Biden vaccine rule sets stage for onslaught of lawsuits . . . President Biden’s vaccine rule for federal employees is expected to bolster efforts to require vaccines in the workplace, but experts say it's also likely to spark court fights that could threaten the long-standing legal authority of employers to impose health measures at work. As the largest employer in the country, the federal government could end up setting the standard for the private sector with Biden’s requirement that workers undergo regular testing, wear masks and socially distance if they choose not to get vaccinated. A day after Biden announced the new approach, the Walt Disney Co. said all of its employees would need to be vaccinated within two months. Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, said it would require vaccinations for workers at its Arkansas headquarters. The Hill

 

Biden’s Radical Prosecutor Nominee Faces Mounting Opposition . . . President Joe Biden's nominee for U.S. attorney for Massachusetts is facing opposition from the halls of Congress to the streets of Boston as her nomination moves to a vote. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said he plans to block Rachael Rollins’s nomination in light of her refusal to prosecute crimes as district attorney for Suffolk County. Rollins has said she will not prosecute a number of crimes, including theft and drug dealing. The Washington Free Beacon has reported that Rollins worked closely with a criminal justice reform group that wants to defund police departments. "Rachael Rollins won’t stand up for the victims of these crimes, and I will seek to stop her nomination," said Cotton, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Washington Free Beacon

Hillary Clinton's old campaign law firm uses China excuse to avoid Carter Page lawsuit . . . The Perkins Coie law firm that helped Hillary Clinton's campaign fund the now-debunked Steele dossier is using a China excuse to avoid being sued for defamation by former Trump adviser Carter Page. And so far, it is working. "Three Perkins Coie partners are 'stateless' U.S. citizens domiciled in China," the lawyers representing the firm and the Democratic National Committee argued in an appellate brief earlier this year. "That statelessness is imputed to Perkins Coie and forecloses the existence of complete diversity of citizenship in this case." In a little noticed ruling in late June, the 7th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago accepted the Washington D.C.-based firm's claim that it was a "stateless" entity that can't be sued in federal court. Just the News

 

Trump hitting the road again, sets Alabama rally for Aug. 21 . . . Former President Donald Trump will hold his next campaign-style rally in Alabama later this month. Trump will travel to Cullman, located about halfway between Birmingham and Huntsville on Interstate 65, to deliver remarks on Aug. 21, according to Save America. The rally will take place on the same day the state Republican Party holds its summer meeting, also in Cullman. The 45th president won Alabama by more than 25 percentage points in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. New York Post

 

 

Khamenei slams door on US nuclear talks, ups regional aggression . . . “We are in very close contact and coordination with the UK, Israel, Romania and other countries, and there will be a collective response,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, Aug. 2, following the Iranian drone attack on an Israel ship on July 31 that killed two crewmen, a Briton and a Romanian. IDF Chief Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi meanwhile conferred on the subject with US CENTCOM head, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, while the UK was reported mulling “a range of options including a cyberattack on Iran.” For Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the two arms of its national program – the drive for a nuclear bomb and regional destabilization for upholding its axis of influence – appear to be inseparable. DEBKAFile

Navy’s top admiral says defense industry working against military needs . . . The U.S. military says it needs next-generation ships and aircraft that are ready to compete against rivals such as China and Russia, but they’re having to fend off a U.S. defense industry with its own agenda and the ear of influential congressional leaders.  On Monday, The Navy‘s top admiral said the defense industry should stop pushing lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to continue funding weapon systems the Pentagon doesn’t want.  “Although it’s in the industry’s best interest, … building the ships that you want to build, lagging on repairs to ships and to submarines, lobbying Congress to buy aircraft that we don’t need — it’s not helpful,” Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, told the Navy League’s 2021 Sea Air Space convention. The admiral said the industry must be more “agile” as the Department of Defense pivots to new technologies and platforms. Washington Times

 

 

 

China’s Tencent imposes controls to tackle gaming addiction among children . . . Tencent has announced new restrictions on how long minors can play its online games after the Chinese internet group came under intense pressure from state media, which labelled gaming as “spiritual opium”. In a social media post, the company said it was introducing the measures after “relevant authorities” requested greater protection of minors in gaming and for companies to carry out their “societal responsibility”. Shares in Tencent, whose online games business generated Rmb39.1bn ($6bn) in the first quarter and accounted for 30 per cent of its total revenues, fell as much as 10.8 per cent in Hong Kong before paring losses to close down 6.6 per cent. Financial Times

 

 

Russia Says Most of the 24 Diplomats Ordered to Leave US Won't Be Replaced . . . Officials in Washington have ordered two dozen Russian diplomats to leave the U.S. by September 3, the latest in a series of tit-for-tat retaliations on both sides that have further strained U.S.-Russia relations. The decision to oust the diplomats follows the U.S.'s removal of nearly 200 local staffers working for its diplomatic missions in Russia. The Russian ambassador said the situation with the embassies in both countries hasn't changed for the better since the June summit in Geneva between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden. It was after that summit that Antonov and his U.S. counterpart John Sullivan returned to their posts after being recalled for consultations. Newsweek

 

Fourth police officer who responded to Jan. 6 attack dies by suicide . . .  A fourth law enforcement officer who responded to the Capitol on Jan. 6 has died by suicide, the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to The Hill on Monday. A department spokesman said Officer Kyle DeFreytag, who had been with the department since November 2016, was found dead on July 10. He was 26 years old. Police confirmed DeFreytag was among a host of MPD officers who were sent to the Capitol in response to the riot. “I am writing to share tragic news that Officer Kyle DeFreytag of the 5th District was found deceased last evening,” Chief Robert J. Contee III wrote in a message to the department in mid-July, according to WUSA9. “This is incredibly hard news for us all, and for those that knew him best.” The Hill

Simone Biles wins medal in highly anticipated Olympic return . . .  After bowing out of the gymnastic team final and missing much of her events during the 2021 Olympics, USA gymnastics star Simone Biles defended her bronze medal on the balance beam Tuesday in what may be her final Olympic performance. It was Biles’ second consecutive bronze in beam dating back to the 2016 Rio Games and her seventh career Olympic medal, which ties her with Shannon Miller for the most by an American gymnast – though Biles’ four golds is unmatched.

Between the Olympics and World Championships, Biles’ 32 total medals officially ties her with Russia’s Larisa Latynina as the most decorated athlete in women’s gymnastics of all time. New York Post

Dominion Voting Systems, Maricopa County reject subpoenas in Arizona election audit . . . Both Maricopa County and Dominion Voting Systems have rebuffed subpoenas from the Arizona state Senate related to the Republican-led chamber’s audit of the 2020 presidential election. The county was asked for routers, machine passwords and voter registration records while the same passwords were sought from Dominion. The Senate‘s contractor, Florida-based Cyber Ninjas, wanted to check whether they had been connected to the internet on Election Day. All the information was to have been turned over by Monday, but both parties declined, citing security and legal issues. Washington Times

Bear runs into Tennessee restaurant, attracts crowd of onlookers . . . A bear wandering on the sidewalk in a Tennessee city drew a crowd of onlookers when it darted through a door into an open restaurant.

Kacie Faulling Myers, a South Carolinian visiting Gatlinburg with her family, captured video of pedestrians flocking to the windows of Crawdaddy's Restaurant & Oyster Bar after a bear ran into the eatery. The bear entered through the front door and ran up a staircase, and then turned around and left. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said bears are a common sight in Gatlinburg. The agency said bears typically will not act aggressively toward humans, but people always should keep a safe distance from them. UPI