At Least Seven GOP-Controlled States Look to Mimic Texas Anti-Abortion Law – Slate
At Least Seven GOP-Controlled States Look to Mimic Texas Anti-Abortion Law – Slate

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Source Article from https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/09/republican-states-seek-mimic-texas-abortion-law.html

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Unemployment benefits expire for 7 million Americans, pressuring families and the economy – The Washington Post
Unemployment benefits expire for 7 million Americans, pressuring families and the economy – The Washington Post

It is still unclear whether businesses struggling with labor shortages will find it easier to hire workers in the coming weeks, even as the benefits end. Argosy Cruises, a company offering boat tours in the Seattle area, had a pre-pandemic head count of around 250 people, before it was forced to lay off 85 percent of its staff in August 2020, said chief operating officer Molly Schlobohm. The company gradually relaunched in April, and hiring has been “incredibly challenging,” she said, despite wage increases and signing bonuses.

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/09/05/unemployment-benefits-economy/

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Special Forces Colonel Stages Coup in Guinea – The New York Times
Special Forces Colonel Stages Coup in Guinea – The New York Times

The head of Guinea’s special forces appeared on state television on Sunday and announced the suspension of the West African country’s Constitution after a morning of heavy gunfire and reports of a coup in the capital, Conakry.

The move comes barely a year after the president, Alpha Condé, won a contentious third term after changing the Constitution, effectively resetting the clock to zero for Mr. Conde and allowing him to stay in power beyond the two-term limit.

And it happened in a country that has experience with coups — in 1984 and in 2008 — before Mr. Condé became the country’s first democratically elected leader. His government turned Guinea into a major exporter of bauxite, which is used to produce aluminum, but human rights groups say that mining companies have upended the lives and livelihoods of rural communities.

The head of the special forces, Mamady Doumbouya, said Sunday on state television, “We have decided, from now on, to dissolve the Constitution.” He appeared with Guinea’s national flag draped around his shoulders and members of the military surrounding him. He said that he was acting in response to the people’s will.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/world/africa/guinea-coup.html

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Follow live: Entergy gives update on power restoration in southeast Louisiana after Ida – NOLA.com
Follow live: Entergy gives update on power restoration in southeast Louisiana after Ida – NOLA.com

Entergy is planning to give an update on efforts to restore power to southeast Louisiana after Hurricane Ida at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Updates from both Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans officials are expected.

Much of the Baton Rouge area has had power restored — in East Baton Rouge Parish, the company reports 12,788 customers without power, down from more than 200,000 in the immediate aftermath. But hundreds of thousands of people in the New Orleans area and coastal communities in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes still don’t have electricity.

For example: Jefferson Parish has more than 163,000 Entergy customers don’t have power; more than 110,000 in Orleans Parish don’t have it.

Follow live coverage from Entergy’s update below. Can’t see the module? Click here.

Hurricane Ida Text Message Updates for New Orleans: Sign up for free

Standard message and data rates apply. 

Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission


Source Article from https://www.nola.com/news/hurricane/article_f6fbd226-0e4f-11ec-8504-a7cfdc8a3fd3.html

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As Donald Trump makes noise about 2024, Melania Trump tries to stay out of the public eye – CNN
As Donald Trump makes noise about 2024, Melania Trump tries to stay out of the public eye – CNN

By Kate Bennett, CNN

Updated 9:45 AM ET, Sun September 5, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/05/politics/melania-trump-out-of-the-public-eye-2024/index.html

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Shooter in Lakeland, Florida kills 4, including infant, shoots 11-year-old girl multiple times, sheriff says – USA TODAY
Shooter in Lakeland, Florida kills 4, including infant, shoots 11-year-old girl multiple times, sheriff says – USA TODAY

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/05/polk-sheriffs-deputies-come-under-fire-north-lakeland/5741398001/

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Amy Coney Barrett an ‘actual handmaid,’ MSNBC host asserts in Texas abortion law segment – Fox News
Amy Coney Barrett an ‘actual handmaid,’ MSNBC host asserts in Texas abortion law segment – Fox News
Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for September 4

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

A host on liberal network MSNBC took aim at Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday, following the court’s recent decision not to block the new Texas abortion law.

Although not mentioning Barrett by name, it was clear that host Tiffany Cross was referring to the justice who was appointed to the nation’s highest court in 2020 by former President Donald Trump.

The insult came after Cross accused Republicans of “hypocrisy” for opposing abortion while supporting Second Amendment rights to gun ownership and rejecting coronavirus restrictions.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Associated Press)

TEXAS JUDGE TEMPORARILY SHIELDS STATE’S CLINICS FROM ANTI-ABORTION GROUP’S LAWSUITS

“It’s the hypocrisy for me, these Republican lawmakers fix their mouths claiming they’re pro-life, but they allow Texans to carry guns with no permit or no training,” Cross said, according to Mediaite.com.

“They’re against the life-saving vaccine and mask mandates,” she added.

MSNBC host Tiffany Cross.

Later, she said, “This entire thing, about protecting the fetus when they care so little for life in this country, is beyond comprehension. If it feels like they really must hate women in Texas and all across the country, how is it possible the Supreme Court allowed this to stand?

“I know that they haven’t ruled on it, but they can rule later,” Cross continued. “But we have an actual handmaid on the court. So I have to tell you, I’m not excited about depending on them to protect me and my right to choose.”

“Handmaid” refers to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood that tells of a future in which the U.S. government has been overthrown and replaced by a society in which women’s only role is to serve men. It subsequently became a TV series starring Elisabeth Moss.

The Washington Post reported in October 2020 that Barrett held the title of “handmaid” as a member of a religious group called People of Praise. At the time, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, criticized the Post article as a “religious smear” directed at Barrett.

Elisabeth Moss plays Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” (MGM)

Late Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling, opting to decline to block a new Texas abortion law that took effect earlier in the day. The law bans most abortions in the state and allows private citizens to sue anyone who’s allegedly involved in an abortion, other than the patient.

Backing the majority decision were justices Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

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Dissenting were the court’s three liberal justices – Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer – plus Chief Justice John Roberts. Kagan referred to the Texas law as “patently unconstitutional.” 

Then on Friday a Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order shielding Texas abortion clinics from lawsuits filed by anti-abortion groups for two weeks, with a hearing on the injunction scheduled for Sept. 13.

Legal observers have claimed that the Texas law could lay the groundwork for overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion throughout the U.S.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/amy-coney-barrett-handmaid-msnbc-host-tiffany-cross-texas-abortion-law

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Frustration with power outages grows as Entergy promises more restorations soon – WWLTV.com
Frustration with power outages grows as Entergy promises more restorations soon – WWLTV.com

Places that took a direct hit from Hurricane Ida saw the biggest power system damage, and Entergy’s restoration estimates for those areas called for weeks more without power. In St. John the Baptist, St. James and Tangipahoa parishes, residents won’t have power fully restored until Sept. 17, Entergy said. And in coastal Jefferson, lower Plaquemines and throughout Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Charles parishes, customers are likely must wait over three weeks, until Sept. 29.

Source Article from https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/investigations/frustration-with-power-outages-grows-as-entergy-promises-more-restorations-soon/289-499afb38-f87d-4fd8-a1a4-6fb75fd2cd56

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Biden promised ISIS-K will ‘pay.’ Having no US troops in Afghanistan makes that harder – CNN
Biden promised ISIS-K will ‘pay.’ Having no US troops in Afghanistan makes that harder – CNN

By Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bo Williams and Zachary Cohen, CNN

Updated 12:04 AM ET, Sun September 5, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/05/politics/afghanistan-counterterrorism-challenges/index.html

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Seven Louisiana nursing homes ordered closed for evacuating patients to warehouse before Hurricane Ida – NBC News
Seven Louisiana nursing homes ordered closed for evacuating patients to warehouse before Hurricane Ida – NBC News
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South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh shot months after wife and son were killed in unsolved case – Fox News
South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh shot months after wife and son were killed in unsolved case – Fox News
Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for September 4

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, whose son and wife were murdered in a double shooting in June, has been shot, according to authorities.

A spokesperson for South Carolina’s Law Enforcement Division confirmed to Fox News that state law enforcement had been asked to investigate a shooting in Hampton County and that the victim was the 53-year-old Murdaugh, but he could not release additional details.

“I have been told he is going to be OK,” his brother, John Murdaugh, told Fox News Saturday evening as he was traveling back from out west. He said he had no further details.

Murdaugh was found on Salkehatchie Road in Hampton County Saturday afternoon, his lawyer, Jim Griffin, told the Charlotte Observer.

He told the Island Packet that Murdaugh had been driving to Charleston when car trouble stopped his journey. 

MURDAUGH DOUBLE MURDERS: PROSECUTOR RECUSES HIMSELF FROM CASE

Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, 22 and 52, were found shot to death on a family property in Islandton on June 7. The homicide case remains unsolved.

It was Alex Murdaugh who discovered the bodies, and in gut-wrenching 911 calls pleaded for help. He came across the scene after returning from a visit to his terminally ill father, who died days later.

A family spokesperson told the local station WCBD that Alex Murdaugh was expected to survive.

“The Murdaugh family has suffered through more than any one family could ever imagine,” they told the station. “We expect Alex to recover and ask for your privacy while he recovers.”

MURDAUGH DOUBLE MURDERS: SOUTH CAROLINA INVESTIGATORS RELEASE HARROWING 911 CALLS

The area’s top prosecutor, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, recused himself from the double homicide case in an Aug. 11 letter to the state attorney general. He was a longtime friend and colleague of the Murdaugh family.

Three generations of Murdaugh men held Stone’s job before he was elected in 2006. Alex Murdaugh was still a volunteer in Stone’s office during the shootings of his wife and son.

The June murders drew national attention, and no suspects or arrests have been announced. Investigators have released few details about the incident although documents tied to related incidents from years prior have begun to emerge at a steady pace.

MURDAUGH DOUBLE MURDERS: 2019 BOAT CRASH SURVIVOR FEARED CROSSING FAMILY OF LAWYERS

Shortly after Paul and Maggie Murdaugh were killed, state investigators said they found information that led them to reopen the investigation into the suspicious 2015 death of a 19-year-old man named Stephen Smith.

And at the time of the double murder, the younger Murdaugh was awaiting trial in connection with a deadly 2019 boat crash near Parris Island that killed 19-year-old passenger Mallory Beach and injured others.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

That case has raised questions about the family’s ties to local law enforcement and a state investigation and civil litigation regarding whether there had been undue influence.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/us/south-carolina-lawyer-alex-murdaugh-shot

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Anti-Abortion Whistleblowing Site Gets New Home With Provider Known for Hosting Extremists – The Daily Beast
Anti-Abortion Whistleblowing Site Gets New Home With Provider Known for Hosting Extremists – The Daily Beast
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Kentucky governor calls special session on handling COVID-19 – ABC News
Kentucky governor calls special session on handling COVID-19 – ABC News

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear announced Saturday that he’s calling Kentucky’s Republican-led legislature into a special session to shape pandemic policies as the state struggles with a record surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The return of lawmakers to the state Capitol starts Tuesday and marks a dramatic power shift in coronavirus-related policymaking in the Bluegrass State following a landmark court ruling. Since the pandemic hit Kentucky, the governor mostly acted unilaterally in setting statewide virus policies, but the state Supreme Court shifted those decisions to the legislature.

“Now, that burden will fall in large part on the General Assembly,” Beshear said Saturday. “It will have to carry much of that weight to confront unpopular choices and to make decisions that balance many things, including the lives and the possible deaths of our citizens.”

Beshear had sole authority to call a special session and set the agenda. At a news conference Saturday, he outlined pandemic issues he wants lawmakers to consider, including policies on mask-wearing and school schedules amid growing school closures due to virus outbreaks. But GOP House and Senate supermajorities will decide what measures ultimately pass.

Beshear told reporters Saturday he’s had good conversations with top GOP lawmakers and that draft legislation was exchanged.

Republican House Speaker David Osborne said the proposals offered by lawmakers were the “culmination of 18 months of research, discussion and input from groups and individuals directly engaged in responding to this pandemic.”

“While we are not yet in agreement regarding the specific language of the legislation we will consider, we are continuing discussions and have agreed it is in the best interests of our commonwealth to move forward with the call,” Osborne said in a statement.

Lawmakers will be asked to extend the pandemic-related state of emergency until mid-January, when the legislature would be back in regular session, Beshear said. They will be asked to review his virus-related executive orders and other actions by his administration, the governor said.

On the issue of masks, the governor said his call will “ask them to determine my ability to require masking in certain situations, depending on where the pandemic goes and how bad any area is.”

Beshear ordered statewide mask mandates to confront previous virus surges and said Saturday he sees that authority as “absolutely necessary” to tackle the delta variant. Acknowledging the issue will be contentious, he suggested a more targeted approach.

“If they won’t consider providing that authority in general, my hope is that they will consider a threshold to where they will provide me that authority,” the governor said.

Beshear also asked lawmakers to provide more school scheduling flexibility as many districts have had to pause in-person learning because of virus outbreaks. Several ideas are being considered, he said, including allowing local school leaders to use a more tailored approach when shifting to remote learning, allowing them to apply it to a single school or even a classroom rather than the entire district. That idea was discussed at a recent legislative committee hearing.

Key GOP lawmakers have signaled their preference for policies favoring local decision-making over statewide mandates to combat COVID-19.

Lawmakers also will be asked to appropriate leftover federal pandemic aid to “further the fight” against the coronavirus, the governor said. The funding would support pandemic mitigation and prevention efforts, including testing and vaccine distribution.

More than 7,840 Kentuckians have died from COVID-19, include 69 deaths announced on Thursday and Friday. The delta variant has put record numbers of virus patients in Kentucky hospitals, including in intensive care units and on ventilators. The state reported Friday that nearly 90% of ICU beds statewide were occupied.

“The delta variant is spreading at a rate never seen before, impacting businesses, shuttering schools and worse causing severe illness and death,” Beshear said Saturday.

“We need as many tools as possible to fight this deadly surge in order to save lives, keep our children in school and keep our economy churning,” he added.

Various emergency measures issued by Beshear are set to expire as a result of the court decision issued two weeks ago. Lawmakers will decide whether to extend, alter or discontinue each emergency order, while putting their own stamp on the state’s response to COVID-19.

Throughout the pandemic, Republican lawmakers watched from the sidelines as Beshear waged an aggressive response that included statewide mask mandates and strict limits on gatherings. Republicans criticized the governor for what they viewed as overly broad and stringent restrictions, most of which were lifted in June.

The state Supreme Court recently shifted those virus-related decisions to the legislature. The court cleared the way for new laws to limit the governor’s emergency powers, which he used to impose virus restrictions. The justices said a lower court wrongly blocked the GOP-backed measures.

Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/kentucky-governor-calls-special-session-handling-covid-19-79836340

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Warren joins Newsom in LA, urging California to reject recall – Los Angeles Times
Warren joins Newsom in LA, urging California to reject recall – Los Angeles Times

Sen. Elizabeth Warren stood side-by-side with Gov. Gavin Newsom in Culver City on Saturday and urged California voters to reject the effort to recall him from office, calling the top Republican candidate hoping to replace Newsom “California’s own Donald Trump.”

Warren warned that replacing Newsom could put California on a path toward becoming more like Texas, where Republican political leaders have instituted a strict new abortion ban, or Florida, where the Republican governor has tried to bar school mask mandates.

“Governors matter,” Warren (D-Mass.) said at the Newsom campaign rally at Culver City High School. “Just consider this week what we’ve seen in Texas: a state legislature and Republican governor who are willing to set vigilantes loose to prey on vulnerable women who want to make their own decisions about their bodies.”

With his political survival in peril, Newsom is leaning on an anti-recall campaign that relies heavily on multimillion-dollar spending on mostly negative ads along with support from Warren and other big-name Democrats, hoping it’s enough to persuade California’s left-leaning voter majority to cast ballots in what could be a tight, low-turnout election.

The Massachusetts senator has also been featured in a campaign ad for Newsom, denouncing the recall as a power grab by “Trump Republicans.” Her appearance is the first of several events planned with national Democrats who will descend on California before the Sept. 14 recall election — with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also scheduled to join the fight.

On Sunday, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is slated to appear with Newsom at a rally in Santa Ana. Californians have also been peppered with television and social media ads featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a favorite of liberal voters and winner of the state’s presidential primary in 2020, who says the last thing the country needs is a “right-wing Republican governor in California.”

The Newsom campaign’s one-two weekend punch of Warren and Klobuchar, both former presidential candidates, is a move that is likely meant to appeal to a broad spectrum of the Democratic Party — Warren with the most left-leaning voters and Klobuchar, a former prosecutor from the Midwest, with moderates.

Showcasing the strong support of two of the nation’s most powerful women in Congress also sends a signal to female voters, with whom Newsom enjoys strong voter support. Warren on Saturday did not hesitate to condemn Republican Larry Elder, the leading candidate trying to replace Newsom, for discriminatory comments he’s made about women and his opposition to abortion rights.

“It comes down to you, California. Voting yes in this recall election means installing Larry Elder as governor,” Warren told the crowd. “Voting yes means installing one more Republican governor to undercut women, one more Republican governor to put our children at risk, one more Republican governor to grease the skids for the fossil fuel industry to destroy our planet.”

Alicia Coulter of Lakewood, whose company Advantage Health Now is performing outreach to Black residents in Los Angeles County about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines, was among the hundreds of Newsom supporters who came to see Warren and the governor Saturday.

“We understand who Larry Elder is. He does not represent the Black community. He represents himself, and he represents Trump,” Coulter said. “If we vote for Elder, we will become Texas, and that’s scaring people.”

Meanwhile, at a campaign stop in Orange County on Saturday morning, Elder was taking swings at Newsom as well.

During his roughly 15-minute speech, Elder pummeled the governor for his November dinner at Napa Valley’s French Laundry restaurant while shutdowns battered the state and the fact that Newsom’s children attended in-person school while many of the state’s public schools were still relegated to Zoom classes. Elder sharply criticized Newsom’s housing, economic, environmental and criminal justice policies and record.

“He does not deserve another day, let anyone another term,” he said.

About a hundred people gathered on folding chairs and picnic tables outside the Asian Garden Mall in the heart of Orange County’s Little Saigon neighborhood for the event, which was geared toward the Asian community. Many attendees shaded their heads or fanned themselves with Elder bumper stickers and yard signs in the stifling late-summer heat.

“It’s perfect. It’s beautiful,” Elder supporter Estrella Harrington said of Elder’s speech after the event, saying the longtime talk radio host had addressed “all the things that we all have concerns about.”

With election day fast approaching and ballots already mailed to every registered voter in the state, Newsom is banking on the assistance of Washington Democrats to energize members of his liberal base who may be indifferent or unaware of the election.

Warren’s appearance aligns with the Newsom campaign’s strategy to nationalize the recall by conveying the effect it may have in Washington and nationwide.

California

California women show decisive support for Newsom, concerns about Elder, as recall looms

A nonpartisan poll finds that 62% of likely women voters approve of California Gov. Gavin Newsom while only 43% of men do.

Newsom has accused organizers of the recall campaign, and all the Republicans trying to replacement him, of being surrogates for Trump and promoting the former president’s false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

“This, in many ways, has become nationalized because the Republican Party understands the opportunity here,” Newsom told reporters after the event Saturday. “It’s an extension of the big lie and everything else they’re doing on voter suppression.”

Throughout the week, Newsom warned that the Biden administration’s agenda and the Democrats’ control of Congress would all be endangered if voters remove him from office and a Republican becomes California’s next governor.

Elder, a conservative talk show host from Los Angeles, emerged as Newsom’s primary target, with the governor criticizing the Republican’s stance on abortion rights, among other issues.

“All those freedoms for women and girls, all that’s on the ballot,” Newsom told supporters during a Zoom call rally on Thursday. “He has been devout in his opposition of Roe v. Wade, just as he’s been devout in his opposition of federal funding for education, or federal funding for housing, or even his belief that FEMA as an agency should even exist.”

Newsom warned that if Elder becomes governor, he would also have the authority to appoint anti-abortion judges and fill political vacancies, including for the U.S. Senate. When Harris was sworn in as vice president this year, Newsom appointed then-Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla to take her place.

California

Larry Elder once called Donald Trump ‘almost God-sent.’ Now he’s ‘indifferent’ about a Trump endorsement

As a talk radio host, California recall candidate Larry Elder called Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 ‘divine intervention.’ Now he sounds more tepid about the former president.

“Who would have Larry Elder appointed to replace Kamala Harris? Would Chuck Schumer be majority leader or minority leader right now? What would that mean to the Biden agenda?” Newsom said during a news conference Friday in San Francisco.

Elder hasn’t shied away from saying exactly what he would do if Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who at 88 is the oldest member of the Senate, steps down or become ill. Along with questioning Feinstein’s mental health, Elder said that if a Senate vacancy opened while he was governor, he would appoint a Republican — a move that would give the GOP the Senate majority and almost certainly derail Biden’s legislative agenda.

“I’m told she’s in worse mental condition than Joe Biden,” Elder said in an interview with conservative radio host Mark Levin this week. “They’re afraid I’m going to replace her with a Republican, which I most certainly would do, and that would be an earthquake in Washington, D.C.”

In California, the governor has the authority to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate without confirmation by the Legislature. If Elder becomes the next governor, the Democratic majority in Congress will be at increased risk, Warren said.

“If Larry Elder gets the chance, he wants to take away that Democratic majority — that Democratic majority that gave us a rescue package on COVID so that there was money for our states, so that there was money for vaccines, so there’s money to reopen our schools,” Warren said.

Republican strategist David Winston said the recall has captured the attention of Washington. The result could also have a major effect in the midterm election, when the GOP hopes to recapture control of Congress, as well as in contested governor’s races in other states.

“For Democrats, that would not be a good lead in to 2022,” Winston said.

If a Republican can be elected governor of California, Winston said, that provides hope for the GOP in blue states nationwide.

Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-04/elizabeth-warren-joins-gavin-newsom-to-urge-californians-to-reject-recall

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‘Things are looking good’: hopes rise for Tahoe as Caldor fire crews make progress – The Guardian
‘Things are looking good’: hopes rise for Tahoe as Caldor fire crews make progress – The Guardian

Tens of thousands of South Lake Tahoe residents were watching hopefully as the Labor Day weekend began for a chance to return home, as firefighters made progress against a wildfire that turned the thriving resort into a California ghost town.

Lighter winds and higher humidity continue to reduce the spread of flames and crews were quick to increase efforts to burn and cut fire lines around the Caldor fire.

California has experienced increasingly larger and deadlier wildfires as climate change has made the US west much warmer and drier over the past 30 years. Scientists have said weather will continue to be more extreme and wildfires more frequent, destructive and unpredictable.

This summer, wildfires have burned at least 1,500 homes and destroyed several mountain hamlets. The Dixie fire, about 65 miles north of the Caldor fire, is the second-largest wildfire in California history at about 1,385 square miles. It is 55% contained. No deaths have been reported so far.

Around the Caldor fire, bulldozers with giant blades, crews armed with shovels and aircraft dropping hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant helped keep the flames’ advance to a couple of thousand acres – a fraction of explosive spread last month.

“The incident continues to look better and better every day,” Tim Burton, an operations chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, told firefighters at a Saturday briefing. “A large part of that is due to your hard work as well as the weather cooperating in the last week or so.”

The north-east section of the blaze was still within a few miles of South Lake Tahoe and the Nevada state line but officials said it had not made any significant advances in several days and wasn’t challenging containment lines in long sections of its perimeter.

With more than a third of the 334-square-mile fire surrounded, authorities allowed more people back to their homes on the western and northern sides of the flames. But there was no timeline for allowing the return of 22,000 South Lake Tahoe residents and others in Douglas county, Nevada evacuated days ago.

“It’s all based on fire behavior,” said Jake Cagle, a fire operations section chief. “For now, things are looking good. We’re getting close.”

Smoke from the Caldor near Lake Tahoe. Photograph: Ty O’Neil/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

The resort area can accommodate 100,000 people but it was eerily empty on the Labor Day holiday weekend. The fire dealt a major blow to an economy heavily dependent on tourism which had been starting to rebound from pandemic shutdowns.

“It’s a big hit for our local businesses and the workers who rely on a steady income to pay rent and put food on their table,” said Devin Middlebrook, mayor pro-tem of South Lake Tahoe.

Middlebrook said the city got most of its revenue to pay for police and fire services and road maintenance from hotel and sales taxes.

Fire crews still had a lot of work to do. Despite the better weather, winds could still be erratic as they hit the region’s ridges and deep canyons.

The fire began on 14 August and was named after the road where it started. It raged through forested, craggy areas and destroyed nearly 900 homes, businesses and other buildings. It was considered a threat to more than 30,000 other structures.

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/04/caldor-fire-lake-tahoe-california-nevada

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Biden blasted for ‘cheat sheet’ he used in Louisiana while surveying storm damage: ‘Weak and incompetent’ – Fox News
Biden blasted for ‘cheat sheet’ he used in Louisiana while surveying storm damage: ‘Weak and incompetent’ – Fox News
Video

Biden uses ‘cheat sheet’ at first news conference

‘Fox News Sunday’ anchor Chris Wallace on President Biden using a script for first press conference.

President Joe Biden traveled on Friday to Louisiana where he appeared to bring along a “cheat sheet” which featured names and photographs of local officials with certain talking points, according to a report detailing his visit.

Biden, who toured and spoke in the state following widespread destruction from Hurricane Ida, visited damaged areas in Reserve and LaPlace. Biden could be seen carrying the notes in his back pocket as he was met on the tarmac in New Orleans by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and John Kennedy, R-La, according to the New York Post.

LOUISIANA CONGRESS MEMBERS PRESS BIDEN, CONGRESS TO DO MORE FOR HURRICANE IDA VICTIMS

On the notes that were photographed in Biden’s back pocket, the names of Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell could be seen.

“Can Joe Biden do anything without a cheat sheet? He couldn’t give a speech on Afghanistan after 5 PM,” said Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe. “It’s abundantly clear he’s not operating on full cylinders. He should be in retirement, not leading a country. It’s time we start talking about it more. Everyone sees it.”

Kayleigh McEnany, who served as former President Trump’s press secretary, told Fox News that Trump never relied on a “cheat sheet.”

“President Trump certainly never carried a ‘cheat sheet’ with him,” McEnany said. “As any good staff would, we often provided him with a pocket card before he left the plane, but he usually just left it on Air Force 1 and definitely never relied on it to remember the names of those he was meeting on the tarmac.”

This is not the first time Biden has been seen carrying a “cheat sheet.” In March, during his first formal press conference, Biden continuously referenced notes he had brought with him that were printed on cards.

Photos taken at the event showed Biden holding a card labeled “infrastructure,” with key statistics and talking points. One bullet point noted that “China spends 3 times more on infrastructure than U.S.”

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In another photo, Biden was seen consulting a sheet that appeared to show the pictures and news outlets of journalists who attended his news conference. Some of the pictured reporters had a circled number next to their images.

“Given his track record of hiding in his basement during the presidential election, it’s not surprising that President Biden depends on cheat sheets,” Fox News contributor Deneen Borelli said about the controversy. “Biden is lost and fumbles badly without notes and the teleprompter. It’s fundamentally dangerous the U.S. has such a weak and incompetent president. The world is watching including our adversaries.

Borelli added, “Then-candidate Biden wasn’t challenged by the media and when interviewed was given softball questions. Now America knows why his handlers want him to have limited media access because he’s incapable of sensible communication.”

The use of note cards is not unprecedented at presidential news conferences. In November 2019, former President Donald Trump held a notebook with handwritten prompts during a news conference on testimony delivered at his first impeachment hearing.

Fox News’ Thomas Barabbi and David Aaro contributed to this article.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-panned-for-cheat-sheet-he-used-in-louisiana-while-surveying-storm-damage

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Taliban claims China will maintain Afghan embassy, ‘beef up’ relations – Business Insider
Taliban claims China will maintain Afghan embassy, ‘beef up’ relations – Business Insider
  • The Taliban on Friday said that China has pledged to keep its embassy in Afghanistan open.
  • Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid this week called China the country’s “most important partner.”
  • China has slammed the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan as “hurried.”

The Taliban on Friday said that China has pledged to keep its embassy in Afghanistan open and “beef up” relations in the war-torn country, which this week saw US troops depart after a nearly 20-year military presence, according to a Guardian report.

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Islamist militia, said that a senior member of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar was informed by Chinese deputy foreign minister Wu Jianghao that Beijing sought to increase humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

“The Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister said that they would maintain their embassy in Kabul, adding our relations would beef up as compared to the past,” Shaheen said. “Afghanistan can play an important role in security and development of the region.”

He added: “China will also continue and increase its humanitarian assistance especially for treatment of COVID-19.”

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid on Thursday spoke of potential Chinese investment in Afghanistan. 

“China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us, because it is ready to invest [in] and rebuild our country,” according to the South China Morning Post.

Read more: How Americans who helped prosecute the Taliban are going down a ‘black hole’ to help their Afghan interpreters

After the capital city of Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15, the Islamist militia is now tasked with shifting from an insurgency to a governing power.

China last month criticized the “hurried withdrawal” of the US from Afghanistan but said that the country would be open to communicating with the leaders in Washington to help fend off a humanitarian crisis.

According to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that “using force and military means to resolve problems will just increase them.”

He added: “The lessons of this deserve serious reflection. … The United States cannot on one hand actively seek to contain and suppress China and harm China’s legitimate rights and interests, and on the other hand hope for China’s cooperation.”

The Chinese embassy in Kabul remains open, but the country evacuated Chinese citizens from Afghanistan as conditions in the country changed several months ago.

Source Article from https://www.businessinsider.com/taliban-china-afghanistan-embassy-new-relationship-trade-2021-9

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Last holdouts in Afghanistan battle Taliban in Panjshir Valley – New York Post
Last holdouts in Afghanistan battle Taliban in Panjshir Valley – New York Post

The last holdouts are still fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan on Saturday battled Taliban forces in the Panjshir Valley, about 50 miles northeast of Kabul, according to reports.

Panjshir is the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group. The resistance has gathered thousands of fighters from regional militias and remnants of the old government’s forces to defend the region, Reuters reported.

The valley held out for a decade against the Soviet Union’s occupation in the 1980s and also the Taliban’s first rule from 1996-2001.

Rumors spread Friday that the Taliban had taken the valley, but militia forces denied they had fallen.

Former Afghan vice-president, Amrullah Saleh, one of the leaders of the opposition forces, told the BBC he is in the Panjshir Valley, and his side has not given up.

A truck with National Resistance Front markings is seen on a mountain top near Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan.
via REUTERS

“There is no doubt we are in a difficult situation. We are under invasion by the Taliban,” he said in a video clip from Friday posted to Twitter by BBC World journalist Yalda Hakim. “We have held the ground, we have resisted.

“The resistance is not going to bow to terrorism,” Saleh said.

The National Resistance Front said Taliban forces reached the border of Panjshir but were pushed back.

A resistance spokesman tweeted that the Taliban were “crushed by the forces of the National Resistance and fled.”

“They could not advance with all their might, and their casualties are high,” Front spokesman Fahim Dashti said in a tweet Saturday. “The defense of the stronghold of Afghanistan is unbreakable,” he said in another.

A Taliban source told Reuters fighting was continuing in Panjshir, with their advance slowed by landmines. “Demining and offensives are both going on at the same time,” the source said.

It was not immediately possible to get independent confirmation of events in Panjshir, the outlet noted. The region is walled off by mountains with only one narrow entrance.

The Taliban have so far not publicly claimed to have taken the valley, where resistance fighters are believed to have amassed significant stockpiles of weapons, the Guardian reported.

Source Article from https://nypost.com/2021/09/04/last-holdouts-in-afghanistan-battle-taliban-in-panjshir-valley/

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Biden to travel to New Jersey, New York next week to survey Hurricane Ida storm damage – Fox News
Biden to travel to New Jersey, New York next week to survey Hurricane Ida storm damage – Fox News
Video

Dems push Biden on spending bill following Hurricane Ida

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports from Capitol Hill, says moderates could negotiate a scaled-back bill to pass in the Senate

President Biden will travel to New Jersey and New York next week to survey the aftermath of Hurricane Ida after it caused severe flood damage on the east coast.

The president’s plan to visit Manville, New Jersey, and Queens, New York, on Tuesday comes after he surveyed damaged neighborhoods in Louisiana Friday to observe the storm’s impact there, particularly in suburbs surrounding New Orleans.

“My message today is….there’s nothing political about this,” Biden said Friday. “It’s just simply about saving lives and getting people back up and running. And we’re in this together. And so we’re not leaving any community behind rural, city, coastal.”

President Joe Biden participates in a briefing about the response to damage caused by Hurricane Ida, at the St. John Parish Emergency Operations Center, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in LaPlace, La., as Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards listens. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Category 4 storm first struck Louisiana last Sunday with sustained maximum winds of 150 mph before moving north toward the tristate area on Wednesday and Thursday with severe rain, leading the governors of New York and New Jersey to issue states of emergency.

HURRICANE LARRY HITS CATEGORY 3 IN ATLANTIC, MAY CAUSE ROUGH SURF, RIP CURRENTS ALONG EAST COAST: REPORT

In a region that had been warned about potentially deadly flash flooding but hadn’t braced for such a blow from the no-longer-hurricane, the storm killed at least 46 people from Maryland to Connecticut on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

WHITE HOUSE JUGGLING ‘MULTIPLE CRISES’ BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN, HURRICANE IDA, OFFICAL SAYS

At least 23 people died in New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said. At least 13 people were killed in New York City, police said, 11 of them in flooded basement apartments, which often serve as relatively affordable homes in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets. Suburban Westchester County reported three deaths.

President Joe Biden tours a neighborhood impacted by Hurricane Ida, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in LaPlace, La. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

More than 1,000 employees with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were deployed to Louisiana and parts of the Northeast last week, according to a Saturday press release from the agency.

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The National Guard Bureau deployed 15 high-water vehicles in New Jersey to help with search and rescue efforts, the American Red Cross set up 13 emergency shelters across New York and New Jersey, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is assisting wireless carriers in restoring power to residents impacting by the storm.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-new-jersey-new-york-hurricane-ida

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Taliban special forces bring abrupt end to women’s protest – Associated Press
Taliban special forces bring abrupt end to women’s protest – Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air Saturday, bringing an abrupt and frightening end to the latest protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers.

Also on Saturday, the chief of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, which has an outsized influence on the Taliban, made a surprise visit to Kabul.

Taliban fighters quickly captured most of Afghanistan last month and celebrated the departure of the last U.S. forces after 20 years of war. The insurgent group must now govern a war-ravaged country that is heavily reliant on international aid.

The women’s march — the second in as many days in Kabul — began peacefully. Demonstrators laid a wreath outside Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry to honor Afghan soldiers who died fighting the Taliban before marching on to the presidential palace.

“We are here to gain human rights in Afghanistan,” said 20-year-old protester Maryam Naiby. “I love my country. I will always be here.”

As the protesters’ shouts grew louder, several Taliban officials waded into the crowd to ask what they wanted to say.

Flanked by fellow demonstrators, Sudaba Kabiri, a 24-year-old university student, told her Taliban interlocutor that Islam’s Prophet gave women rights and they wanted theirs. The Taliban official promised women would be given their rights but the women, all in their early 20s, were skeptical.

As the demonstrators reached the presidential palace, a dozen Taliban special forces ran into the crowd, firing in the air and sending demonstrators fleeing. Kabiri, who spoke to The Associated Press, said they also fired tear gas.

The Taliban have promised an inclusive government and a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they last ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. But many Afghans, especially women, are deeply skeptical and fear a roll back of rights gained over the last two decades.

For much of the past two weeks, Taliban officials have been holding meetings among themselves, amid reports of differences among them emerging. Early on Saturday, neighboring Pakistan’s powerful intelligence chief Gen. Faiez Hameed made a surprise visit to Kabul. It wasn’t immediately clear what he had to say to the Taliban leadership but the Pakistani intelligence service has a strong influence on the Taliban.

The Taliban leadership had its headquarters in Pakistan and were often said to be in direct contact with the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Although Pakistan routinely denied providing the Taliban military aid, the accusation was often made by the Afghan government and Washington.

Faiez’ visit comes as the world waits to see what kind of government the Taliban will eventually announce, seeking one that is inclusive and ensures protection of women’s rights and the country’s minorities.

The Taliban have promised a broad-based government and have held talks with former president Hamid Karzai and the former government’s negotiation chief Abdullah Abdullah. But the makeup of the new government is uncertain and it was unclear whether hard-line ideologues among the Taliban will win the day — and whether the rollbacks feared by the demonstrating women will occur.

Taliban members whitewashed murals Saturday that promoted health care, warned of the dangers of HIV and even paid homage to some of Afghanistan’s iconic foreign contributors, like anthropologist Nancy Dupree, who singlehandedly chronicled Afghanistan’s rich cultural legacy. It was a worrying sign of attempts to erase reminders of the past 20 years.

The murals were replaced with slogans congratulating Afghans on their victory.

A Taliban cultural commission spokesman, Ahmadullah Muttaqi, tweeted that the murals were painted over “because they are against our values. They were spoiling the minds of the mujahedeen and instead we wrote slogans that will be useful to everyone.”

Meanwhile, the young women demonstrators said they have had to defy worried families to press ahead with their protests, even sneaking out of their homes to take their demands for equal rights to the new rulers.

Farhat Popalzai, another 24-year-old university student, said she wanted to be the voice of Afghanistan’s voiceless women, those too afraid to come out on the street.

“I am the voice of the women who are unable to speak.” she said. “They think this is a man’s country but it is not, it is a woman’s country too.”

Popalzai and her fellow demonstrators are too young to remember the Taliban rule that ended in 2001 with the U.S.-led invasion. The say their fear is based on the stories they have heard of women not being allowed to go to school and work.

Naiby, the 20-year-old, has already operated a women’s organization and is a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Paralympics. She reflected on the tens of thousands of Afghans who rushed to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport to escape Afghanistan after the Taliban overran the capital on Aug. 15.

“They were afraid,” but for her she said, the fight is in Afghanistan.

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/taliban-special-forces-1fa9a87c8fde6e7c947944212bb80241

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These companies are pushing back against the Texas abortion law – CNN
These companies are pushing back against the Texas abortion law – CNN

By Matt McFarland, CNN Business

Updated 11:44 AM ET, Sat September 4, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/04/economy/companies-against-texas-abortion-law/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29

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