Politics

The BBC reports: An Italian journalist has been ordered to pay Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni damages of €5,000 (£4,210) over social media posts making fun of her height. A judge ruled that two tweets by Giulia Cortese, who was also handed a suspended fine of €1,200, were defamatory and amounted to “body shaming”. It followed an exchange in which Ms …

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports: New Mexico’s senior senator called on President Joe Biden on Friday to drop out of the presidential race. “While the decision to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is in the best interests of our country for him to step aside,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement. …

Florida Politics reports: The anti-recreational pot effort now has a name: Vote No on 3. The new political committee launched this week “with the full support of the Governor,” promising “a vigorous and full-throated campaign” against the ballot measure to legalize marijuana for adults 21 years old and older. Consensus Communications, which has prevailed in 19 ballot amendment campaigns, is …

Axios reports: Hunter Biden’s legal team has requested the dismissal of cases against him in Delaware and California citing the “unconstitutional” appointment of special counsel David Weiss. Judge Aileen Cannon, the heavily scrutinized judge handling former President Trump’s federal classified documents case in Florida, dismissed Trump’s indictment Monday using the same justification as Biden’s attorneys: the unconstitutional appointment of the …

Politico reports: Ever since Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was passed over to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate, people at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee have been gossiping about what his future might hold. For many, especially from Florida, the idea that he’d make a strong candidate for secretary of State in a future Trump administration is treated …

Miami’s CBS affiliate reports: After Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill that would severely limit and regulate their industry, hemp executives across the state pledged $5 million in donations to the Republican Party of Florida, according to WhatsApp messages reviewed by CBS News Miami. “We know nothing in life is free and neither was this veto,” explained an introductory post …

“I’ve been very outspoken, in terms of the people on that stage — I’ve probably said this ten times now — the people on that stage love him. They would take a bullet for him. And they demonstrated that. “One of the females on the stage, she’s with me for three years. I know every thing about her. She would …

The Hill reports: Four Senate Democrats in tough races said Tuesday that Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) should resign or face a vote of expulsion from the Senate after a New York jury found him guilty on 16 counts of bribery, extortion, fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent. Their statements will ratchet up pressure on Senate Majority …

CNN reports: US authorities obtained intelligence from a human source in recent weeks on a plot by Iran to try to assassinate Donald Trump, a development that led to the Secret Service increasing security around the former president in recent weeks, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN. There’s no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who …

The Hill reports: Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) sharply criticized former President Trump’s choice of running mate in Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), taking aim specifically at the first-term senator’s past opposition to aiding Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion. “They are celebrating that choice, both in Milwaukee tonight and in Moscow,” Kinzinger said Monday in an interview on “The …

News From The States reports: Nebraskans might need a new source for online smut, as Pornhub and its affiliates went dark Monday, a decision the website’s parent company promised after passage of a new state law. That law, Legislative Bill 1092, requires online porn companies to verify users’ ages. On Monday, adults in Nebraska who tried to access any of …

ABC News reports: Nearly $1.5 million will go to the Arizona Democratic Party, nearly $1 million will go to the Georgia Democratic Party, nearly $2 million will go to the Michigan Democratic Party, over $1.2 will go to the North Carolina Democratic Party, over $2 million will go to the Nevada Democratic Party, nearly $2 million will go to the …

Bloomberg News reports: Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who shot and injured former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, briefly appeared in an advertisement for BlackRock Inc., the company said on Sunday. Crooks was one of several students who appeared in the background of the 2022 ad and was unpaid, BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, said in …

Politico Europe reports: European Union foreign affairs ministers are set to snub Hungary by organizing their own foreign affairs summit in August instead of traveling to Budapest for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s event. Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, plans to host a foreign affairs summit in Budapest on August 28-29 — a prime …

The Daily Beast reports: We downloaded the full text of Melania Trump’s statement into ChatGPT 4.0 and asked the program to assess the likelihood that the words were generated by AI. Here is ChatGPT’s response:  Repetitive and Redundant Phrases: Phrases like “I am thinking of you, my fellow Americans,” are repeated, which can sometimes be a characteristic of language models …

The New York Post reports: A grateful and at times defiant Donald Trump told The Post Sunday he’s “supposed to be dead” as he recalled the harrowing moment a would-be assassin shot him at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. The former president shared the “very surreal experience” that nearly ended his life during an interview aboard his private plane en route …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Max R. Smith recalled taking an American history course with Crooks as a sophomore. He did recall Crooks making political statements — but they shed no light on his actions Saturday. “He definitely was conservative,” he said. “It makes me wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on the conservative candidate.” Smith recalled a …

NBC News reports: Speakers at the Republican National Convention have been given specific advice about how to handle their speeches in the wake of Saturday’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump: Change nothing. Trump aides and convention leadership have not told those speaking at the weeklong convention in Milwaukee to alter their original speeches after the shooting at a Trump rally …

Axios reports: A bipartisan pair of House members said Sunday they plan to introduce a bill to enhance Secret Service protections for President Biden, former President Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “As reports continue to emerge, it’s clear that more protection is needed for all major candidates for president,” Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) …

“I am thinking of you, now, my fellow Americans. We have always been a unique union. America, the fabric of our gentle nation is tattered, but our courage and common sense must ascend and bring us back together as one. “When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the …