National

Twitter Bans David Duke

Twitter has permanently banned Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke for running afoul of the social media giant’s policies on hate speech.

The company announced on Friday that Duke “has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter rules on hateful conduct.”

Duke had been on Twitter since 2009 and frequently tweeted racist and anti-Semitic messages to his 53,000 followers. In his final tweet, the KKK leader vowed to expose the “systemic racism lie” and accused Jewish-owned media outlets of “inTikTok Tumult citement of violence against white people.” It is not clear what prompted Twitter to ban Duke for life, with the company only saying that Duke “tweeted a harmful link.” The farright activist had already been banned from YouTube in June, while Facebook deleted his account in After President Donald Trump 2018. said he would ban TikTok from oper

The move by Twitter was praised ating in the United States, Microsoft by an assortment of Jewish and civannounced its intention to possibly il rights groups, who said that the purchase the video app. white supremacist should not be givIn a blog post on en a platform to spread hate speech. Sunday, Microsoft said its CEO

“For over ten years, Duke used Satya Nadella has talked with Twitter as a megaphone to spread Trump about buying the app, which anti-Semitic conspiracy theories is owned by Chinese start-up ByteDand Holocaust denial,” said the ance. American Jewish Community. “Such “[Microsoft] is committed to hate is unacceptable.” acquiring TikTok subject to a com

A native of Louisiana, Duke was plete security review and providpreviously a card-carrying neo-Naing proper economic benefits to the zi before leaving the movement in United States, including the United order to head the Ku Klux Klan. He States Treasury,” the company said, "Advanced technology that enables safe access to all later founded the “National Associadding that it will “move quickly” to the sites and applications that you want. Choose from ation for the Advancement of White talk with ByteDance “in a matter of 3 levels of protection as well as many other People” and was elected to Louisi customizations." weeks.” ana’s state legislature in 1989. “During this process, Microsoft

looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President,” the company added.

TikTok is the fastest growing video app in the world and has more than 80 million users in the U.S., the majority between the ages of 12 and 24. Users commonly use the platform to record 15-second videos that usually involve lip-synching to songs and movie clips.

However, its explosive growth has raised concerns that it could be used by China to spy on the U.S. as part of Beijing’s well-documented history of utilizing commercial apps for espionage purposes. In January, the U.S. Defense Department banned the popular app from government-issued smartphones and ordered all serving military personnel to delete their accounts.

On Friday night, Trump said that he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to block TikTok from operating in the United States.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the TikTok ban is part of the Trump administration’s effort to roll back Chinese

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influence and spying operations around the world.

“Here’s what I hope that the American people will come to recognize,” Pompeo said. “These Chinese software companies doing business the United States, whether it’s TikTok or WeChat, there are countless more ... are feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party, their national security apparatus – could be their facial recognition pattern, it could be information about their residence, their phone numbers, their friends, who they’re connected to,” said Pompeo.

A deal by Microsoft would create a new structure wherein Microsoft would own and operate TikTok services in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As part of the agreement, Microsoft said it would ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users would be transferred to and remain in the United States.

TikTok had previously asserted that its U.S. user data is already stored on U.S.-based servers and backed up in Singapore, and is therefore not subject to Chinese law.

9 Marines Die in Training Accident

Nine United States marines were killed after their amphibious water vessel plunged to the ocean floor during a training exercise off the coast of southern California.

All of the deceased soldiers belonged to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is based at California’s Camp Pendleton. They had been practicing an amphibious landing near San Clemente Island last Thursday when the vessel began taking water.

Despite frantic calls for help, nearby forces were unable to reach the doomed craft in time, and it sank, taking nine of its 16-person crew with it. All of the marines had been out

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fitted in heavy gear that would have made it nearly impossible to swim, including body armor, 50-pound backpacks, and weapons.

Thousands of troops spent the next 40 hours looking for the missing soldiers, with the Pentagon deploying an extensive array of vessels for the search that included helicopters and a Navy destroyer. They were pronounced dead on Monday after officials determined that there was little chance they remained alive after four full days lost at sea.

“It is with a heavy heart that I decided to conclude the search and rescue effort,” announced Col. Christopher Bronzi. “The steadfast dedication of the Marines, sailors, and Coast Guardsmen to the persistent rescue effort was tremendous.

“Our thoughts and prayers have been and will continue to be with our Marines’ and sailor’s families,” added Bronzi. “As we turn to recovery operations, we will continue our exhaustive search for our missing Marines and Sailor.”

Those killed were identified as Pfc. Bryan J. Baltierra, 19, of Corona, California; Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranco, 21, of Montebello, California; Pfc. Evan A. Bath, 19, of Oak Creek, Wisconsin; U.S. Navy Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton, California; Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, 21, of Bend, Oregon; Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, 23, of Harris, Texas; Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood, 19, of Portland, Oregon; and Cpl. Cesar A. Villanueva, 21, of Riverside, California.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger suspended use of the branch’s 800 amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) until the cause of the disaster could be identified. Nicknamed a “water tank,” the 26-ton craft has been in service since 1972 and is supposed to float naturally. Census Ending Sooner September 30, according to an announcement by the bureau on Monday.

The bureau will also end its labor-intensive efforts to knock on the doors of households that have not filled out the survey online, by paper form, or by phone.

The shift is part of an effort to “accelerate the completion of data collection and apportionment counts” by the end of the year deadline, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a statement.

“The Census Bureau’s new plan reflects our continued commitment to conduct a complete count, provide accurate apportionment data, and protect the health and safety of the public and our workforce,” he said.

The census, which needs to take place every 10 years, determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress and how billions of dollars in federal funding is spent. Schools, roads, and other important things in your community will gain – or lose – funding over the next 10 years depending on this official population tally.

The Trump administration this spring requested Congress to extend the completion deadlines for the census by four months.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said it condemned the plan to shorten collection “in no uncertain terms” because it could lead to “missing millions in Black and immigrant communities.”

NYC Health Commish

Resigns

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In her resignation letter this week, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s health commissioner, wrote, “I leave my post today with deep disappointment,” she said, taking aim at Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Our experts are world renowned for their epidemiology, surveillance and response

work. The city would be well served by having them at the strategic center of the response, not in the background.”

Barbot’s replacement was immediately announced as Dr. Dave Chokshi, a Rhodes Scholar who served at the Louisiana Department of Health during Hurricane Katrina and was the principal health adviser to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration.

“It was time for a change – it became clear it was time for a change,” de Blasio said during a Tuesday news conference, in response to a question about Barbot’s resignation. It was “not obviously about one thing,” he added.

Barbot’s resignation comes after de Blasio stripped control of the city’s COVID-19 contact tracing program from the health department, which has historically handled tracing. The mayor instead placed the program under Health and Hospitals, the agency that runs the city’s public hospitals.

Barbot also butted heads with NYPD Police Chief Terence Monahan when he asked for more face masks for his officers in March, a ccording to the New York Post. Following the incident, which was widely reported in the media, Barbot disappeared from public view for days – at the height of the coronavirus outbreak in New York City.

Florida Teen Arrested for Twitter Hack

A 17-year-old Florida teenager has been arrested for masterminding a massive hack of a slew of prominent Twitter accounts.

The data and privacy breach occurred on July 15 and saw the compromising of accounts belonging to well-known individuals such as Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, and Elon Musk. The hack lasted for over two hours and caused the social media giant to use unprecedented measures to regain control, including locking users out of their accounts and preventing others from tweeting.

Now, authorities say that the breach was masterminded by Graham Ivan Clark, a 17-year-old Tampa native who graduated high school in June. He faces 30 felony charges for his role in the hack, including communications and organized fraud, fraudulent use of personal information, and access to a computer without authority.

Police also arrested 19-year-old UK resident Mason Sheppard and 22-year-old Nima Razeli for aiding and abetting Clark. Sheppard faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer.

Another minor was also taken into custody but was not named due to this age.

“Today’s arrests represent just the first step for law enforcement,” said FBI San Francisco Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani. “Our investigation will continue to identify anyone else who may have been involved in these crimes.”

Twitter said in a statement that it thanked “the swift actions of law enforcement in this investigation and will continue to cooperate as the case progresses.”

During the breach, the three took over a slew of widely-followed accounts and promised that anyone sending Bitcoin to a link they shared would receive double in return. The trio racked up $117, 457 from 400 ransoms. Fatal Plane Crash in Alaska

An Alaska state legislator and seven others were killed in a deadly midair collision about 150 miles away from Anchorage this week. 67-year-old Republican Gary Knopp had been piloting his jet alone when he collided with an airplane that was taking four South Carolina residents sightseeing. All six people aboard the airplane were killed, with one survivor passing away on the way to the hospital.

Knoop was remembered by his colleagues as a rugged outdoorsman who loved fishing and enjoyed everything Alaska had to offer.

“I’m devastated and shocked to learn of the crash that claimed Gary Knopp’s life,” said Alaska’s House Speaker Bryce Edgmon. “Gary was a one-of-a-kind leader and a true Alaskan who worked tirelessly for his district in the Legislature. He will be missed by many.”

Originally born in Montana, Knoop moved to Alaska in 1979 and was elected to represent House District 30 in 2016.

The other victims were named as Gregory Bell, 57; David Rogers, 40; Caleb Hulsey, 26; Heather Hulsey, 25; Mackay Hulsey, 24; and Kirstin Wright, 23.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered all flags be lowered to halfmast for three days in mourning.

NYC Shootings Surpass 2019

Numbers

New York City now has had more people shot this year so far than in all of 2019.

According to the NYPD, 777 people have been shot since January so far, surpassing 2019’s entire total of 776. The dubious milestone was reached on Saturday after a man was gunned down during a firefight between rival drug gangs in Mott Haven.

In addition, shootings in July in New York City jumped to 244 from 88 in 2019, a 177 percent increase. Murders are also on the rise, with an unprecedented 54 people killed in July. The upsurge is only part of the crime wave hitting New York City that many call the worst in over three decades.

Break-ins also rose 31%, while car-jackings climbed by 53% with