Big Time News Blog: 07/25/20

Saturday, July 25, 2020

South China Sea dispute: Australia says Beijing's claims have no legal basis

Australia tells the UN the claims have "no legal basis" as it aligns itself more closely with the US.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CFuW6e

Climate expert suggests Biden will have to 'admit there will be tradeoffs' to reach zero carbon goal

Climate activists and scientists have generally received former Vice President Joe Biden's plan to eliminate U.S. carbon emissions by 2035 warmly, but there will likely be some backlash ahead, especially regarding a potential reliance on wind and solar alternatives, The Guardian reports.David Keith, a climate and energy expert at Harvard University who co-authored research in 2018 that found America's transition to solar and particularly wind would require up to 20 times more land area than previously thought, said windmills certainly shouldn't be abandoned moving forward, but suggested they could be limited. "You should tilt the energy system toward low land footprints, which means focusing on solar, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage, with wind at the margins," he told The Guardian.Keith added that if the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee defeats President Trump, the incoming Biden administration will need to "admit there will be tradeoffs for a shared national goal" and that "there will be local decisions people don't like" en route to an emission-free future.But while there are concerns about the effect renewable energy systems can have on land and biodiversity, Melissa Lott, a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, said the side effects of renewables are unequivocally worth getting to zero carbon. Read more at The Guardian.More stories from theweek.com Jared Kushner has reportedly refused to aid the House GOP's election wing America is coming apart. Europe is coming together. Longtime TV host Regis Philbin dies at 88

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/30JHeT3

Retired Marine who marched into Portland chaos with American flag says he was attacked by Antifa members

Gabriel Johnson tells 'Fox & Friends' what happened when he tried to bring a message of unity to the protests.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2OWessQ

James Carville still thinks Trump might pull out of race rather than risk a landslide defeat

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville said President Trump’s political standing appears to be in virtual free fall, as Republicans are increasingly panicked that he will cost them control of the Senate.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3g04rH1

Genetic impact of African slave trade revealed in DNA study

The consequences of rape, maltreatment, disease and racism are revealed by the findings.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2OWf2qg

Plane With Six Aboard Crashes Into Backyard in Utah City

By BY MARIE FAZIO AND AIMEE ORTIZ from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2COZEcT

North Korea Declares Emergency After Suspected Covid-19 Case

By BY CHOE SANG-HUN from NYT World https://ift.tt/3eXHYsF

LAPD officer and soon-to-be father dies of COVID-19 complications

Officer Valentin Martinez, 45, was expecting twins with his partner and joined the force in 2007. The city's mayor has ordered flags to be lowered in his honor.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CDnQiD

Massive protest against governor's arrest challenges Kremlin

Tens of thousands of people marched Saturday across Russia's Far East city of Khabarovsk on the border with China to protest the arrest of the regional governor on murder charges, continuing a two-week wave of protests that has challenged the Kremlin. Sergei Furgal has been in a Moscow jail since his arrest on July 9, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has named an acting successor. Protesters in Khabarovsk see the charges against Furgal as unsubstantiated and demand that he stand trial at home.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CNpXAb

Does Tucker Carlson hate America?

Tucker Carlson is only capable of two facial expressions. One is a deeply furrowed brow that narrows his eyes to a point at which they almost disappear, not dissimilar to the face a child makes when they are hangry, or lost, or both. He uses this expression when he is describing the point of view of someone with whom he disagrees. The other is a wide-eyed look of pleading which sends his eyebrows rising at least an inch in the other direction. It is an expression meant to portray logic and reason, of why-do-you-hate-America indignity. He uses it chiefly when describing his own views and solutions to the problems facing the country.All of this is to say that if eyes are windows to the soul, Carlson’s spirit is black and white. He is a binary man whose whole career has been defined by his opposition to, and his apparent hatred of, other people and ideas. And at a time when America is more polarised than ever, he is having a moment.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2EhM9TD

Republican Rep. Ted Yoho resigns from a Christian non-profit's board after verbally attacking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The non-profit said it "sought [Yoho's] resignation" after determining his attack on AOC didn't reflect "values of respect and compassion."

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3jzHjRT

Man arrested after pulling gun during mask argument at Florida Walmart

Vincent Scavetta, 28, was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm and improper exhibition of a firearm and arrested.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2D5OXT2

Iraqi forces free German woman kidnapped in Baghdad

A German woman kidnapped in Baghdad this week was freed overnight and handed over to her embassy, officials from the two countries said on Friday. "Security forces have freed activist Hella Mewis," Iraq's military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement. Iraq's interior ministry said a joint task force, including the elite Falcons intelligence forces and federal police and anti-crime units, carried out the operation in east Baghdad.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3f2bSvU

Christian abortion critics urge Dems to change platform

A group of more than 100 Christian pastors, religion professors and other advocates is urging the Democratic National Committee to adopt a party platform that’s friendlier to abortion opponents. In a letter organized by the anti-abortion group Democrats for Life and set to be sent Friday, the group of Christians calls on the Democratic Party to rescind its platform’s support for ending restrictions on federal funding for abortion. Last year, Joe Biden, the Democrat’s presumptive presidential nominee, shifted his position to back an end to restrictions on government funding for abortion.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2EgXfbu

Chinese researcher who took refuge in San Francisco consulate in U.S. custody, officials say

A Chinese researcher who took refuge from U.S. authorities at China's consulate in San Francisco is now in American custody and is expected to appear in court on Monday, U.S. Justice Department officials said. According to court filings in U.S. District Court in San Francisco this week, Juan Tang, who worked at the University of California, Davis, falsely claimed on her visa application that she had not served in the Chinese military.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2WQRh7K

Three storm systems bearing down on United States, Caribbean

While Hurricane Douglas is barreling toward Hawaii, tropical storms are taking aim at Texas and the Windward Islands.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/3eUxFFS

Iran protests to UN after US jets approach flight over Syria

Iran protested Friday to the United Nations of a "flagrant violation" of international law after nearby US fighter jets sparked panic on an Iranian passenger plane over war-torn Syria. The incident on Thursday was the latest between arch-foes Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump in 2018 walked out of a nuclear accord with Iran and imposed punishing sanctions. Iran's state television broadcast footage filmed on a mobile phone of screaming passengers as the pilot of a Mahan Air plane on a flight from Tehran to Beirut took emergency action.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2CNk7Pg

Big Time News Blog