- BusinessTechCrunch
'Mulan' is coming to Disney+ on September 4, for an additional price of $29.99
While the coronavirus pandemic prompted Disney to accelerate the streaming release of some movies like Pixar's "Onward," and to send certain lower-profile movies like "Artemis Fowl" straight to Disney+, until now the company has chosen to delay its bigger releases like "Mulan" and "Black Widow." In fact, "Mulan" and Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" were expected to be the first big movies in theaters whenever they reopened.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
Bodies Strewn on the Ground After Apocalyptic Blast in Beirut
A huge explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday destroying entire blocks of high-rise buildings and leaving at least 73 people confirmed dead, more than 3,700 wounded, and scores more feared buried under rubble and ash. The country’s interior minister said early indications were that highly explosive materials, seized and stored at Beirut’s port, had detonated. Footage of the blast showed a large plume of dark red flames and smoke before a massive explosion threw up a mushroom cloud. Powerful shock waves shattered glass, collapsed ceilings and pulled down balconies—even residents on the island nation of Cyprus, 110 miles away, heard the blast.A witness on the ground who works for the United Nations, but does not speak on their behalf, was near the port when the explosion happened. She told The Daily Beast that bodies were scattered from the blast. “There was dark smoke from a fire and then a massive blast and everyone fell to the ground,” she said. “A lot of people didn’t get up.”Entire buildings collapsed, streets glistened under blankets of shattered glass, and injured residents wandered the city covered in blood. Lebanese media carried images of people trapped under rubble. Residents rushed the injured to hospital any way they could, carrying them on their shoulders, on the trunks of cars and on ash-covered pieces of debris.“What we are witnessing is a huge catastrophe,” George Kettani, head of Lebanon’s Red Cross, told local TV network Mayadeen. “There are victims and casualties everywhere.”Abbas Ibrahim, director of General Security, told Lebanese media at a press conference that Israel was not to blame for the explosion. He pointed the finger at a depot at the port where highly explosive materials were stored after being confiscated.Local media reports also indicated that the blast may have ripped through a fireworks warehouse. It was not yet clear what ignited a fire that could be seen shortly before the main explosion.CNN’s Ben Wedeman, who is based in Beirut, was in the bureau about a kilometer away before the blast. He reported on CNN that people were tweeting photos of a fire in the port about 15 minutes before a massive blast shook the building, destroying the bureau. He described a large red cloud hanging low over the city. “The city is in a state of panic,” he said on CNN. “The city is in a state of shock.”France 24 correspondent Leila Molana-Allen wrote on Twitter that her apartment was blown apart. “All the buildings in my block are destroyed. Huge explosion in Beirut. Everyone covered in glass and blood,” she wrote.Hours after the blast at 6 p.m. local time, fires were still burning in the port district. Hospitals, already buckling under the coronavirus pandemic, were overwhelmed with patients.The blast came as the city braces for the verdict in a long-awaited trial over the assassination of former Sunni prime minister Rafik al-Hariri who was killed in a truck bomb 15 years ago. The defendants, from the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, are being tried in absentia. That verdict is expected Friday. Beirut has been under siege by angry protesters demonstrating against economic strife and alleged corruption since the October Revolution kicked off in the fall of 2019. Daily demonstrations and widespread resignations have crippled the government. Before that, the city buckled under the a civil war that lasted from 1975 to 1990. Tuesday’s blast was by far the biggest explosion to hit the city since the 2006 war with Israel. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
- BusinessDeadline
Judge Judy Says She’ll Eat Contract “On National TV” If It Can Be Produced In New Suit Over CBS’ $95M Purchase Of Syndicated Series’ Library – Update
UPDATED with statement from Judy Sheindlin: Judge Judy is heading back to court, but not in the way the fans of the soon-to-end syndicated series probably assume, and it looks to partially be Les Moonves’ fault. Less than six months after CBS and Rebel Entertainment Partners settled their long-running legal battle over big bucks in missed […]
- BusinessThe Oprah Magazine
Tia Mowry Just Shared a Gorgeous Gray Hair Selfie: "This Is Me. 42"
The "Sister, Sister" star also has a new Etsy home goods collection.
- SportsNBC News
Basketball players are pushing for racial justice, but commentary can be riddled with colorism
And yet, says sports commentator Chris Broussard, “who is viewed or described as more cerebral than LeBron James?”
- PoliticsRefinery29
Is This Why Trump Doesn’t Care About The Dangers Of Schools Reopening?
Update: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an order blocking the mandate to close Montgomery County private schools, saying the decision is for schools and parents, not politicians, to make. However, the school has not yet made an independent decision.This story was originally published on Monday, August 3, 2020, at 5 p.m.President Trump’s insistence on reopening schools across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic is coming under fire once again amid reports that his 14-year-old son Barron Trump’s private school will stay safely closed. St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, the Montgomery County, MD, school where Trump’s youngest child will be enrolled as a high school freshman in the fall, will reportedly be closed through at least October 1. The school year is scheduled to begin on September 8.The decision, which affects all of Montgomery County’s private schools, was made to “protect the health and safety of Montgomery County residents as well as parents, students, teachers, and staff from the spread of COVID-19,” according to a press release from Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles. Trump has been consistently vocal about the alleged necessity of reopening U.S. schools as the 2020-2021 school year has drawn closer, going so far as to threaten to defund schools that don’t reopen in the fall. He continued to double down as recently as early Monday morning, when he tweeted, “Cases up because of BIG Testing! Much of our Country is doing very well. Open the Schools!” Many on Twitter pointed out the hypocrisy in the fact that the president’s son will be safe at home while others are being forced to return to in-person learning. (That’s when “Barron” started trending.) Barron’s school will be closed because it’s not safe, but he’s perfectly fine risking other people’s children as long as he is insulated and has daily testing. https://t.co/R7N4srza2r — Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) August 3, 2020 This is so typical of Trump: Trump votes by mail, but doesn’t think anybody else should. Trump thinks all schools should open up, but it’s appropriate that Barron’s school remains closed. — Bill Madden (@maddenifico) August 3, 2020The Trump administration has issued guidelines on reopening schools “safely and carefully,” including the utilization of teaching methods that include “flexible schedules, cohorting, and master teaching” and $70 billion of the next coronavirus relief bill to “directly support K-12 education.” But many teachers and parents have pushed back, saying they don’t feel safe about going back to work or sending their kids back to school while coronavirus cases are still spiking across the country.According to CNN, only one out of the 15 biggest school districts in the U.S. will let students return for in-person classes this fall, and at least 10 have decided to start the semester with online-only learning. Three schools have opted for hybrid models.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?A Texas Teacher On Going Back To SchoolWhat It's Like To Be A Teacher Right NowWhy Trump Is REALLY Trying To Ban TikTok
- U.S.In The Know
Cops detain beachgoer over her bikini: 'Completely ludicrous'
The woman's friend caught the whole ordeal on camera.
