“Rwanda-backed rebels killed at least 140 people in farming communities in eastern Congo in July, a human rights group said in a report Wednesday, describing the killings as ‘summary executions.’ Human Rights Watch said 141 people, predominantly Hutus, were feared dead or missing after the attacks near Virunga National Park in North Kivu province, citing local experts and witness accounts. It said the killings appeared to be part of a military campaign by the M23 group, the most prominent of more than 100 armed groups fighting for control in eastern Congo, against the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a mostly Hutu armed group.” (08/20/25)
“Their new diets bite! A bizarre, life-threatening tick-borne illness has made hundreds residents of Martha’s Vineyard allergic to red meat and dairy — turning many of them into forced vegans and ‘social pariahs’ at the height of BBQ season on the ritzy island. Skyrocketing cases of alpha-gal syndrome — a disease spread by bites from the Lone Star Tick — have ripped through the scenic summer hotspot with a total of 523 reported last year, according to the Times of London.” (08/20/25)
“Federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte accused Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud and referred her for criminal prosecution. It comes as the president seeks to clean house at the Fed and install governors more to his liking. Pulte, chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, posted on X a letter to the attorney general stating that it appears Cook ‘has falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud under the criminal statutes.’ … President Trump appears to be building a case to fire Fed governors for cause as he seeks leadership of the central bank that will cut interest rates and be more responsive to his instincts.” (08/20/25)
“The rural Kentucky judge gunned down in his own chambers last year ran a twisted sex ring in which young women were coaxed into performing sexual favors just to get out of trouble, one of the alleged victims claims. Tya Adams alleges she was among those caught up in Judge Kevin Mullins’[s] apparent sex-for-favors scheme that saw him and others in the tiny town of Whitesburg demand sex in exchange for cash, or to get offenders off the hook. Adams told NewsNation’s ‘Banfield’ that Mullins — who was shot execution-style in his Letcher County chambers, allegedly by his longtime sheriff pal Shawn Stines, last September — had warned her to keep quiet about the so-called depraved ring.” (08/20/25)
“Residents of Washington, DC are getting increasingly fed up with US President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and other federal law enforcement officials in their city. Zeteo journalist Prem Thakker reported on Tuesday that residents in Columbia Heights jeered and shouted at masked federal agents in their local Metro station who were apparently there to assist transit police in holding train fare evaders accountable. While at the station, Thakker observed agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) standing around an alleged fare evader alongside the transit police. This led Thakker to ask a police officer on the scene whether it was really the best use of HSI and FBI’s time to have them tackling petty crimes.” (08/20/25)
“Sixteen critically endangered western Santa Cruz tortoises born to some very old parents got a slow walk and the red carpet treatment Wednesday at a Philadelphia Zoo event to show off the highly prized hatchlings. Animal care specialists who have watched over the 16 since they were eggs held the animals on a pathway by the zoo’s tortoise habitat. The hatchlings are said to be eating well and growing. The pampered turtles were born in a series of hatches this year to Mommy and Abrazzo, a couple that is estimated to both be about 100 years old. Mommy arrived at the zoo in 1932, but had not produced offspring until Abrazzo was brought in nearly five years ago from Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. The 16 are her first progeny.” (08/20/25)
“Kyle Chrisley and his wife, Ashleigh, are suing Rutherford County and two sheriff deputies for $1.7 million over his aggravated assault arrest in September 2024. In court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, attorneys for the Chrisleys claim the couple were ‘terrorized in their own home’ the afternoon of Sept. 9, 2024, and then ‘punished for calling for help.’ According to the lawsuit, a ‘disgruntled mechanic, angry over a payment dispute, showed up uninvited, kicked at their doors, threatened violence, and used his car as a weapon by ramming their SUV and nearly running Kyle over in front of multiple neighbors.’ Kyle and the mechanic – who had done work on the Chrisleys’ car and was allegedly paid in full – got into a physical altercation outside their home in Tennessee over a monetary dispute.” (08/20/25)
“Uganda has not reached any agreement with the United States to take in illegal [sic] immigrants because it lacks necessary infrastructure to do so, a senior foreign affairs ministry official said on Wednesday. ‘To the best of my knowledge we have not reached such an agreement. We do not have the facilities and infrastructure to accommodate such illegal [sic] immigrants in Uganda. So, we cannot take in such illegal [sic] immigrants,’ Okello Oryem, state minister for foreign affairs, told Reuters in a text message. On Tuesday, CBS News, citing internal documents, reported that Washington had reached deportation deals with Honduras and Uganda as part of its effort to strike more agreements with countries that would accept [abducted] migrants deported from the U.S. who were not their citizens.” (08/19/25)
“A federal judge has ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court electoral map, after finding the map dilutes the power of [b]lack voters. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the map, which was enacted in 1987, violates the Voting Rights Act and cannot be used in future elections. The Mississippi branch of the American Civil Liberties Union helped litigate the lawsuit, arguing the map cut Mississippi’s Delta region — a historically [b]lack area — in half. ‘This win corrects a historic injustice,’ said Ari Savitzky, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Voting Rights Project. ‘All Mississippians will benefit from fair district lines that give [b]lack voters an equal [sic] voice — and new generations of [b]lack leaders an equal chance to help shape the state’s future by serving on the state’s highest court.’ The lawsuit, which was filed on April 25, 2022, argued the map diminished [sic] the [b]lack vote in the Central District.” (08/20/25)
“Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revoked the security clearances of 37 former intelligence officials, the Trump administration’s latest move against Obama-era officials whom the White House accuses of undermining the Trump administration. In a memo she posted Tuesday on social media, Gabbard directed the heads of several national security agencies to immediately revoke the clearances of the officials, at the direction of the president, alleging they politicized or weaponized intelligence for personal or partisan gain.” [editor’s note: I’m against the idea that government should be allowed to keep anything secret in the first place, but if they are, wouldn’t it make sense for “security clearances” to be AUTOMATICALLY revoked any time someone leaves the job they’re issued for, instead of only when political distractions are needed? – TLK] (08/19/25)
