TOP STORIES

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Thursday, July 9

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'THEY'LL KILL ME' Transcripts of body camera footage released Wednesday show that George Floyd said more than 20 times that he couldn't breathe during his fatal arrest May 25. Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer who has been charged in Floyd's death, tells him, "It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk." The accounts add chilling details to the encounter that set off widespread protests against police brutality and racism.  [HuffPost]

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SOLE DOJ POLICE PROBE FINDS ALARMING RESULTS The Justice Department has only investigated one police department since President Donald Trump took office. But that one probe — of the narcotics unit in Springfield, Massachusetts — found that officers “repeatedly punch individuals in the face unnecessarily” and use “excessive force without accountability.” [HuffPost]

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SUPREME COURT TO RULE TODAY ON TRUMP TAXES The Supreme Court is expected to rule Thursday on whether Congress and the Manhattan district attorney can see taxes and other financial records that Trump has fought to keep private. It's a highly anticipated, high-stakes ruling that tests Trump's claim that he can't be investigated while he holds office. [HuffPost]

• If you're only focusing on positive emotions during the pandemic, you probably need to read this.
• What parents need to know about multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
• Zendaya and John David Washington shot a secret movie during a pandemic — here's how.
• Four Florida men face charges after allegedly selling "miracle" bleach cure. 
• Ivy League schools cancel all sports until at least January.
• A look at the ethics over dining at reopened restaurants.
• Five ways to help hopelessness pass.

Get the latest coronavirus updates on our dedicated page

TRUMP RALLY 'LIKELY' CAUSED VIRUS SURGE Tulsa, Oklahoma, is experiencing a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases after several large events two weeks ago, including a Trump rally that drew thousands of people. Tulsa's health department doesn't publicly identify individual settings where people may have contracted the virus, but its director said the rally and large protests that accompanied it "likely contributed" to the surge. [AP]

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BERNIE BIDS TO BRING BIDEN LEFT Joe Biden has agreed to consider progressive policy positions offered by task forces made up of officials aligned with either Biden or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaigns. It's the culmination of months of negotiations in which Sanders and his allies have tried to push the presumptive nominee's platform to the left. [HuffPost]

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TRUMP'S BIG FLORIDA CONVENTION GAMBLE Uprooting the Republican nominating convention from North Carolina and moving it to America's highest-value swing state may have seemed like a smart move a month ago. But now coronavirus cases are surging in the Sunshine State and the move could backfire if it loses him Florida's 29 electoral votes. [HuffPost] 

WHAT'S BREWING

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'GLEE' STAR MISSING "Glee" star Naya Rivera is missing and feared drowned following a boat ride with her 4-year-old son in California. Her young son was discovered alone in the boat they had rented on Lake Piru, in the Los Padres National Forest, on Wednesday afternoon. The search for the 33-year-old actor will resume Thursday morning. [HuffPost]

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AMERICANS CONCERNED ABOUT CORONAVIRUS AGAIN Americans are worried again about the coronavirus pandemic after a drop in concerns from April to June, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds. You can explore the results of the survey here. [HuffPost]

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OMAR BUILDS PROGRESSIVE POWER The progressive movement has struggled to build infrastructure around first-time candidates. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) hopes to use her influence to bring more resources to these candidates and she's starting with an endorsement of Ihssane Leckey, a former Wall Street regulator and an immigrant Muslim woman. [HuffPost]

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PENCE SAYS CDC WILL RELAX SCHOOL GUIDELINES Vice President Mike Pence said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will relax guidelines for reopening schools amid the pandemic after Trump complained that the recommendations were too stringent. Trump has framed the continued school closures as a sign of political opposition. But reopening schools safely is complicated and expensive. [HuffPost]

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FAR-RIGHT ADOPTS ISIS TACTICS Black Lives Matter protesters nationwide have been the targets of vehicle-ramming assaults, a tactic used by Islamist extremist groups like ISIS, al Qaeda and Hamas but now adopted by the far-right. Propaganda and memes on social media encourage the violent tactics. [HuffPost]

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VERMONT SCRAPS FOOD WASTE Vermont became the first U.S. state to ban throwing food scraps in the trash, setting a precedent in waste conservation. As of July 1, Vermonters must collect their food scraps in a separate container and either compost them or have it done elsewhere. “From a climate change and greenhouse gas perspective, this is huge,” Josh Kelly of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources said. [HuffPost]

• "Far Side" cartoonist Gary Larson shares first work in 25 years.
• An oral history of the penultimate episode of "The Thick Of It." 
• The difference between France's "color-blind" ideals and reality.
• 29 short stories inspired by the moment.
• How "hatewank" videos became a tool for harassing women in the public eye.
• International students try to cope with Trump's online class rule.
• The Arctic is on fire. We should be terrified.
• Angelica Ross is Black, trans, and fearless.

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