirus updates: New US cases hit single-day record; as heat rises in places like Florida and Mexico, so do infections

The U.S. hit a single-day record. Texas, Florida closing bars amid surge in cases. The Trump administration is considering new approach to testing.

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Don't blame Sharia for Islamic extremism -- blame colonialism

Warning that Islamic extremists want to impose fundamentalist religious rule in American communities, right-wing lawmakers in dozens of U.S. states have tried banning Sharia, an Arabic term often understood to mean Islamic law. These political debates – which cite terrorism and political violence in the Middle East to argue that Islam is incompatible with modern society – reinforce stereotypes that the Muslim world is uncivilized. They also reflect ignorance of Sharia, which is not a strict legal code. Sharia means “path” or “way”: It is a broad set of values and ethical principles drawn from the Quran – Islam’s holy book – and the life of the Prophet Muhammad. As such, different people and governments may interpret Sharia differently. Still, this is not the first time that the world has tried to figure out where Sharia fits into the global order. In the 1950s and 1960s, when Great Britain, France and other European powers relinquished their colonies in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, leaders of newly sovereign Muslim-majority countries faced a decision of enormous consequence: Should they build their governments on Islamic religious values or embrace the European laws inherited from colonial rule? The big debateInvariably, my historical research shows, political leaders of these young countries chose to keep their colonial justice systems rather than impose religious law. Newly independent Sudan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia, among other places, all confined the application of Sharia to marital and inheritance disputes within Muslim families, just as their colonial administrators had done. The remainder of their legal systems would continue to be based on European law. To understand why they chose this course, I researched the decision-making process in Sudan, the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from the British, in 1956.In the national archives and libraries of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, and in interviews with Sudanese lawyers and officials, I discovered that leading judges, politicians and intellectuals actually pushed for Sudan to become a democratic Islamic state. They envisioned a progressive legal system consistent with Islamic faith principles, one where all citizens – irrespective of religion, race or ethnicity – could practice their religious beliefs freely and openly.“The People are equal like the teeth of a comb,” wrote Sudan’s soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Hassan Muddathir in 1956, quoting the Prophet Muhammad, in an official memorandum I found archived in Khartoum’s Sudan Library. “An Arab is no better than a Persian, and the White is no better than the Black.” Sudan’s post-colonial leadership, however, rejected those calls. They chose to keep the English common law tradition as the law of the land. Why keep the laws of the oppressor?My research identifies three reasons why early Sudan sidelined Sharia: politics, pragmatism and demography.Rivalries between political parties in post-colonial Sudan led to parliamentary stalemate, which made it difficult to pass meaningful legislation. So Sudan simply maintained the colonial laws already on the books. There were practical reasons for maintaining English common law, too. Sudanese judges had been trained by British colonial officials. So they continued to apply English common law principles to the disputes they heard in their courtrooms. Sudan’s founding fathers faced urgent challenges, such as creating the economy, establishing foreign trade and ending civil war. They felt it was simply not sensible to overhaul the rather smooth-running governance system in Khartoum.The continued use of colonial law after independence also reflected Sudan’s ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity.Then, as now, Sudanese citizens spoke many languages and belonged to dozens of ethnic groups. At the time of Sudan’s independence, people practicing Sunni and Sufi traditions of Islam lived largely in northern Sudan. Christianity was an important faith in southern Sudan. Sudan’s diversity of faith communities meant that maintaining a foreign legal system – English common law – was less controversial than choosing whose version of Sharia to adopt. Why extremists triumphedMy research uncovers how today’s instability across the Middle East and North Africa is, in part, a consequence of these post-colonial decisions to reject Sharia. In maintaining colonial legal systems, Sudan and other Muslim-majority countries that followed a similar path appeased Western world powers, which were pushing their former colonies toward secularism. But they avoided resolving tough questions about religious identity and the law. That created a disconnect between the people and their governments.In the long run, that disconnect helped fuel unrest among some citizens of deep faith, leading to sectarian calls to unite religion and the state once and for all. In Iran, Saudi Arabia and parts of Somalia and Nigeria, these interpretations triumphed, imposing extremist versions of Sharia over millions of people.In other words, Muslim-majority countries stunted the democratic potential of Sharia by rejecting it as a mainstream legal concept in the 1950s and 1960s, leaving Sharia in the hands of extremists.But there is no inherent tension between Sharia, human rights and the rule of law. Like any use of religion in politics, Sharia’s application depends on who is using it – and why.Leaders of places like Saudi Arabia and Brunei have chosen to restrict women’s freedom and minority rights. But many scholars of Islam and grassroots organizations interpret Sharia as a flexible, rights-oriented and equality-minded ethical order. Religion and the law worldwideReligion is woven into the legal fabric of many post-colonial nations, with varying consequences for democracy and stability.After its 1948 founding, Israel debated the role of Jewish law in Israeli society. Ultimately, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his allies opted for a mixed legal system that combined Jewish law with English common law. In Latin America, the Catholicism imposed by Spanish conquistadors underpins laws restricting abortion, divorce and gay rights.And throughout the 19th century, judges in the U.S. regularly invoked the legal maxim that “Christianity is part of the common law.” Legislators still routinely invoke their Christian faith when supporting or opposing a given law. Political extremism and human rights abuses that occur in those places are rarely understood as inherent flaws of these religions. When it comes to Muslim-majority countries, however, Sharia takes the blame for regressive laws – not the people who pass those policies in the name of religion.Fundamentalism and violence, in other words, are a post-colonial problem – not a religious inevitability. For the Muslim world, finding a system of government that reflects Islamic values while promoting democracy will not be easy after more than 50 years of failed secular rule. But building peace may demand it.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * What Sharia means: 5 questions answered * How Islamic law can take on ISIS * Trump’s travel ban is just one of many US policies that legalize discrimination against MuslimsMark Fathi Massoud has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, and the University of California. Any views expressed here are the author's responsibility.

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Southern states report record coronavirus surges

The U.S. has also seen a record number of cases nationwide, according to the latest figures released.

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'We opened too quickly': Texas becomes a model for inadequate Covid-19 response

State shuts down again after seven weeks with coronavirus cases soaring, after ignoring inconvenient data and fighting party-political turf warsWhen Donald Trump welcomed Texas governor Greg Abbott to the White House in May, the US president hailed his fellow Republican as “one of the great governors” and lauded the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and predicted boom times ahead.“When you look at the job he’s done in Texas, I rely on his judgment,” Trump said.Seven weeks later, as the state once again closes businesses with virus cases skyrocketing and hospitals running out of intensive-care beds, Texas indeed appears to be a model: for how to squander a hopeful position through premature reopening, ignoring inconvenient data and fighting party-political turf wars.On 7 May, the day of Abbott’s visit to Washington, the state reported 968 new cases among its 29 million residents. Daily numbers have soared this week – to 5,996 on 25 June – prompting doctors in Houston to sound the alarm.On Friday, Abbott ordered a halt to Texan experiences such as bar-hopping along Austin’s raucous Sixth Street and floating lazily on an inner tube along a tree-lined river. Bars – which were open at up to 50% capacity – must close again, restaurants must reduce from 75% to 50% capacity and rafting operations must close.Harris County, which includes Houston, moved to its highest Covid-19 threat level, signalling a “severe and uncontrolled” outbreak.“The harsh truth is that our current infection rate is on pace to overwhelm our hospitals in the very near future,” Lina Hidalgo, the county judge, said at a press conference on Friday. “We opened too quickly.”It was not her choice. Hidalgo, a Democrat, issued a mandatory mask order in April that was swiftly rendered toothless by Abbott, who said masks were strongly recommended but local authorities could not impose penalties for non-compliance.Abbott said in the Oval Office that Texas’ phased reopening was based on data-driven strategies that would reduce the spread of the virus and enable the economy to recover. But he was cherry-picking numbers; the statistics did not meet federal criteria for relaxing a lockdown and Texas’ per-capita testing rate is among the worst in the nation.That same day, Abbott diluted his own authority in order to mollify his conservative base. He eliminated jail as a punishment for violating his coronavirus restrictions, in a response to right-wing outrage over the imprisonment of a Dallas hair salon owner who had illegally reopened, refused to close again and was sentenced to seven days behind bars for contempt of court.“Abbott tries to play the moderate but in reality he’s almost on a leash with the extreme right,” said Mustafa Tameez, a Houston-based Democratic strategist.Tameez said that Abbott and Trump have sown confusion through mixed messages. “We’re not going to be able to make policy unless we root it in facts and science,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to make it through this on soundbites and political positioning.”Republicans control Texas politics at state level largely thanks to support from white rural and suburban voters. But Democrats dominate in the biggest cities, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. This has long led to policy conflicts, with the state overriding municipalities on issues from banning plastic bags to immigration enforcement. Greg Casar, an Austin city council member, said that Abbott placed appeasing his core voters ahead of the health of urban communities of color.“The governor at the very beginning of this chose to prioritize politics over public health,” Casar said, noting the state’s attempt to suspend abortions. He added that if cases continue to spike, Austin would probably pass laws that go beyond Abbott’s limits, risking a court fight.“The overwhelming majority of our hospitalizations are Latino and of course black Austinites are being hospitalized at a disproportionate rate as well,” Casar said. “Generations of racist practice and policies are really exposing those communities at the moment no matter how much we try to mitigate it.” Austin was blocked earlier this month from implementing mandatory paid sick leave after a long-running legal challenge backed by leading Texas Republicans.“Hopefully the leadership of this state now knows that they’ve got to put public health first, we’ve got to flatten the curve all the way,” said Royce West, a state senator in Dallas and Democratic US senate primary candidate. “Leaders in this state have got to look at whether or not what the model was in New York should be replicated here.” That would underline the dramatic reversal in fortunes from the spring, when New York was the national epicentre – but severe actions seem unlikely.Dan Patrick, the 70-year-old Texas lieutenant governor, declared in March that he was willing to risk death to help the economy.On Friday, Patrick dismissed the idea of a fresh lockdown and accused hospitals of providing misleading information. “Yes, positive rates are up, mostly young people, they’re not dying,” he told Fox News. “We’re still moving forward, with a slight pause.”Nor is the pandemic causing state leaders to reconsider their most cherished policy goals. As hospitals scramble to find more ICU beds, Texas, the state with the highest number of uninsured people, filed a brief on Thursday urging the US supreme court to scrap the Affordable Care Act, which would threaten access to healthcare for millions.

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How the world celebrated 50 years of Pride - despite the pandemic

Most LGBT Pride events were cancelled or moved online because of coronavirus, but not all.

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Marty Baron Made The Post Great Again. Now, the News Is Changing.

The ultimate old-school editor is grappling with a moment of cultural reckoning.

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Yes, Even George Washington

Slavery was a cruel institution that can’t be excused by its era.

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Trump’s Napalm Politics? They Began With Newt

Gingrich wrote the playbook for it all. The nastiness, the contempt for norms, the transformation of political opponents into enemies.

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‘China can’t treat SCS as its maritime empire’

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Amid coronavirus pandemic, pediatrics group urges 'goal' of students 'physically present in school' this fall

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Thursday issued a set of reentry policies for schools to follow, urging that all considerations for the fall should have the goal of students being “physically present in school,” despite a continuing rise in coronavirus cases nationwide.

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Protesters resist clearing of Seattle protest zone

Crews arrived with heavy equipment Friday at Seattle's "occupied" protest zone, apparently ready to dismantle barriers set up by protesters, but halted work when demonstrators resisted by lying on top of some of the makeshift structures. (June 26)

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Jeyaraj and Fenix: Outrage mounts over deaths in Indian police custody

The two men died after allegedly being tortured in police custody, raising calls for justice.

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A journalist who covered Trump's Tulsa rally tests positive for COVID-19

A reporter who covered US President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

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The Army Is About to Get its First Female Green Beret

A female soldier is scheduled to graduate from the Special Forces Qualification Course in July and become the first woman to join the Green Berets.

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Gingrich: The mob rule in large parts of America can't be sustained

The U.S. needs to have an honest conversation about what it takes to make America safe again, Newt Gingrich says on 'Outnumbered.'

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Calls to 'arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor' have been turned into an online meme that some say has gone too far

"Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor" has become a call for justice, but some are calling for people to stop turning her death into a meme.

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White House does not commit to temperature checks in meeting with U.S. airlines

Top U.S. airline executives met on Friday with Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials but did not come away with any commitments from the White House on mandating temperature checks for airline passengers. Airlines want the U.S. government to administer temperature checks to all passengers in a bid to reassure the public.

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‘No Justice, No Peace’: Can We Have Peace Now?

A 28-year-old man was assaulted Tuesday outside the Wisconsin capitol building. He was driving to an area hospital to pick up his girlfriend when his vehicle crossed paths with a horde of demonstrators. One of the rioters threw a bicycle at his car, prompting the man to step out of the vehicle. He was immediately swarmed by a pack of 50 rioters, who assaulted him, stole his wallet and phone, and vandalized his car.The Mostly Peaceful Protests continued.Rioters threw a Molotov cocktail into a municipal building. They assaulted a state senator. They toppled the statue of the abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, decapitating his effigy and dragging the bronze remains into a nearby lake.One demonstrator named Ebony Anderson-Carter explained to the Wisconsin State Journal that having a statue of an abolitionist outside the state capitol created a “false representation of what this city is.” If she would rather an avowed racist stand outside the capitol to better “represent” the city, there has never been a better time to buy.Why do we continue to indulge the rioters? We do so precisely because we have collectively insisted that the killing of George Floyd was not an individual injustice — an evil act the perpetrators of which could face decades behind bars — but a link in a cosmic chain from slavery to Jim Crow to the present. When police officers knelt on Tony Timba and killed him, no one burned an AutoZone to the ground; if they had, would anyone in power have defended it? Tony Timba was fourth-page news, George Floyd was a martyr: One death is a footnote, the other indicts the country itself. Allowing the riots to proceed is something like a national indulgence: “Riots are the language of the unheard,” we are told. America is reaping what it has sown.All of this bluster and revolutionary playacting obscures the killing of George Floyd; it obscures — intentionally — the fact that his murder evoked immediate and universal condemnation. Everyone was disgusted by what they saw, and how couldn’t they be? Derek Chauvin’s callous indifference as a man withered and died beneath his knee was enough to stir even the most hardened soul to outrage. But Floyd’s death seems almost a footnote now to the umpteenth iteration of our National Conversation about Race.After Floyd’s death, protesters across the country screamed, “No justice, no peace!” Tony Timba got an article in the Dallas Morning News. Hardly a murmur has been heard lamenting the reams of black victims of gun violence in Chicago this month. The Floyd incident, by contrast, was the subject of 24-hour news coverage. The four perpetrators were arrested and charged. Congress began debating police-reform legislation, and Minneapolis considered disbanding its entire police department. Corporate America pledged near-universal allegiance to Black Lives Matter. As a sort of societal penance, our leaders variously looked away from or apologized for the rioters as they destroyed businesses, toppled statues of the Founders, defaced national monuments, assaulted elected officials, and desecrated cemeteries. Public figures who made racially tinged jokes a decade ago faced personal and financial ruin. Tomes like How to Be an Antiracist and White Fragility shot up the New York Times bestsellers lists.No justice, no peace. Can we have peace now?No: This quest for “justice” will not be sated by the conviction of Derek Chauvin, nor by police reform, nor by other targeted changes to the criminal-justice system. What we’re watching unfold both in our cities and in our culture is something more profound — a broadside against the country itself, its institutions, its self-image, and its history. If the iconoclasts were just concerned about the blight of honoring traitors who fought for the preservation of slavery, the vandals would have been satisfied by toppling the statues of the Confederates. But they went after Washington, and they want Lincoln next.Black Lives Matter leader Hawk Newsome said that “if this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.” If the actions of the rioters are any indication, we ought to believe him.

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Galwan Valley: China to use martial art trainers after India border clash

The move follows deadly fighting between Indian and Chinese troops in an area where guns are banned.

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A Major GOP Nightmare Moves a Step Closer to Reality

Legislation to make the District of Columbia a state is poised to pass the House on Friday, a major advance from the last time the measure came before Congress 27 years ago and 40 percent of Democrats joined with all but one Republican to defeat D.C. statehood. After decades of benign neglect, the movement to make D.C. the 51st state has gained new life with Black Lives Matter and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s heightened profile. President Trump’s efforts to use federal force to dominate streets around the White House exposed the subservient status of a city that must answer to Congress for how it spends money while its 706,000 residents are without full voting representation in the House or Senate. Republicans appear unmoved by pleas for equality. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton took to the Senate floor to denounce the Democrats’ move in a racially tinged speech depicting D.C. as an elitist conclave of the “deep state” and Mayor Bowser as someone who could not be trusted to keep the city and its statues safe. “Yes, Wyoming is smaller than Washington by population,” he tweeted, “but it has three times as many workers in mining, logging, and construction, and 10 times as many workers in manufacturing. In other words, Wyoming is a well-rounded working-class state."Opinion: I Fixed Tom Cotton’s Op-EdThe bill to rename D.C. “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth” is going nowhere in Mitch McConnell’s Senate. But if the Democrats win the White House and flip the Senate, statehood becomes imaginable, since statehood requires only a vote of Congress. “Trump says Republicans would have to be stupid to support D.C. statehood and that’s what the battle is about these days, maybe that’s what it’s always been about,” says Michael Brown, D.C.’s non-voting “shadow senator.” Actually, Trump said Republicans would have to be “very, very stupid” to support statehood for D.C. because it would add two Democratic senators, which McConnell would never let happen. “But it’s about more than McConnell,” Brown told the Daily Beast. “We can’t get one Republican (in the Senate), and there are still six (Senate) Democrats who are not on the bill.” In the modern Senate, 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and proceed to a vote on legislation of any significance. The exception is judges, where Republicans exercised what is known as the “nuclear option” to confirm two Supreme Court judges and 200 lower court lifetime judges with a simple majority. Democratic leader Harry Reid opened this dangerous door by striking the filibuster for Executive Branch confirmations that McConnell was blocking. Several Democrats who ran for president, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Pete Buttigieg, favor doing away with the filibuster if Democrats win the Senate. Otherwise, they argue, McConnell (or his successor, should he happen to lose his own race) will obstruct everything Democrats try to do.  The District of Columbia has a population of 706,000, more than Wyoming and Vermont, and D.C. residents pay more in total federal income tax than 22 states. It has long been a sore point that fighting in every war and contributing blood and treasure is not enough to gain more than a symbolic vote in Congress. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has served almost 30 years, has a vote in committee but not on the House floor, and if her committee vote breaks a tie, it doesn’t count. Even that small measure of democratic largesse was taken away by Republicans when they gained control of the House in 1994 and again in 2010. Democrats restored Norton’s limited right to vote when they won the House in 2006 and 2018, and since then Norton has been on a roll when it comes to statehood. She has 226 co-sponsors for the bill, including the No. 2 Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer from Maryland, who opposed statehood until now. Speaking before the Rules committee Wednesday, Norton explained how the legislation before her colleagues was personal to her own history. “My great-grandfather, Richard Holmes, who escaped as a slave from a Virginia plantation, made it as far as D.C., a walk to freedom but not to equal citizenship,” she said. “For three generations my family has been denied the rights other Americans take for granted.” Opponents of statehood argue that the Founding Fathers didn’t want the District to be a state, but our vaunted forebears also didn’t want women to vote, or Black people to vote, so that argument seems lame. “Whether you’re a textualist or an originalist, I don’t believe the Founding Fathers had any more reason to deny representation to people who pay federal taxes, serve in war and do everything a citizen should—than they would have wanted my neighbor down the hall to have a closet full of AK-47s,” says Ellen Goldstein, who served until recently as a neighborhood advisory commissioner for the Sheridan-Kalorama neighborhood, home to the Obamas, the Kushners, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. “You can unearth the minds of the Founding Fathers to justify anything,” Goldstein told the Daily Beast. “As somebody who has lived here for 50 years, I believe the only reason we’re not a state is because of race.” Race has a lot to do with it, says Brown, a former political consultant whose unpaid position’s main perk is identifying as a senator. The Constitution grants Congress jurisdiction over the District in “all cases whatsoever,” which allowed some committee chairmen of the House and Senate Committees on the District of Columbia to run the city like a plantation. In his recent book Class of 1974, John Lawrence recounts how John McMillan, a South Carolina Democrat and a segregationist, sent a truckload of watermelons to the office of appointed Mayor Walter Washington to let him know how little he thought of the budget Washington submitted in 1967 for the committee’s review. The District couldn’t even elect its own mayor until after Home Rule passed Congress in 1973. For a long time, D.C. pridefully called itself “Chocolate City,” acknowledging its majority Black population. No state has ever come into the union with a majority minority population, says Brown. In 1993, the last time Congress voted on statehood, the city was 56 percent Black, a factor in the outcome despite President Bill Clinton’s advocacy for statehood. During his final weeks in office, Bill Clinton had the newly authorized D.C. license plate with the slogan “taxation without representation” affixed to the presidential limousine. His successor, President George W. Bush, had the plate removed. It wasn’t until after President Obama won re-election in 2012 that he ordered the controversial plate installed on all presidential vehicles. In 2011, the District’s Black population fell below 50 percent for the first time in over 50 years. According to 2017 Census Bureau data, the African-American population is 47.1 percent. Unlike the Clinton-era vote, when Democrats were divided on the political merits of D.C. statehood, a newly awakened Democratic leadership is rallying around the cry for equal rights. “It’s beyond statehood,” says Goldstein, citing congressional meddling in District policies on marijuana legalization, gun regulation, and funding for abortion. “If we decide to do it, they take it away. They take our money and tell us how to spend it.”  Goldstein doubts the House vote will change anything, but in her thinking, modern America cannot continue to deny D.C. is a state any more than Macy’s Department store in the movie classic Miracle on 34th Street could deny Kris Kringle was Santa when bags of letters addressed to him were delivered by the Post Office. Using the same reasoning, Goldstein notes that when she shops online on Amazon and scrolls down, D.C. is a state: “If the Post Office thinks you’re Santa, you’re Santa. And if Amazon thinks we’re a state, then by golly, we’re a state.”Until a miracle happens on Capitol Hill, that will have to do.  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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Afghanistan war: Russia denies paying militants to kill US troops

US reports say a Russian intelligence unit offered rewards for killing US and allied troops.

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Rolling Stones warn Trump not to use their songs - or face legal action

The president's campaign could face legal action if it ignores "cease and desist directives".

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Li Zhensheng: Photographer of China's cultural revolution

Li Zhensheng captured a time when China was plunged into a decade of chaos and turmoil.

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'The love letter to my neighbourhood that helped me flee my country'

José Gregorio Márquez was ashamed of the place he grew up, but he came to love it before leaving it forever.

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Mahmoud Dicko: Mali imam challenges President Keïta

Mahmoud Dicko is spearheading mass protests against the West African state's embattled president.

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Coronavirus: How coming-of-age rituals were interrupted - and reinvented

How coming-of-age rituals were interrupted - and reinvented - amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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Zimbabwe's Cook Off: How an $8,000 romcom made it to Netflix

Zimbabwe's first film to be featured on the streaming service is a tale of hope in a chaotic country.

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Coronavirus: Cut negatives capture the isolation of lockdown

Photographer Aletheia Casey talks about her series To Dance With Shadows, made during the pandemic.

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NYPD sees 49 percent spike in officers filing for retirement amid George Floyd unrest

A wave of NYPD officers has filed for retirement in the weeks following George Floyd's death on May 25, refocusing attention on police morale amid widespread protests and calls to defund law enforcement.

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Lawmakers want answers from Trump Administration on reports Russia paid Taliban to attack US troops

Lawmakers on both sides the aisle in Washington want answers on new explosive reporting that a Russian spy unit paid the Taliban to attack U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.

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Trump tweets 15 separate posters of 'persons of interest' sought in connection to Andrew Jackson statue vandalization

President Trump on Saturday asked for the public's help in identifying people being sought by law enforcement in connection to the vandalization of the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Square earlier this week.

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Florida sees third day of record high coronavirus cases in one week

Florida health officials reported a new record in increased daily coronavirus cases Saturday, making it the third day this week a record was broken.

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California Democrats pass resolution calling for John Wayne Airport to be renamed

California Democrats in Orange County are demanding that the county’s John Wayne Airport be renamed and all likenesses of Wayne be removed from the airport, over “racist and bigoted statements” made by the American icon decades ago.

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Social media alternative Parler doesn’t censor, fact-check posts, CEO says

Parler CEO John Matze said Parler is important for conservatives during an election year, where they can post freely without being censored.

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Judge orders Roger Stone to surrender July 14, denying his request for an extended delay

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, requested a two-month delay to his prison sentence, citing his age and medical concerns.

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William Barr claims an election with mail in voting is not secure – but admits he has no evidence for it

US attorney general William Barr has suggested that an election that uses mainly mail-in voting will not be secure, but admits he has no evidence to back up his claim.Speaking to NPR on Thursday, the attorney general was asked if he thinks an election that is voted on predominately by mail can be implemented without widespread fraud.

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COVID-19 cluster among migrants causes angry confrontations in southern Italian town

Italy has sent soldiers to restore order in a coastal town near Naples after a coronavirus outbreak at an apartment complex illegally occupied by hundreds of migrant workers caused angry confrontations with residents. The authorities announced on Thursday that more than 40 people living at the abandoned buildings in Mondragone, 45 km from Naples, had tested positive for COVID-19, and warned the entire town could be quarantined if the outbreak proves widespread. Italian residents on the street chanted "Mondragone is ours" and gathered outside the sealed off are, resulting in both sides shouting abuse at each other, footage showed.

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California shakes up auto industry, says all vans and trucks must be electric by 2024

California shakes up auto industry, says all vans and trucks must be electric by 2024

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Op-Ed: Why California needs affirmative action more than ever

California's Proposition 209, an anti-affirmative action law, never did "level the playing field"; instead it reinforced historic patterns of discrimination.

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Iran explosion: Blast seen near military base in Tehran

Iranian authorities are investigating after an explosion east of the capital near a site linked to the regime's nuclear testing programme. A bright and large flash of light was seen in the night sky over Tehran early on Friday in images shared widely on social media, Iran's Fars news agency reported. "In the early hours after midnight on Friday, a number of social media users reported seeing an orange light in the eastern part of Tehran," said Fars. "In the videos sent by (our) readers, this light is seen for a few seconds," it reported, adding it was following up the issue with the relevant authorities. Fars said later that the flash was caused by "an industrial gas tank explosion" near a facility belonging to the defence ministry.

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