Scott

(CNN) — A passenger traveling from Bali, Indonesia to Australia has found themselves paying a hefty price for a McDonald's breakfast. The unnamed traveler was handed a fine of 2,664 Australian dollars ($1,874) after two undeclared egg and beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant were found in their luggage on arriving at Darwin Airport in the country's Northern Territory last week. The incident came about days after Australian authorities brought in tough new biosecurity rules after a Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia spread to Bali, a popular destination for Australian tourists. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/passenger-fined-after-undeclared-mcmuffins-found-in-luggage/index.html

(CNN) A federal judge on Monday sentenced Guy Reffitt, who brought a gun to the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021, riot and threatened House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to more than seven years in prison, the longest insurrection-related sentence to date. Reffitt, a recruiter for a right-wing militia known as the Three Percenters, was the first Capitol rioter to go to trial rather than take a plea agreement. "Mr. Reffitt's reluctance to admit early that his behavior is illegal is concerning," District Judge Dabney Friedrich said before handing down the 87-month sentence. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/01/politics/guy-reffitt-sentencing/index.html

(CNN)US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia, according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official, despite warnings from Biden administration officials, who are worried about China's response to such a high-profile visit. The stop -- the first for a US House speaker in 25 years -- is not currently on Pelosi's public itinerary and comes at a time when US-China relations are already at a low point. The Taiwanese official added that she is expected to stay in Taiwan overnight. It is unclear when exactly Pelosi will land in Taipei. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/01/politics/nancy-pelosi-taiwan-visit/index.html

The first grain-laden cargo ship has left the Ukrainian port of Odesa since the start of the Russian invasion, signaling what is hoped will be an easing in obstacles to grain trading caused by the war. Under an agreement between Russia and Ukraine brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, a Liberian-registry freighter with 26,000 metric tons of corn left Odesa on Aug. 1, bound for Tripoli. Ukrainian pilots guided the ship through mines at the port’s mouth; the Ukrainians had refused to remove the mines, saying they were a deterrent to further Russian attacks. https://www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2022/ukraine-resumes-grain-shipments-under-agreement/ Also here: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-pounds-ukrainian-port-putin-announces-global-maritime-ambitions-2022-08-01/

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John Gibbs, who defended a notorious anti-Semitic troll banned by Twitter, got over $400,000 in ad dollars. Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who compared gun control to policies under Nazi Germany and shared an image saying Roe v. Wade was “so much” worse than the Holocaust, got more than $800,000. https://www.vox.com/23274469/democrats-extremist-republicans-mastriano-cox-bailey

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi starts a tour of four Asian countries on Sunday, her office said, without mentioning Taiwan amid intense speculation she might visit the self-ruled island claimed by China. “Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan,” her office said in a press release. The release said the visit would include those countries, but did not specify whether Pelosi, who is number 3 in the line of presidential succession, might make other stops. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/31/us-house-speaker-pelosi-begins-asia-tour-no-mention-of-taiwan.html

American actress Nichelle Nichols, best known for her role in 1960s sci-fi TV series Star Trek, has died aged 89. Ms Nichols broke barriers in her role as Lieutenant Uhura in the series, becoming one of the first black actresses in the US to play a figure in authority. She was later employed by Nasa in an effort to encourage more women and African-Americans to become astronauts. She died of natural causes on Saturday night, her son Kyle Johnson said. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-62373143

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This is from the Daily Mail about the two people so far recorded as dying from Monkeypox: It comes after a 'middle aged' man from Alicante, in the Valencia region, became the first death in Europe on Friday. He has not been identified but health authorities said he died from encephalitis associated with the disease, a serious condition which causes the brain to become swollen. It followed the death a 41-year-old male in Brazil. He had serious immune system complications and was hospitalised at the Eduardo de Menezes Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, at the time of his death Thursday. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11064419/Second-Monkeypox-death-announced-Spain.html

ZURICH, July 30 (Reuters) – Austrian leaders appealed for national unity after a doctor who faced death threats from anti-vaccination activists and coronavirus pandemic conspiracy theorists took her own life. “Let’s put an end to this intimidation and fear mongering. Hate and intolerance have no place in our Austria,” President Alexander Van der Bellen said, hailing Lisa-Maria Kellermayr as a doctor who stood for healing people, protecting them from disease and taking a cautious approach to the pandemic. “But some people have been enraged by this. And these people scared her, threatened her, first on the internet and then also in person, directly in her practice.” https://alpes-holidays.com/austria-mourns-suicide-of-doctor-targeted-by-anti-covid-vaccine-campaigners/

Ukraine's president has announced a mandatory evacuation of people in the Donetsk region, amid fierce fighting with Russia. In his nightly address, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones in the larger Donbas region also needed to leave. Mr Zelenskyy said the sooner people leave "the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill". https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-zelenskyy-orders-mandatory-evacuation-of-donetsk-region-as-fighting-intensifies-12662533

President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid again late Saturday morning in a "rebound" case after testing negative several days in a row, his doctor said in a letter. "After testing negative on Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and Friday morning, the President tested positive late Saturday morning, by antigen testing. This in fact represents 'rebound' positivity," wrote White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. Biden, 79, has not experienced any re-emergence of symptoms and continues to feel well, O'Connor said. "This being the case, there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time, but we will obviously continue close observation." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-tests-positive-covid-paxlovid-rebound-doctor-says-rcna40791

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WASHINGTON (AP) — In a startling turnabout, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin announced an expansive agreement Wednesday that had eluded them for months addressing health care and climate, raising taxes on high earners and corporations and reducing federal debt. The two Democrats said the Senate would vote on the wide-ranging measure next week, setting up President Joe Biden and Democrats for an unexpected victory in the runup to November elections in which their congressional control is in peril. A House vote would follow, perhaps later in August, with unanimous Republican opposition in both chambers seemingly certain. https://news.yahoo.com/manchin-says-health-energy-tax-211108925.html

Washington (CNN) After months of internal debate, the Biden administration has offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, as part of a potential deal to secure the release of two Americans held by Russia, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, according to people briefed on the matter. These sources told CNN that the plan to trade Bout for Whelan and Griner received the backing of President Joe Biden after being under discussion since earlier this year. Biden's support for the swap overrides opposition from the Department of Justice, which is generally against prisoner trades. "We communicated a substantial offer that we believe could be successful based on a history of conversations with the Russians," a senior administration official told CNN Wednesday. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/politics/griner-whelan-biden-offer-viktor-bout-exchange-russia-arms-dealer/index.html

Russia says it will quit the International Space Station after 2024 CNN)Russia says it is planning to pull out of the International Space Station and end its decades-long partnership with NASA at the orbiting outpost, according to the newly appointed head of Russia's space agency. Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov told Russian President Vladimir Putin that "the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made." "You know that we are working within the framework of international cooperation at the International Space Station. Undoubtedly, we will fulfil all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made," Borisov told Putin in the Kremlin-issued readout. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/world/russia-quit-iss-scn/index.html

Pope Francis visiting Canada to apologize for Indigenous abuse in Catholic residential schools By Rob Picheta, Livia Borghese and Cecilia Armstrong, CNN Pope Francis will meet with Indigenous leaders during the trip. (CNN)Pope Francis departed Rome on Sunday for a week-long trip to Edmonton, Canada, where he's set to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in the abuse of Canadian Indigenous children in residential schools. The Vatican has called the trip a "penitential pilgrimage," and the Pope will be welcomed in Edmonton on Sunday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada. While in the country he will meet with Indigenous groups and address the scandal of abuse and erasure of indigenous culture in the country's residential schools. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/24/americas/pope-francis-canada-visit-intl/index.html

Trump Booed at Arizona Rally Over His New Endorsement Donald Trump faced blowback over one of his recent endorsements at his Friday evening rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona. “And a highly respected man, just endorsed by me today. Future congressman for the 2nd district Eli Crane,” Trump said before boos rang out from the crowd. The ex-president responded to the booing by apparently seeking some self-validation: “But you like me?” he asked. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-booed-at-arizona-rally-over-new-congressional-endorsement-eli-crane

Trump did nothing to stop his supporters as they attacked Congress, threatened Pence, witnesses tell Jan. 6 committee The Jan. 6 select committee’s latest public hearing went inside the White House to detail then-President Donald Trump’s hours long refusal to call for an end to the Capitol riot. The hearing marks the final scheduled presentation of the committee’s initial findings from its investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection until September. The nine-member committee, which is comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans, has accused Trump of being at the center of a multi-pronged conspiracy to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 contest. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/21/jan-6-committee-hearing-live-coverage-and-latest-updates-day-8.html

By raft and on foot, migrants cross Rio Grande from Mexico to Texas EAGLE PASS, Texas, July 19 (Reuters) - Beneath a blazing sun, a record number of migrants seeking to enter the United States are crossing the Mexican border. Some wade or swim through the waters of the Rio Grande into Texas. Smugglers ferry groups of others on rafts. U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, promised a more humane border policy than that of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, but the increase in numbers has challenged U.S. law enforcement and drawn criticism from both political parties. The U.S. Border Patrol made more than 1.6 million arrests through June in the fiscal year that started on Oct. 1, on pace to exceed the 1.7 million arrests during all of the last fiscal year, U.S. government data shows. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/by-raft-foot-migrants-cross-rio-grande-mexico-texas-2022-07-19/

Half of GOP Voters Ready to Leave Trump Behind, Poll Find Michael C. Bender Tue, July 12, 2022 at 4:37 AM Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska, July 9, 2022. (Ash Adams/The New York Times) As Donald Trump weighs whether to open an unusually early White House campaign, a New York Times/Siena College poll shows that his post-presidential quest to consolidate his support within the Republican Party has instead left him weakened, with nearly half the party’s primary voters seeking someone different for president in 2024 and a significant number vowing to abandon him if he wins the nomination. By focusing on political payback inside his party instead of tending to wounds opened by his alarming attempts to cling to power after his 2020 defeat, Trump appears to have only deepened fault lines among Republicans during his yearlong revenge tour. A clear majority of primary voters younger than 35, 64%, as well as 65% of those with at least a college degree — a leading indicator of political preferences inside the donor class — told pollsters they would vote against Trump in a presidential primary. Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, appears to have contributed to the decline in his standing, including among a small but important segment of Republicans who could form the base of his opposition in a potential primary contest. https://www.yahoo.com/news/half-gop-voters-ready-leave-113731959.html