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Title: Unions, progressive groups lay out demands for COVID aid bill Labor unions and progressive groups gave Democrats in Congress a wish list of items they want in the next coronavirus stimulus bill, including aid to local and state governments, help for immigrants, enhanced jobless benefits and funds for public schools, according to a report Wednesday. They included their demands in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as Congress is poised to begin negotiating the next round of relief funds next week, The Hill reported. Along with $1 trillion in state and local aid and $100 billion for public schools, the groups want expanded protections for workers and help for immigrants. They also want to preserve the $3 trillion HEROES Act, which House Democrats passed in May, and calls for enhanced jobless benefits and stimulus payments for households. The coalition includes the American Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union, MoveOn, United We Dream and Greenpeace. Another round of stimulus checks is likely to be included in the coronavirus relief package, but many of the other proposals could hit a wall in the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his GOP colleagues want to limit the next bill to $1 trillion, and McConnell seeks liability protections for businesses reopening amid the pandemic. “Senate Republicans are looking to keep it around $1 trillion. They do not want a $3 trillion blowout like the one Nancy Pelosi has proposed,” a Senate source told The Post on Tuesday.

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Title: Kellyanne Conway's daughter trolls mom as 'Smelly Kelly' Kellyanne Conway’s teenage daughter playfully trolled her mom as “Smelly Kelly” as she continues to duke it out with her folks over their supposed threats to boot her offline. Claudia Conway — an outspoken anti-Trump TikToker — shared a tongue-in-cheek video Tuesday, claiming to have abandoned her liberal views that she says have been the source of conflict in the conservative household. “Hi Smelly Kelly! The rumors are true. I have been cured from my radical leftism,” said 15-year-old Claudia, whose mother is a counselor to President Trump and whose father is George Conway, a lawyer and outspoken critic of the commander-in-chief. “And now I love Trump and I love our president,” the teen snarked. The latest post comes after she shared another TikTok that she claimed was her “last video [because] my parents are making me delete all social media.” In the video, she cuts to a screenshot of a FaceTime with her mother, who was Trump’s 2016 campaign manager. The teen suggested last week that her social media — which has recently gone viral with anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter videos — wasn’t sitting well with her parents. “My parents, particularly my mother, are trying to silence me by getting me to delete my social media. haha,” she wrote in a since-scrubbed tweet.

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Title: Dakota Access Pipeline allowed to continue after court ruling Advertisement A federal appeals court said the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline can continue to operate during legal arguments. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set aside a lower court’s order on Tuesday and granted owner Energy Transfer LP an administrative stay until next Thursday so it can file briefs. “The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for stay and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” the court said. The pipeline, which carries oil from North Dakota across four states to Illinois, is opposed by environmental activists and local tribes along the route. A federal district judge last week ordered the line shut down until a thorough environmental impact review is completed. The judge said Energy Transfer should not have been allowed to build a portion of the pipeline under South Dakota’s Lake Oahe, a drinking water source for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. With Post wires

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Title: Who is Claudia Conway? Meet Kellyanne Conway's outspoken daughter Claudia Conway’s mom, Kellyanne, was one of President Trump’s longest-serving aides. Her father is a big-shot lawyer who once represented Paula Jones. Their 18-year-old daughter rose to prominence when she began making headlines years ago for posting anti-Trump TikTok videos and sharing her uber-liberal views, all while publicly battling her parents for control of her social media accounts. Following a brief social media hiatus, the “wild child” now has a new gig creating salacious content for Playboy.com, the online offshoot of the now-defunct print magazine. “Claudia Conway is one of many women who have found freedom, autonomy, and major financial success on our creator platform,” Playboy announced in a statement received by The Post Tuesday. “We welcome her and support her choices.” So who is Claudia Conway? Before joining the Trump team, where she worked as a campaign manager and then a counselor to the president, Claudia’s mom, Kellyanne, was a political consultant for top Republicans and a strategist for the GOP. Her dad, George Conway, meanwhile, is a prominent corporate attorney who represented Jones in her lawsuit against Bill Clinton. He’s the founder of the anti-Trump conservative super political action committee The Lincoln Project. Claudia first rose to prominence several years back after making troubling social media posts about her parents, who recently announced that they were getting divorced after 22 years of marriage. These included claims that her parents were trying to silence her by getting her to delete her social media, notably referring to her mother as “Smelly Kelly.” The rest of Claudia’s family leans right, too. She told Insider last month that she comes from a “huge conservative Italian family” and recalled getting into an argument with an aunt over her choice to wear a “women for Trump” hat. “Everyone in my family are [sic] Trump supporters except for my dad and I,” she told the outlet. “I grew up in a very, very conservative family, so I was only exposed to those views for a very long time,” she added. She’s Playboy’s newest bunny The teen’s most recent endeavor is a new gig creating salacious content for Playboy.com, the online offshoot of the now-defunct print magazine. “Claudia Conway is one of many women who have found freedom, autonomy, and major financial success on our creator platform,” Playboy announced in a statement received by The Post. “We welcome her and support her choices.” She has been operating the subscription page since April, just six months after her 18th birthday. Claudia has just 11 snaps on Playboy.com, which debuted in March as part of the famous men’s magazine’s digital-first campaign following the shuttering of its print product in 2020. The showy shots show Conway wearing three different revealing swimsuits: one green, one lilac and one in a blue floral print. The former “American Idol” contestant is also seen posing braless in a tight gray slip dress — a photo that’s also shared with her 158,000 followers on Instagram. While Playboy.com claims to be a more safe-for-work OnlyFans, offering what it describes as “artistic nudity” — ie. artfully-obscured netherregions and beasts — instead of the overt “pornography” of its porn platform counterpart, customers can pay for racier photos. A slightly more suggestive shot — or “cleavage closeups” could cost between $5 and $99 depending on the shot. Subscribers even have the option to tip Conway and other creators if they see a photo that tickles their fancy. Playboy, for one, found Conway’s new career empowering, telling the Post: “Playboy believes all women deserve to have full control over their bodies and their voices.” Kellyanne ConwayChip Somodevilla/Getty Images She’s a Jersey girl Claudia was raised in Alpine, New Jersey, along with her twin brother, George IV, and two younger sisters, Charlotte and Vanessa. In 2016, the Conways relocated to the nation’s capital — though Claudia, then a sixth-grader, wasn’t so happy about the move. She started a Change.org petition in an attempt to convince her parents to stay put in the Garden State. The Post reported at the time that Kellyanne was getting stonewalled when trying to get her kids placed into DC private schools. At some point, she and her twin brother George moved back to Alpine, where they live with their grandmother, according to a Dec. 2022 interview with Bustle. Their younger sisters attend schools in Washington D.C. while their parents travel back and forth. When she graduates high school this year she hopes to move to New York and, one day, attend college, Claudia told Bustle. She also wants to work in social justice advocacy. “I think that’s what I want to do when I’m older, like social justice activism,” she told Insider. “I know my mom always told me: If you believe it, go stand for it.” Here’s what she posts on TikTok The teen boasts a massive 1.6 million TikTok followers The teen previously gained traction on the app for uploading videos that were critical of her mother’s boss, however she hasn’t shared much on the app since December of last year. see also Kellyanne Conway's anti-Trump daughter keeps trolling mom on TikTok “Why do people hate on Trump supporters, like can’t we just respect everyone’s opinions? SIKE nah block me pls and then educate yourself,” she wrote in one video. In another clip, she wrote: “hi so if you’re leftist, acab, anti-trump, blm, etc. please interact w this because most of my comments are threats from angry trump supporters.” She captioned another TikTok with “i love trump… but replace ‘love’ with ‘think that we should extinguish.’” She’s also posted in support of Black Lives Matter, highlighting the case of Breonna Taylor.  More recently after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she has organized protests in support of abortion rights, according to Bustle. AOC is one of her idols The self-described teen activist told USA Today in July 2020 that far-left New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are two of her idols. Claudia also said she decided to advance progressive causes on her social media channels after educating herself on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. “Growing up in a family where you’re really only exposed to one side and your mom is a public figure working for some of the biggest Republican politicians in the nation, you know, 12-year-old me was wondering, ‘Why? Why is my mom doing this?’ “‘What does she believe in? Why does she believe this and why does she fight for this so much?’ And so I started reading,” Claudia said. The teen also tweeted asking Ocasio-Cortez to “adopt” her. George ConwayRobert Alexander/Getty Images She’s an expert at trolling Claudia once notably livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok, in which Kellyanne can be seen swiping the teen’s phone out of her hands. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. She said her mom is her best friend They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. Her dad, George Conway, meanwhile, is a prominent corporate attorney who represented Jones in her lawsuit against Bill Clinton. He’s the founder of the anti-Trump conservative super political action committee The Lincoln Project. Claudia first rose to prominence several years back after making troubling social media posts about her parents, who recently announced that they were getting divorced after 22 years of marriage. These included claims that her parents were trying to silence her by getting her to delete her social media, notably referring to her mother as “Smelly Kelly.” The rest of Claudia’s family leans right, too. She told Insider last month that she comes from a “huge conservative Italian family” and recalled getting into an argument with an aunt over her choice to wear a “women for Trump” hat. “Everyone in my family are [sic] Trump supporters except for my dad and I,” she told the outlet. “I grew up in a very, very conservative family, so I was only exposed to those views for a very long time,” she added. The teen’s most recent endeavor is a new gig creating salacious content for Playboy.com, the online offshoot of the now-defunct print magazine. “Claudia Conway is one of many women who have found freedom, autonomy, and major financial success on our creator platform,” Playboy announced in a statement received by The Post. “We welcome her and support her choices.” She has been operating the subscription page since April, just six months after her 18th birthday. Claudia has just 11 snaps on Playboy.com, which debuted in March as part of the famous men’s magazine’s digital-first campaign following the shuttering of its print product in 2020. The showy shots show Conway wearing three different revealing swimsuits: one green, one lilac and one in a blue floral print. The former “American Idol” contestant is also seen posing braless in a tight gray slip dress — a photo that’s also shared with her 158,000 followers on Instagram. While Playboy.com claims to be a more safe-for-work OnlyFans, offering what it describes as “artistic nudity” — ie. artfully-obscured netherregions and beasts — instead of the overt “pornography” of its porn platform counterpart, customers can pay for racier photos. A slightly more suggestive shot — or “cleavage closeups” could cost between $5 and $99 depending on the shot. Subscribers even have the option to tip Conway and other creators if they see a photo that tickles their fancy. Playboy, for one, found Conway’s new career empowering, telling the Post: “Playboy believes all women deserve to have full control over their bodies and their voices.” Kellyanne ConwayChip Somodevilla/Getty Images She’s a Jersey girl Claudia was raised in Alpine, New Jersey, along with her twin brother, George IV, and two younger sisters, Charlotte and Vanessa. In 2016, the Conways relocated to the nation’s capital — though Claudia, then a sixth-grader, wasn’t so happy about the move. She started a Change.org petition in an attempt to convince her parents to stay put in the Garden State. The Post reported at the time that Kellyanne was getting stonewalled when trying to get her kids placed into DC private schools. At some point, she and her twin brother George moved back to Alpine, where they live with their grandmother, according to a Dec. 2022 interview with Bustle. Their younger sisters attend schools in Washington D.C. while their parents travel back and forth. When she graduates high school this year she hopes to move to New York and, one day, attend college, Claudia told Bustle. She also wants to work in social justice advocacy. “I think that’s what I want to do when I’m older, like social justice activism,” she told Insider. “I know my mom always told me: If you believe it, go stand for it.” Here’s what she posts on TikTok The teen boasts a massive 1.6 million TikTok followers The teen previously gained traction on the app for uploading videos that were critical of her mother’s boss, however she hasn’t shared much on the app since December of last year. see also Kellyanne Conway's anti-Trump daughter keeps trolling mom on TikTok “Why do people hate on Trump supporters, like can’t we just respect everyone’s opinions? SIKE nah block me pls and then educate yourself,” she wrote in one video. In another clip, she wrote: “hi so if you’re leftist, acab, anti-trump, blm, etc. please interact w this because most of my comments are threats from angry trump supporters.” She captioned another TikTok with “i love trump… but replace ‘love’ with ‘think that we should extinguish.’” She’s also posted in support of Black Lives Matter, highlighting the case of Breonna Taylor.  More recently after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she has organized protests in support of abortion rights, according to Bustle. AOC is one of her idols The self-described teen activist told USA Today in July 2020 that far-left New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are two of her idols. Claudia also said she decided to advance progressive causes on her social media channels after educating herself on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. “Growing up in a family where you’re really only exposed to one side and your mom is a public figure working for some of the biggest Republican politicians in the nation, you know, 12-year-old me was wondering, ‘Why? Why is my mom doing this?’ “‘What does she believe in? Why does she believe this and why does she fight for this so much?’ And so I started reading,” Claudia said. The teen also tweeted asking Ocasio-Cortez to “adopt” her. George ConwayRobert Alexander/Getty Images She’s an expert at trolling Claudia once notably livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok, in which Kellyanne can be seen swiping the teen’s phone out of her hands. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. She said her mom is her best friend They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. “Claudia Conway is one of many women who have found freedom, autonomy, and major financial success on our creator platform,” Playboy announced in a statement received by The Post. “We welcome her and support her choices.” She has been operating the subscription page since April, just six months after her 18th birthday. Claudia has just 11 snaps on Playboy.com, which debuted in March as part of the famous men’s magazine’s digital-first campaign following the shuttering of its print product in 2020. The showy shots show Conway wearing three different revealing swimsuits: one green, one lilac and one in a blue floral print. The former “American Idol” contestant is also seen posing braless in a tight gray slip dress — a photo that’s also shared with her 158,000 followers on Instagram. While Playboy.com claims to be a more safe-for-work OnlyFans, offering what it describes as “artistic nudity” — ie. artfully-obscured netherregions and beasts — instead of the overt “pornography” of its porn platform counterpart, customers can pay for racier photos. A slightly more suggestive shot — or “cleavage closeups” could cost between $5 and $99 depending on the shot. Subscribers even have the option to tip Conway and other creators if they see a photo that tickles their fancy. Playboy, for one, found Conway’s new career empowering, telling the Post: “Playboy believes all women deserve to have full control over their bodies and their voices.” Claudia was raised in Alpine, New Jersey, along with her twin brother, George IV, and two younger sisters, Charlotte and Vanessa. In 2016, the Conways relocated to the nation’s capital — though Claudia, then a sixth-grader, wasn’t so happy about the move. She started a Change.org petition in an attempt to convince her parents to stay put in the Garden State. The Post reported at the time that Kellyanne was getting stonewalled when trying to get her kids placed into DC private schools. At some point, she and her twin brother George moved back to Alpine, where they live with their grandmother, according to a Dec. 2022 interview with Bustle. Their younger sisters attend schools in Washington D.C. while their parents travel back and forth. When she graduates high school this year she hopes to move to New York and, one day, attend college, Claudia told Bustle. She also wants to work in social justice advocacy. “I think that’s what I want to do when I’m older, like social justice activism,” she told Insider. “I know my mom always told me: If you believe it, go stand for it.” Here’s what she posts on TikTok The teen boasts a massive 1.6 million TikTok followers The teen previously gained traction on the app for uploading videos that were critical of her mother’s boss, however she hasn’t shared much on the app since December of last year. see also Kellyanne Conway's anti-Trump daughter keeps trolling mom on TikTok “Why do people hate on Trump supporters, like can’t we just respect everyone’s opinions? SIKE nah block me pls and then educate yourself,” she wrote in one video. In another clip, she wrote: “hi so if you’re leftist, acab, anti-trump, blm, etc. please interact w this because most of my comments are threats from angry trump supporters.” She captioned another TikTok with “i love trump… but replace ‘love’ with ‘think that we should extinguish.’” She’s also posted in support of Black Lives Matter, highlighting the case of Breonna Taylor.  More recently after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she has organized protests in support of abortion rights, according to Bustle. AOC is one of her idols The self-described teen activist told USA Today in July 2020 that far-left New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are two of her idols. Claudia also said she decided to advance progressive causes on her social media channels after educating herself on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. “Growing up in a family where you’re really only exposed to one side and your mom is a public figure working for some of the biggest Republican politicians in the nation, you know, 12-year-old me was wondering, ‘Why? Why is my mom doing this?’ “‘What does she believe in? Why does she believe this and why does she fight for this so much?’ And so I started reading,” Claudia said. The teen also tweeted asking Ocasio-Cortez to “adopt” her. George ConwayRobert Alexander/Getty Images She’s an expert at trolling Claudia once notably livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok, in which Kellyanne can be seen swiping the teen’s phone out of her hands. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. She said her mom is her best friend They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. In 2016, the Conways relocated to the nation’s capital — though Claudia, then a sixth-grader, wasn’t so happy about the move. She started a Change.org petition in an attempt to convince her parents to stay put in the Garden State. The Post reported at the time that Kellyanne was getting stonewalled when trying to get her kids placed into DC private schools. At some point, she and her twin brother George moved back to Alpine, where they live with their grandmother, according to a Dec. 2022 interview with Bustle. Their younger sisters attend schools in Washington D.C. while their parents travel back and forth. When she graduates high school this year she hopes to move to New York and, one day, attend college, Claudia told Bustle. She also wants to work in social justice advocacy. “I think that’s what I want to do when I’m older, like social justice activism,” she told Insider. “I know my mom always told me: If you believe it, go stand for it.” The teen boasts a massive 1.6 million TikTok followers The teen previously gained traction on the app for uploading videos that were critical of her mother’s boss, however she hasn’t shared much on the app since December of last year. see also Kellyanne Conway's anti-Trump daughter keeps trolling mom on TikTok “Why do people hate on Trump supporters, like can’t we just respect everyone’s opinions? SIKE nah block me pls and then educate yourself,” she wrote in one video. In another clip, she wrote: “hi so if you’re leftist, acab, anti-trump, blm, etc. please interact w this because most of my comments are threats from angry trump supporters.” She captioned another TikTok with “i love trump… but replace ‘love’ with ‘think that we should extinguish.’” She’s also posted in support of Black Lives Matter, highlighting the case of Breonna Taylor.  More recently after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she has organized protests in support of abortion rights, according to Bustle. AOC is one of her idols The self-described teen activist told USA Today in July 2020 that far-left New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are two of her idols. Claudia also said she decided to advance progressive causes on her social media channels after educating herself on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. “Growing up in a family where you’re really only exposed to one side and your mom is a public figure working for some of the biggest Republican politicians in the nation, you know, 12-year-old me was wondering, ‘Why? Why is my mom doing this?’ “‘What does she believe in? Why does she believe this and why does she fight for this so much?’ And so I started reading,” Claudia said. The teen also tweeted asking Ocasio-Cortez to “adopt” her. George ConwayRobert Alexander/Getty Images She’s an expert at trolling Claudia once notably livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok, in which Kellyanne can be seen swiping the teen’s phone out of her hands. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. She said her mom is her best friend They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. The teen previously gained traction on the app for uploading videos that were critical of her mother’s boss, however she hasn’t shared much on the app since December of last year. “Why do people hate on Trump supporters, like can’t we just respect everyone’s opinions? SIKE nah block me pls and then educate yourself,” she wrote in one video. In another clip, she wrote: “hi so if you’re leftist, acab, anti-trump, blm, etc. please interact w this because most of my comments are threats from angry trump supporters.” She captioned another TikTok with “i love trump… but replace ‘love’ with ‘think that we should extinguish.’” She’s also posted in support of Black Lives Matter, highlighting the case of Breonna Taylor.  More recently after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she has organized protests in support of abortion rights, according to Bustle. The self-described teen activist told USA Today in July 2020 that far-left New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are two of her idols. Claudia also said she decided to advance progressive causes on her social media channels after educating herself on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. “Growing up in a family where you’re really only exposed to one side and your mom is a public figure working for some of the biggest Republican politicians in the nation, you know, 12-year-old me was wondering, ‘Why? Why is my mom doing this?’ “‘What does she believe in? Why does she believe this and why does she fight for this so much?’ And so I started reading,” Claudia said. The teen also tweeted asking Ocasio-Cortez to “adopt” her. George ConwayRobert Alexander/Getty Images She’s an expert at trolling Claudia once notably livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok, in which Kellyanne can be seen swiping the teen’s phone out of her hands. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. She said her mom is her best friend They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. Claudia also said she decided to advance progressive causes on her social media channels after educating herself on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion. “Growing up in a family where you’re really only exposed to one side and your mom is a public figure working for some of the biggest Republican politicians in the nation, you know, 12-year-old me was wondering, ‘Why? Why is my mom doing this?’ “‘What does she believe in? Why does she believe this and why does she fight for this so much?’ And so I started reading,” Claudia said. The teen also tweeted asking Ocasio-Cortez to “adopt” her. Claudia once notably livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok, in which Kellyanne can be seen swiping the teen’s phone out of her hands. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. She said her mom is her best friend They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. And after her dad wrote on Twitter that he and his wife no longer consented to journalists speaking to Claudia, she responded she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” Despite the public quip about her parents’ marriage, she told USA Today she doesn’t think their dynamic is “anyone else’s business, other than my family and mine, to be honest.” “It’s kind of frustrating that I’ve kind of grown up around that,” she said. They may not always see eye to eye, but Claudia previously described her mother as her “best friend.” Claudia and Kellyanne ConwayInstagram “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” She wanted to emancipate from her parents Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. “My mom is my best friend but we do fight all the time over politics, and I’m always shut down by my entire family,” she told Insider. More recently, she told Bustle in December, “Our relationship is great now.” The mother-daughter duo previously attended Trump’s inaugural ball in DC, with Kellyanne tweeting a photo of them at the time, looking lovingly at each other in evening gowns. Claudia has said that growing up as Kellyanne Conway’s daughter, “it’s really really hard to disassociate yourself with that image because people look at me and are like ‘oh, that’s Kellyanne Conway’s daughter,’ she must love Trump.” “I really don’t,” she told Insider, adding that her opinions and those of her mother “could not be more opposite.” But, she added: “I respect everyone’s views.” Despite describing her mother as her “best friend,” Claudia claimed she wanted to push for emancipation from her parents. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. She came down with COVID-19 after her mom tested positive Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. “I’m officially pushing for emancipation. Buckle up because this is probably going to be public one way or another, unfortunately. Welcome to my life,” the then-15-year-old said in a tweet. The tweet came alongside many more in which she penned her frustration over her mother’s work for President Trump, and over recent praise of her father. “As for my dad, politically, we agree on absolutely nothing. We just both happen to have common sense when it comes to our current president. Stop ‘stanning’ him,” Claudia tweeted, using a term referring to someone who admires someone or something to the point of obsession. She added that her mother was “selfish” for pursuing her line of work. “My mother’s job ruined my life to begin with,” she wrote. The outburst prompted Kellyanne to announce she was stepping down from her senior role in the White House at the end of August. Kellyanne said she and her husband both decided they were taking time off to tend to their four children. Claudia revealed on TikTok that she has coronavirus, posting an Oct. 4 2020 video with the caption saying, “hey guys currently dying of covid!” Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. A topless photo of her was allegedly leaked on Twitter On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. Her mom had announced her own COVID-19 diagnosis Oct. 2 2020 following the teen’s posts on the platform that Kellyanne was “coughing all around the house after Trump tested positive for covid.” The former White House aide was at the Sept. 26 2020 Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. At least eight other attendees have since tested positive for the virus. On Jan. 26, 2021 Claudia claimed a topless photo of her appeared on her mother’s Twitter account under the new Fleets feature — which automatically deletes posts after 24 hours. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway. The outspoken teen initially said her mom could have posted the intimate snap when she took away her phone. “The picture’s from months ago and I’m assuming that when my mom took my phone — any time she’s taken it because she takes it all the time — she took a picture of that, so that was on her phone,” Claudia said in a now-deleted TikTok video. “And I guess she accidentally posted it, or somebody hacked her.” A short time later, Claudia insisted that she believes her mother was in fact hacked — and begged people to stop contacting law enforcement. However, police still paid a visit to the family’s New Jersey mansion and confirmed that a probe into the alleged photo was underway.

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Title: Trump 'not interested' in speaking to Xi amid China tensions President Trump is “not interested” in engaging in trade discussions with China, citing the Communist superpower’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The commander-in-chief made the admission while speaking to CBS News Tuesday, after being asked about the likelihood of a phase two trade deal with China. “I’m not interested right now in talking to China,” Trump told the network. “We made a great trade deal, but as soon as the deal was done, the ink wasn’t even dry and they hit us with the plague. So right now I’m not interested in talking to China about another deal,” he continued before adding, “I’m interested in doing other things with China.” Trump signed phase one of the deal with China in January, ending a bitter trade war between the two countries that took place amid months of tense negotiations. In the months since, the relationship has frayed as the Communist nation has faced a wave of international scrutiny for its lack of transparency at the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. Asked by CBS News how he planned to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for the pandemic, the president said “You’ll see” repeatedly. Trump doubled down that same day, telling a reporter during a White House news briefing that he had no plans to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping. “No, I haven’t spoken to him. I have no plan to speak to him,” he said at the time. Trump on Tuesday signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act at the White House, which slapped sanctions on Chinese officials over a new national security law. The law authorizes sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for a free speech crackdown and their bankers, though the president also signed an executive order to end Hong Kong’s special treatment under US law. “Their rights have been taken away and with it goes Hong Kong, in my opinion, because it will no longer be able to compete with free markets,” Trump declared during a Rose Garden ceremony. While the US and China are in less-frequent communication, China appears to have found a new ally in a US adversary: Iran. China and Iran are reportedly in the final stages of negotiating an economic and security partnership that could mean billions of dollars in investments for Tehran, according to the New York Times. Through the agreement, Beijing would provide massive investments in banking, telecommunication, ports and railways — a huge boost for the Islamic Republic’s teetering economy — in exchange for Iran supplying oil to China over the next 25 years, according to a draft of the 18-page proposal obtained by the paper. Any agreement between the two countries would be a blow to the Trump administration, which has sought to isolate Iran after withdrawing from the Obama-era nuclear deal in 2018.

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Title: Alaskan senator nearly 'gifted' caribou heart by protester A protester attempted to give an Alaska senator a “gift” — a bloody caribou heart — during a wild campaign event, according to a report. Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan was campaigning inside an airport hangar in Anchorage on Saturday when the demonstrator, Kathleen Bonnar, walked up and asked “if I could give him a gift,” local station KTUU reported. But the move was thwarted by Sullivan’s campaign manager, Matt Shuckerow, who quickly rushed over, knocking Bonnar to the floor before she could reach the incumbent, video showed. Another protester ran up to Sullivan, who was at a podium with his wife, screaming, “I would like to talk to you!,” according to the video. Shuckerow grabbed that woman’s wrist and led her out of the event. Bonnar and other protesters were also removed. The organ offering from Bonnar — who is an indigenous Iñupiaq — was symbolic of the damage that oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has done to the caribou population, KTUU reported. The idea was the heart would “act as medicine to heal Sullivan’s heartlessness regarding Alaska Native issues,” said protest organizer Rina Kowalski. Shuckerow slammed the stunt. “Throwing a caribou heart — a bloody caribou heart — at a United States senator and his Athabaskan wife, if that’s a gift, we don’t want to be invited to any of your birthdays or holidays,” Shuckerow said. He said the debacle was a real security concern. “By rushing the stage, reaching for a concealed item within a bag, physically assaulting people on the Senator’s staff, the campaign staff, attempting to restrain their movements, it created a very dangerous environment and a very serious security threat and that was what was responded to,” Shuckerow said. Sullivan is seeking re-election in November against independent candidate Al Gross. He has been in office since 2015.

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Title: Ghislaine Maxwell is secretly married, prosecutors say Ghislaine Maxwell is secretly married — and refusing to reveal her husband’s name, prosecutors said this week at the accused madam’s bail hearing. The bombshell detail was divulged Tuesday as Manhattan prosecutors accused her of purposely hiding the extent of her wealth. “In addition to failing to describe in any way the absence of proposed co-signers of a bond, the defendant also makes no mention whatsoever about the financial circumstances or assets of her spouse whose identity she declined to provide to Pretrial Services,” Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe told Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan during a video conference. Moe added, “There’s no information about who will be co-signing this bond or their assets, and no details whatsoever.” Maxwell’s lawyers asked for her to be sprung on a $5 million bond. Prosecutors convinced the judge that Maxwell poses an “extreme” flight risk if let out on bail, claiming she used a fake identity to purchase her sprawling New Hampshire hideout, lied about her overall wealth and spent the last year in hiding from authorities. Nathan refused to set bail for the British socialite, shipping her back to the Metropolitan Detention Center pending her trial, which was set for next July. Maxwell was busted July 2 on a six-count indictment charging her with recruiting and grooming young women to be sexually abused by both her and Jeffrey Epstein, her one-time lover.

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Title: Kanye West reportedly bows out of 2020 presidential race Must’ve been his “Late Registration.” Rap superstar Kanye West has already bowed out of his late-entry bid for the presidency, according to a report. The billionaire rap icon, who announced his entry into the presidential arena in a July 4 tweet, told election strategist Steve Kramer that he was out of the race, New York Magazine reported Tuesday. Kramer was one of the campaign staffers hired by West to help get his name on the ballot in Florida, South Carolina and other states, according to the magazine. Last week, according to Kramer, West’s team was “working over weekend there, formalizing the FEC and other things that they’ve got to do when you have a lot of corporate lawyers involved.” The election strategist was tasked with getting signatures to help the presidential hopeful get on the ballot in those states, for which Kramer said there was significant enthusiasm. “We had overwhelming support to get him on the ballot,” he said. Asked by the magazine on Wednesday of last week about West’s presidential bid, however, the rapper’s publicists stopped answering calls. Eventually, Kramer told the magazine, “He’s out.” Asked why West was abandoning his presidential bid, Kramer said, “I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today.” On Thursday, Kramer maintained his support for West, telling the magazine, “I have nothing good or bad to say about Kanye. Everyone has their personal decision about why they make decisions. Running for president has to be one of the hardest things for someone to actually contemplate at that level.” West has not personally confirmed that he has suspended his Oval Office effort. Speaking to Forbes magazine in an interview published last Wednesday, the musician said he was “taking the red hat off, with this interview,” and starting his own party for 2020, “the Birthday Party.” If President Trump weren’t already the GOP candidate, West told the magazine, he would run as a Republican, adding, “I will run as an independent if Trump is there.” Asked why his political party will be called the Birthday Party, he explained, “Because when we win, it’s everybody’s birthday.”

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Title: Trump's former doctor wins House GOP nomination in Texas AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump’s former White House physician and onetime pick to head the Department of Veterans Affairs won the Republican nomination for a U.S. House seat in Texas on Tuesday in an election that unfolded amid an alarming spread of the coronavirus. Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral, defeated agriculture advocate Josh Winegarner in a primary runoff in the deeply red Texas Panhandle. Jackson will face Gus Trujillo, who won Tuesday’s Democratic nomination for the 13th congressional district in Texas, in the November general election. Trump had endorsed Jackson’s campaign and he emerged from a crowded GOP field to replace retiring Rep. Mac Thornberry. Jackson’s nomination to run the VA was derailed by allegations of drinking on the job and over-prescribing drugs. He withdrew from consideration for the VA post but denied accusations of wrongdoing. He returned to the White House medical office, retired from the Navy in 2019 and launched his bid for Congress. Trump had said Jackson impressed him when the doctor gave a glowing report on the president’s physical health and cognitive well-being in 2018, following questions about Trump’s mental fitness for office. Jackson acknowledged the president could eat healthier to lose some weight, but joked that that he “has incredibly good genes, and that’s just the way God made him.” Jackson was also the White House physician to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He is from Levelland, population of about 13,000, in the Texas Panhandle. He earned a marine biology degree from Texas A&M before graduating from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1995. In the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. Senate Tuesday in Texas, MJ Hegar, a former Air Force helicopter pilot who nearly won a House seat in 2018, won the party nomination of Sen. Royce West. Hegar will face an uphill battle against three-term GOP Sen. John Cornyn, who has a hefty stockpile of campaign money. Tuesday’s runoff was originally scheduled for May, but Abbott, like many governors, postponed the date as the virus began to take hold in the U.S. But Texas is in a much worse public health crisis now, with hospitalizations doubling every two weeks and infection rates soaring after the state embarked on one of the most aggressive reopenings in nation.

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Title: Security for Minneapolis Council members calling to defund police: $152K The taxpayers of Minneapolis will foot a $152,000 bill for security services given to three members of the City Council who received death threats following their calls to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd’s death. According to an investigative report by the local Fox 9 news outlet, the three council members, Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8), Phillipe Cunningham (Ward 4), and Alondra Cano (Ward 9), were granted a security detail shortly after Memorial Day, which cost the city about $4,500 a day and ended on June 29. Two security firms Aegis and BelCom were reportedly hired because police officials were overwhelmed with security needs following George Floyd’s death in police custody and the demonstrations that ensued for weeks after. “This security service was intended to be temporary and bridge to other security measures implemented by council members themselves,” a City spokesperson told Fox News. The City Council does not need to approve any expenses unless they exceed $175,000. The costs were therefore approved by City Coordinator Mark Ruff. “The contracts are within existing department budget limits,” the spokesperson told Fox News Tuesday. “The contracts will not impact future tax rates,” they added. The Mayor’s office could not be reached for comment, but a spokesperson for the City said that the cost of the security detail a day, was roughly the same for the taxpayer as Minneapolis Police Department services. The threats on the council members’ lives were reportedly made after all three members were outspoken about defunding the police. The largely White police force has had a difficult time in gaining the public’s trust, and a proposal to defund the police and replace the force with “a department of community safety and violence prevention” is being reviewed. A public hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday for members of the community to ask questions or voice their concerns. According to a Fox 9 news report from earlier this week, 150 Minneapolis police officers are seeking disability for post-traumatic stress following the George Floyd protests. A total of 25 police officers have quit since the demonstrations and an additional 25 have sought extended leave.

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Title: Bolsonaro gets bit by large bird during 'horrible' quarantine bolsonaro tentando alimentar uma ema e sendo bicado pic.twitter.com/jMT9gd3MeM — muriel (@pedromuriel) July 14, 2020 Following his diagnosis with the coronavirus last week, Brazillian president Jair Bolsonaro complained of his “horrible” self-isolation during an interview Monday — and was then promptly bitten by a large bird in full view of his country’s press corps. Bolsonaro has been quarantined at the Palácio da Alvorada, Brazil’s presidential residence, following his positive test results. “I can’t stand this routine of staying at home. It’s horrible,” the president said in a telephone interview with CNN Brasil on Monday. Bolsonaro added that he felt “very well” and said he expected to get back to work tomorrow if he feels better. Brazilian media also reported that Bolsonaro was bitten by a large emu-like bird, called a rhea, during a walk outside his residence. He was feeding a group of the animals when the ornery avian took a peck at his outstretched hand. Pictures shared on Twitter show the leader shaking his hand in pain following the incident.

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Title: Bowman claims his lead is expanding over Rep. Engel in mail-in count Jamaal Bowman’s campaign said the Democratic insurgent’s sizeable lead over veteran Rep. Eliot Engel has expanded during the early counting of absentee ballots. Bowman’s assertion comes as the embattled incumbent has filed suit in court to preserve his right to ask a judge to review disqualified ballots. Bowman declared victory in last month’s primary after blowing out Engel during the in-person machine count vote – 58 percent to 35 percent – in the 16th congressional district encompassing the northern Bronx and parts of Westchester County. Bowman, a 44-year-old former Bronx middle school teacher, led the 15-term congressman by 10,183 votes after easily carrying both sides of the congressional district. Bowman garnered 25,83 votes to Engel’s 15,680, with the rest divvied up to also-ran candidates. About 40,00 absentee votes have to be counted. Many constituents mailed-in their ballots to avoid going to polling sites during the coronavirus pandemic. The challenger’s lead increased by another 1,000 votes after the first 7,500 ballots were counted, a Bowman campaign spokesperson said. Despite the daunting odds, Engel, 73, has not conceded. “We want every vote counted and look forward to that being done,” said the Engel campaign’s lawyer, Jerry Goldfeder. Goldfeder said the Engel campaign went to court to preserve the right to have a judge consider counting ballots that are invalidated by the city Board of Elections. Meanwhile, absentee ballots will decide the nail biter contest between Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Democratic primary rival Sural Patel in the 12th congressional district encompassing Manhattan’s East Side,  the western Queens neighborhoods that include Long Island City and parts of Astoria and Woodside and the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. Maloney, 74, first elected in 1992, held a slim 648 vote lead in the machine count, capturing 40.3 percent of the vote to Patel’s 38.75 percent with the rest divided among other candidates. Maloney collected 16,473 votes to Patel’s 15,825 votes. Patel carried the Brooklyn and Queens portions of the district but not enough to overcome Maloney’s cushion on her home turf in Manhattan. More than 65,000 absentee ballots are being counted — far exceeding the in-person voting. About two-thirds of the mail-in-ballots — 47,794 — were sent by Manhattan’s East Side voters. Maloney predicted her lead will expand and she will win re-election when all the votes are counted, but Patel has challenged that assertion and filed a petition in Manhattan state Supreme Court to preserve his right to ask a judge to intervene in the count.

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Title: Former VA hospital employee pleads guilty to murder of seven veterans A West Virginia Veteran’s Affairs worker pleaded guilty on Tuesday to killing seven patients by injecting them with doses of insulin, according to a report. Reta Mays, who worked as a nursing assistant at the Louis A. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Clarksburg, pleaded guilty to a total of eight felonies: seven second-degree murder counts, and one count of assault with the intent to commit murder, reports CNN. According to court documents, the veterans were killed from hypoglycemia, which is when the blood sugar of a non-diabetic patient is lower than normal, or when more than the prescribed amount of insulin is injected into the body. Mays, who worked the night shift, administered the doses of insulin even though she did not have authorization to. None of the victims were not close to death when they were injected with the lethal doses. The deaths of the veterans, which occurred from July 2017 to June 2018, sparked an internal investigation by the Department of Veteran Affairs. In June 2018, one of the doctors raised concerns about the deaths of non-diabetic patients. Mays was removed from her position as soon as the complaints became public. “Immediately upon discovering these serious allegations, Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center leadership brought them to the attention of the VA’s inspector general while putting safeguards in place to ensure the safety of each and every one of our patients,” said a spokesperson for the facility at the time. The inspector general of the VA’s office also called the incidents “tragic and heartbreaking.”

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Title: Ivanka Trump backs Goya on Twitter after liberals call for boycott If it’s Goya, it has to be good. Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno. pic.twitter.com/9tjVrfmo9z — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 15, 2020 Ivanka Trump weighed in on the Goya Foods controversy Tuesday night, publicly backing the brand in a now-viral social media post after liberals called for a boycott of the canned bean producer. The first daughter and senior advisor to President Trump tweeted a photo of herself holding up a can black beans with the caption: “If it’s Goya, it has to be good.” “Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno,” she added in Spanish. The food brand has faced a backlash supported by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Latino leaders after CEO Robert Unanue praised the president last week. “We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder,” Unanue said at an event in the Rose Garden at the White House, where the president signed an executive order on the “White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.” Fierce criticism and threats of a boycott ensued on Twitter, with users reminding Unanue of Trump’s history of controversial comments, such as calling some Mexican undocumented immigrants “rapists” in 2015 — and his hardline policies toward illegal immigration from Mexico. But a defiant Unanue defended his right to free speech and refused to apologize. “We were part of a commission called the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative and they called on us to be there to see how we could help opportunities within the economic and educational realm for prosperity among Hispanics and among the United States,” Unanue told Fox News last week. He called the boycott, which had been trending on Twitter, “suppression of speech,” and noted that he had previously been invited to the White House by the Obama administration during Hispanic Heritage Month. “So, you’re allowed to talk good or to praise one president, but you’re not allowed to aid in economic and educational prosperity? And you make a positive comment and all of a sudden, it is not acceptable,” Unanue said.

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Title: Tommy Tuberville beats Jeff Sessions in Alabama Senate primary Jeff Sessions was handily defeated by former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville in Tuesday night’s Alabama Senate primary. With nearly 70 percent of the results in, Tuberville led the former attorney general by a staggering 24 percentage points. Sessions had been seeking to regain the US Senate seat he held before resigning in 2017 to become President Trump’s attorney general. The 73-year-old’s tenure under Trump was marred by constant criticism from the president after he recused himself from oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump fired Sessions shortly after the 2018 midterm election. Tuberville, who was backed by Trump, will face incumbent Sen. Doug Jones in November’s primary election. The president celebrated Tuberville’s win in a Tuesday night tweet. “Wow, just called! @TTuberville – Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions,” Trump wrote. “Will be a GREAT Senator for the incredible people of Alabama.” Trump, in his tweet, blasted Jones as “a terrible Senator who is just a Super Liberal puppet for Schumer & Pelosi” and said the lawmaker “Represents Alabama poorly.”

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Title: Rabbi hurt in California synagogue shooting admits fraud SAN DIEGO — The longtime leader of a Southern California synagogue who was wounded in a deadly attack at the house of worship he founded pleaded guilty Tuesday to participating in a multimillion-dollar fraud that disguised charitable contributions for personal gain. Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for fraud but prosecutors will recommend probation as part of a plea agreement. They noted his cooperation with investigators after federal agents raided his home and office in October 2018 and his widely praised response to the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue in April 2019. Robert Brewer, the US attorney in San Diego, said it was “a very difficult day for all of us.” “His role after the 2019 terrorist attack was exemplary,” Brewer said at a news conference. “He became a significant advocate for peace and elimination of violence based on religious hatred. He spoke all over the world and sent a strong message of peace.” Goldstein, 58, lost his right index finger in the attack on the last day of Passover, which killed one congregant, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, and injured the rabbi and two others. The rabbi received an outpouring of support that included meeting President Donald Trump at the White House. John T. Earnest, 20, has been charged in the attack in state and federal court. He has pleaded not guilty to hate crime-related murder, attempted murder and other charges. Goldstein, who founded Chabad of Poway near San Diego in 1986, collected $6.2 million in fake donations to the synagogue and affiliates and returned 90% to contributors with phony receipts, allowing them to deduct the full amount from their taxes, prosecutors said. Goldstein kept the remaining 10%, or $620,000, for himself. Goldstein acknowledged concealing a fake donation of more than $1.1 million in late 2017 by purchasing about $1 million in gold coins and giving them to the phony donor. “We call this the 90-10 tax fraud scheme” Brewer said. Goldstein acknowledged defrauding three unnamed Fortune 500 companies out of $134,000 for matching employee donations. The employees deducted the fake donations from their taxes, and Goldstein kept the corporate donations for himself. One firm was identified in the plea agreement as a San Diego-based telecommunications company, an apparent reference to Qualcomm Inc. The rabbi also admitted taking about $185,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services by submitting fake invoices. Brewer said they were related to 2007 wildfires. Goldstein acknowledged in his plea agreement that his crimes dated back to at least 2010. But Brewer said they began in the 1980s. Chabad-Lubavitch, an organization that traces its roots to the 1940s and counts more than 3,500 institutions, called the news “terribly shocking and troubling.” It said it relieved Goldstein of his duties at Chabad after learning of the allegations late last year. “Our hearts go out to Rabbi Goldstein’s former congregants, to his family and to the broader Poway community, all of whom have already experienced more devastation than anyone should ever know,” Chabad-Lubavitch said in a statement. “We pray that their faith and resilience strengthens them in this difficult time as well.” In November, citing exhaustion, Goldstein retired from the leadership of Chabad of Poway. One of his sons now leads the congregation. At least 20 people were involved in the schemes and the investigation is ongoing, prosecutors said. Besides Goldstein, five others pleaded guilty in federal court this week, including Alexander Avergoon, whose real estate dealings sparked the investigation in November 2016. Avergoon, 44, was arrested in Latvia and extradited to face charges. Prosecutors described Chabad of Poway as a victim because the synagogue never received donations that they believed they had. Goldstein also agreed to forfeit $1 million, pay $2.5 million in restitution and continue cooperating with investigators. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 19. Emily Allen, an assistant U.S. attorney, said his message of tolerance and love in the shooting’s aftermath helped heal the congregation and resonated around the world. “He had another side in which he undeniably devoted much of his life toward serving others,” Allen said.

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Title: Kansas Congressman Steve Watkins charged with voter fraud US Rep. Steve Watkins, of Kansas, was charged Tuesday night with illegal voting for allegedly listing a UPS store as his residence in advance of a local election, officials said. Watkins is accused by Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay of entering the false postal box address of the Topeka store on a voter registration form he filled out in late August 2019. The Republican congressman then cast a ballot the following November in the Topeka City Council race with the UPS box listed as his residential address, the DA said. Kagay, also a Republican, announced the charges Tuesday night shortly before a televised debate between Watkins and two Republican challengers in the Aug. 14 Republican primary. Watkins denied any wrongdoing and called the charges “hyper-partisan” because of their timing. After the November election the lawmaker changed his voter registration form, listing an apartment as his address, officials said. The illegal voting accusation is not the first time Watkins has been in hot water. While running for his current seat, he was accused by peers of lying about or fabricating his past accomplishments that were listed on his campaign website. With Post wires

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Title: California bars LAPD info in gang database amid scandal California’s top law enforcement officer has pulled access to data entered by the Los Angeles Police Department into the state’s gang database amid a criminal investigation into more than a dozen of its officers for possibly falsifying records. In a Tuesday announcement, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he revoked access to records in CalGang generated by the LAPD. The department’s entries account for about 25 percent of the roughly 78,000 records in the statewide database. The move comes after three LAPD officers were charged last week with falsifying interview cards that labeled people as gang members or associates. Sixteen other officers in the department’s Metropolitan Division are currently under investigation for similar offenses. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: CalGang is only as good as the data that is put into it,” Becerra said in announcing the move. “If a quarter of the program’s data is suspect, then the utility of the entire system rightly comes under the microscope.” Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore conducted an internal audit that confirmed misuse of the database. He has since pulled the department from participating in the CalGang system. A case was submitted to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on a total of 19 officers, an office spokesman previously told Fox News. The LAPD declined to comment on the investigation. The three officers indicted — Braxton Shaw, 37, Michael Coblentz, 42, and Nicolas Martinez, 36 — are each charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and multiple counts of filing a false police report and preparing false documentary evidence. Last week, the LAPD said 21 officers were being investigated for misuse of the interview cards, which are used by officers on patrol when speaking to members of the public. “Public safety tools must provide a real benefit to the public and withstand the durability test of constant scrutiny,” Becerra said. “It should now be obvious to everyone: CalGang must change.” Becerra has been under pressure from civil rights and criminal justice advocacy groups to scale back the CalGang system following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Many allege the database is used to target minorities who are unfairly labeled as gang members. “CalGang is emblematic of the type of policing that has directly led to the recent unrest throughout the country,” read a letter last month to Becerra signed by several groups. “Gang units and other patrols fan out across communities, target Black people and other people of color, stop them under pretexts like a traffic stop or a supposedly ‘consensual’ stop, use racist stereotypes to deem them ‘gang members,’ and add their names and information into the database to be tracked.”

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Title: COVID-19 vaccine trial produces antibodies in everyone tested An initial safety trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine produced antibodies to the deadly disease in everyone who was tested, according to a report Tuesday. The neutralizing antibodies produced by Moderna Inc.’s vaccine were equivalent to the upper half of what’s seen in patients who get infected and recover, Bloomberg News said. Meanwhile, the side effects of the vaccine weren’t bad enough to halt the testing process, Bloomberg said, citing results reported by government researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine. Stimulating the production of antibodies is considered a key milestone in early testing, but doesn’t prove a vaccine will be effective, Bloomberg said. The test results were based on data involving the first 45 people enrolled in the study, all of whom were 18 to 55 years old. Results from a second portion of the trial that involved older people weren’t yet available. A larger, final-stage trial is set to begin on July 27, and will compare results of the vaccine to those of placebo shots given to 30,000 healthy people at high risk of contracting COVID-19. William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School researcher who chairs Access Health International, told Bloomberg that the levels of neutralizing antibodies produced by the vaccine were “respectable” and could possibly provide protection against the coronavirus. But “the jury is out” on the vaccine’s safety, Haseltine added. More than half of the test subjects who got the middle of three doses suffered mild to moderate fatigue, chills, headache and muscle pain, while 40% experienced a fever after the second vaccination, Bloomberg said. Three of 14 patients given the highest dose of the vaccine experienced severe side effects, but that dose is not being used in larger trials, Bloomberg said. Dr. Tony Moody, a researcher at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, called that “a lot of adverse effects” but told Bloomberg that antibody levels produced by the vaccine were “really encouraging.” Moderna’s vaccine is among the farthest along in development, and shares in the company jumped 16.4% in after-hours trading Tuesday, Bloomberg said. The company’s stock price has more than tripled this year based on investor hopes for its coronavirus vaccine.

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Title: Special-needs teen incarcerated for not doing online schoolwork A 15-year-old Michigan girl was sent to juvenile detention after a judge ruled that she violated probation when she failed to complete her online coursework, according to a new report. The girl, identified only as Grace, has been incarcerated since May when the judge revoked her probation for her “failure to submit to any schoolwork and getting up for school” during the coronavirus pandemic, ProPublica reported Tuesday. The girl’s mom and advocates have accused the court of racial bias against Grace, a black special-needs student with ADHD living in a predominantly white village of Beverly Hills. “Who can even be a good student right now?” Ricky Watson Jr., executive director of the National Juvenile Justice Network, told ProPublica. “Unless there is an urgent need, I don’t understand why you would be sending a kid to any facility right now and taking them away from their families with all that we are dealing with right now.” Grace was placed on probation after two incidents dating back to last fall. On Nov. 6, the cops were called after she bit her mom’s finger and pulled her hair over a dispute about going to a friend’s house, the outlet reported. Several weeks later, she was caught on surveillance footage stealing another student’s cellphone from a school locker room, according to ProPublica. The phone was then returned to the school-mate. Grace hasn’t broken the law again — but she has struggled with learning, missing class and work after her school transitioned to online courses on April 15, the outlet reported. ProPublica couldn’t find another example of a student being incarcerated for failing to do school work. Judge Mary Ellen Brennan, the presiding judge of the Oakland County Family Court Division, called Grace a “threat to [the] community” when she sentenced her to juvenile detention on May 14, according to the outlet. “She hasn’t fulfilled the expectation with regard to school performance,” Brennan said during the sentencing. “I told her she was on thin ice and I told her that I was going to hold her to the letter, to the order, of the probation.” But Grace’s teacher has come to her defense, arguing that her performance during the pandemic was “not out of alignment with most of my other students” who are trying to adjust to remote classes. The ruling has left Grace’s mother, identified only as Charisse, completely distraught. “It just doesn’t make any sense,” Charisse told ProPublica, crying after one of her visits to see Grace. “Every day I go to bed thinking, and wake up thinking, ‘How is this a better situation for her?’”

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Title: Airbnb appeal for 'contributions' to barren hosts fuels rants Airbnb is encouraging users to make donations to its “hosts” who’ve been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis — sparking outrage Tuesday over the “tone deaf” appeal. A Twitter user in London posted a screenshot of an email, in which the short-term rental company said that “hosts on Airbnb are impacted by COVID-19, and many of them are unable to welcome guests.” “Now you can created personalized kindness cards that make it easy to send a message of appreciation or encouragement, with the option to add a contribution,” the message adds. Recipient @olenskae tweeted, alongside the screenshot: “Airbnb has lost its f–king head. Why would I donate to my host? I can’t even afford one house.” The tweet quickly racked up more than 32,000 likes and sarcastic comments that included “please, won’t someone think of the landlords.” “I got that email this morning and couldn’t believe how tone deaf it was,” added @Su_Barrett. User @jayney_mack added: “Jesus… As an Airbnb host (of one property where I live in a rural area, not a greedy bastard buying them up), if one my guests got this email I would be morto! We’re all struggling but I don’t want a f–king handout from guests who are also struggling!” The pandemic left privately held Airbnb poised to lose $1 billion through the end of June, with layoffs possible, the Wall Street Journal reported in April. In a statement to SFGATE, which first reported on the “kindness cards” appeal, an Airbnb spokesperson said the online business had “heard from many Airbnb guests who were interested in supporting and reconnecting with past hosts.” “In the spirit of rekindling connections, we developed a new feature that allows guests to send virtual cards with messages of support and encouragement to hosts who provided excellent hospitality,” the spokesperson added. “If they wish, guests have the option to add a voluntary financial contribution.”

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Title: Carole Baskin duped into wishing notorious pedophile happy birthday “Tiger King” star and animal activist Carole Baskin fell prey to a comedian’s prank — and ended up wishing a happy birthday to a high-profile Australian pedophile. The founder of Big Cats Rescue — who shot to fame as Joe Exotic’s nemesis on Netflix’s “Tiger King” documentary — blew disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris a kiss in a birthday video message on Cameo, The Sun reported. “Hi Rolf Harris, all your kids wanted to get together and tell you that you have really touched them and that they love all that you have done for them,” Baskin says in the clip. “I hear there’s a lot of great stories about you and your best friend Jimmy Savile,” Baskin continued, apparently unaware that Savile was an English radio personality accused of sexual abuse by hundreds of people after his 2011 death. “Can’t wait to hear those,” Baskin adds. “Happy birthday Rolf.” Australian comedian Tom Armstrong said he was behind the practical joke, and posted the video on TikTok. “Surely I couldn’t get another American celebrity to shout out Australia’s most notorious sexual predator,” Armstrong said. “Bonus points if they mention UK’s most notorious sexual predator.” Harris, 90, an Australian entertainer, was convicted in 2014 of assaulting four teenage girls in the 1970s and 1980s. He served three years in jail. He was nabbed during a UK police probe dubbed “Operation Yewtree,” which was sparked by the sickening allegations against Savile.

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Title: Woman shouts 'I still love sharks' after being attacked by one “I still love sharks! Sharks are beautiful!” A 29-year-old woman, who was reportedly attacked by a shark off Cairns in North Queensland this morning, appears in good spirits as she's taken to hospital for treatment. https://t.co/NsO1ZoCbiI #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/6BC0VbqdnW — 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) July 14, 2020 She’s tough as jaws. A shark documentary filmmaker was bitten by one of the predators in Australia — but professed to reporters, “I still love sharks,” as she was taken away to a hospital on a stretcher for her injuries. “I still love sharks! Sharks are beautiful!” a smiling Anika Craney shouted as she was wheeled into Cairns Hospital in Queensland following the attack, online video shows. Craney, 29, was gnawed on her lower left leg by a shark while swimming off the coast of Fitzroy Island, near Cairns, Queensland Tuesday afternoon, the Brisbane Times reported. It is not known what kind of shark attacked her. “There were doctors on scene at Fitzroy Island and they provided first aid…[Craney] ended up with a possible fracture of the left lower ankle and some lacerations from the shark bite,” Queensland Ambulance Service critical care flight paramedic Terry Cumming told the news outlet. “[At the time] she was relaxing [and swimming] on the island. She’s actually doing a shark documentary and it’s her day off today,” Cumming said. Craney was in Cairns as part of a seven-person crew filming a YouTube series, according to the Brisbane Times. Dean Cropp, the captain of the Barefoot II vessel on which Craney was listed as a deckhand, videographer and nurse, said Craney swam into the island with another crew member and was bitten on her left leg in about 16 feet of water. A Cairns-based state-government-owned rescue helicopter later flew Craney from the island to Cairns Hospital where she was listed in stable condition, the news outlet reported. “She seemed to be more worried about missing out on the adventure then the injuries,” Cropp told the Brisbane Times of Craney. “While you hope it doesn’t happen to you, you know it’s part of the risk.”

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Title: Trump sporting more natural gray hairdo amid the pandemic WASHINGTON — As the rest of the nation endures missed appointments with their hairdressers and beauticians, President Trump has also started sporting a more natural look. At a briefing in the Rose Garden on Tuesday, the president emerged from the Oval Office with his signature pompadour exhibiting a distinctly more silver-gray hue. Trump, 74, is renowned for his preoccupation with his appearance and his year-round tan and intricately coiffed mop of blond hair have demanded as much examination by the media as his stance toward China. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in May 2011, Trump walked a reporter through his beauty regimen. “OK, what I do is, wash it with Head and Shoulders. I don’t dry it, though. I let it dry by itself. It takes about an hour,” he said. A photo of the president went viral in February, pre-pandemic, after it showed what appeared to be a tan line on his face, made obvious by his sandy mop blowing in the wind after stepping off Marine One. But Trump was unfazed by the attempt to demean him, saying the video was “photoshopped” and “more fake news.” “The wind was strong and the hair looks good?” he ventured in a tweet.

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Title: Florida reports record daily COVID-19 death tally Florida health officials on Tuesday reported 132 more coronavirus deaths — the highest daily fatality figure since the pandemic began. The state’s Department of Health also confirmed another 9,194 COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing Florida’s total number of infections to 291,629 and related deaths to 4,409. The figures come during a virus surge in the Sunshine State, which has forced reopening plans to grind to a halt and has spurred new mask mandates in some counties. The state’s previous daily death record was set this past Thursday when officials reported 120 new fatalities. Gov. Ron Desantis on Tuesday held a round-table discussion with mayors from Miami-Dade County, the state’s epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Desantis and other elected officials blamed people who refused to wear face masks or practice safe social distancing for the swift spread of the virus, the local Fox affiliate reported. DeSantis said he has allocated funding to increase contact tracing in the area. “I think what we’ve found is, when people follow the guidelines, and they follow the program, we tend not to have major problems,” DeSantis said. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said in his district, “more than 30 percent of the people who are getting sick either reporting it from a family member or from home.” Despite the uptick in new cases, DeSantis has refused to issue a statewide mask mandate. Local municipalities have taken it upon themselves to issue their own mask requirements, prompting furious responses from residents at times. When Florida’s Palm Beach County moved to require masks in public settings, one enraged woman spoke at the public input session for the order, where she touted her “freedom of choice” while referring to the rule as “the devil’s law.”

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Title: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized with fever, chills Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital again Tuesday after experiencing fever and chills, her office said. “Judge Ginsburg was admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, early this morning for treatment of a possible infection. She was initially evaluated at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, last night after experiencing fever and chills,” the statement read. “She underwent an endoscospic procedure at Johns Hopkins this afternoon to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August. The Justice is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment. President Trump said later during an event in the Rose Garden that he had not heard about the justice falling ill but wished her well. “I wish her the absolute best,” the president said. Ginsburg, 87, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009, a decade after she had been surivived a battle with colon cancer. Ginsburg, know as RBG, had been hospitalized in the past, and her current stay came after the Supreme Court ended its spring term with key rulings on abortion and executive privilege. Ginsburg returned home in early May after a one-day hospital stay for a gallbladder infection.

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Title: Trump hammers Joe Biden after signing China sanctions President Trump on Tuesday signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act to slap sanctions on Chinese officials before launching into a near-hourlong attack on presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Trump said in the Rose Garden that Democrats led by Biden would “abolish the suburbs,” “abolish our prisons” and even outlaw windows in homes to cut carbon emissions. “There’s probably never been a time when candidates are so different,” Trump said. “I’ve seen races where it’s like the same exact platforms.” Trump cast himself as the defender of “law and order” and said “Biden expressed more fawning praise about China on an ordinary day than about America on the Fourth of July.” The president also slammed Biden for naming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a climate change advisory panel. On Tuesday, Biden announced an environmental plan he said would eliminate carbon emissions. “Let him define the word carbon, because he won’t be able to,” Trump said. “Joe Biden put AOC, a young woman not talented in many ways, in charge of his energy plan and the environment, essentially. Her and Bernie Sanders,” he said. On China, Trump blasted Biden’s son Hunter Biden for soliciting investment from a Chinese state-owned bank while his father was vice president. “Where is Hunter by the way? Trump said. Before his lengthy address in the Rose Garden, Trump signed a law that authorizes sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for a free speech crackdown and their bankers, and signed an executive order to end Hong Kong’s special treatment under US law. “Their rights have been taken away and with it goes Hong Kong, in my opinion, because it will no longer be able to compete with free markets,” Trump declared. Trump then offered a comprehensive campaign-style speech from the Rose Garden. Trump said he’s going to soon sign an order protecting the so-called “Dreamers” brought to the country illegally as children. “I’m going to take care of DACA much better than the Democrats did [and] pretty soon I’m going to be signing a new immigration action — very, very big merit-based immigration action,” he said. Trump defended his own record on the coronavirus pandemic as cases rise, and on law enforcement — putting much blame for deaths and social unrest on New York Democrats. “In New York, they allowed a lot of criminals out and those criminals are causing havoc,” he said. The high COVID-19 death toll in New York was caused by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) “sending our seniors back into nursing homes that were infected,” he said. “Thousands of people in New York died because of poor management by the governor,” Trump said. If Biden defeats him in November, “they’re going to rip down the wall” on the Mexican border and “end all travel bans, including from jihadist regions,” he added. “Every person from South America is going to pour in.”

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Title: Here's what the coronavirus pandemic was like for a Wall St. billionaire Poor little rich boy! A Wall Street billionaire whined about being forced to drive himself around and learn Zoom amid the pandemic that’s cost a half a million people their lives and crippled the economy. An unnamed bigwig dubbed “one of America’s richest men” by Bloomberg spoke to the outlet about his biggest worries during the coronavirus outbreak — which included not having anywhere to go on his private jet. “Now if you’re on a bus and you start sneezing, everybody gets upset,” he whined in mid-March — before admitting that he didn’t take the bus. The investor spoke with Bloomberg throughout the outbreak, providing insight into what the pandemic was like for some of the nation’s wealthiest, according to the article published Tuesday. But the man requested anonymity as “Americans were too angry at rich bosses” in the current climate, the outlet said. From his country home outside New York City, he told the author about having to drive himself to the store, since there was no staff around, and how “he could have hopped in his private jet and escaped, but really, he pointed out, where was he going to go?” He also moaned about having to work remotely and not being able to “get five people in a room” — though he eventually seemed to get used to, and enjoy, software like Zoom. When people had first started taking notice of the virus, he told Bloomberg: “I’m not worried.” He later admitted that, “Some people are going to die.” “But it’s old people,” he continued. “And if they do, it’s OK.” After a pause, he added: “Not that it’s OK. This isn’t that bad.” There didn’t seem to be a reason to stress. The billionaire said “I could get my hand on a test,” adding that some of his rich buddies were quietly asking about reserving beds at private hospitals in case they got sick. The article states that: “He had connections to the boards of the best hospitals but said he’d call in favors only for the people closest to him.” By May 22, when the jobless rate had hit levels not seen since the Great Depression, he told the website: “Everything is going great.” The plan at work was to try to “take advantage of the situation,” he continued, at a time when 325,000 people around the world had died of the virus. “I used the wrong words,” he said when questioned about his choice of words. “It’s not ‘take advantage.’ It’s a huge opportunity for us. That’s what it is.” But that many Americans are suffering — with more than 30 percent of the nation’s workforce sidelined since mid-March — while a select few are getting richer, is just part and parcel for this business bro. “Is war fair? Do people die in a war? Yes,” he told the outlet. “You’ve got a virus that is affecting people. It’s pretty clear who it affects,” he continued, referring to the sick and elderly. “So nature is saying, ‘I’m going to pick on you.’ Is it fair? Is it right? No — but that’s life.”

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Title: Man bikes 2,175 miles across Europe after flight canceled With flights canceled due to the coronavirus, 20-year-old Greek college student decided to bike his way home to Athens — from his school in Scotland. Kleon Papadimitriou’s 48-day, 2,175-mile journey began May 10 and took him through England, Holland, Germany, Austria and Italy before wrapping up at parents’ house on June 29, CNN reported. During that period, Papadimitriou said he rode 35 to 75 miles per day, and subsisted on a diet of sardines and bread while spending overnights camped out in the woods. Papadimitriou said his parents — adventurers in their own youths — had only reluctantly supported the trip after he agreed to download an app that allowed them to track him at all times. When he arrived home, dozens of friends and strangers who’d be following his progress were there to celebrate. “It was very emotional,” Papadimitriou told CNN. “Coming from a family from two parents that were very adventurous in their younger years, seeing me kind of follow in their footsteps, I think is very emotional to them and obviously gives me a lot of meaning,” he added. “But I think if anything, they felt relief.”

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Title: Las Vegas mom was driving 121 mph in crash that killed baby: cops Advertisement A Las Vegas mom was driving at a high rate of speed when she crashed — fatally ejecting her 1-year-old son, authorities said. Lauren Prescia, 24, was going 121 mph when she hit another car making a right turn Sunday onto North Rampart boulevard, news station KVVU reported. The impact caused her own car to veer off the road and strike a marquee sign, severing the car’s right half, police said. Witnesses called 911 and said a baby was thrown from the car and showed no signs of life, KVVU reported. The baby, Royce Jones, who had been in a carseat, suffered severe trauma to his head and was later pronounced dead, the outlet reported. The boy’s father, Cameron Jones, said he had been driving behind Prescia and witnessed the horrific accident. “I seen him in his car seat, I got him out, I thought he was okay until I felt his head and then I knew,” said Jones, who was on the phone with Prescia as she sped up and asked her to slow down, news station KTNV reported. Police said Prescia, who experienced minor injuries, had bloodshot eyes and reeked of alcohol. The other driver, a 36-year-old woman, also was left with minor injuries, police said. Prescia now faces multiple charges including DUI resulting in death reckless driving and abuse, as well as neglect or endangerment of a child, the outlet reported.

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Title: Trump: 'more white people' are killed by police than African Americans WASHINGTON — President Trump grew irritated in an interview Thursday when asked about the deaths of black Americans at the hands of police. “So are white people. So are white people. What a terrible question to ask,” Trump told CBS senior correspondent Catherine Herridge when she asked the president why African Americans were “still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country.” “So are white people,” the president continued after describing to Herridge as “terrible” the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Trump also claimed more white Americans are killed each year by police than black Americans. “More white people, by the way. More white people,” he said. It is true that more white civilians are fatally shot by police in America each year, with 204 losing their lives so far this year in police shootings compared to 105 African Americans, according to Statista. However, the rate of fatal shootings among the black community is almost three times higher per capita, meaning African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by a police officer than their white neighbors. While the president previously promised to bring to justice the police officers who killed Floyd, calling his May death a “very, very sad event,” he has bristled at the Black Lives Matter movement and violent protests which have followed. Trump has lashed recent displays of violence against cops and a troubling surge of violent shootings in New York City, calling crime in the Big Apple “out of control.” The president was also questioned on his recent push to have the nation’s schools reopen amid a record spike in coronavirus infections. He called the decision by some states to keep them shuttered a “mistake.” “I would tell parents and teachers that you should find yourself a new person, whoever’s in charge of that decision, because it’s a terrible decision,” he said when asked if he had words of comfort for people concerned about the health risks of returning to classrooms amid a pandemic. The president repeated concerns that parents in loweer-income families will be forced to stay home with their children instead of returning to work. “Children and parents are dying from that trauma, too,” he said. “Mothers can’t go to work because all of a sudden they have to stay home and watch their child — and fathers.” Trump accused Democrats including California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom of trying to hurt him politically after two of the state’s largest public schools districts announced they would go online-only in the fall as cases there keep rising. “It’s a balancing act but we have to open our schools. I also say a decision like that is politics because we’re starting to do very well in the polls because I’m for law and order, I’m for strong business, our jobs are coming back at a record level like we’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. Trump also addressed the current debate raging over the Confederate flag, calling in a freedom of speech issue and repeating his comments last week after he blasted NASCAR for banning it at his events. “All I say is freedom of speech. It’s very simple. My attitude is freedom of speech,” he said. “[There are] very strong views on the Confederate flag. With me, it’s freedom of speech.” “People love it and I don’t view — I know people that like the Confederate flag and they’re not thinking about slavery,” he said.

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Title: What the Colorado squirrel with bubonic plague means for US pet owners Veterinarians are urging pet owners to be vigilant after a Colorado squirrel tested positive for the bubonic plague over the weekend. Bubonic plague — which killed more than 50 million people during the 14th century and came to be known as the Black Death — is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, which lives in some animals, mostly rodents, and their fleas. The bacterial infection is rare and can be deadly, though it is treatable in both humans and pets if caught early. Household pets are susceptible to the plague, which is primarily transmitted through bites from infected fleas, according to Dr. Brett Levitzke, chief medical officer at Brooklyn’s Veterinary Emergency & Referral Group. “So a flea bites an infected rodent or squirrel or chipmunk and then bites the family cat and/or dog and then transmits the bacteria into the pet … Fleas are just innocent carriers, they don’t have it naturally,” Levitzke told The Post. “When they bite and feed on an infected animal, they carry that bacteria — and when they bite the next animal, that’s when they deposit that bacteria into the next unsuspecting victim.” Levitzke said it isn’t common to discover an infected rodent, but because fleas are so prevalent, the potential for spread can be “dangerous.” Pets can also become infected if they are bitten or scratched by infected rodents, the vet warned. It is possible for an infected household pet to pass along the plague to their owners. If an infected pet develops a wound with pus and the bodily secretion gets into an open wound on the owner’s body, the human can contract bubonic plague, Levitzke said. Further, animals with pneumonic plague — when the plague moves to the lungs — can infect their owner if the owner inhales aerosolized droplets from the animal’s cough, Levitzke said. “When the local health organizations get wind of that possibility, that is a big deal,” he stressed. Most household pets — including dogs, cats and rabbits — are at risk of contracting the bubonic plague. Flea bites are the main way the disease is transmitted but cat owners should be particularly vigilant because their prognosis is far worse. “One other way a cat can get it, potentially because they’re such eager hunters, especially for small rodents, they can ingest a rodent that’s infected by the bacteria and get it that way,” Levitzke told The Post. When a furry family member becomes infected, they will develop “some really painful swollen lymph nodes” that can “abscess and release pus,” Levitzke explained. Other symptoms include fever, lethargy and decreased appetite. Because these symptoms “can be vague” and can be associated with other ailments, Levitzke said it is important to take your pet to the vet immediately to get checked out if it displaying any signs. “Dogs oftentimes won’t show any signs but cats definitely do,” Levitzke added, pointing to differences in the immune systems of dogs and anatomical variances in their lymphatics. For pets that stay exclusively indoors, there is little to no risk or reason to worry, but for pets that live both indoors and outdoors, Levitzke said owners should be more vigilant — particularly when it comes to fleas. “Fleas are prevalent everywhere and as people who own pets know, they’re quite a pest. Even when you’re very cautious, you can still have fleas biting your pets and all it takes is one flea bite for them to contract it,” he warned. “I always tell people if one pet in your house has fleas, they all have fleas. Usually, they spread from pet to pet, so I think precautionary measures should be taken — bring them in for a checkup and be very vigilant for all the signs discussed.” The plague typically emerges between late spring and early fall, so for pet owners who live in areas where the disease is more common, Levitkze recommends considering keeping pets indoors “seasonally,” especially cats. “Cats that are indoor-outdoor, they may not like it, but for their safety, maybe keep them indoors for a period of time,” he said. “Dogs are more resistant, but they’re still somewhat at risk and dogs that go into the woods and find a deceased rodent or squirrel, one of the first things they do is pick it up and chew on it and play with it, as some dog owners are grossly aware.” Health officials from Jefferson County — where the infected squirrel was discovered — said the “risk for getting plague is extremely low” as long as precautions are taken. They include: If you suspect your furry loved one has bubonic plague, take them to the vet immediately. “The bacteria responds to antibiotics but there is definitely a correlation between initiating treatment sooner and survivability, so the sooner you get them in to be seen and start treatment, the better,” Levitzke said. “Depending on how severe the signs are and whether they are still able to eat and drink on their own, they may need to be admitted to the hospital for IV fluids and intravenous antibiotics. Antibiotics are going to be the mainstay of treatment and with early intervention, they can actually have a very good prognosis.” It is also a smart idea to get any human family members checked out too, Levitzke said. “Like in pets, early intervention and treatment has been shown to give a much better prognosis for people as well and sometimes doctors might prescribe prophylactic antibiotics.”

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Title: 'Miracle' COVID-19 patient recovers despite grim diagnosis Advertisement A 51-year-old coronavirus patient who was expected to die from the global pandemic is being hailed as a miracle man after getting back on his feet. Mario Castillo Tamayo, the first coronavirus patient admitted to Toronto’s Humber River Hospital’s intensive care unit in March, had oxygen levels so low that doctors were convinced he would die, or spend the rest of his life on a ventilator if he survived, the Toronto Star reported. Doctors at the Canadian hospital tried having Castillo Tamayo lie on his stomach, pumped him with muscle relaxant, and even performed a tracheostomy in a desperate attempt to get him more oxygen — but the prognosis wasn’t good. “One of his doctors called and said my husband is getting worse, and we don’t know if he will make it,” the patient’s wife, Maricar Pagulayan said. But Castillo Tamayo somehow pulled through and left the hospital Thursday after nine weeks — and has tested negative for COVID-19 several times. “None of us expected him to survive,” Dr. Jamie Spiegelman, his doctor, told the Star. “He’s been one of our biggest success stories, and I’m glad for him and his family.” “The fact that he recovered after a tracheostomy and all the feeding tubes… is a little bit of a miracle, I think,” Spiegelman added. Castillo Tamayo, a mechanic who is originally from Merida in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, was working on March 18 when he came down with a fever and was sent home, the report said. With his symptoms worsening, he went to the hospital on March 24 and was diagnosed with the virus. “It gave me a scare,” he said. “I thought my life was finished.” He was admitted into the intensive care unit on March 26, when his medical nightmare began in earnest. In April, he was put on life support. “His lungs at the time, based on X-rays, were damaged,” Spiegelman said. “We weren’t sure we would be able to get him off the ventilator because of how much lung damage he had from COVID.” But in May, his condition began to improve and he was weaned off the ventilator. He left the intensive care unit on June 7. “I opened my eyes,” Castillo Tamayo recalled. “I saw many people around me at the hospital. I didn’t know who they were or where I was. For two months I didn’t see my wife, my stepdaughter.” He’s not entirely out of the woods. After leaving Humber River last week Castillo Tamayo was admitted to St. John’s Rehab at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center across town, where he’ll have to remain for three to five weeks. But doctors said he’s now expected to make a full recovery. “We don’t fully understand why,” Spiegelman said. “Genetics, co-morbidities, fitness level. We don’t understand it completely at this point.”

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Title: Georgia teen dies in 'bucket list' skydiving accident Advertisement A Georgia teen died in a skydiving accident while attempting to check the experience off her bucket list, according to a report. Jeanna Renee Triplicata, 18, had vowed to go skydiving before the start of her freshman year at the University of North Georgia in August, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. “Jeanna wasn’t scared a bit,” her father, Joey Triplicata, told the outlet. “She had wanted to do this, for whatever reason.” She went with her grandmother on Sunday to Skydive Atlanta, while some of her other relatives came to watch, the newspaper reported. But during the tandem jump with an instructor, the family saw a parachute spinning out of control, the outlet reported. The teen and her 35-year-old instructor, Nick Esposito, 35, landed in Upson County field and were killed. Upson Sheriff Dan Kilgore attributed the deadly episode to an issue with their parachutes. “Upon exiting the aircraft, the primary parachute failed to open properly and went into a spin,” he told the outlet. “The emergency parachute did not deploy until extremely low altitude and did not fully open.” Her father, Joey, said the fatal accident marked the “worst day of [the family’s] lives.” “It doesn’t even seem real,” he said. “We’re going to miss her every day for the rest of our lives.”

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Title: GOP may move Florida convention outside amid COVID-19 surge Republicans plan to move their convention nominating President Trump for a second term from an indoor arena to an outdoor venue as Florida’s coronavirus cases spike, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing a pair of party sources. The plan, which Trump tentatively agreed to on Monday during a White House meeting with top Republican National Committee officials, according to the report, emerged as the party scrambled to host a large-scale event next month amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened more than 3.3 million Americans to date and killed more than 135,000. “We’re not blind to the health concerns in Florida,” a Republican official said. “But at the same time, we’re committed to holding an in-person celebration of the president’s nomination.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had also questioned whether the convention would go down as planned, citing the pandemic. Organizers had planned to host the Aug. 24-27 convention at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, which has also seen a jump in cases. They now will move the main events — including Trump’s acceptance speech — to one of two outdoor arenas in the area, the two Republican sources said. The sources emphasized the plans still could change, and the RNC declined to comment. Skepticism has grown about the likelihood of a full-scale convention, with some members of Congress saying they will skip it and some donors wary of bankrolling an event in a state with rising infections. Democrats are planning a mostly virtual convention. Florida’s virus count has soared since it was chosen to host the convention after Trump scrapped long-laid plans to accept the party’s nomination in Charlotte, N.C. That state’s governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, would not commit to allowing large gatherings with restrictions in place because of the pandemic. Health officials reported the highest daily increase of deaths in Florida residents from COVID-19 on Tuesday. On Sunday, the state reported more than 15,000 new cases, marking the highest single-day total of known cases in any state.

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Title: Trump admin drops plan to deport foreign students amid lawsuits WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has abandoned plans to deport international students amid the coronavirus pandemic after two of the nation’s top universities sued immigration authorities. Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won a legal battle on Tuesday challenging new immigration guidelines that said international students would face being deported if they took their classes entirely online in the fall, according to multiple reports. US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs made the announcement during a teleconferenced hearing after the top colleges brought the legal challenge last week. The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued the new guidelines as President Trump increased pressure on the nation’s schools and colleges to return to in-person learning as soon as possible. Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding for schools that do not reopen in the fall. The immigration guidelines would have left hundreds of thousands of international students in limbo, with the American Council on Education calling the policy “horrifying.”

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Title: Joe Biden unveils his $2T AOC-fueled Green New Deal energy agenda Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden unveiled a $2 trillion energy plan Tuesday with a heavy focus on the Green New Deal agenda being pushed by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the far-left flank of his party. Speaking in Wilmington, Del., Biden promised a “clean energy revolution,” which he said would deliver millions of jobs, as he attacked President Trump for calling climate change a “hoax.” Biden detailed what he called a pro-union platform that would replace the US government’s car fleet with American-made electric vehicles and includes a pledge to create a “carbon pollution-free electric sector by the year 2025.” “There is no more consequential challenge that we must meet in the next decade than the onrushing climate crisis. Left unchecked, it is literally an existential threat to the health of our planet and to our very survival,” said Biden, 77. Biden’s announcement comes as the presidential wannabe courts idols on the left of his party including Bronx-Queens Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the hope that they will support him and steer young voters his way in November. In May, AOC announced she had been selected to co-chair Biden’s climate change panel along with former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. The former veep on Tuesday promised to “create millions of high-paying union jobs by building a modern infrastructure and a clean energy future” and described his vision of a US covered in 500,000 electric car charging stations and thriving factories producing green products. “When Donald Trump thinks about renewable energy, he sees windmills somehow causing cancer. When I think about these windmills, I see American manufacturing, American workers rising to dominate the global markets,” Biden said. “I see steel that will be needed for those windmill platforms, towers and ladders which could be made in small manufacturers,” he said. “I see the union-certified men and women who will manufacture and install.” “I see the ports that will come back to life and the longshoremen and the shipbuilders and the communities they support,” he continued. The Green New Deal introduced by AOC — which even Democrats trashed — unanimously failed in a Senate vote last year. In a statement to Reuters after news broke that AOC was joining Biden’s climate change panel, a spokesperson for the Democratic socialist said the congresswoman believed in applying pressure “both inside and outside the system.” Unveiling the ambitious energy plan, Biden promised to revamp American manufacturing by giving millions of buildings “energy makeovers” and said the nation, ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, had a chance to start again. “We are an economy in crisis but with an incredible opportunity: To not just rebuild back to where we were before, but better, stronger, more resilient and more prepared to the challenges that lie ahead.” “These aren’t pie-in-the-sky dreams. These are actionable policies that we can get to work on right away,” he said. Biden singled out a 2013 tweet in which the president described global warming as an “expensive hoax.” However, at a White House event in January, Trump said he had since changed his mind. “Nothing’s a hoax. Nothing’s a hoax about that. It’s a very serious subject,” he said. “I want clean air. I want clean water. I want the cleanest air, want the cleanest water. The environment is very important to me.”

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Title: Trump and Erdogan speak after Hagia Sophia becomes mosque President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone Tuesday after Erdogan sparked global outrage by converting the 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia into a mosque. It’s unclear if Trump and Erdogan discussed the historic Byzantine building in Istanbul. Readouts from the White House and Turkey’s government do not mention the controversy. According to the White House, the men discussed “positive trade issues” and “underscored our belief in the need for a negotiated settlement of regional issues.” Turkey’s government said the leaders spoke about the Libyan civil war, in which Turkey backs the more religiously conservative faction, and an ambition to conduct $100 billion in trade. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the Hagia Sophia was mentioned. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this month urged Erdogan to reconsider his plan to change the building’s status. Trump’s Democratic presidential challenger, Joe Biden, said Friday that Erdogan should “reverse his decision.” The building was a Christian church for nearly a millennium and still has mosaics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. When Turks conquered the city in 1453, it became a mosque. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the secularist founder of modern Turkey, made the building a museum in 1935. Trump and Erdogan have had a rocky relationship. Trump ordered sanctions against Turkey in 2018 in a successful effort to free detained US pastor Andrew Brunson. In a November letter, Trump told Erdogan not to be a “tough guy” or “fool” by attacking US-allied Kurds in Syria. Erdogan ignored him and launched an invasion. And Trump has refused Erdogan’s request to deport from the US the exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Erodgan claims was behind a 2016 coup attempt. Nevertheless, Erdogan, an elected Islamist known for jailing dissidents, has twice visited Trump at the White House. After his first visit in 2017, Erdogan appeared to relay a command and then watched as his security detail attacked US citizens protesting against him in Washington, DC. Some of his guards were criminally charged but were allowed to leave the US.

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Title: Ghislaine Maxwell held without bail on sexual abuse charges Ghislaine Maxwell cried as she was ordered held without bail Tuesday — with a Manhattan judge ruling the accused sex abuser “poses substantial actual risk of flight” after she purposely hid from authorities. The 58-year-old British socialite and pal of late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein wiped tears from her left eye several times, using the back of her left index finger, as federal Judge Alison Nathan refused to free her from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn until her trial next year. “No combination of conditions” could ensure that Maxwell wouldn’t try to flee prosecution, Nathan said during a video conference in Manhattan federal court — where Maxwell appeared on the feed remotely from a closet-size room at the jail. “The risks are simply too great,” the judge said, adding that Maxwell has exhibited an “extraordinary capacity to evade detection.” Maxwell, the daughter of disgraced late newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, briefly hung her head when it became clear that she wasn’t going to be released at all — much less to a luxury New York City hotel, as she had requested — until trial. Dressed in an olive-brown crewneck top with her hair pulled back, Maxwell occasionally sipped from a white styrofoam cup and fidgeted in her seat during the proceeding. She faces charges that she conspired with Epstein to sexually abuse young women. In siding with prosecutors, Nathan said there were no conditions of bail that could ensure Maxwell’s return to court, noting her “significant financial resources,” foreign connections and efforts to secretly move around the country following Epstein’s arrest last year. The jurist said without a clear picture of Maxwell’s finances — which prosecutors argued were purposely obscured — “it is practically impossible to set financial bail conditions that would reasonably assure her appearance in court.” Earlier in the more than two-hour procedure, Maxwell pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment that could land her up to 35 years behind bars. Long accused of serving as Epstein’s madam, Maxwell was arrested July 2 on six counts — including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Two counts include perjury for allegedly lying during a 2016 deposition in an Epstein-related case. Prosecutors contend she was hiding at a mansion on a 156-acre lot in a remote part of New Hampshire in order to avoid being detected by authorities. Noting her three passports and net wealth of $10 million, they said she had every incentive to flee the US. Two of Maxwell and Epstein’s alleged victims also implored the judge to remand Maxwell, including a Jane Doe who said she received a call in the middle of the night threatening the life of her 2-year-old. “She was in charge. She egged him on,” Doe said, in a statement read out loud by prosecutors. Annie Farmer, another Epstein accuser, was on the line to tell the judge she was recruited by Maxwell when she was 16 and sexually abused by Maxwell and Epstein at his New Mexico ranch. “She is a sexual predator who groomed and abused me,” Farmer said. “She has never shown any remorse for her heinous crimes.” Farmer’s lawsuit against Maxwell and Epstein’s estate is pending. Maxwell’s lawyers called for her release on $5 million bond and home confinement. “It’s just not realistic,” defense lawyer Mark Cohen said about keeping Maxwell incarcerated amid the coronavirus pandemic until her trial, which was scheduled for next July. But one of her accusers, Jennifer Araoz, said in a statement after the no-bail ruling: “I am once again able to take another breath as Ghislaine Maxwell will be in jail until at least her trial date next July. “Knowing that she is incarcerated for the foreseeable future allows me, and my fellow survivors, to have faith that we are on the right path.”

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Title: Michigan business owner likens journalists to Hitler in Facebook post A Michigan business owner is backtracking after mistakenly posting a bizarre rant on his eatery’s Facebook page — instead of his personal page — likening the press to Adolf Hitler, referring to the coronavirus as the common cold, and claiming he saw a presumed-murdered woman years after she went missing. In a 1,200-word rant, Carl Nelson, who owns the Pronto Pups franchise food stand on the boardwalk in Grand Haven, blamed the media for fueling concerns over the coronavirus, saying, “Good job HITLER,” mlive.com reported Tuesday. Nelson then went on to express support for the paramilitary Michigan Militia, the outlet said. “I believe it will take fire power. Period,” he wrote Monday in the now-deleted post. “I am curious of the Michigan Militias stand on this act of Treason that Michigans governor is putting us through. Maybe I run for president of the militia….” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has recently come under fire from some in the state for mandating social distancing and face masks to combat the spread of COVID-19. Nelson also claimed that Jessica Heeringa, who went missing in 2013 and is presumed murdered, walked into Pronto Pup during the 2017 murder trial of Jeffrey Willis, who was later convicted of killing her. After widespread backlash over his digital rant, Nelson took to Facebook again to apologize, saying he meant to post it on his personal page, not the restaurant’s page. “There was a post meant for the owner’s personal account that was accidentally posted to this page tonight,” he wrote. “We have removed it, as it was not intended to be a Pronto Pup post.” “This post was in no way representative of Pronto Pup as a business or our staff members. We are not sure how to make this right at the moment but we will try to figure it out. We are truly sorry for any hurt of offense this has caused.” Nelson then reportedly deactivated the business’ Facebook page for two hours, only to reactivate it with a bizarre new post. “As the deterioration of our nation and freedoms as we have enjoyed over the decades begin to dwindle away… I snapped,” he said. “My sincere apologies to anyone that seen the post.” Despite his online mea culpa, the business owner’s original rant caused a stir with at least one other Pronto Pup franchisee. “Good Evening Everyone!” Pronto Pup Grand Rapids posted on Facebook Monday. “Just a friendly reminder we want to make sure everyone knows we are in no way affiliated with any other Pronto Pup restaurant or food truck. “We are our own separate entity that uses the exact same batter as every other Pronto Pup restaurant or food truck.”

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Title: WH invites Chicago Mayor Lightfoot to work on police reform A senior White House official extended a public invitation to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to work with the federal government on the issue of police reform, accusing Democrats of “playing politics” on the matter. Speaking Tuesday during a Fox News appearance, deputy assistant to the president Ja’Ron Smith touted the Trump administration’s work with other Democratic mayors while sending a public message to the Chicago mayor. “We’re willing to go back and do the work, I mean, these issues aren’t about politics, it’s about outcomes,” Smith told the network. “And honestly, some of these things have happened for over 30 years that many leaders promise that they want to do reform but don’t lift a finger. “But I would invite the mayor to work with us. We’ve worked with many other Democratic mayors, if you look at the city of Birmingham, we’ve done some work with them and we’re really moving the needle in those communities.” Asked if Democrats and Republicans had any shared values or goals in their efforts toward police reform, Smith, the highest-ranking African American official in the current White House replied, “definitely.” “Well, there’s definitely common ground on creating a co-responder program, which would invest in social workers joining the police officer while they’re on the job. And dealing with issues of mental health, or drug addiction or issues dealing with homelessness,” Smith replied. “There’s also common ground on certification; making sure each police department has the highest police standards, especially when it comes to issues like use of force. There’s even common ground on looking at how do we deal with issues such as racial profiling, but it’s all about getting on to the legislation,” he continued. Smith went on to praise Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) for his police reform efforts, saying he “really pushed to have that done in the Senate so we can have this conversation,” before slamming Democrats for blocking the legislation. “Too many people on the left were playing politics with it instead of getting the work done, but we’re ready to do just that.” Senate Democrats blocked Scott’s police reform bill in late June, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) calling it “a cul-de-sac cynically designed by [Senate Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell so that he can say that he can do something but do nothing.” Scott, however, has argued that there is “an overlap of 70 to 75 percent” on Republican and Democratic ideas. The GOP’s lone African American senator proposed incentivizing police departments to ban chokeholds, but did not mandate that the practice be abolished in his package. His bill also did not remove qualified immunity, the doctrine that shields law enforcement officers from personal liability. The proposal with Democrats’ backing would ban chokeholds and no-knock drug warrants for federal drug cases, as well as end qualified immunity, a red line for Republicans. Asked by the network about the White House response to the issue of police reform, Smith said President Trump was “moving the needle” on crime, arguing that the problems stemmed from “pockets of urban areas in major cities that have … been working against the president instead of working with him.”

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Title: Michigan man killed by police after mask dispute at store A Michigan man stabbed a shopper who confronted him about not wearing a mask at a convenience store Tuesday — before being gunned down by law enforcement, authorities said. Sean Ruis, 43, of Grand Ledge, allegedly stabbed a 77-year-old man who challenged him about not wearing a mask at a Quality Dairy store, state police Lt. Brian Oleksyk said. Shortly after, a sheriff’s deputy spotted his vehicle in a residential neighborhood in Eaton County, Oleksyk said. When he allegedly tried to attack her with a knife, the deputy shot him, police said. Ruis, who worked at the Michigan Department of Transportation, was brought to a hospital, where he died. The stabbing victim, meanwhile, was in stable condition at a hospital. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered people to wear masks in stores to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. With Post wires

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Title: Hawaii delays reopening tourism until September Travelers must be patient before visiting paradise, as Hawaii has delayed reopening tourism for out-of-state visitors until Sept. 1, while coronavirus cases rise in both the mainland and the Aloha State. During a Monday news conference, Gov. David Ige announced that he’s waiting another month to waive a 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state visitors who test negative for COVID-19. Ige cited an increasing number of local cases, “uncontrolled” outbreaks in several US mainland states and a shortage of testing supplies, the Associated Press reports. Officials also anticipate case numbers to surge when Hawaiian public schools reopen in early August. The 14-day quarantine requirement was initially slated to take effect on Aug. 1. “This was an extremely difficult decision to make. This delay will further hurt our economy, but as I’ve always said – we will make decisions based on the best available science and facts prioritizing the health and safety of Hawai‘i residents,” Ige said in a statement. “Our county mayors and I agree, this delay is essential to protect our community.” Acknowledging that the reopening delay “increases the burden on businesses,” especially small businesses, the governor stressed that protecting the health and safety of the community remains paramount amid the ongoing outbreak. According to the Associated Press, the quarantine requirement virtually closed tourism to Hawaii since the policy took effect in late March. The unemployment rate is 22.6 percent, the nation’s second-highest. When the testing program begins next month, tourists arriving in Hawaii from out of state can be exempt from the 14-day quarantine rule if they test negative for COVID-19 – with a valid nucleic acid amplification test from a CLIA-certified lab – no more than 72 hours before travel, prior to arrival. Travelers must show proof of the negative test at the airport – though no commercial testing will be held at Hawaiian air hubs, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reports. If the visitor cannot provide proof of the negative test, they must remain in quarantine until their results are received. What’s more, out-of-state travelers of all ages are subject to the pre-test rule, including children. As of Tuesday morning, the Hawaii State Department of Health reports that there have been 1,243 cases of COVID-19 in the Aloha State – one of the lowest infection rates in the US. The viral disease has claimed the lives of 22 people.

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Title: UK warns against travel to Mongolia amid plague outbreak The United Kingdom has warned against travel to Mongolia amid a suspected outbreak of bubonic plague. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently advises “against all but essential international travel” to the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the UK’s Express reported. The warning comes after a hospital in Bayannur, a city northwest of Beijing, notified local government officials earlier this month about a suspected case of bubonic plague. UK officials said travelers to the rural areas of the region should avoid consuming marmot — a rodent believed to be a source of the highly infectious and often fatal disease. “The meat is a delicacy in some rural areas although it is illegal to hunt for marmot in Mongolia,” the FCO said in an advisory. “In traveling through rural areas, you should avoid marmot meat and take precautionary actions on bubonic plague.” Anyone who believes they have been exposed to bubonic plague in Mongolia should “immediately” report to the nearest hospital, the agency said. The report comes as a squirrel tested positive for the bubonic plague in Morrison, Colorado. The bubonic plague, known as the Black Death in the Middle Ages, is not uncommon in China, but cases have become increasingly rare. With Post wires

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Title: Melania Trump tweets appeal for people to wear face masks First lady Melania Trump reminded Americans on Tuesday to wear a mask or facial coverage to be safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “Even in the summer months, please remember to wear face coverings & practice social distancing. The more precaution we take now can mean a healthier & safer country in the Fall,” she said on Twitter posting a photo of herself wearing a plain, white mask. On Sunday, the first lady posted a video of herself wearing a mask during a tour of The Mary Elizabeth House. “It was a pleasure to spend time with the staff, mothers & children at The Mary Elizabeth House, a place that helps strengthen families & provides life skills, counseling & educational resources to help vulnerable single women & their children. #BeBest,” she said. The posting came a day after President Trump appeared publicly for the first time wearing a mask during a tour of the Walter Reed Medical Center where he met with wounded troops on Saturday. Trump, who has resisted calls to wear a mask to set an example for others during the pandemic, donned a navy blue one bearing the presidential seal. The president told reporters at the White House before the visit that masks should be worn in “appropriate locations.” In an interview last week with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump said: “I expect to be wearing a mask when I go into Walter Reed. You’re in a hospital setting, I think it’s a very appropriate thing.” Trump, who is routinely tested for the coronavirus, said he didn’t want to risk infecting anyone at the military medical center. “I don’t want to spread anything. And a lot of it is you spreading, not them spreading,” he told Hannity. “And I don’t want to cause a problem for anybody.” During a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan in May, Trump said he wore a mask when not in view of the media, saying he “didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.” An image did emerge of the president in a mask during the visit. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear a mask for facial coverage when unable to maintain social distancing guidelines.

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Title: McConnell open to second round of stimulus checks: sources WASHINGTON — A second round of stimulus checks will likely be included in the next coronavirus relief package, with the idea getting the green light from both Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one Senate source told The Post. It’s unclear if the payments will match the $1,200 sum paid to most Americans as part of a $2 trillion economic bailout in March, but the measure is one that has received rare approval from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as the Trump administration. However, expanded unemployment benefits could be scrapped as soon as the end of the month as the Trump administration and members of the Republican caucus push Americans to return to work and argue that the $600-a-week bonus is a disincentive from doing so. Senators will return from their break next Monday to begin hammering out the details of a fourth congressional relief package as the pandemic continues to pummel the US economy and unemployment hovers around a historic 11 percent. Democrats are pushing the generous $3 trillion HEROES Act that the House narrowly passed in May, which includes another round of stimulus checks of up to $1,200, a $200 billion “heroes fund” giving hazard pay to medical workers and a $175 billion bailout for rent and mortgage aid. Additional items include a boost in food stamp payments expected to cost $10 billion, a $25 billion bailout for the Postal Service, $3.6 billion for state election offices and $5.5 billion for expanding high-speed internet to libraries and homes. But the measure is considered dead on arrival in the Senate as McConnell and the GOP fight to keep the next emergency bailout to $1 trillion. “Senate Republicans are looking to keep it around $1 trillion. They do not want a $3 trillion blowout like the one [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi has proposed,” the Senate source said. In an interview Monday, McConnell said any new legislation would concentrate on creating jobs, funding schools so they can reopen, and creating liability protection for businesses related to the coronavirus — a measure which is understood to be a non-negotiable for the Kentucky Republican. Any relief legislation would have to contain “liability protection for everyone related to the coronavirus,” he said, referring to doctors, schools and hospitals. The powerful senator is also considering allocating more money for vaccine development. While GOP lawmakers are supportive of basic unemployment protection, both McConnell and the administration have signaled that they do not want to extend the $600-per-week federal boost in unemployment benefits that is due to expire on July 25 and which 30 million Americans currently rely on. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week said the administration supported extending the measure but was not comfortable with benefits being “more than 100 percent” of a worker’s pay. Mnuchin, who negotiated the last $2.2 trillion bailout with Pelosi, said it was a “priority” that the rescue package pass by the end of the month as coronavirus infections continue to reach record levels across the country. He signaled President Trump was also in favor of more stimulus checks, telling CNBC: “We do support another round of economic impact payments.” The pandemic has sidelined more than 30 percent of the nation’s workforce while infecting 3.43 million people and killing 138,000 in the US. With Steven Nelson

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Title: Ghislaine Maxwell posed as journalist when buying New Hampshire mansion Ghislaine Maxwell posed as a journalist named Janet Marshall to secretly purchase the sprawling New Hampshire hideaway where she was arrested, according to prosecutors. More details of Maxwell’s alleged efforts to conceal her whereabouts were divulged Tuesday during the British socialite’s arraignment and bail hearing on sex-trafficking charges. A New Hampshire real estate agent spoke with an FBI agent Tuesday morning and recalled the purchase of the 156-acre estate in Bradford, prosecutors said. “The real estate agent told the FBI agent the buyers for the house introduced themselves as Scott and Janet Marshall. Both had British accents,” said Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe about the December transaction. “Scott Marshall told her he was retired from the British military and was currently working on a book. Janet Marshall described herself as a journalist. “They told the agent they wanted to purchase the property quickly through a wire and they were setting up an LLC,” Moe continued. Prosecutors say Maxwell, 58, bought the home at 338 East Washington Road through a “carefully anonymized LLC” — with records indicating the sale was for $1.07 million. The real estate agent soon realized Janet Marshall’s true identity, after seeing a picture of Maxwell. In asking that Maxwell be remanded pending trial, prosecutors said her alias shows that she’s willing to lie in order to avoid being held accountable for her crimes. She’s charged in a six-count indictment with procuring girls and young women for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse in the early 1990s — and participating in some of the abuse herself.

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Title: Railway construction uncovers skeleton of Iron Age murder 'mystery' A skeleton believed to be a murder victim of the Iron Age was unearthed by archaeologists working on a high-speed railroad project in the United Kingdom. The adult male skeleton was buried face down in a ditch with his hands bound together near excavation work for the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway system at Wellwick Farm near Wendover. His unusual position suggests that he may have been the victim of a murder or execution, archeologists said. The project has led to a series of remarkable discoveries spanning a 4,000-year period, but archaeologists said the grisly find “came as a bit of a surprise.” “The death of the Wellwick Farm man remains a mystery to us but there aren’t many ways you end up in a bottom of a ditch, face down, with your hands bound,” Project Archaeologist Dr. Rachel Wood said in a statement. “We hope our osteologists will be able to shed more light on this potentially gruesome death.” The skeleton was not the only remains uncovered at the farm site, which was inhabited by Britons during both the Bronze and Iron ages. The group also discovered a skeleton in a coffin that was lined with lead — with the outer parts likely made of wood. They believe that the buried individual must have been someone of high status since they had the means to pay for such an expensive method of burial. There have been signs occupation, including a roundhouse, animal pens, and waste pits, also uncovered at the site. Lead archaeologist Mike Court said the discoveries will be shared with the public through virtual lectures, as well as an upcoming documentary. “Before we build the low-carbon high-speed railway between London and Birmingham, we are uncovering a wealth of archaeology that will enrich our cultural heritage,” he said. “The sheer scale of possible discoveries, the geographical span and the vast range of our history to be unearthed makes HS2’s archaeology program a unique opportunity to tell the story of Buckinghamshire and Britain.” With Post wires

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Title: Trump calls Jeff Sessions 'a disaster,' praises Tuberville President Trump again trashed ally-turned-adversary Jeff Sessions on Tuesday as the former attorney general fights for his political life in a primary election that could lead to his return to the Senate. “Big Senate Race in Alabama on Tuesday. Vote for @TTuberville, he is a winner who will never let you down. Jeff Sessions is a disaster who has let us all down. We don’t want him back in Washington!” the commander-in-chief tweeted July 11, and retweeted Tuesday about Sessions’ GOP rival, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville. Sessions fired back, saying Alabama doesn’t take “orders from Washington” while dismissing Trump’s “juvenile insults.” “I’ve taken the road less traveled. Not sought fame or fortune. My honor and integrity are far more important than these juvenile insults. Your scandal ridden candidate is too cowardly to debate. As you know, Alabama does not take orders from Washington,” Sessions tweeted following Trump’s original post. Trump, speaking Monday night on a conference call in support of the former Auburn coach, highlighted Tuberville’s success on the gridiron, particularly in the so-called Iron Bowl, the annual game between Alabama and Auburn. “Really successful coach,” Trump said of Tuberville, who went 85-40 in 10 years with Auburn, AL.com reported. “Beat Alabama, like six in a row, but we won’t even mention that.” In a recent video, Tuberville vowed to donate his salary to veterans and touted himself as “a conservative Christian outsider” who would support “no amnesty ever.” “We’ve been indoctrinating our kids into socialism and not educating our kids, especially up north,” Tuberville said. “We’ve got to get God and the Bible back in our schools.” Trump fired Sessions shortly after the 2018 midterms after targeting his AG for more than a year with insults after Sessions recused himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Trump called Sessions — the first senator to endorse him for the presidency — “Mr. Magoo” after the short, nearsighted and elderly cartoon character. “Jeff Sessions should be ashamed of himself for allowing this total HOAX to get started,” Trump tweeted after firing him. Since then, he’s openly opposed Sessions’ efforts to return to the Senate to represent the Cotton State and boosted Tuberville. Polls close in Alabama at 8 p.m. New York time.

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Title: Ivanka Trump, Tim Cook urge laid-off workers to 'find something new' First daughter Ivanka Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday urged workers who are unhappy with their jobs or unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic to “find something new.” The seemingly simplistic advice launched with a national ad campaign and the website findsomethingnew.org, which links to IT training services and apprenticeships. “We hope that it enables so many people out there to really embark on a new journey and realize their full potential,” Trump said in a video conference announcing the effort. The initiative’s ad features unhappy or laid-off workers saying they were retrained for more satisfying jobs. “You have more options than you think,” one says. Cook, who has been praised by President Trump as “a great executive because he calls me and others don’t,” hawked the initiative as a potential source of social equality. “This work has taken on new urgency in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and a renewed focus on opportunity, equality and racial justice,” Cook said. The video conference featured testimonials from people who learned to code and took advantage of internships, online classes, medical training and apprenticeships. Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser to her father, spoke from what appeared to be a personal office with framed photos on a table behind her. Cook, whom President Trump once referred to as “Tim Apple,” spoke with a serene water view in the background. Urging workers to find new careers carries political risk. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, for example, was accused of being insensitive when he urged coal miners to “learn to program” last year. Some social media users jeered the new initiative, which follows the unemployment of tens of millions of people. “Let them eat code,” one tweeted.

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Title: Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to sex trafficking, abuse charges Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges she helped traffic young women for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse — as her trial date was set for next year. Maxwell appeared via video conference for her arraignment on a six-count indictment charging her with recruiting and grooming young women to be molested by Epstein. Prosecutors said she took part in some of the abuse herself. “How do you wish to plead to the charges?” Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan asked. “Not guilty, your honor,” Maxwell replied in a raspy voice. The 58-year-old British socialite was arrested July 2 at a sprawling New Hampshire mansion where she’d been hiding. Her trial date was set for July 12, 2021. It is expected to last three weeks, including jury selection. Prosecutors said Tuesday the “investigation remains ongoing but at this point, we do not currently anticipate seeking a superseding indictment” with additional charges or naming more defendants. Authorities urged Nathan to remand Maxwell, calling her an “extreme” flight risk with the means to flee — including more than $20 million in the bank and three passports. But defense lawyers pushed for bail, claiming Maxwell was hiding from the “intrusive” media — and not authorities — when she dropped out of the public eye after Epstein’s arrest last July. Nathan will make a ruling on Maxwell’s bail later in the proceeding. Epstein, Maxwell’s former lover and a convicted pedophile, committed suicide while locked up at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on sex-trafficking charges. She was being held pending her arraignment at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

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Title: American Airlines reached out to Ted Cruz after he was spotted flying without mask A Democratic operative photographed Republican Sen. Ted Cruz without a mask on a flight over the weekend — prompting American Airlines to review the matter after the image was posted online, and went viral. Cruz was snapped bare-cheeked Sunday — with a coffee in one hand and phone in the other — while flying with one of American’s domestic regional partners. The pic was tweeted by Hosseh Enad, a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee operative, who wrote, “Captured today at 10:45am — @TedCruz on a commercial flight, refusing to wear a mask,” The Hill reported. Enad tweeted another photo of a maskless Cruz waiting to board the flight. It’s unclear which airport Cruz was flying to or from. A Cruz spokesperson told the publication that the lawmaker had taken off his mask to sip his coffee — but put it back on afterward. Cruz always wears a mask while traveling and practices social distancing, the spokesperson insisted. American Airlines — which requires all passengers to wear face masks on its flights — said it reached out to Cruz anyway. “As we do in all instances like these, we reviewed the details of the matter, and while our policy does not apply while eating or drinking, we have reached out to Sen. Cruz to affirm the importance of this policy as part of our commitment to protecting the health and safety of the traveling public,” an American Airlines spokesperson said.

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Title: Joe Biden to focus on 'green' job creation in economic shift Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is increasing his public focus on the economy as concerns mount about jobs and economic recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic. The former vice president will deliver remarks Tuesday in which he will outline his plan to rebuild the economy with a focus on clean energy and green jobs. The appearance is part of a larger effort to take advantage of current events to shift the campaign focus to the economy, arguably one of President Trump’s strongest arguments for re-election. Speaking Monday night to donors, Biden remarked that climate change was not only an “existential threat to humanity,” but could be “the very answer to get us out of this economic situation we’re in.” In the coming weeks, the Biden campaign will roll out two initiatives to support economic growth and recovery, according to The Hill. The outlet reports that Biden plans to offer a proposal on making child care more affordable and one focused on advancing racial equity across the nation. Asked by the New York Times during a call with several journalists Monday if he was comfortable having a more ambitious agenda than former President Barack Obama, Biden said yes. “I do think we’ve reached a point, a real inflection in American history. And I don’t believe it’s unlike what [Franklin] Roosevelt was met with. I think we have an opportunity to make some really systemic change,” Biden said. Biden’s platform, which calls for investment in environmentally friendly products and backs eliminating carbon emissions from power plants by 2035, has been backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as “a good policy blueprint that will move this country in a much-needed progressive direction and substantially improve the lives of working families throughout our country.” He has also touted Biden’s agenda as one that would make him “the most progressive president since FDR.” Biden’s campaign has been shifting toward a larger economic focus since mid-May, when the former vice president’s team began arguing that the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic allowed them to effectively make the case that the economy is in bad hands under the current commander-in-chief. The move was not entirely surprising, given where both 2020 candidates stand on current issues and with voters. Through his economic recovery-focused coronavirus strategy, Trump is betting that financial concerns will overtake health anxieties by late summer, making it more prudent to focus on reopening. Biden, meanwhile, has argued that the economy won’t bounce back until people feel safe enough to go back to work. He is expanding his economic argument as part of the unveiling of a $700 billion “Buy American” jobs plan, which focuses on economic recovery through “green” job creation in the manufacturing and clean energy sectors. Speaking on Thursday in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, while unveiling the plan, the Democratic presidential hopeful argued that he was the one best positioned to shepherd in a new economy. “During this crisis, Donald Trump has been almost singularly focused on the stock market, the Dow and the Nasdaq. Not you. Not your families,” the former vice president said at a manufacturing plant. “If I am fortunate enough to be elected president, I’ll be laser-focused on middle-class families, the working-class families like where I came from in Scranton,” he continued. Biden allies have also argued that his past work handling the implementation of the $787 billion economic stimulus package in 2009 should be brought up more by the former VP, according to the New York Times. Biden has only mentioned the stimulus package briefly on the 2020 trail, but the paper reports that there is broad agreement on the campaign that his work at the time had a positive impact “on an economy in free fall.” Currently, Biden relies on a small group of liberal economists and others with ties to the Obama White House and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign to provide him with economic counsel. A Biden campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

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Title: Lawyer calls first federal execution in 17 years 'shameful' The first federal execution in nearly two decades was carried out “in the middle of the night,” as the condemned triple murderer was still battling in court to avoid his fate, his lawyer said Tuesday. Daniel Lewis Lee’s attorney Ruth Friedman said she wasn’t notified before her client was given a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana — shortly after he claimed, “You’re killing an innocent man.” “It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution when counsel for Danny Lee could not be present with him, and when the judges in his case and even the family of his victims urged against it,” Friedman, director of the Federal Capital Habeas Project, said in a statement. “And it is beyond shameful that the government, in the end, carried out this execution in haste, in the middle of the night, while the country was sleeping. We hope that upon awakening, the country will be as outraged as we are.” The executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment, also said that the feds appeared to have carried out an “illegal execution.” Robert Dunham tweeted that Lee “was executed 31 minutes after the 8th Circuit lifted the last stay, which under the law would have triggered the requirement for a new death warrant.”

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Title: Video captures Brazilian cop stand on black woman's neck Two cops in Brazil have been suspended after a disturbing video showed one of them standing on a black woman’s neck, according to reports. São Paulo Governor João Doria announced the cops would be investigated Monday after the woman, a 51-year-old owner of a bar, suffered a broken neck, the BBC and the Daily Mail reported. Footage recently surfaced of one of the cops pressing his boot into her neck in Parelheiros on May 30. The woman, who was not identified, said she had been trying to intervene in a tussle between the two cops and her friend, the Daily Mail reported. But after asking cops to stop hitting her pal, she became involved in a struggle with one of the officers. “The more I struggled, the more he [cop] tightened the boot around my neck,” said the woman, according to the Daily Mail. The governor said he would not stand for police brutality and law enforcement will now be equipped with body cameras, the tabloid reported. “I want to make it clear that the State of São Paulo does not tolerate and will not tolerate any behavior that is violence practiced by the Military Police, the Civil Police, the Fire Department or any other police that is under the command of the State of São Paulo,” Doria said.

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Title: Michigan house party linked to 43 new COVID-19 cases Health officials say 43 new cases of coronavirus have been traced to a single house party in Michigan, according to reports. The party, which took place from July 2 to July 3 in the city of Saline, may have also exposed as many as 66 other people, not including family members in the home, the Washtenaw County Health Department said in a release Monday. “This is a very clear example of how quickly this virus spreads and how many people can be impacted in a very short amount of time,” health department official Jimena Loveluck said in the release. “We cannot hope to accomplish our goal of containing COVID-19 and preventing additional cases, hospitalizations, and deaths without full community support and cooperation.” The partygoers went on to expose people in retail stores, restaurants, businesses, sports teams, clubs and camps, and even canoe liveries, health officials said. Others traveled out of state and out of the country after the party, the release said. Officials are asking anyone who was at the party to self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor any symptoms. “None of us wants to be the reason someone in our community or county becomes seriously ill or dies,” Saline Mayor Brian Marl said in the release. “We have the opportunity to work together and with our local health department to contain this as quickly as possible.” The recent resurgence of the global pandemic in parts of the US has included clusters linked to large gatherings in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, California, Texas, and New Jersey, CNN reported. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said over the weekend that many new cases in his state stemmed from backyard gatherings, prompting him to issue a mandate limiting get-togethers to fewer than 50 people, the network said.

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Title: Protester severely injured by police-fired impact munition A Portland protester was seriously wounded by projectiles fired at him during police clashes, according to reports. Footage posted to Twitter shows Donavan La Bella, 26, being injured Saturday with what witnesses said was a police-fired impact munition — less lethal weapons used for crowd control, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. In the footage, La Bella, who was carrying a speaker, was shown kicking a tear gas canister away from himself. He then returns to holding the speaker over his head before shots ring out and he falls to the ground. His mother, Desiree LaBella, said he suffered skull and facial fractures that required surgery early Sunday, Oregon Live reported. “He still has a tube in his skull to drain the blood,” LaBella told the outlet. The incident comes amid weeks of riots in Portland by what police have characterized as an “agitator corps.” They claim the group is acting independently of the peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters and taking advantage of demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd to engage in violence and vandalism. With Post wires

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Title: Justin Trudeau apologizes for charity tied to his family Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for failing to remove himself from a decision to allow a charity with links to his family administer a multi-million-dollar student grant program. “I made a mistake in not recusing myself immediately from the discussions, given our family’s history, and I’m sincerely sorry about not having done that,” Trudeau said at a nationally televised news conference on Monday. Trudeau’s government tapped the WE Charity Canada on June 25 to manage the $900 million CAD program. The charity, which would have been paid $19.5 million CAD, pulled out of the contract after it was revealed that Trudeau’s mother and brother had been paid speaking fees at WE events. “I was very aware that members of my family had worked with and contributed to the WE organization, but I was unaware of the details of their remuneration,” Trudeau said. His mother, Margaret, was paid $250,000 CAD and his brother, Alexandre, got about $32,000 CAD in fees between 2016 and 2020. Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, have also taken part in WE Charity events, and his wife hosts a podcast on the charity’s website. She is not paid by the charity. Opposition lawmakers have called for Trudeau to testify before finance committees investigating how the contract was awarded. It’s the second time Trudeau took to national television to apologize in less than a year. He appeared last September after images surfaced of him in “brownface.” The grant program was intended to help students find summer jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. The government will now run the program. With Post wires

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Title: 1 in 3 young adults vulnerable to severe COVID-19, study shows One in three young adults is vulnerable to severe cases of coronavirus — with smoking playing a big role, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that 32 percent of people aged between 18 and 25 who took part in the study were “medically vulnerable” to the deadly pandemic — but that the figure dropped to 16 percent when smokers of cigarettes and e-cigarettes were removed from the sample, CNN reported Monday. “Recent evidence indicates that smoking is associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 progression, including increased illness severity, ICU admission, or death,” said researcher Sally Adams, the study’s lead author. “Smoking may have significant effects in young adults, who typically have low rates of most chronic diseases.” More than 8,000 young adults took part in the National Health Interview Survey for the study, which sought to assess their vulnerability to the virus. One in 10 of the participants had smoked cigarettes within 30 days, and one in 14 had smoked e-cigarettes during that time, the outlet said. Although more women in the study reported suffering from asthma or immune conditions, the higher rate of men who smoked showed that they were more vulnerable to the bug — although women were more at risk among nonsmokers, the study said. One surprising finding in the study was that white people had the highest vulnerability — contradicting research that racial and ethnic minorities had a higher death rate from the coronavirus than other groups. “Our finding of lower medical vulnerability of racial/ethnic minorities compared with the white subgroup, despite controlling for income and insurance status, was unexpected,” the study said. “It is also inconsistent with research showing higher rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and other chronic illnesses among racial/ethnic minorities, specific to one age group. “This suggests that factors other than the CDC’s medical vulnerability criteria play a role in the risk of severe COVID-19 illness in the young adult population.”

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Title: China buys more American corn to comply with trade deal China made its largest one-day purchase of US corn on record on Tuesday, its second massive purchase for the agricultural staple in less than a week as it tries to comply with its deal with America. China on Friday increased its corn and soybean import forecasts for the current season, as the country is expected to step up purchases from the US. The Agriculture Department said private exporters reported that China bought 1.7 million tons of corn for shipment in the 2020/21 marketing year that begins on Sept 1. The sale eclipsed the previous single-day record sale to China of 1.4 million tons of corn, set in December 1994, according to USDA data. The deal follows a sale of 1.3 million tons to China, spread out over two marketing years, that the USDA announced on July 10. China also booked deals to buy 129,000 tons of soybeans in the 2020/21 marketing year. In the phase one trade deal signed with the United States in January, Beijing agreed to buy $80 billion of US agricultural products over the next two years. But relations have since soured, with President Trump blasting China for its role in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 3.3 million Americans and killed roughly 135,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown in Hong Kong, expanded military exercises in the South China Sea and tensions with Taiwan are among other flashpoints between the world’s two largest economies. The two sides have announced sanctions on some prominent Chinese and US political figures in a dispute over abuses of the Uighur Muslim minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. But Trump has said he has held back sanctions on China over some of these disputes because of ongoing trade talks. Overall, Chinese imports rose 3 percent over a year earlier to $167.2 billion, rebounding from May’s 3.3 percent decline, customs data showed Tuesday. Exports edged up 0.4 percent to $213.6 billion, an improvement over the previous month’s 16.7 percent contraction. Imports of US goods surged 10.6 percent to $10.4 billion despite tariff hikes in another fight with Washington over trade and technology. Exports to the States gained 1 percent to $39.8 billion. China, where the pandemic began in December, was the first economy to start the struggle to revive normal business activity after declaring the virus under control. Manufacturing is recovering, but consumer spending is weak. Forecasters say exports are likely to slump as demand for masks and other medical supplies recedes and US and European retailers cancel orders. Trump said Friday that work on the second stage of a deal aimed at ending the tariff war is a low priority because relations were “severely damaged” by the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the pandemic. The two sides signed a “phase one” agreement in January to postpone further penalties, but tariff increases already imposed stayed in place. With Post wires

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Title: Michigan cop saves choking toddler with 'quick, calm' response A Michigan cop saved a weeks-old baby girl from choking — a feat chalked up to his “quick, calm” response, authorities said. Sterling Heights Police Officer Cameron Maciejewski responded to the home last Thursday to find the distraught family holding the 3-week-old baby, who was not breathing, police said. In dashcam footage released by police, Maciejewski can be seen taking the baby in his arms and performing back thrusts in attempts to clear the child’s airway. The tot then coughed up whatever had been obstructing her breathing — and began to cry, police said. The object was not immediately identified. “She’s got a pulse and she’s breathing, okay,” Maciejewski could be heard saying to crying relatives. The baby was then brought to the hospital for evaluation. “If it wasn’t for Officer Maciejewski’s quick, calm, lifesaving actions, the outcome of this incident could have been tragically different,” police said in a statement. “Not only did the officer save the baby, but the officer did an outstanding job consoling the family.”

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Title: Arizona man's family blames his COVID-19 death on Gov. Doug Ducey A scathing Arizona obituary for a dad who died from the coronavirus blames pols’ “carelessness’’ for his death — with the man’s daughter saying the state’s governor “has blood on his hands.’’ “Mark, like so many others, should not have died from COVID-19,” reads the obit for Mark “Black Jack” Urquiza, a Phoenix resident who died June 30 at age 65 from the contagion. “His death is due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership, refusal to acknowledge the severity of this crisis, and inability and unwillingness to give clear and decisive direction on how to minimize risk,” the posting bitterly added, referring to the late Mexican American resident, who worked in manufacturing. Urquiza’s daughter, Kristin Urquiza, told the Arizona Republic, “Gov. [Doug] Ducey has blood on his hands. “That blood is the blood of my father and nearly 2,000 other Arizonans that have died so far,” she said. Ducey has been criticized for reopening the state too soon, prompting a soaring resurgence of the virus that forced him to recently start up restrictions again.

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Title: Coronavirus outbreak in Michigan linked to Fourth of July lake party Michigan health officials have warned the public of possible coronavirus exposure after a Fourth of July party at a northwest sandbar resulted in several positive cases. The Health Department of Northwest Michigan was notified of several individuals testing positive for COVID-19 after attending Torch Lake sandbar in Rapid City over the holiday. Those testing positive were not able to offer identifying information for all potential contacts, officials said, expecting additional cases in the near future. The health department advised anyone who attended the party to monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and seek testing if symptoms develop. Those in close proximity with others were at high risk of exposure, as well as those who didn’t wear face masks. “This situation reminds us of how important it is to take precautions such as avoiding large gatherings whenever possible especially without social distancing and masking,” said Lisa Peacock, health officer, in a news release. “Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event and leaves our community at risk when close contacts are not able to be identified and alerted to quarantine.” “We can’t stress enough how it is imperative that we each do our part to stay safe and stay open,” she said. Last week, Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned that her state may “dial back” its coronavirus reopening if the contagion’s resurgence continues. She said she didn’t want to see the state’s recovery lose ground after the devastating economic impact that coronavirus-related shutdowns had on businesses and municipalities. Michigan has seen more than 69,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and at least 6,068 deaths attributed to the illness, according to state authorities. More than 22,000 of those cases and over 2,600 deaths happened in Wayne County, which includes Detroit.

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Title: China, Iran working on partnership worth billions for Tehran China and Iran are reportedly in the final stages of negotiating an economic and security partnership that could mean billions of dollars in investments for Tehran. Through the agreement, Beijing would provide massive investments in banking, telecommunication, ports and railways — a huge boost for the Islamic Republic’s teetering economy — in exchange for Iran supplying oil to China over the next 25 years, according to a draft of the 18-page proposal obtained by the New York Times. It would also allow the two countries to cooperate militarily, outlining joint training and exercises, as well as research and weapons development and intelligence sharing to fight “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes,” the report said. The partnership anticipated that $400 billion would be invested in Iran over the next 25 years. Any agreement between the two countries would be a blow to the Trump administration, which has sought to isolate Iran after withdrawing from the Obama-era nuclear deal in 2018. President Trump also reinstated sanctions against Iran in an effort to choke off its ability to gain revenue by selling oil on the global market. “Iran and China both view this deal as a strategic partnership in not just expanding their own interests but confronting the U.S.,” Ali Gholizadeh, an Iranian energy researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China in Beijing, told the Times. “It is the first of its kind for Iran keen on having a world power as an ally.” The State Department said China’s exploring doing business with Iran would violate international sanctions and undermine “its own goal of promoting stability and peace.” “The United States will continue to impose costs on Chinese companies that aid Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” a spokeswoman wrote in a statement.

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Title: Lawmaker pressuring NY schools to remove 'race-based' mascots A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would pressure New York schools to remove team names, mascots or logos deemed racially offensive — such as those with Native American symbols and lineage. The measure from state Sen. Peter Harckham (D-Westchester) would require schools to remove any “race-based mascots” within three years — or lose state funding. Perhaps anticipating a firestorm of criticism, he said Tuesday he’d amended the bill to remove the funding threat. “We can no longer simply dismiss the idea that school or team nicknames and mascots are innocuous and do not hurt or offend other people,” said Harckham. “The fact is, many mascots are grounded in, or borne from, a systemic racism that does not mesh with the democratic values we share and seek to protect. It’s time we hold honest, respectful conversations and public hearings aimed at understanding what’s wrong with these kinds of mascots and why they should be retired.” His initial bill memo said: “Adopting this legislation would provide schools three years to remove any race-based mascots or they lose state funding. This timeframe will allow school districts time to budget these changes. As we look into the future of NYS it is vital that we discontinue these racial and insensitive practices.” There are more than 100 schools in New York state whose sports teams are named after Native Americans — such as the Indians, Chiefs, Arrows and Red Raiders, Harckham said. The issue has raged for decades after former state Education Commissioner Richard Mills pressured schools to change their Native American mascots. The defunct Brooklyn Canarsie High School’s teams were called the Chiefs. Harckham’s bill comes as a National Football League team — the Washington Redskins — announced that it’s changing its name following years of criticism that the moniker is demeaning to Native Americans. But Harckham’s Republican opponent in the general election, former two-term Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, accused him of pushing a tone-deaf, petty and punitive bill during a killer pandemic. “Parents have enough concerns about getting their children safely back into the classroom without having to worry about their schools being shut down over political correctness run amok,” Astorino said. “But even more than that, this knee-jerk legislation calls into question the priorities of our state elected officials, namely Pete Harckham. With all the challenges facing us as New Yorkers — with all the economic suffering middle- and working-class families are experiencing — this is the bill Senator Harkham introduces? It’s downright embarrassing, and he should know that. “Innocuous school mascots are nowhere on my list. There’s real work to be done,” Astorino said.

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Title: George Soros group pledges $220M to help 'dismantle systemic racism' A philanthropic group founded by billionaire investor George Soros this week pledged $220 million to help “dismantle systemic racism” — with over a third of the dough earmarked to groups and cities pushing to “reimagine public safety.” The massive investment from Open Society Foundations will be made in “emerging organizations and leaders building power in black community across the country” — with $70 million earmarked for “more immediate efforts to advance racial justice.” The largest share — $150 million — will come as a set of five-year grants to black-led justice organizations, the organization said in a press release Monday. Black Voters Matter, Circle for Justice Innovations, Repairers of the Breach and the Equal Justice Initiative are among the recipients. The $70 million earmark will be made toward groups and cities “as they reimagine public safety, moving beyond the culture of criminalization and incarceration, and aiming to create safe, healthy, and racially just communities.” They were not identified in the press release. That chunk of the money will also be used toward engaging young people and to fight voter suppression, the Soros-funded organization said. “We recognize that the struggle to dismantle systemic racism is an ongoing one; it has existed from the dawn of the republic to the present day, and is embedded in every level of government and in our penal and justice systems,” Open Society Foundations president Patrick Gaspard said. “But the power-surge of people who have taken to the streets to demand that this nation do better — people of all ages, from all backgrounds, and in every corner of this country — gives hope to us all.” The group said it would be sharing more details in the coming weeks.

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Title: US reached 10th billion-dollar weather disaster in 2020 by end of June Halfway through 2020 and the billions of losses from weather disasters have added up for another year in a row. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Wednesday that through the end of June 2020, 10 separate billion-dollar disasters were recorded in the country. “This makes 2020 the sixth consecutive calendar year where 10 or more billion-dollar weather events occurred — a new record, according to experts from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information,” the agency stated. The 10 disasters so far in 2020 were all due to severe storms that unleashed tornadoes, damaging winds and hail across more than 30 states, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. A total of 80 people have died in weather disasters since January. The deadliest and greatest amount of damage, estimated at $3 billion, was reported over Easter Sunday and the following Monday when an outbreak of at least 140 tornadoes from Texas to Maryland was reported, including 3 EF-4s, 12 EF-3s, 20 EF-2s, 77 EF-1s and 28 EF-0s. A total of 35 deaths were linked to the severe weather outbreak on April 12 and 13. The damage was extensive and highly destructive to many homes, vehicles and businesses across more than a dozen Southeast and Eastern states. One week after that Easter Sunday outbreak, another round of tornadoes killed four in Mississippi and two in Alabama. That same week, a total of seven people were killed after tornadoes tore through parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, splintering buildings and overturning a semi-truck on an interstate, leaving some $1.1 billion in estimated damages. The tornado and severe weather outbreak across the Nashville area in early March were blamed for 25 deaths and $2 billion in estimated damages, including many homes, businesses, vehicles, 90 planes and numerous buildings at the Nashville airport. So far in 2020, storms have struck in heavily populated areas, such as near Nashville. Severe weather outbreaks in the Southeast have higher odds of being deadlier than in the Plains, where the population is more spread out An analysis of tornado destruction so far this year also shows that it’s been dark during several of the tornadoes. According to NOAA, 2020 is also tied with 2011 and 2016 for having 10 disasters within the first six months of the year but trails the record set in 2017, which was 11 events by end of June. In reviewing data from 1980 to 2020, weather disasters classified as severe storms make up around 15 percent of total disaster costs. Tropical cyclones – hurricanes and tropical storms – make up over 50 percent of the costs. An above-average hurricane season forecast may push the disaster bill even higher in 2020 if the US mainland sees severe impacts. According to NOAA, the US South, Central and Southeast regions experience a higher frequency of billion-dollar disaster events than any other region. A worsening drought across the West and the threat of wildfires later this year may also add to disaster bills. Data from NOAA shows that since 1980, drought has cost an estimated $252.7 billion in damages. Wildfires in California in recent years, particularly in the fall, have also resulted in billions in damages.

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Title: Hillary Clinton: Trump may not leave White House if he loses Hillary Clinton warned that the US should be prepared for President Trump to blame a re-election loss in November on voter fraud and refuse to leave the White House. “Well, I think it is a fair point to raise as to whether or not, if he loses, he’s going to go quietly or not. And we have to be ready for that,” the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee told host Trevor Noah on Monday’s “The Daily Show.” She said Trump’s continued claims that voting by mail would lead to widespread fraud are an effort to undermine the election. “There have been so many academic studies and other analyses, which point out that it’s just an inaccurate, fraudulent claim,” Clinton said. “There isn’t that problem. All the games that are played … to try and keep the vote down — that’s the real danger to the integrity of our election, that combined with disinformation and misinformation and all the online shenanigans we saw in 2016,” she continued. Clinton said the Republican Party’s strategy for victory in November entails preventing people from voting by making the lines long, especially in areas where young people and minorities vote, and to take mail-in voting out of the equation. “I want a fair election. If people get to vote and they, for whatever reason, vote for Donald Trump — OK. We’ll accept it, not happily,” she said. “But I don’t think that’s what will happen, because I think the more people who can actually get to the polls, whether by mail or in-person, and get their votes counted, then we are going to have the kind of election we should have.” Late last month, Trump pointed to a New Jersey election that was conducted by mail-in ballots, where 19% of the vote tally was disqualified, to warn of fraud risks. “Absentee Ballots are fine. A person has to go through a process to get and use them,” the president said in a tweet. “Mail-In Voting, on the other hand, will lead to the most corrupt Election is USA history. Bad things happen with Mail-Ins.” He added: “Just look at Special Election in Patterson, N.J. 19% of Ballots a FRAUD!” In Paterson’s city council election, a total of 3,190 mail-in ballots — about 19 percent of the tally — were disqualified in May, according to NorthJersey.com. The election was conducted entirely through mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Title: Daniel Lewis Lee is first federal inmate executed in 17 years The US government on Tuesday morning carried out the first federal execution in nearly two decades — despite objections from family members of the killer’s victims. Daniel Lewis Lee, who was convicted of killing a family of three, died by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, in the first federal execution since 2003. “I didn’t do it,” Lee said just before his execution. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer. … You’re killing an innocent man.” The 47-year-old was convicted in Arkansas of the 1996 slayings of William Mueller, his wife, Nancy, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. The execution followed several legal attempts by the relatives of the victims to delay the punishment due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling early Tuesday that allowed it to move forward. With Post wires

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Title: Larry Kudlow says 4th round of COVID-19 stimulus relief coming White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said it’s “increasingly clear” there will be a fourth stimulus package as the country attempts to recover after the financial devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he has been in discussion with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on the next phase and said the Senate could take up the proposals next week. “As you read the reports and talk to people on both sides of the aisle on the Hill, it is increasingly clear that there will be an additional package,” Kudlow told Fox Business’ “Varney and Co.” on Monday. “We will try to make it targeted, we will try to incentivize not just work, although work is crucial, and going back to work. We want to incentivize investments, we want a pro-growth package.” Kudlow said President Trump has publicly supported proposals like a payroll tax holiday, “modest” bonuses for workers returning, unemployment reform and an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program. McConnell said the Senate Republican conference is expected to take up the proposals when lawmakers return next Monday. “I’m predicting we will have one more rescue package, which we’ll begin to debate and discuss next week,” McConnell said during an appearance at Baptist Health Hospital in Corbin, Ky., The Hill reported on Monday. “We’ve been working on it in my office and I’ve been talking with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, who’s been the point person for the administration,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for several weeks.” McConnell said Republicans would also start negotiating with their Democratic counterparts. “I think you could anticipate this coming to a head sometime within the next three weeks, beginning next week,” the Kentucky Republican said. He said the legislation will concentrate on creating and protecting jobs, funding schools so they can reopen, and protecting doctors, hospitals, schools and businesses from litigation. McConnell said any relief legislation would have to contain “liability protection for everyone related to the coronavirus” and could reach back to December 2019 and extend to 2024. The coronavirus has caused businesses to close amid lockdowns and safety regulations and sidelined more than 30 percent of the nation’s workforce. American workers filed nearly 50 million claims for unemployment benefits in the past four months.

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Title: House Democrats restarting effort to obtain Trump's tax returns House Democrats have asked the Supreme Court to put its ruling last week on President Trump’s financial records into effect — so they can restart their effort to access the documents in lower courts. Douglas Letter, the top lawyer for the House of Representatives, urged the court in a filing Monday to immediately put its July 9 ruling into effect so lawmakers could bring the issue back to the original US District Court judge who oversaw the case for renewed consideration. Last Thursday, the nation’s highest court ruled that a New York grand jury could subpoena Trump’s tax returns and financial records, but blocked a similar request from congressional investigators, sending both decisions back to lower courts and keeping the president’s records under wraps for the foreseeable future. The case centered on whether third parties such as the president’s tax firm, Mazars USA, and his financial institutions, Capital One and Deutsche Bank, could be compelled by Congress and prosecutors to hand over their client’s records. In its decision on House Democrats’ efforts to access the president’s financial records, the court ruled that the District Court that heard the case had failed to answer if the House’s subpoenas were an abuse of Congress’ powers. Because of this, the justices suggested a test to assess the appropriateness of congressional attempts to collect personal documents from a sitting president, which they suggested the lower courts use in deciding future cases. Letter noted in his filing Monday that Supreme Court rulings do not usually go into effect right away — usually taking about 25 days — and asked that the process be expedited. “The Committees have sought expedition at every stage of this litigation. As this Court has stressed, litigation over Congressional subpoenas should ‘be given the most expeditious treatment by district courts,’ and ‘courts of appeals have a duty to see that [such] litigation is swiftly resolved,'” Letter wrote. Multiple Democrat-led House committees issued subpoenas to the president’s financial institutions in mid-2019 as part of a probe into allegations from Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen that the president inflated his wealth on tax returns in order to secure large loans. Cohen, who turned over years of financial statements to the committees, also said Trump undervalued his assets to reduce his real estate taxes — prompting Congress to issue subpoenas for his financial records dating back to 2009. Now, Democrats argue they need the president’s financial records to assist with multiple probes into the commander-in-chief. The president has denied all of the allegations and his lawyers argued that the subpoenas amounted to nothing more than a politically motivated effort to weaken the incumbent’s standing with voters before the November election.

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Title: UK orders removal of Chinese telecom giant Huawei from its 5G network LONDON – Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered that Huawei equipment be purged completely from Britain’s 5G network by 2027, risking the ire of China by signaling that the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker is no longer welcome in the West. The seven-year lag will please British telecoms operators such as BT, Vodafone and Three, which had feared they would be forced to spend billions of pounds to rip out Huawei equipment much faster. But it will delay the roll out of 5G. The United States had long pushed Johnson to reverse a decision he made in January to grant Huawei a limited role in 5G. London has also been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception that China did not tell the whole truth over the coronavirus. Britain’s National Security Council, chaired by Johnson, decided Tuesday to ban the purchase of 5G components from the end of this year and to order the removal of all existing Huawei gear from the 5G network by 2027. The cyber arm of Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping agency, the National Cyber Security Centre, told ministers it could no longer guarantee the stable supply of Huawei gear after the United States imposed new sanctions on chip technology. Telecoms companies will also be told to stop using Huawei in fixed-line fiber broadband within the next two years. “This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run,” Oliver Dowden, Britain’s digital, culture, media and sport secretary, told Parliament. “By the time of the next election, we will have implemented in law, an irreversible path for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks.” In what some have compared to the Cold War antagonism with the Soviet Union, the United States is worried that 5G dominance is a milestone toward Chinese technological supremacy that could define the geopolitics of the 21st century. With faster data and increased capacity, 5G will become the nervous system of the future economy — carrying data on everything from global financial flows to critical infrastructure such as energy, defense and transport. After Australia first recognized the destructive power of 5G if hijacked by a hostile state, the West has become steadily more worried about Huawei. White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien is meeting representatives of France, the UK, Germany and Italy in Paris this week to discuss security, including 5G. The West is trying to create a group of rivals to Huawei to build 5G networks. Other large-scale telecoms equipment suppliers are Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia.

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Title: Ghislaine Maxwell set to appear in Manhattan federal court today Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges she conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse girls more than two decades ago — and will also learn whether she’ll be sprung from jail pending the outcome of her trial. Manhattan federal Judge Alison Nathan will decide whether to set bail for the British socialite or leave her locked up in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Prosecutors want Maxwell, 58, remanded, calling her an “extreme” flight risk with more than $20 million in the bank and three passports. In a filing Monday, they said Maxwell went to great lengths to avoid detection by authorities — including wrapping a cellphone in foil while hiding out at a 156-acre New Hampshire mansion, where she was busted on July 2. The court is also expected to hear on Tuesday from some of Maxwell and Epstein’s alleged victims, who will also argue that the alleged madam should remain behind bars. Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison on a six-count indictment charging her with recruiting and grooming young women and girls to be sexually abused by Epstein — her ex-lover — from at least 1994 through 1997. Prosecutors contend that she partook in some of the sexual abuse. She is also charged with two counts of perjury for allegedly lying under oath during a 2016 deposition by saying she had no idea about Epstein’s alleged crimes. Maxwell’s lawyers are arguing for bail, saying she went into hiding for a year following Epstein’s arrest to avoid the “intrusive” media. The notoriously elusive heir to disgraced newspaper baron Robert Maxwell will appear for the 1 p.m. hearing in Manhattan federal court via video, along with her lawyer, a prosecutor and the judge. Members of the press and public can access the proceeding via teleconference. Former prosecutors told The Post that it’s possible the judge could set bail for Maxwell, or place her on home confinement, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Maxwell’s arrest came nearly a year to the day that Epstein, 66, was busted on federal sex-trafficking charges. The convicted pedophile killed himself weeks later while locked up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

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Title: Supreme Court clears way for execution of federal prisoner TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Trump administration was moving ahead early Tuesday with the execution of the first federal prison inmate in 17 years after a divided Supreme Court reversed lower courts and ruled federal executions could proceed. Daniel Lewis Lee had been scheduled to receive a lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital at 4 p.m. EDT Monday. But a court order preventing Lee’s execution, issued Monday morning by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, remained in place. A federal appeals court in Washington refused the administration’s plea to step in, before the Supreme Court acted by a 5-4 vote. Still, Lee’s lawyers said the execution could not go forward after midnight under federal regulations. With conservatives in the majority, the court said in an unsigned opinion that the prisoners’ “executions may proceed as planned.” The four liberal justices dissented. Two more executions are scheduled this week, Wesley Ira Purkey on Wednesday and Dustin Lee Honken on Friday. A fourth man, Keith Dwayne Nelson, is scheduled to be executed in August. The Bureau of Prisons had continued with preparations for Lee’s execution even as lower courts paused the proceedings. Lee, of Yukon, Okalhoma, has had access to social visitors, has visited with his spiritual adviser and has been allowed to receive mail, prison officials said. He’s been under constant staff supervision. The witnesses for Lee are expected to include three family members, his lawyers and spiritual adviser. He was convicted in Arkansas of the 1996 killings of gun dealer William Mueller, his wife, Nancy, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Powell. “The government has been trying to plow forward with these executions despite many unanswered questions about the legality of its new execution protocol,” said Shawn Nolan, one of the attorneys for the men facing federal execution. The federal appeals court in Chicago had separately lifted an injunction on Sunday that had been put in place last week after some members of the victims’ family argued they would be put at high risk for the coronavirus if they had to travel to attend. The family on Monday appealed to the Supreme Court, which also denied the family’s claims. The decision to move forward with the execution — and two others scheduled later in the week — during a global health pandemic that has killed more than 135,000 people in the United States and is ravaging prisons nationwide, drew scrutiny from civil rights groups as well as family of Lee’s victims. Critics argue that the government is creating an unnecessary and manufactured urgency for political gain. The developments are also likely to add a new front to the national conversation about criminal justice reform in the lead-up to the 2020 elections. Anti-death penalty protesters began gathering in Terre Haute on Monday. Organizer Abraham Bonowitz drove a van through the city with a sign emblazoned on the side of a trailer that read, ““Stop executions now!” Because of coronavirus concerns, Bonowitz said his group, Death Penalty Action, wasn’t encouraging others to show up. No more than a few dozen protesters were expected to join him. “It’s symbolic,” Bonowitz said about the protests. “We are just here to say that this is wrong.” In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department has a duty to carry out the sentences imposed by the courts, including the death penalty, and to bring a sense of closure to the victims and those in the communities where the killings happened. But relatives of those killed by Lee strongly oppose that idea. They wanted to be present to counter any contention that it was being done on their behalf. “For us it is a matter of being there and saying, `This is not being done in our name; we do not want this,’” said relative Monica Veillette. The federal prison system has struggled in recent months to contain the exploding number of coronavirus cases behind bars. There are currently four confirmed coronavirus cases among inmates at the Terre Haute prison, according to federal statistics, and one inmate there has died. Barr said he believes the Bureau of Prisons could “carry out these executions without being at risk.” The agency has put a number of additional measures in place, including temperature checks and requiring witnesses to wear masks. But on Sunday, the Justice Department disclosed that a staff member involved in preparing for the execution had tested positive for the coronavirus, but said he had not been in the execution chamber and had not come into contact with anyone on the specialized team sent to handle the execution. The three men scheduled to be executed this week had also been given execution dates when Barr announced the federal government would resume executions last year, ending an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment as the issue receded from the public domain. Executions on the federal level have been rare and the government has put to death only three defendants since restoring the federal death penalty in 1988 — most recently in 2003, when Louis Jones was executed for the 1995 kidnapping, rape and murder of a young female soldier. In 2014, following a botched state execution in Oklahoma, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to conduct a broad review of capital punishment and issues surrounding lethal injection drugs. The attorney general said last July that the Obama-era review had been completed, clearing the way for executions to resume.

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Title: US Air Force F-16 at New Mexico base, pilot injured A USAF F-16 Viper from the 49 WG crashed during landing at Holloman AFB at approximately 1800 MDT today. The sole pilot on board successfully ejected and is currently being treated for minor injuries. Emergency responders are on scene. 📖https://t.co/XT4ecjbgy6 — 49th Wing (@HollomanAFB) July 14, 2020 An F-16C Viper crashed during a landing Monday evening at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico and emergency crews are at the scene. The pilot of the fighter jet managed to eject and suffered minor injuries, a statement said. An investigation is underway. The incident is the fifth fighter jet crash since May and the second F-16 crash in the past two weeks. The jet, which crashed at about 6 p.m. local time, was assigned to the 49th Wing. On July 1, an Air Force pilot was killed in an F-16 crash during a “routine training mission” in South Carolina. In mid-June, a U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle crashed into the North Sea off the coast of northern England during a routine training exercise, also killing its pilot.

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Title: Former ‘Mythbusters’ host Grant Imahara dead at 49 from brain aneurysm Grant Imahara, a former host of the Discovery Channel show “Mythbusters,” reportedly died on Monday of a brain aneurysm. He was 49 years old. “We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant,” a Discovery spokesperson told TMZ. “He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.” Imahara, an electrical engineer by trade, co-hosted “Mythbusters” from 2005 to 2014. His sudden death shocked former “Mythbusters” star and former co-host Adam Savage, who mourned Imahara’s death in a Twitter post. “I’m at a loss. No words. I’ve been part of two big families with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years,” Savage wrote. “Grant was a truly brilliant engineer, artist and performer, but also just such a generous, easygoing, and gentle PERSON. Working with Grant was so much fun. I’ll miss my friend.” After leaving “Mythbusters,” Imahara co-hosted Netflix’s “White Rabbit Project” for the show’s one season in 2016. Tragedy also struck the “Mythbusters” family in August 2019 when former host and professional racer Jessi Combs died during a stunt in Oregon.

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Title: Kellyanne Conway’s daughter Claudia kicked off social media Kellyanne Conway’s teenage daughter says her parents are kicking her offline after she began playfully trolling them and sharing her liberal opinions on TikTok and Twitter. In what she called “my last tweet” on Monday night, 15-year-old Claudia wrote: “My parents are forcing me to delete social media… apparently, i don’t have a platform! it’s fake!” “Love you all so much. keep fighting,” she added to her nearly 118,000 followers. When one person expressed their outrage in the comments, Claudia responded with “#saveclaudiaconway.” The apparent social media ban came about a week after the teen trolled her parents — livestreaming a confrontation with her mother, a counselor to President Trump, on TikTok and telling her father, conservative Trump critic George Conway, on Twitter that she was “sorry [his] marriage failed.” On Friday, Claudia — who has posted a wave of anti-Trump and pro-Black Lives Matter content on her TikTok — wrote in a tweet: “My parents, particularly my mother, are trying to silence me by getting me to delete my social media. haha.” my parents are forcing me to delete social media so this is my last tweet. apparently, i don’t have a platform! it’s fake! love you all so much. keep fighting. ❤️ — CLAUDIA CONWAY (@claudiamconwayy) July 14, 2020 Her mom has previously stated that she supports her daughter’s independent expression. Her dad apparently allowed Claudia to give interviews to Insider and USA Today but then reversed course, writing on Twitter Friday that he and his wife did not consent to journalists communicating with any of their four kids.

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Title: Roger Stone slams prosecution during interview with Fox's Hannity Roger Stone on Monday night said his trial for lying to Congress was “the most horrible experience you can have” — and slammed the federal justice system for his prosecution. Stone, whose 40-month sentence was commuted by President Trump Friday, blasted his prosecution while venting about his experience in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “This is the most horrible experience you can have because I see immediately why 99 percent of the people who chose to plead not guilty and go to trial, lose,” Stone, 67, told Hannity. “When you’re up against the horrific and deep-pocket resources of the federal government and these, really sadistic, arrogant, politically motivated prosecutors … I had a biased judge, I had a stacked jury, I had a corrupt jury forewoman,” Stone fumed. Stone’s lawyer, David Schoen, said in the interview that he and Stone will “have to sit down and make a decision as to whether to go forward with the appeal.” Stone was convicted in November 2019 on seven counts of obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. If Stone does seek to have his charges acquitted, Schoen said they would do it before Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who presided over Stone’s trial. “I’ve got to become convinced that I could get a fair second trial, because I certainly didn’t get a fair first trial,” Stone said. A longtime adviser to Trump, Stone again heaped praise on the president for commuting his sentence days before it was scheduled to begin. “I have deep, deep affection for Donald Trump because I’ve known him 40 years,” Stone said. “He saved my life, and at least on paper, he gave me a chance to fight for vindication,” he said.

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Title: Mexican man with coronavirus dies in ICE custody WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — A Mexican man being held in U.S. immigration custody in Florida died shortly after testing positive for the coronavirus, officials said Monday. Onoval Perez-Montufa, 51, died Sunday afternoon at a Palm Beach County hospital, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release. He had tested positive for COVID-19 on July 2 at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, which is west of Lake Okeechobee. Medical staff at the facility began treating him a day earlier after he complained of shortness of breath. Perez-Montufa initially entered ICE custody June 15 following his release from federal prison in Massachusetts, where he had served 12 years for cocaine distribution. He was in ICE custody pending his removal to Mexico. An El Salvador man died in May after testing positive for coronavirus at a San Diego, California, ICE facility. A Guatemala man died later that month at a Lumpkin, Georgia, facility.

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Title: US rejects China's claim to South China Sea, straining tension WASHINGTON – The United States on Monday rejected China’s disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, a move that Beijing criticized as inciting tensions in the region and which highlighted an increasingly testy relationship. China has offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions in the South China Sea and for years has been using intimidation against other Southeast Asian coastal states, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. “We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” said Pompeo, a prominent China hawk within the Trump administration. The US has long opposed China’s expansive territorial claims on the South China Sea, sending warships regularly through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom of navigation there. Monday’s comments reflect a harsher tone. “The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire,” Pompeo said. The Chinese embassy in the United States said in a statement dated Tuesday that Washington’s accusation is “completely unjustified.” “Under the pretext of preserving stability, (the US) is flexing muscles, stirring up tension and inciting confrontation in the region,” it said. Regional analysts said it would be vital to see whether other nations adopt the US stance and what, if anything, Washington might do to reinforce its position and prevent Beijing from creating “facts on the water” to buttress its claims. The relationship between the United States and China has grown increasingly tense over the past six months over Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, its tightened grip on Hong Kong and its crackdown on China’s Uighur Muslim community. China claims 90% of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also lay claim to parts of it, through which about $3 trillion of trade passes each year. Beijing has built bases atop atolls in the region but says its intentions are peaceful. Beijing routinely outlines the scope of its claims with reference to the so-called nine-dashed line that encompasses about nine-tenths of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer (1.3 million-square-mile) South China Sea on Chinese maps. “This is basically the first time we have called it illegitimate,” said Chris Johnson, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s fine to put out a statement, but what you going to do about it?”

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Title: Trump inaugural panel agrees to fine over registration in NJ TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Monday he reached a deal with President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee stemming from a lawsuit alleging the organization failed to properly register in the state. Trump for America Inc. faces a $30,000 penalty, though $27,500 of it will be suspended, according to a statement from Grewal’s office. Suspended penalties are common in settlements like the one involving Trump for America and help ensure compliance, according to the attorney general’s office. The organization, which was based in New Jersey as a social welfare organization, will submit a registration statement and additional documents, according to the attorney general’s statement. It’s not clear what those documents are. If after a year Trump for America Inc. complies with all the terms of the agreement, all but $2,500 of the penalty will be waived. The agreement stems from a January 2020 lawsuit Grewal filed arguing that Trump for America, which raised millions for the president’s inaugural celebration, did not register with the state Division of Consumer Affairs. The suit came after Grewal subpoenaed the organization in February 2019 after determining it had not registered with the division. “This case should send a message that all are equal before the law, and none are above it,” Grewal said “We expect charitable organizations to comply with New Jersey’s laws, and we expect compliance with our subpoenas. Any organization that fails to comply may be dissolved and face other penalties.” Grewal also said Trump for America Inc. would cease to exist under the deal. A message has been left with the president’s campaign seeking a response.

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Title: NY judge rules Mary Trump can promote tell-all about president A New York judge on Monday lifted a temporary restraining order against Mary Trump that briefly blocked the president’s niece from promoting her highly controversial tell-all book set to be released Tuesday. President Trump has said publication of the book would violate a 2001 nondisclosure agreement his niece had signed as part of a dispute over the 1999 will of the president’s father, Fred Trump. The president’s brother, Robert Trump, agreed with him and had sued to block the memoir’s publication under those grounds. He argued that under the agreement, Mary Trump is blocked from speaking publicly about family members. In Monday’s court ruling, Judge Hal Greenwald in Poughkeepsie reversed his previous order temporarily blocking Mary Trump and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, from releasing the book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.” Greenwald wrote in his ruling that the confidentiality clauses in the previous agreement, “viewed in the context of the current Trump family circumstances in 2020, would ‘…offend public policy as a prior restraint on protected speech…'” “Notwithstanding that the Book has been published and distributed in great quantities, to enjoin Mary L. Trump at this juncture would be incorrect and serve no purpose. It would be moot,” the judge wrote. A New York appeals court judge had already ruled that Simon & Schuster was not bound by the nondisclosure agreement and could publish the book. Mary Trump’s lawyer, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said the judge “got it right in rejecting the Trump family’s effort to squelch Mary Trump’s core political speech on important issues of public concern. “The First Amendment forbids prior restraints because they are intolerable infringements on the right to participate in democracy. Tomorrow, the American public will be able to read Mary’s important words for themselves,” he wrote in a statement. With Post wires

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Title: Squirrel tests positive for plague in Colorado A squirrel has tested positive for the bubonic plague in Colorado. According to health officials, the squirrel is the first case of plague in the Town of Morrison, Jefferson County, which is about 17 miles southwest of Denver. “Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can be contracted by humans and household animals,” public health officials wrote. However, if proper precautions are taken, the risk of getting plague is “extremely low,” they said. Shutterstock Humans can get infected through bites from infected fleas or animals. “Cats are highly susceptible to plague and may die if not treated promptly with antibiotics. Cats can contract plague from flea bites, a rodent scratch/bite or ingestion of a rodent. Dogs are not as susceptible to plague; however, they may pick up and carry plague-infected rodent fleas,” officials wrote. The public health department advised pet owners to consult a veterinarian if they suspect their pet is ill. Also, pet owners living near wildlife habitats, such as prairie dog colonies, should ask their veterinarian about flea control. Symptoms of plague can include high fever, chills, headache and nausea, among other signs, occurring within a week of exposure. However, plague can be treated with antibiotics upon early diagnosis. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should consult a physician. Jefferson County Public Health recommends the following precautions to protect against plague:

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Title: Arizona lake 'electrocution incident' leaves 1 dead, 2 critically hurt One person was killed and two others critically injured at a lake in Arizona on Sunday night after a possible electrocution incident, according to officials. The Peoria Fire Department said crews were originally dispatched to a report of a possible drowning at Scorpion Bay on Lake Pleasant, located north of Phoenix. Peoria Fire Captain Mario Bravo said that as more information came in during the response officials learned they weren’t just dealing with a drowning. “It is believed to be more of an electrocution incident,” Bravo told reporters. According to Bravo, it is believed the electrocution incident happened at the end of a dock at Scorpion Bay. Peoria Fire tweeted about the incident around 7 p.m. local time on Sunday. Units arriving on the scene found five patients in total. Two were transported to an area hospital in critical condition. Two others suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and refused transport. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was conducting a body recovery. Bravo said when fire crews arrived on the scene, they discovered there was an electric current in the water and had to secure the dock before entering the lake. “At that time we knew the water was energized and none of our firefighters were to go in it until we could secure the electricity to the dock,” he told reporters. Once the dock was secured after a few minutes, rescue crews were able to assist those near the dock. No officials were hurt responding to the scene. “This was an isolated incident,” Bravo said. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has taken over the investigation, according to FOX10.

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Title: Jeff Sessions largely running against Trump in bitter Alabama Senate primary Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is asking Alabama Republicans to ignore President Trump and vote Tuesday to return him to the US Senate. Sessions, fired and repeatedly humiliated by Trump, spent the final campaign stretch alleging that Trump-endorsed college football coach Tommy Tuberville may be a secret liberal. Tuberville’s campaign “is funded and directed by Washington, anti-Trump forces,” Sessions tweeted on Monday. “They are trying to pull a fast one on Alabama Republicans.” The former Auburn University coach narrowly out-performed Sessions in the first round of Republican primary voting in March. A runoff between the men was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sessions and his supporters note he was an early Trump backer and say he would continue to push a hard line on issues such as immigration. Tuberville also says he would be a firm conservative. In a recent video, he vowed to donate his salary to veterans and touted himself as “a conservative Christian outsider” who would support “no amnesty ever.” “We’ve been indoctrinating our kids into socialism and not educating our kids, especially up north,” Tuberville complained. “We’ve got to get God and the Bible back in our schools.” Trump slammed Sessions hard in the run-up to voting. “Jeff Sessions is a disaster who has let us all down. We don’t want him back in Washington!” Trump tweeted Saturday. Trump fired Sessions shortly after the 2018 midterm election. For more than a year, Trump had fumed about Sessions recusing himself from oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, allowing a wide-ranging probe that consumed much of his first term. Trump reportedly gave Sessions the nickname “Mr. Magoo” after the short and near-sighted, elderly cartoon character known for his willful ignorance. “Jeff Sessions should be ashamed of himself for allowing this total HOAX to get started,” Trump tweeted after firing him. Trump’s re-election campaign sent Sessions a cease and desist notice in April protesting Sessions’ “delusional assertion that you are ‘Trump’s #1 Supporter.'” Sessions has been defiant, however. He said in a May statement that Trump was “damn fortunate” he recused himself because it “protected the rule of law & resulted in your exoneration.” Trump won Alabama by 28 points over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, but he’s been stung before by the state’s Republican primary voters. In 2017, Alabama voters rejected Trump’s endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange, the state’s former attorney general, who got the job from scandal-plagued Gov. Robert Bentley, whom his office was investigating. Even a Trump rally for Strange couldn’t help him defeat the more conservative Roy Moore, who lost the general election to Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, following sexual predation allegations. The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face Jones in November.

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Title: Blaze aboard US Navy ship in San Diego still raging Advertisement More than 400 sailors on Monday were still struggling to extinguish the massive fire raging aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego — and Navy brass can’t say how long it will take to put it out. The fire has brought down the ship’s forward mast and caused other damage to the ship’s superstructure that rises above its flight deck, ABC News reported. “There is a tremendous amount of heat underneath and that’s where it’s flashing up, also forward, closer to the bow again there’s a heat source and we’re trying to get to that as well,” Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3 told reporters Monday in San Diego. Sobeck said that the temperatures in the fire’s heat sources had reached 1,000 degrees, and with temperatures that extreme, the sailors can only work in rotating 15-minute shifts fighting the conflagration. Asked if he believed the ship could be saved, Sobeck said he hoped so. “I feel absolutely hopeful because we have sailors giving it their all,” he said, the network reported. He also said he felt confident that the blaze would not get close to the ship’s million-gallon fuel supply, which lies two decks below the fire. Teams of sailors were pouring water onto the ship from the pier and from tugboats alongside the stricken vessel. Navy helicopters have also dropped 415 buckets of water on the ship, similar to what they had done to help put out wildfires. There were 57 sailors injured after the fire started aboard the ship on Sunday, most from exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Sobeck had no information about how the fire started, but said it originated in the “lower V” part of the ship’s aft or rear section, which normally holds equipment used by Marines when they are aboard. Since the ship has been in maintenance, it has been used to hold maintenance supplies, including cardboard boxes and other flammable debris. “Because the ship was in the shipyard, there is lots of scaffolding and lots of debris in the way,” Sobeck said.

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Title: Coronavirus cases pass 13 million worldwide More than 13 million people worldwide have now contracted the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. The milestone came Monday, with more than 570,000 people dead from the virus worldwide, according to the university’s COVID-19 case tracker. The United States leads the globe in total reported cases, with more than 3.3 million, the tracker shows. Brazil, the next highest country, sits at almost 1.9 million cases.

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Title: Drone video shows packed Missouri party traced to coronavirus cluster New drone footage shows a packed Independence Day party in Missouri where at least five guests later tested positive for the coronavirus. The 12-second video obtained by the Kansas City Star shows dozens of maskless young men and women grinding on a dance floor under multi-colored lights. At least 400 people were at the July 3 bash in Cass County, which local health officials have traced to a cluster of COVID-19 cases. The Cass County Health Department announced Friday that at least five attendees had tested positive for the virus — though the number could be higher. One of the partygoers, who helped promote the event on social media, told the Star that at least 10 guests, including himself, have experienced symptoms but have not been tested yet. Cole Wood said he thought about social distancing and other virus concerns when the party was being planned over a group text — but that no one brought it up. “A lot of people showed up and we didn’t really think twice about the whole virus, it won’t happen to us, you know?,” Wood told local outlet WDAF-TV. Local officials have told residents to avoid large gatherings, maintain social distancing and wear masks when around people. A few days after the party, Wood came down with a fever and cough. He’s been quarantining at home and has an appointment to get tested on Wednesday. The bash was an “eye-opener” that anyone can get sick and the risk is real, Wood said. “We all feel bad for causing this little outbreak that has happened,” he said. “We feel like we should have been more responsible. Told people to wear masks or something. Not invited everyone.”

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Title: California rolls back reopening as COVID-19 cases spike California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday rolled back much of the reopening of his state, closing bars and indoor dining statewide and also ordered gyms, churches and hair salons shut down in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising in the nation’s most populated state. On July 1, Newsom ordered many counties to close bars and indoor operations at restaurants, wineries, zoos and family entertainment centers like bowling alleys and miniature golf. On Monday, Newsom extended that order statewide and closed additional parts of the world’s fifth-largest economy, including indoor malls and offices for noncritical industries. California confirmed 8,358 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, and hospitalizations have increased 28 percent over the past two weeks. Newsom said the data suggest not everyone is using common sense. The order comes after Newsom had earlier ordered these businesses to close in counties on the state’s “watch list.” The new order, which will now apply across the state, will take effect immediately, Newsom said. The businesses will be allowed to operate outdoors, if possible, he said. California was averaging more than 8,000 new cases a day as of Sunday —  more than double what it was a month ago. The state has seen 331,626 cases, the second highest tally in the nation, and more than 7,000 deaths, according to a New York Times database. “We’re going back into modification mode of our original stay at home order,” Newsom said. “This continues to be a deadly disease.” With AP

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Title: Trump insists he and Dr. Fauci have 'very good relationship' WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday defended what he called a “very good relationship” with Dr. Anthony Fauci amid reports the pair have fallen out over the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, calling the infectious disease expert “a very nice person.” “I have a very good relationship with Dr. Fauci, I’ve had for a long time, right from the beginning,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he still appreciated the advice of the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is a key coronavirus task force member. A Washington Post report published Saturday claimed the president has not consulted Fauci since June and that his administration had sought to sideline him over his blunt assessments of the country’s handling of an alarming spike in new infections. “I find him to be a very nice person,” Trump continued. “I don’t always agree with him — I closed the borders, as you know, to China, I did the ban on China, heavily infected and we saved tens of thousands of lives — and Dr. Fauci will admit that was a good decision,” he said. “It was very early that was in January, long before it was thought of as the right thing to do,” he continued. The president and Fauci initially butted heads in February when Trump closed the borders with China — a decision Fauci opposed at the time. “I get along with him very well. I like him personally,” Trump added. But Trump administration officials have sought to discredit Fauci and in a statement to the Washington Post, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the scientist had been “wrong about everything I have ever interacted with him on.” “Now Fauci is saying that a falling mortality rate doesn’t matter when it is the single most important statistic to help guide the pace of our economic reopening. So when you ask me if I listen to Dr. Fauci’s advice, my answer is only with caution,” Navarro said. The 79-year-old has not held back in his criticism of the administration’s response to the pandemic and in an interview Tuesday said the president’s claims that the country’s low death rate meant progress against the virus was a “false narrative.” The respected infectious disease expert has also refused to endorse hydroxychloroquine, a drug touted by the administration, and has called for caution as Trump pushes schools to reopen around the country. In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Adm. Brett Giroir, the nation’s top testing expert, also threw Fauci under the bus, saying he was “not 100 percent right” that states should pause reopening where there is a spike in new infections. “I respect Dr. Fauci a lot, but Dr. Fauci is not 100 percent right, and he also doesn’t necessarily, he admits that, have the whole national interest in mind,” Giroir said. “He looks at it from a very narrow public health point of view.”

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Title: Los Angeles and San Diego schools will be remote-only this fall California’s two largest school districts announced Monday that they will stay with remote-only learning this fall. Los Angeles and San Diego school officials announced that campuses will not reopen due to surging coronavirus concerns. Los Angeles, which has half a million kids, and San Diego, which enrolls roughly 100,000, will teach students remotely until further notice. “We all know the best place for students to learn is in a school setting,” said Superintendent Austin Beutner. “And as much as we want to be back at schools and have students back at schools — can’t do it until it’s safe and appropriate.” The New York City Department of Education, the country’s largest system with more than one million kids, hopes to introduce a blended system that would combine in-person and remote learning in the fall. The Los Angeles teachers union lobbied hard against reopening of schools, arguing that it was not yet safe to do so. San Diego educators also pushed back on plans to revive their system in August.

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Title: Trump: NYC crime 'out of control' while de Blasio paints 5th Ave President Trump tore into New York City leaders on Monday for painting “Black Lives Matter” on 5th Avenue while shootings skyrocket in the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday helped paint the slogan in front of Trump Tower. “In one recent week in New York City, this is hard to believe, shootings were up to 358 percent,” Trump said at a White House police appreciation event. “And yet they spend all their time — they want to do Black Lives Matter signs outside of Trump Tower. They ought to spend their time doing something else because I’ll tell you what, 358 percent increase in shootings in New York.” Trump added: “Last month over 300 people were shot. NYPD retirements have quadrupled and they’re going up even further. And New York City is out of control unfortunately — my place, I love it, but it’s out of control. It was doing so well.” Trump praised former Republican mayor Rudy Giuliani’s record. Giuliani, one of Trump’s attorneys, visited the White House on July 1 and told reporters Black Lives Matter is a “Marxist organization” that was “planning to destroy the police for three years.” “Rudy Giuliani, whether you like Rudy or not, he did a great job. He was the greatest mayor in the history of New York,” Trump said on Monday. De Blasio, a Democrat, recently agreed to a $1.5 billion NYPD budget cut. Trump noted an increase in violent crime in other cities, including Chicago and Atlanta, and threatened federal intervention. “Numbers are going to be coming down even if we have to go in and take over cities because we can’t let that happen,” Trump said. The president said crime was an important issue in his race against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. “The radical politicians are waging war on innocent Americans. That’s what you’re doing when you play with police. My administration is pro-safety, pro-police and anti-crime,” Trump said. “Things are happening that nobody’s ever seen happen in cities that are liberally run — I call them radical lib. And yet, they’ll go and march on areas and rip everything down in front of them. If that’s what you want for a country, you probably have to vote for sleepy Joe Biden because he doesn’t know what’s happening. But you’re not going to have it with me.”

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Title: Gun-wielding St. Louis couple offered free AR-15 after weapons seized The St. Louis couple who went viral for brandishing a rifle and a handgun at Black Lives Matter protesters last month are getting offers for a free AR-15, an attorney claims. Personal-injury attorneys Mark and Patrick McCloskey, who were caught on video June 28 protecting their St. Louis mansion with guns as protesters marched toward the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson, have received at least 50 offers for an AR-15 since their weapons were seized by police over the weekend, an attorney representing the couple told Forbes. A gun store in Missouri and 50 people “have contacted” the couple to replace the long rifle that Mark McCloskey, 61, brandished during the incident, but they’re “kindly refusing” the would-be gifts, attorney Joel Schwartz told Forbes. “To the couple that had this warrant served, please come on by our shop and we will gladly rearm you with a brand new ar15 for (FREE),” Alien Armory Tactical in St. Charles wrote on Facebook Saturday. Police took custody of the rifle on Friday and another attorney for the couple turned over the handgun Patricia McCloskey, 63, held during the protest to cops on Saturday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. No charges have been filed against the couple, but Schwartz believes the seizures show that “charges are more likely than they were two days ago,” Forbes reports. “We were hopeful and hoping that the investigation had been concluding,” the attorney said. Schwartz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he believes charges in the incident are “clearly unwarranted,” claiming the couple were protected by state law and the Castle Doctrine, which allows people to use deadly force while protecting their home against intruders. “As well as the potential of protection of self and from bodily harm should that have arisen,” Schwartz told the newspaper. Mark McCloskey has said he felt both he and his wife’s lives were at risk as they protected their Renaissance-style mansion on a private street in a St. Louis historic district. “It was about as bad as it can get,” he told KDSK. But the couple could still face a possible charge of exhibiting, brandishing or pointing firearms in a threatening manner, Schwartz told Forbes before declining to elaborate. The McCloskeys, meanwhile, are a litigious couple who filed a lawsuit in 1988 to obtain their home, a castle built for the daughter of Anheuser-Busch cofounder Adolphus Busch and her husband in the early 20th century, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The McCloskeys met while attending Southern Methodist University law school in Dallas and moved back to St. Louis in 1986, according to newspaper’s profile on the couple.

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Title: Mark Meadows feeding information to staffers to identify leakers White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has told several staffers that he has been feeding specific pieces of information to possible leakers to figure out who is talking to the media, according to a new report. Meadows has been “unusually vocal” about his tactics to weed out those acting as news sources, Axios reported Sunday, leaving many White House staffers feeling on edge. “Meadows told me he was doing that,” one former White House official said, adding, “I don’t know if it ever worked.” The former House Freedom Caucus chairman has been on the hunt for leakers since taking the job in March, as President Trump tasked him with stopping leaks as part of the position, the outlet reports. Recently, identifying the leakers has become more of a priority, as the commander-in-chief is furious about two recent leaks of sensitive information. The first was related to a report on Russia paying the Taliban to kill US troops in Afghanistan; the second was that the Secret Service rushed the president down to the White House bunker while protests erupted outside. Meadows has also cut the number of large senior staff meetings down to just one a week, Politico reports, citing his effort to clamp down on press leaks. The outlet also reports that Meadows pitched himself as someone who could get a handle on leaks when the president was considering him to replace former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who also struggled to keep leaks under control. Meadows has yet to identify any of the high-profile leakers, but a source familiar with the situation told Axios that he is “focused on national security leaks and could care less about the palace intrigue stories.”

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Title: WH says AOC claim that economic crisis causing crime wave is 'preposterous' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doubled down Monday on her claim that record unemployment and economic woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic are fueling an increase in violent crime in New York City — a theory the White House mocked as “preposterous.” “I do think that even when you talk about violent crime, I don’t think that poverty and economic desperation are separate from that either,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a campaign-sponsored food distribution event for the needy event outside Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens. “When people do not have opportunities, I can tell you from my personal experience and what I saw growing up. When families don’t have money, a lot of times young people and teens that feel like they need to support their mom, sometimes they’ll turn to selling drugs, which can then lead to an escalated level of trouble, to what police label as gang activity,” the Bronx native said. “So the idea that violent crime is somehow immune, or totally separated, from the economic situation that people are going through right now, I think that’s mistaken. It’s true. The desperation, even if we’re not talking about petty theft, there is a ladder that escalates into violent crime that is very much connected to the economic situation of a given community.” AOC first raised her “Les Miserables”-like theory of economic desperation triggering crime  — instead of cuts to the NYPD — during a virtual town hall meeting last Thursday. She gave an example of what economic desperation can do, citing a single mom with several kids. “You have a teenage son that feels like he needs to support her. He starts selling drugs so that he can support his parents. This is a very common story here in New York, and then once you get into that area of selling drugs, then that could entangle you in violent situations with suppliers and so on,” the first-term congresswoman said. The Democratic Socialist firebrand pointed to the “the emotional pressure, anger, venting that happens with the desperation that is happening right now.” She also noted that a quarter of New Yorkers were unable to make their rent payments in recent months. “It’s not just theft or non-violent crime that can be connected to that. That also has implications on violent crime,” AOC said. But President Trump’s spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany slammed AOC for trying to make economic conditions the culprit for the rise in violent crime, and blamed the congresswoman and other lefty progressives for taking actions to gut police enforcement and demonize cops. “You have, most egregious of all, really, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying defund the police means defund the police. She criticized of course the announcement of $1.5 billion being taken down from NYPD [that the cut wasn’t enough],” McEnany told reporters at the White House. “And this weekend, when faced with 28 shootings in New York, a 600% increase from this time last year, you have Rep. Ocasio-Cortez saying this is just because people are trying to get food with their families,” McEnany said. “That is preposterous,” the Trump spokeswoman said a press briefing. McEnany continued,  “The reality is 63 percent of Americans in this country fear that criticism of our police departments will lead to no public safety in their streets. And 69% of black Americans. This is a real issue when you call our police cancer, when you talk about dismantling them. And then this weekend in New York, you see a one year old killed in his stroller. His name was Davelle Gardner Jr and that one year old will be in our prayers.” The Trump spokeswoman then referenced the ambush killing of two police officer in McAllen, Texas — Ismael Chavez and Edelmiro Garza, and how Chavez’s daughter, Savannah, was ridiculed by some on Twitter for saying “blue lives matter” when posting a tribute to her father. “I know she received vile and outrageous comments online that were absolutely atrocious for her touching sentiment to her dad. I want Savannah to know your dad is a hero. His police department should never be defunded because most of our police officers are good, hard working men and women and heroes, much like Savannah’s dad. We will be praying for you, Savannah,” McEnany said. Meanwhile, during her campaign event, AOC cited a scaling back of the city’s summer youth employment program for teen-agers could cause crime problems. “When you cut summer jobs for teens, then they’re out in the street during summertime with nothing to do all day. That creates a situation that can be untenable. And so we need to have an whole-picture approach. If we just think that policing or not policing is the direct connection with crime, you’re going to get it wrong….We have to make sure that people have economic opportunities, that they have social opportunities, and that also, even in this uptick in violent crime, that we are not putting people into a lifetime of incarceral.” Elsewhere AOC disputed that claims that the NYPD’s elimination of its plain clothes anti-crime unit is triggering a jump in violent shooting. “Each precinct has a detective, they have investigatory units. There’s not just the anti-crime unit that is responsible for gun investigations and other shootings,” she said. AOC easily won her Democratic primary election last month against rivals that included business journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. She faces Republican John Cummings, an ex-cop and teacher, in the general election for the 14th congressional district that takes in portions of Queens and The Bronx.

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Title: White House: Native Americans would be 'very angry' about Redskins change WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday doubled down on criticism of the Washington Redskins for retiring their name and logo, citing a news report that found the majority of Native Americans were not offended by it. At a briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Trump last week ripped the anticipated decision by the NFL team to change their name after backlash from corporate sponsors and decades of controversy because Native Americans would be made “very angry” by the decision. “His tweet made it clear that these teams named their teams out of strength, not weakness, and he talked about the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians looking at changing their names,” McEnany told reporters. “He says that he believes the Native American community would be very angry at this and he does have polling to back him up,” she continued. In a tweet last Monday, the president suggested the expected name change was a result of the NFL team trying to be “politically correct” and took a swipe at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who infamously claimed she was part Native American. “Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!” he wrote. McEnany cited a Washington Post poll from 2016 that found nine in 10 Native Americans weren’t offended by the NFL team’s controversial name. “The Washington Post notes that many of these Native Americans voiced admiration for the team name like Barbara Bruce who said, ‘I’m proud of being Native American and of the Redskins. I’m not ashamed of that at all. I like that name.'” “Gabriel Nez, another 29-year-old from the Navajo community: ‘I really don’t mind. I like it.’ There are several other comments like this in the Washington Post,” McEnany continued. The Redskins on Monday morning announced they were officially retiring their name and logo and are working on renaming the team.

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Title: Ohio army vet who refused to wear face mask dies of coronavirus An Ohio Army vet who refused to wear a face mask because he didn’t want to buy into “that damn hype” died of coronavirus complications on the Fourth of July. Richard Rose, 37, of Port Clinton, who served for nine years, including two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, died at his home, according to an online obituary. Back on April 28, he posted that he was ignoring official recommendations to wear a face mask amid the deadly pandemic. “Let [me] make this clear,” Rose wrote. “I’m not buying a f—ing mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype.” In the wake of his death, that post has been shared about 18,000 times, as hundreds of commenters mocked him. “And now you’re dead,” one person wrote. “Bet your family wishes you would’ve worn a mask…” “Natural selection, RIP,” another posted. But Nick Conley, who was Rose’s friend, told WOIO that the ridicule is uncalled for. “Rick is getting slaughtered online right now for his decision that he made not to wear a mask and that’s not right,” Conley said. “We should still be compassionate whether we agree with someone’s beliefs or not. Someone has passed away and we should have some compassion towards that.” Rose posted on July 1 that he had been “very sick the past few days.” A short time later, he wrote, “Well. I’m officially under quarantine for the next 14 days. I just tested positive for COVID-19. Sucks because I had just started a new job!” The next day, he wrote, “This covid s–t sucks! I’m so out of breath just sitting here.” His last post came a day before his death: a meme with the words, “When you see me in heaven don’t s–t yourself you judgmental pricks.” Conley called it “horrible that we lost Rick,” adding that “the even more tragic part of that is who else became infected because of the actions that he chose.” He added that he hopes Rose’s death will serve as a warning to others. “I know a lot of people that haven’t met someone that they know of that has been diagnosed with the virus and I wanted people to see it was real and my hope is that people will see that this does happen and people will be more cautious,” he told the local outlet. Rose’s obituary said he enjoyed social media, online streaming, the paranormal and his two cats, Dale and Tucker. He was a fan of NASCAR, dirt track racing and Georgia Bulldogs football.

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Title: Judge demands information on Roger Stone’s commutation The Department of Justice on Monday released President Trump’s commutation order for his longtime pal Roger Stone, revealing that it wiped away his fine and two-years of probation as well as his prison sentence. “I commute the entirety of the prison sentence imposed on … Roger Stone Jr. to expire immediately. I also commute the entirety of the two year term of supervised release, with all its conditions, and finally, I remit any unpaid remainder of the $20,000 fine imposed,” the president wrote in the order, dated July 10 and signed by the president. Earlier Monday, a federal judge in Washington demanded more information about President Trump’s decision to commute Stone’s prison sentence. US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that the parties provide her by Tuesday with a copy of the executive order that commuted Stone’s sentence. Trump commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence on Friday evening, just days before he was to report to a federal lockup, and Berman’s questions were answered by the release of the document. Stone was convicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation with making false statements, tampering with a witness and obstructing lawmakers who were examining Russian interference in the 2016 election. Although presidents have broad authority to commute prison sentences and issue pardons, the brief order from Jackson — who presided over Stone’s trial last year — makes clear the judge still wants information and clarity about the clemency, including the actual executive order from the White House. Trump defended his decision to commute Stone’s sentence, tweeting Saturday that the process leading to his conviction had been illegal. “Roger Stone was targeted by an illegal Witch Hunt that never should have taken place. It is the other side that are criminals, including Biden and Obama, who spied on my campaign – AND GOT CAUGHT!” Trump said. The White House also attacked Mueller for his op-ed published in the Washington Post last weekend, calling his probe corrupt and asserting that he failed to investigate purported wrongdoing by the Obama-Biden administration. Attorney General William Barr has slammed the “Russian collusion” investigation as “without any basis.” “I think the president has every right to be frustrated because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history,” Barr said in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham in April. “Even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign, a whole pattern of events while he was president,” Barr said. “To sabotage the presidency, and I think that — or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.” An inspector general’s report on the Russia probe detailed 17 errors and omissions in FISA applications throughout the FBI’s investigation, including failing to tell the court when questions were raised about the reliability of some of the information the bureau had presented to receive the warrants. Barr said at the time that he believed they were more than just mistakes. “My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness,” he said. “There is something far more troubling here, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it.” With Post wires

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Title: Kansas father, girlfriend charged in murder of 3-year-old girl A Kansas father and his girlfriend are facing felony murder charges in the death of his 3-year-old daughter — amid allegations that she was “tortured,” according to reports. Investigators believe the girl, Olivia Ann Jansen, was killed sometime Thursday, the day before she was reported missing by her father, Howard Jansen III, from her Kansas City home, the Kansas City Star reported. Just hours later, at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, investigators found a child’s body believed to be Olivia’s in a wooded area roughly nine blocks from her home. “This is a loss for our community,” Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree told reporters Sunday. “I implore everyone in this community to stand with this family as they go through one the most tumultuous times, a moment that nobody in life should ever have to go through.” Jansen, 29, reported his daughter missing early Friday, telling police he last saw the girl at about 11 p.m. Thursday. Jansen told investigators he realized she was gone at 6:30 a.m. Friday, claiming he found his back door open, police said. Charging documents indicate Olivia was killed sometime Thursday, but authorities have not released details on how she died. In addition to murder, Jansen and his girlfriend, Jacqulyn Amanda Kirkpatrick, 33, are charged with aggravated endangerment of a child and criminal desecration. Dozens of people, including the girl’s grandparents, gathered outside the Wyandotte County courthouse on Sunday to demand that Jansen and Kirkpatrick be held accountable in the girl’s death. “I’m glad it’s first-degree murder, wish it was capital murder, but I wish it could be more,” her grandmother, Elisabeth Jansen, told KMBC. “I want them to pay for what they did to her. This has been going on for months and it didn’t have to.” Olivia’s grandfather, Howard Jansen II, said relatives tried to “seek help” for the girl and contacted child welfare workers about the alleged “torture” she was enduring, KMBC reported. Jansen and Kirkpatrick remained in custody Monday at the Wyandotte County Detention Center on $500,000 bond, online records show. With Post wires

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Title: Alaska Airlines flight turns around after passenger threatens to ‘kill everybody’ A recent Alaska Airlines flight landed early after a passenger became belligerent and aggressive, threatening to kill everyone on the aircraft. Alaska Flight 422 departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 11:10 p.m. Saturday, bound for Chicago O’Hare, KOMO News reports. During the ascent, an unnamed male passenger became disruptive and acted “extremely belligerent and physically aggressive,” a spokesperson for the airline told Fox News. About 20 minutes into the flight, the man reportedly walked in the aisle and yelled, “I’m going to kill everybody on this plane. Die in the name of Jesus!,” according to the Seattle Times. The man was swiftly subdued by flight crew and two passengers, including a law enforcement officer, the spokesperson said. No one was injured during the unruly passenger’s outburst, per the Times. From there, the plane turned around and landed at Sea-Tac airport once again. Upon deplaning, the man was taken into custody by Port of Seattle Police without incident and booked into King County Jail for harassment. Alaska canceled Flight 422 and booked all passengers on the next available trip to Chicago.

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