Harris Accepts VP Nomination | Did Putin Poison His Rival?

1. Kamala Harris Accepts VP Nomination

Saying Donald Trump’s presidency has left Americans “adrift,” “afraid” and “alone,” the child of Jamaican and Indian immigrants became the first woman of color to accept the Democratic nomination for vice president. The first-term California senator vowed, “We can do better and deserve so much more” in her acceptance speech from presidential nominee Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. She was introduced by former President Barack Obama, who named Trump as responsible for 170,000 American deaths in the pandemic, while Trump falsely tweeted back, “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN.”

Sources: Washington Post, NYT, Politico

2. Russian Opposition Leader May Have Been Poisoned

Firebrand Alexei Navalny, 44, is in a coma in a Siberian hospital after falling ill in the middle of a flight, a spokesperson for his anti-corruption group tweeted. The top opposition figure’s plane had to make an emergency landing to get him medical attention, and his team says he was poisoned, likely via tea he was pictured on social media drinking at the Tomsk airport before his Moscow flight. While the Russian government hasn’t commented on the condition of the man they’ve imprisoned multiple times during his protests against President Vladimir Putin, other thorns in the Kremlin’s side have suffered multiple poisonings.

Sources: BBC, NYT

3. Trump Embraces Supporters of Baseless Conspiracy Theory

QAnon, an online conspiracy group that imagines a Satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals pitted against President Trump, has been tipped by the FBI as a potential domestic terror threat. But when asked about the group yesterday, Trump said he knows little other than that “they like me,” praised the movement’s members as “people who love our country” and affirmed that he’s “saving the world.” Multiple GOP congressional candidates support the theory, while party leaders have distanced themselves from the phenomenon, which has been linked to violence and racism. Meanwhile, Trump continued to hedge whether he’d peacefully accept a potential November loss.

Sources: Washington Post, CNN, NPR, CBS

4. China, US Agree to Return to Trade Negotiations

The two global superpowers signed a “phase one” trade deal in January, which paused their ongoing tit-for-tat tariffs. Now, despite heightened tensions, the Chinese commerce ministry says the two sides will meet to review the deal’s progress — like the fact that pandemic-hobbled China has bought less than a quarter of the deal’s target levels of U.S. goods for 2020. Relations between China and the U.S. have crashed this year, with Beijing infuriated by U.S. criticism of its Hong Kong rights crackdown and President Trump’s impending ban of Chinese app TikTok over allegations that it's misused data, among other disputes.

Sources: CNBC

5. Also Important …

The EU has rejected the results of Belarus’ Aug. 9 election. Michigan will reportedly agree to pay $600 million to the residents of Flint over the community’s lead-tainted drinking water. And President Trump has urged a boycott of Goodyear tires after the company asked employees not to wear MAGA hats or other campaigns’ attire while on the job.

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1. Tokyo Opens Transparent Public Toilets

They’re W.C.-through. Hoping to address public fears about the cleanliness and safety of park restrooms, the Tokyo Toilet Project has come up with colorful cubicles whose walls are translucent — until the doors are locked from the inside, and the smart glass walls cloud over to provide privacy. The stand-out bathrooms have already opened in two Tokyo parks, though users say they can’t tell from inside if the walls have actually become opaque. More innovative toilets are expected from the project in the coming months.

Sources: NPR, Sky News

2. Despite Pandemic, Apple Valuation Doubles in Two Years

That’s a very big Mac. Yesterday, Apple became the first U.S. company to see its market cap hit $2 trillion, just over two years after being the first to hit $1 trillion. It’s also passed Saudi Arabia’s state oil company as the most valuable publicly traded entity on the planet. Still, there could be storms on the horizon: With Epic Games staging a very public fight against the app store right when Congress is probing whether big tech companies like Apple are illegally using anti-competitive practices, the company could find itself on the wrong side of public opinion — or opening the doors to a wave of challenges to the business policies that have landed it on top.

Sources: CNET, CNBC, The Verge

3. Think Police Crimes Cost the Public? Try War Vets

While deployed in combat overseas, soldiers take part in gruesome acts that would be unthinkable back home. Too often, though, violent tendencies don’t stay “over there.” A new working paper found that violent crimes committed by some returning soldiers have cost American taxpayers $26.4 billion since 9/11, OZY reports, which is five times New York City’s yearly policing budget. It seems small next to $4 trillion spent on recent wars, but some hope knowing the cost will boost efforts to fund programs to address vets’ mental health and pathways to crime, like gang membership.

Source: OZY

4. Feds Shut Down ‘Tiger King’ Zoo

His kingdom has come and gone. The Oklahoma animal park immortalized by Joe Exotic and Netflix’s Tiger King will close to the public after failing a federal inspection and losing its animal exhibition license. Exotic is serving a 22-year prison sentence for plotting to murder animal rights activist Carole Baskin, while current zoo operator Jeff Lowe, posting on Facebook, blamed PETA for the closure and announced that the park will serve only as a private film set for content about the facility. It’s unclear what will happen to the animals at the park.

Sources: EW, CNN

5. Body Cam Footage Supports Raptors President

After the Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors at last year’s NBA finals, Raptors President Masai Ujiri was headed toward his team to celebrate when sheriff’s deputy Alan Strickland stopped him, demanding to see credentials. The deputy later filed suit against Ujiri, claiming he’d punched him — but Ujiri’s lawyers released body cam footage that appears to show that it’s the other way around, with no aggression from Ujiri before Strickland starts pushing him violently. Despite the video, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office says it’s sticking by Strickland’s story.

Sources: Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports