The Hill reports: Racial and ethnic terrorism, particularly white supremacist threats, are “on the rise and spreading geographically” according to a State Department report released Wednesday. “The threat posed by racially or ethnically motivated terrorism (REMT), particularly white supremacist terrorism, remained a serious challenge for the global community,” the report reads. In 2019, the world experienced an uptick in white …

The Associated Press reports: Three members of a North Carolina police department have been fired after a department audit of a video recording captured one of the officers saying a civil war was necessary to wipe Black people off the map and that he was ready. The Wilmington Police Department took the action on Tuesday against Cpl. Jessie Moore, and …

Business Insider reports: US weekly jobless claims totaled 1.5 million in the week that ended Saturday, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That slightly exceeded the consensus economist estimate of 1.3 million, according to Bloomberg data. In just a few months, total layoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic surpassed the roughly 37 million Americans who filed for benefits during the …

Oregon Live reports: A judge Wednesday sentenced double murderer Jeremy Christian to spend the rest of his life in prison — with no chance of ever getting out — for the murders of two fellow passengers on a MAX train in May 2017. The judge also sentenced Christian to more than 25 additional years for other crimes. Among them were …

Bloomberg News reports: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange conspired with hackers affiliated with the “Anonymous” and “LulzSec” groups, which have been linked to numerous cyber attacks around the world, according to new indictment by the U.S. Justice Department. Assange, who’s detained in the U.K. on a U.S. extradition request, gave the leader of LulzSec a list of targets to hack in …

Politico reports: Democrats have opened up a 302,000-voter advantage over Republicans in vote-by-mail enrollment, an edge that could pay big dividends in President Donald Trump’s newly adopted must-win state. Five months before Election Day, more than 1.46 million Democrats have signed up to vote by mail compared to 1.16 million Republicans, according to an analysis of state Division of Election …

The Christian Post reports: “We understand there is recent confusion around the claims made by one of our customers around our laboratory testing. We’re at the forefront of air and surface purification testing and technology — we tested with a third-party Certified Biosafety Laboratory on the best coronavirus surrogates available (Coronavirus 229E and Cystovirus Phi6) and found our patented technology …

NPR reports: The Trump administration is defending plans to close 13 federally run coronavirus testing sites in five states at the end of the month. The testing sites are located in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas. They are the last of 41 federally operated testing sites. Federal officials say the sites have been closing or transferring to state …

The Atlantic reports: Carly Fiorina was a Republican candidate for president just four years ago, and was briefly Ted Cruz’s prospective running mate. Trump needs to go, she says—and that means she’s voting for Biden. Fiorina is not going to keep quiet, write in another candidate, or vote third-party. “I’ve been very clear that I can’t support Donald Trump,” she …

Axios reports: The National Institutes of Health may own intellectual property that undergirds a leading coronavirus vaccine being developed by Moderna, according to documents obtained by Axios and an analysis from Public Citizen. Because the federal government has an actual stake in this vaccine, it could try to make the vaccine a free or low-cost public good with wide distribution, …

Los Angeles’s ABC News affiliate reports: Disney on Wednesday announced it is postponing next month’s phased reopening of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. The Anaheim theme parks, which have been closed since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, had planned to welcome back visitors on July 17, with enhanced health and safety measures in place. However, the company decided to …

The Washington Post reports: Dozens of Secret Service officers and agents who were on site for President Trump’s rally in Tulsa last week were ordered to self-quarantine after two of their colleagues tested positive for the novel coronavirus, part of the fallout from Trump’s insistence on holding the mass gathering over the objections of public health officials. The Secret Service …

The New York Times reports: President Trump has lost significant ground in the six battleground states that clinched his Electoral College victory in 2016, according to New York Times/Siena College surveys, with Joseph R. Biden Jr. opening double-digit leads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Mr. Trump’s once-commanding advantage among white voters has nearly vanished, a development that would all but …

Billboard Magazine reports: Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie has joined the list of artists asking Donald Trump to stop playing their music at his rallies, requesting that “High Hopes” be removed from the President’s playlist. Urie posted his plea on Twitter, addressing a note to the Trump campaign after “High Hopes” was reportedly blasted at the half-empty arena …

The Associated Press reports: A quarantine imposed on travelers arriving to Hawaii discriminates against out-of-state residents, the U.S. Department of Justice said in support of a lawsuit challenging the mandate meant to protect the islands against the spread of the coronavirus. “This case raises issues of national public importance regarding the interplay between the government’s compelling interest in protecting the …

CNBC reports: The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump will not change his plan to travel to New Jersey this weekend despite a new order by the governor requiring visitors who have been in states with high numbers of coronavirus cases to quarantine for 14 days. “The president of the United States is not a civilian,” said White …

Salon reports: A Republican candidate for the U.S. House from Missouri published a 23-page report which falsely claims to show that George Floyd’s killing was a “deepfake” hoax. Winnie Heartstrong, who reportedly has a good chance of winning the Republican Party’s nomination in August to challenge incumbent Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., has repeatedly claimed on Twitter that Floyd’s death in …

The Fresno Bee reports: Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) cannot include Twitter in his lawsuit against two parody accounts and a Republican strategist he accuses of defaming him on the platform, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Twitter cannot be held legally liable for statements by the accounts and strategist Liz Mair, Judge John Marshall ruled, citing federal law. Lawyers for Twitter …

The Washington Post reports: Across the United States, more than 36,000 new infections were reported by state health departments on Wednesday — surpassing the previous single-day record of 34,203 set on April 25. Texas, Florida and California led the way, with all three states reporting more than 5,000 new cases apiece. Even as case numbers climb, reports circulated that the …

NBC News reports: Senate Majority Whip John Thune sounded the alarm Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s support among independent voters was “soft,” urging a change in strategy in light of a New York Times survey that showed the president trailing Democrat Joe Biden by double digits.The Times/Siena national poll found Biden winning 50 percent of registered voters, with Trump winning …