Joe Biden Officially Nominated | A Teeny, Fuzzy Comeback Story

1. Democrats Officially Nominate Biden for President

On the second night of the virtual Democratic convention, a roll call featuring clips from 57 states and territories used that very remoteness to its own advantage, with people casting their states’ nominations for Joe Biden from deserts, beaches and other locations more interesting than a convention hall. Prominent Democrats and Republicans, including Bill Clinton and Cindy McCain, spoke in support of Biden’s presidential bid, emphasizing unity for the country — and more to the point, unity against President Donald Trump. Biden will officially accept the nomination Thursday from a waterfront venue in his home state of Delaware.

Sources: Reuters, Washington Post, Delaware News Journal

2. DeJoy Suspending Election-Linked Postal Changes

He’ll follow the letter of the law. After outrage over operational changes to the U.S. Postal Service — feared to be an attempt to sabotage voting by mail — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced that all such policy shifts will stop until after the Nov. 3 presidential election. What’s not clear is whether the agency will replace scrapped mailboxes or dismantled processing machinery. DeJoy, a Trump campaign megadonor with financial ties to a USPS contractor, has been called to testify before Congress, which returned from summer recess for a special session to address the postal crisis.

Sources: WSJ (sub), NYT

3. Mali’s President Resigns Amid Military Coup

Two years after his reelection, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta resigned after being detained by soldiers and taken, along with the country’s prime minister, to a military camp near Bamako. “I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power,” said the masked Keïta, who’s faced recent protests against government corruption. The military called for a civil transition of power and elections in a “reasonable time,” though it’s not clear who will lead the country in the interim. The African Union, European Union and U.S. denounced the takeover — just eight years after Mali's last military coup.

Sources: BBC, France24

4. UK Hopes Brexit Trade Deal is Near

It hinges upon whether they can keep on trucking. The British government said yesterday that it wants a post-Brexit deal with the European Union next month after ruling out extending the December deadline to begin a new trade relationship. To meet that, the EU has said a deal must be agreed upon no later than October. One major sticking point is trucking access: Britain has demanded post-Brexit EU access for its truckers that European negotiators say is too similar to rights afforded British haulers before Brexit.

Sources: FT (sub), BBC

5. Also Important …

Schoolchildren have joined mass protests in Thailand, giving the rebellion’s three-fingered salute (based on one in The Hunger Games ) at school assemblies. President Trump says he’ll posthumously pardon women’s suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony, who was fined $100 in 1872 for voting illegally. And Australia has secured doses of a promising COVID-19 vaccine for its entire population — and says they’ll be free to everyone if proven to work.

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1. Adorable Animal Rediscovered After 52 Years

Next up: the taming of the shrew. The mouse-sized Somali sengi elephant shrew, which uses its elephantine nose to vacuum up ants, was last seen in 1968 in Somalia. Until, that is, researchers set peanut butter-baited traps in Djibouti last year, taking photos and videos of a dozen of them. Turns out the mouselike animal belongs to a previously unknown genus, recently named Galegeeska, and that it’s more closely related to aardvarks and manatees than to shrews. The creature’s dry, rocky habitat is so inhospitable to humans that it’s safe for now, so scientists will investigate how its once-isolated population has dispersed.

Sources: People, The Guardian

2. Musk Triples Personal Fortune During Pandemic

Maybe he should store it in his tiny submarine. While Elon Musk benefited most, with his personal wealth increasing by 228 percent, the combined fortune of the 12 richest Americans jumped nearly 40 percent as COVID-19 raged, adding $283 billion even as U.S. household wealth saw its largest plunge since the 1950s. And after Musk’s SpaceX launched the first astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil since 2011, Musk was able to scare up $1.9 billion in new investment for the company in its largest fundraising round ever. Now it’s seeking approval from the FCC to add 4 million tiny communications satellites to its 1 million-strong network.

Sources: Forbes, BI

3. The Entrepreneur Paying Belarusian Cops to Quit

As protests against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko mount, police have quashed rallies and arrested thousands of people. But Mikita Mikado, an internet entrepreneur from Minsk who’s now based in California, is starting to weaken that iron fist — by raising money to help security forces quit, OZY reports. Officers’ contracts levy financial penalties against those who quit or get dismissed for defying orders. Mikado’s offer, backed by thousands of donors, has gotten 30 officers off the force and his group is negotiating with hundreds of others looking to opt out of oppression.

Source: OZY

4. Lawsuit Accuses Cuba Gooding Jr. of Rape

The Jerry Maguire actor had already pleaded not guilty last week to six charges of groping and sexual abuse, and more than two dozen women have made similar allegations against him. Now he’s denying a new charge — which alleges that in 2013 he lured a woman to his hotel room, put on Mumford and Sons, then blocked her from leaving and raped her twice. His lawyer predicted that the charges would be dismissed, suggesting that the still-unnamed accuser was just “looking for some glory.” She’s seeking a jury trial and damages from the 52-year-old Hollywood star.

Sources: Variety, Sky News, Daily Beast

5. Grandma Sets Cycling Record, Faces Doping Allegations

Barbara Gicquel, now 80, set a world record for her age group last year at the USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships. But world records require a drug test — and Gicquel, who took up cycling at 57, failed. The culprit was Estratest, a steroid-laced prescription she’d long taken for a lung condition. Authorities suspended her for a year and scrubbed all of her race results since 2015 — when she realized her medication contained a banned substance, but thought it was an insignificant amount. Now she’s fighting to get anti-doping rules changed for older riders as she prepares to compete again.

Source: Washington Post