Most of the coronavirus tests the U.S. does are worthless. But there's a solution that could actually work — and stop the spread.

To stop its raging coronavirus outbreak, which is currently spreading at a rate of about 60,000 new cases per day, the United States can do one of two things. The good news is that there might be a simple solution: new tests that prioritize speed over sensitivity.

Marijuana sent him to prison for decades. Now he has COVID-19 and is seeking release.

As an elderly Michigan inmate's bid for early release amid the coronavirus pandemic continues, garnering support from everyone from a local prosecutor to a reality star, his situation is becoming more dire. Michael Thompson, a 69-year-old former Flint resident, is serving a 40- to 60-year sentence for selling marijuana to an informant in 1994. Thompson, who lost his parents and son while incarcerated, isn't eligible for release until 2038.

Woman confronting vandals covered in paint during renewed Portland protests

Protesters in Portland allegedly threw white paint over a woman, as demonstrators clashed with police for a third consecutive day. On Friday, following two days of protests marred by vandalism, more than 200 people clashed with police, as two other Black Lives Matter protests marched peacefully through the city. As the peaceful demonstrations took place, a separate group gathered at a park in east Portland and marched to the local precinct.

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  Protesters rally in Portland as mayor decries violence

  AOL Associated Press
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  Portland's Black police chief says violent protesters have 'taken away from' the Black Lives Matter movement

  INSIDER

The Russian owner who abandoned the ship full of ammonium nitrate that caused the Beirut explosion has been questioned by police in Cyprus, reports say

Hasenpusch/picture alliance via Getty Images/Business Insider Igor Grechushkin, the Russian owner of the ship that carried a huge cargo of explosives to Beirut, which exploded years later, was questioned by Cypriot police on Thursday, reports say. Grechushkin abandoned the MV Rhosus and its cargo of 2,750 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate in 2014. Lebanese authorities impounded the cargo until Tuesday's catastrophic explosion.

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  Amal and George Clooney Donate $100,000 to Lebanese Relief Charities After Beirut Explosion

  Variety
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  Donald Trump says Beirut explosion 'may have been accident or attack'

  The Telegraph

GOP appeals after Judge dismisses lawsuit over House's proxy voting system established due to COVID-19

WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Thursday tossed out a Republican-led lawsuit aiming to halt an unprecedented proxy voting system established by the House of Representatives due to the coronavirus pandemic, ruling that the House was immune from such a legal challenge. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in the District of Columbia by nearly two dozen House Republicans – led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. in May, argued the proxy voting rules violated the U.S. Constitution because under the Constitution, a majority of lawmakers must be present to take up business and vote on legislation.

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  Don McGahn: Democrats can subpoena Trump's former White House counsel, court rules

  The Independent
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  Court rules House can enforce McGahn subpoena, but law professors say Trump's stalling already did its job

  The Week

There are more problems with onions. Another brand pulls products at Walmart and Kroger

A nationwide onion recall has grown to include products from Taylor Farms Texas, a Dallas company that is voluntarily recalling products containing onions from its supplier. An onion recall was initiated by Thomson International last week. These onion products are sold at Walmart and Kroger groceries in 11 states: Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.

Fox News Host Sandra Smith Grills Kellyanne Conway on Trump’s COVID ‘Misinformation’

On Wednesday, Facebook finally took the long overdue step of removing a piece of Trump campaign content from its platform that pushed misinformation about COVID-19. The claim in question came during the president's appearance on Fox & Friends that morning, where he falsely stated, “If you look at children, children are almost—and I would almost say definitely—but almost immune from this disease.” “Of course there is a debate happening about whether Facebook and Twitter should be arbiters of truth and decide what is fact and fiction,” Fox host Sandra Smith began, before sharing the actual facts about confirmed coronavirus cases in children.

Oklahoma won't require masks in schools, so a teacher who's a 72-year-old cancer survivor is offering students extra credit to wear them

Octavio Jones/Getty Images A teacher in Oklahoma plans to offer extra credit to encourage students to wear masks, NBC News reported. The teacher, who is a 72-year-old prostate cancer survivor, told NBC News that he will wear a plastic face shield in addition to a face mask while teaching in class. In July, Oklahoma's State Board of Education voted against mask mandates in schools, making it a 'recommendation' but not a requirement.

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  This Dad's Brilliant Hack For Teaching Kids to Wear Face Masks Is Beyond Easy

  PopSugar
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  Autoblog officially has washable face masks in our merch store

  Autoblog

Georgia DA who charged officers faces tough primary runoff

Against the backdrop of protests over racial injustice and police brutality and with allegations of misconduct emboldening challengers, the top prosecutor in Georgia's most populous county is fighting to keep his job. After two decades of running unopposed, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard placed second in the June Democratic primary and faces a tough runoff election Tuesday. The extended primary contest has unfolded as Atlanta rocked with protests sparked by the killing of an African American, George Floyd, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

After Elon Musk criticized Bernie Sanders' brand of socialism, Sanders took him to task for taking billions of dollars in government support

Andy Clayton King/AP Photo Bernie Sanders and Elon Musk got into a tiny tussle on Twitter Friday over "socialism." Sanders on Thursday introduced a bill that would place a 60% tax on the wealth gained during the coronavirus crisis by billionaires including Musk and use the money raised to pay all American's out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for a year. In response to an article about the bill, Musk tweeted out a meme that essentially criticized Sanders for spending other people's money to fund "free government programs."

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  Sen. Sanders’ proposed tax bill could cost Jeff Bezos $43 billion, Elon Musk $28 billion

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Bernie Sanders introduces bill to tax 60% of millionaires' earnings during pandemic to pay medical costs

  The Independent

New York is moving homeless people into luxury hotels to protect them against coronavirus and wealthy neighbourhoods aren't happy

But in recent days, residents of some wealthier areas of New York where some of the hotels are located have complained about what they describe as anti-social behaviour and drug use by homeless people in their neighbourhoods. In the Upper West Side, where the median house price is more than $1.8m, some residents have started a Facebook group to express their displeasure over the use of three high-end hotels in the area. Our community is terrified, angry and frightened,” one member of the 'Upper West Siders For Safer Streets' group told the New York Post.

Biden says Harris is 'very much in contention' to be his running mate

Joe Biden said Sen. Kamala Harris is “very much in contention” to be his running mate on the 2020 Democratic ticket, clarifying that he doesn't hold a grudge against the California lawmaker for attacking him in an early primary debate. The presumptive Democratic nominee's conciliatory tone toward Harris comes after senior members of Biden's vetting team had thrown cold water on her vice presidential bid in the final stretch of Biden's search. In late July, POLITICO reported that former Sen. Chris Dodd, who is part of Biden's vice presidential search committee, told a longtime Biden supporter that Harris had “no remorse” when asked about her confrontation with Biden at the first Democratic primary debate.

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  AP sources: Whitmer met with Biden as he nears VP decision

  Associated Press
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  Joe Biden can only pick one running mate. Here's where other contenders could end up in his administration

  LA Times

UN set for showdown over US Iran arms embargo push

The UN Security Council is set next week to roundly reject a US resolution to extend an Iranian arms embargo, diplomats say, setting up a lengthy showdown with repercussions for the Iran nuclear deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday that the United States would put forward its long-awaited resolution despite ardent opposition from Russia and China. But UN diplomats say opposition to the resolution's current form is so widespread that Washington is unlikely even to secure the nine votes required to force Moscow and Beijing to wield their vetoes.

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  How the U.S. Will Try to Extend the Arms Embargo on Iran

  Bloomberg
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  U.S. Iran envoy Brian Hook stepping down as key U.N. arms embargo vote looms

  Reuters

A Sampling of Work From Mexico City’s Top Talents 

A look at some of the design coming out of the cultural capital Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

Take a look inside the ‘most sophisticated’ smuggling tunnel found on US-Mexico border

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found a smuggling tunnel along the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday that was described as the “most sophisticated tunnel in U.S. history.” On July 27, Yuma Sector Border Patrol started drilling near the sinkhole. “Homeland Security Investigations and our esteemed law enforcement partners swiftly and effectively worked together to uncover and dismantle a cross-border tunnel for smuggling purposes into the United States,” Scott Brown, special agent in charge of HSI Phoenix, said in the release.

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  U.S. official says tunnel at Mexico border appears to be 'most sophisticated'

  Yahoo News Video
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  U.S. agents find 'sophisticated' tunnel at Mexico border

  Reuters Videos

Decades after they last saw each other, homecoming king and queen reunited by chance on a dating app

When Janet Fenner and Gregory Dabice last stood together at the 50-yard-line in Montclair State University's football stadium, it was 1992 and they were being crowned homecoming king and queen, complete with plastic scepter and tiara. Where the student body had stood cheering wildly, the couple's combined seven children and guests sat quietly at a safe social distance, while Paul Cell, chief of university police, officiated. Rocky the Red Hawk mascot served as ring bearer, and a proclamation from university president Susan Cole was read, naming August 1 as Janet Fenner and Gregory Dabice Day.

George Floyd: US protesters charged as 'gang' face life sentence

Protesters in Utah who splashed paint on a prosecutor's office could be given life sentences after they were accused of acting as a "gang". Salt Lake City District Attorney Sim Gill, whose office was targeted by Black Lives Matter marchers issued the charges. Critics, including the city's mayor, have called the felony charges excessive.

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  Black Lives Matter protesters facing life imprisonment for smashing windows in Utah demonstration

  The Independent
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  Utah protesters face potential life sentence due to "gang" law

  CBS News

CIA analysts reportedly told the White House there's 'no evidence' the Chinese government has accessed TikTok data

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images CIA analysts told the White House that though it is possible for the Chinese government to access TikTok user data, there is "no evidence" that it has done so, per a New York Times report. However, President Trump still moved forward with an executive order Thursday night prohibiting US companies from doing business with not only TikTok's parent company ByteDance but also WeChat, a popular app for Chinese citizens. The executive order goes into effect on Sept.

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  WeChat: What is the app Trump wants to ban and how is it like TikTok?

  The Independent
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  President Trump Issues Executive Order Barring Transactions With ByteDance | THR News

  The Hollywood Reporter

How Is New York Having Crazy Parties With No COVID Surge?

Spectacular scenes of COVID-19 recklessness have emerged from New Jersey in recent weeks, alarming state leaders into implementing new restrictions to curb the tide of rising coronavirus cases and prompting plenty of snickering about the Jersey Shore. New Jersey and New York have had similar regulations, travel restrictions, and contact tracing efforts. Giant, raucous boat parties in New York are making headlines, too.

Captain astonished that his ship delivered Beirut explosive

When Boris Prokoshev, a former sea captain spending his retirement years in a Russian village, woke up and found an email saying a ship he once commanded had carried the ammonium nitrate that blew up swathes of Beirut, he was astonished. “I didn't understand anything,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday from Verkhnee Buu, 1300 kilometers (800 miles) south of Moscow. The email was from a journalist, he said, and titled with the name of the MV Rhosus, which he had captained on a voyage that he was never paid for.

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  George and Amal Clooney Pledge $100,000 For Beirut Relief: They "Hope That Others Will Help"

  POPSUGAR
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  Grief turns to fury as Beirut struggles to clean up after massive blast

  NBC News

Germany floats a new NATO spending yardstick: 10 percent

COLOGNE, Germany – German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is pushing for a new yardstick to measure Berlin's contributions to NATO, suggesting the country could shoulder 10 percent of alliance requirements. The figure is meant to reflect the share of NATO's total “planning targets,” which are tabulated periodically, a defense ministry spokesman told Defense News. Such math would be able to more accurately capture Germany's efforts across the categories “cash, capabilities and commitments” than the current defense-spending objective of 2 percent of GDP, according to the spokesman.

Mauritius facing catastrophe as oil starts leaking from a shipwreck near pristine coral reefs

The island nation of Mauritius is facing an environmental crisis after a huge container ship ran aground and started to leak oil into an area home to some of the finest coral reefs in the world. Efforts to pump oil out of the ship have failed, and now there are fears that the carrier could start to break up, leading to an even greater leak and causing catastrophic damage on the island's pristine coastline. We are in an environmental crisis situation,” said the environment minister, Kavy Ramano, The carrier MV Wakashio, which belongs to a Japanese company and flew a Panamanian-flagged, was en route from China to Brazil when it ran aground near Pointe d'Esny on the island's southeastern coast ...