“A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division against Minneapolis Public Schools that alleged the district violated Title VII by discriminating against teachers based on their race, gender and national origin, court records show. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in December, claiming that teachers of color and ‘underrepresented’ teachers get preferential treatment in employment decisions due to a provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the teachers’ union and the district. … U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote in his order that the lawsuit must be dismissed since the union was not an included party. The Department of Justice did not include the union in the claim due to federal law stating the U.S. attorney general can only bring lawsuits alleging a practice of discrimination against governmental entities, but not against private entities like labor unions.” (08/12/26)
“A British driver who was the first person to break the sound barrier in a car on land has set a new speed record, this time in a hydrogen-powered vehicle. Andy Green, a 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot, reached a speed of 406mph (654km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the fastest a hydrogen-powered car has ever travelled. Green’s record was measured as an average of two runs in a car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines, with a combined 1,600 brake horsepower (bhp). In 1997, Green drove the jet-powered ThrustSSC across Nevada’s Black Rock Desert at 763mph (1,228km/h), making him the first, and still the only person, to break the sound barrier on land. Twenty years ago, Green also set a world land speed record for a diesel vehicle in the JCB Dieselmax, attaining a speed of over 350mph (563km/h).” (08/12/26)
“New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote on Wednesday, seeing off a leadership challenge from his defence minister that exposed growing rifts in his National Party less than three months before a tight election. The bid by Chris Penk was the year’s second public test for Luxon, boosting concern over disquiet in his centre-right party as it struggles in opinion polls and fuelling fresh doubts about his grip on power ahead of the November 7 election. Luxon moved swiftly after the vote, sacking Penk from his defence, intelligence, space and building portfolios.” (08/12/26)
“The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history that killed over 11,000 people out of more than 28,000 cases, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. ‘At its current pace, it’s on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016,’ Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. That outbreak horrified the world and jolted efforts to develop a vaccine. The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing in history, has killed over 2,000 people out of more than 4,300 cases. The outbreak was declared on May 15, but health authorities now say sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February. It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, though efforts to address that are underway.” (08/12/26)
“MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’s GOP Gubernatorial primary for the state, while the Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar comfortably secured her party’s nomination in a state where the Democrats are heavily favored to win November’s general election. … The Associated Press called the race for Demuth at 11:26 p.m. ET as the state speaker had secured 43.6% of the 93% of the votes counted. Lindell, who was backed by President Donald Trump, came a distant second with 32.3%% of the votes.” (08/12/26)
“The bodies of two World War Two German soldiers have been found in Budapest’s Danube river, due to record-low water levels after an intense drought. Found alongside their remains were the identification tags of the two soldiers, a largely intact German army Wehrmacht motorcycle, a wedding ring and a Kuban shield – a combat badge of the Wehrmacht, the German War Graves Commission said. The remarkable finds have sparked hope that some families could finally discover the fates of their ancestors, more than 80 years on from the war. ‘Now begins a puzzle, in which we will try to determine the identity of the two dead,’ Arne Schrader, of the German War Graves Commission, told German newspaper Bild. The wreck in the Danube was reportedly discovered on 2 August, when a passersby reported part of the motorcycle protruding from the rocks on the riverbank in downtown Budapest.” (08/12/26)
“North Korea on Wednesday performed its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbours said, a likely protest of the upcoming South Korea-US military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a ballistic missile fired from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 a.m. flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles). The Japanese Defence Ministry also detected the launch, saying the weapon landed in waters outside its exclusive economic zone, between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The launches, within days of each other, were seen as part of North Korea’s extended run of weapons tests as the country has refused to return to talks with the US and South Korea for years.” (08/12/26)
“The search for survivors in the rubble of Colombia’s powerful earthquake grew more desperate on Wednesday, two days after the quake brought down buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars. The devastation has tested Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government as it scrambles to respond to the natural disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the vulnerable communities most affected by the quake. By Tuesday, de la Espriella said the 7.4 magnitude earthquake had killed at least 181 people and left 2,595 more injured in the west of the country. He said at least 195 remained missing, but civilian-run databases put that number at more than 4,000 Wednesday morning.” (08/12/26)
“A new Department of Justice (DOJ) memo argues the president can assert executive privilege not just over communications with his White House staff, but also with ‘private advisors’ outside of government, an interpretation that would broaden the number of people President Trump could try to shield from congressional investigations. The Monday opinion from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) isn’t binding but nonetheless signals the Trump administration is thinking about how to respond to an expected bevy of investigations into the White House should Democrats retake the House. Traditionally, the president may assert executive privilege over communications only with executive branch staff. But the OLC argues the counsel the president might get from those outside the government could be just as important to the White House and also merits protection.” (08/11/26)
“Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s race for governor, NBC News projects, dealing a major upset to democratic socialist Francesca Hong. The result marks a dramatic turnaround for Crowley, who had dropped out of the race roughly a month ago after initially struggling to gain traction only to re-enter days later with outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’[s] endorsement. Hong, a state lawmaker from Madison, had led in the polls in the final stretch of the race, but faced growing scrutiny over her past controversial positions and general election viability.” (08/11/26)
