



Trump predicts election will be ‘rigged’



Donald Trump has labelled rival Hillary Clinton “the devil” at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania as he continued to weather a barrage of criticism following his controversial comments about the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq. At a campaign town hall in Columbus, Ohio, Trump said he feared that the election would be “rigged”, in an unprecedented statement for a major party nominee in modern history. In another gaffe, one unlikely to improve his standing with female voters (he trails Clinton by 57% to 34% according to a new CNN/ORC poll), the Republican candidate said he woulds advise daughter Ivanka to find “another career” if she was sexually harassed at work.

Trump says if Ivanka was harassed at work she should ‘find another career’

Some Sanders supporters back Jill Stein

Bernie Sanders may have endorsed Hillary Clinton, but some of his supporters are refusing to follow his lead and are turning to Green party candidate Jill Stein. Among them at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia last week was 23-year-old Floridian Vanessa Perez, who said Stein “has a lot of stances that are very similar to Bernie’s. And I just really strongly believe that you should always vote your conscience.”

Sanders supporters turn to Jill Stein: ‘You should vote your conscience’

Arctic anthrax outbreak linked to climate change strikes dozens

Seventy-two nomadic herders, including 41 children, were hospitalised in far north Russia after temperatures in the region reached 95F (35C) and reindeer began dying en masse from anthrax. Those affected include a 12-year-old boy who died from the disease. Five adults and two other children have been diagnosed with the bacteria, known as “Siberian plague”, which was last seen in the region in 1941. In addition, more than 2,300 reindeer have died. “We literally fought for the life of each person, but the infection showed its cunning,” the region’s governor, Dmitry Kobylkin, told the Interfax news agency.

Anthrax outbreak triggered by climate change sickens dozens in Arctic Circle

Aid workers accused of trying to convert Muslim refugees

Christians working in Greece’s most notorious asylum detention centre have tried to convert Muslim detainees by distributing conversion forms inside copies of Arabic translations of St John’s gospel to people held at the Moria detention camp on Lesbos. The forms invite asylum seekers to sign a statement declaring: “I know I’m a sinner ... I ask Jesus to forgive my sins and grant me eternal life. My desire is to love and obey his word.”

Aid workers accused of trying to convert Muslim refugees at Greek camp

Human rights activists on trial in China

China has has put on trial a number of detained human rights activists. On Monday, one prominent lawyer at the Fengrui law firm, Wang Yu, appeared in a videotaped interview, denouncing former head Zhou Shifeng and blaming “foreign forces” for the law firm’s activities. Human rights groups say Wang’s videotaped interview was clearly coerced and part of an attempt by the Chinese authorities to lend legal legitimacy to its yearlong crackdown on what it considers to be subversives.

China puts human rights activists on trial

US strikes Isis positions in Libya

The Pentagon has confirmed airstrikes against Islamic State forces in Libya. Isis positions in the strategic port city of Sirte were hit by manned aircraft and drones on Monday, after a request from the UN-backed unity government. The initial strikes were made on positions around Sirte, which for the past eight weeks has been the site of fierce urban fighting between forces loyal to the unity government and entrenched Isis fighters.

US launches airstrikes against Isis in Libya

Free Facebook in Africa questioned

The social media behemoth Facebook has signed up almost half the countries in Africa – a combined population of 635 million – to its free internet service as part of Mark Zuckerberg’s Free Basics, an initiative that considers internet access a basic human right. But some digital campaigners argue that Facebook’s expansion is a marketing ploy that could end up undermining, rather than enhancing, mass efforts to get millions more people connected.

Facebook lures Africa with free internet – but what is the hidden cost?

Gawker media boss files for personal bankruptcy

Gawker founder Nick Denton has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of his news organization doing the same in June. Denton blamed Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel, the clandestine source of funding behind wrestler Hulk Hogan’s suit against the site that resulted in a $140m judgement in March. “It’s a disturbing to live in a world in which a billionaire can bully journalists because he didn’t like the coverage,” Denton wrote in a staff memo.

Gawker Media founder Nick Denton files for personal bankruptcy

The stoners’ vote. Who gets it?

An unprecedented number of cannabis measures on the ballot in November, including in two swing states, could complicate turnout in the 2016 presidential election, bringing out more voters, but not reliably for any candidate. Libertarian candidate (and known pot enthusiast) Gary Johnson would seem to have the best chance since Ralph Nader to siphon votes away from a mainstream candidate, writes Josiah Hesse.

With cannabis on the ballot, can Clinton and Trump cash in on the pot vote?



In case you missed it ...

The fact-checking website Snopes.com was launched to correct urban legends and false rumours. As the election season moves into high gear, co-founder David Mikkelson says “the bilge is rising faster than you can pump”. Still, it’s a good place to start with falsehoods including whether Hillary Clinton stole $200,000 in White House furnishings, or whether Donald Trump called Republicans the “dumbest group of voters”, or whether Black Lives Matter protesters chanted for dead cops, or whether Nicolas Cage died in a motorcycle accident …

Can mythbusters like Snopes.com keep up in a post-truth era?



