Thousands take to U.S. streets to protest police violence

Thousands took to the streets of U.S. cities on Friday to denounce the fatal shooting by police of two black men this week, marching the day after a gunman killed five police officers watching over a similar demonstration in Dallas. Protesters clogged roadways in New York City, Atlanta and Philadelphia, and events in San Francisco and Phoenix also drew large crowds. Six people were injured and three were arrested in Phoenix.

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  Friday's Campaign Round-Up, 7.8.16

  MSNBC
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  Dallas horror means time of testing for Clinton, Trump

  Fox News

Spanish party under fire for 'anti-semitic' Obama cartoon

The Spanish government and Jewish groups on Friday blasted a far-left party for posting an "anti-semitic" cartoon in protest against US President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the country. The criticism comes after the Madrid branch of the United Left coalition, tweeted a cartoon depicting a thick-lipped Obama hugging an Orthodox jew wearing a kippa emblazoned with the Star of David and a wad of money bills sticking out of his pocket. The caption above the cartoon reads "Invading and destroying countries to loot them," along with the hashtag #Obamagohome.

• Spain’s Socialists Won’t Back Rajoy’s Bid to Form Government

  Bloomberg
• Spain: Socialist Party Says It Won't Back Rajoy Government

  ABC News

Texas Inmates Break Out of Cell to Save Guard Who Suffered Heart Attack

A group of inmates at a Texas jail broke out of a holding cell last month to save a guard who had suffered an apparent heart attack. The guard had been joking with the inmates—who were locked in a small room in the basement of the District Courts Building in Weatherford, Texas—when he suddenly slumped over, according to local station WFAA-TV. “He just fell over,” inmate Nick Kelton said.

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  Prisoners bust out of locked Texas cell to help unconscious jailer

  Fox News
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  Parker County inmates helped save jailer’s life

  Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Inmates broke out of a cell to save the life of a dying prison guard

Officers were probably preparing for the worst when hearing an increasing amount of noise coming from one of the floors of the Parker County jail on June 23rd. The prison guard in the frame had suffered a heart attack, and at least eight prisoners broke out from a locked room to help him out, WFAA reports. "He just fell over," inmate Nick Kelton said about the guard, who minutes before was joking with them.

China crackdown on lawyers, year on, exacts toll on families

Unresolved questions have haunted Yuan Shanshan since her husband, the human rights lawyer Xie Yanyi, was taken away a year ago by the police. The Chinese government launched its largest-ever crackdown against human rights lawyers and activists on July 9, 2015, seizing and questioning hundreds of people nationwide in a campaign that sent a chill through the country's legal system.

• U.S. legislators criticize China's rights lawyer crackdown

  Reuters
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  Families of detained China lawyers 'harassed': statement

  AFP

More states sue Obama administration over transgender directive

Ten states including Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio sued the Obama administration on Friday, saying the federal government does not have the power to tell states that transgender people must be allowed to use public bathrooms that conform with their gender identity. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, takes issue with a May 13 letter sent by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education to states warning them that they could lose federal funding if they required transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex. The lawsuit says the Obama administration's move was an attempt to rewrite federal civil rights laws that do not apply to transgender people.

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  10 states just sued the federal government over Obama's transgender bathroom rules

  The Week
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  Nearly Half Of U.S. States Are Now Fighting To Discriminate Against Transgender Students

  ThinkProgress

Iraq PM sacks security chiefs as new attack kills 40

The Iraqi premier sacked three Baghdad security chiefs following a devastating bombing in the capital, his office said on Friday, hours after another attack to the north left 40 dead. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office also confirmed that he had accepted the interior minister's resignation, which was submitted following the Sunday bombing in Baghdad that killed 292 people. The Islamic State jihadist group said it carried out the latest attack -- on a Shiite shrine in the town of Balad that began Thursday evening -- as well as the Baghdad blast in Baghdad.

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  Iraq army seizes key airbase from IS south of Mosul

  AFP
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  Iraqi PM Sacks Baghdad Security Chief After Deadly Bombing

  NPR.org

Former Rep. Joe Walsh Defends ‘Watch Out Obama’ Tweet After Dallas Shooting

Walsh, a one-term Representative from Illinois, tweeted the comments Thursday night after a shooting during an anti-police brutality protest in Dallas killed five police officers. In other tweets, Walsh blamed Obama for the violence. You did this Obama,” Walsh tweeted.

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  Cornel West calls Obama response to shootings 'weak'

  The Hill
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  After Dallas shootings, ex-congressman tweets threat of war against Obama

  CNET

LeBron's Heartwarming Speech To Cavs Fans Got The Ultimate Buzzkill With These FCC Complaints

LeBron James said some curse words during a speech at the Cleveland Cavaliers championship parade celebration. The complaints against WKYC and WOIO came July 22, the same day of the parade, from a viewer in Cuyahoga Falls and another in Louisville. The players’ speeches were broadcast live without a five-second delay and the profane language broadcast over the air.

Judge sentences former Alabama House speaker ethics case

Former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard was sentenced Friday to four years in prison and another eight on probation for breaking the state ethics law — a prison term handed down as his defense lawyer continued to argue Hubbard's innocence. Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker announced the sentence after a hearing in which prosecutors called Hubbard a remorseless figure motivated by greed while defense witnesses urged mercy for the man they described as a public servant. A jury on June 10 convicted Hubbard on 12 counts of violating the state ethics law, including that he improperly solicited lobbyists and company executives for work and $150,000 in his investments in his debt-riddled printing business and used the power of his office to help his business clients.

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  Former Alabama speaker Mike Hubbard sentenced to 4 years in prison

  AL.com
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  Hubbard sentenced to 4 years in prison

  wbrc.com