Trump Won’t Denounce QAnon

That’s how long Oxford University scientists say their new COVID-19 test will take to determine whether a person is infected. Timely. Especially with Europe surpassing America’s daily caseload for the first time since April. Not that the U.S. is out of the woods, with 17 states witnessing a record surge in cases and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris suspending travel after her communications director tested positive. Is America ready for a third coronavirus wave? Vote on Twitter.

2. Conspiracist-in-Chief

President Donald Trump refused to reject fake QAnon theories peddled by right-wing internet groups during a town hall Thursday where the nature of a format he had picked over a traditional debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden appeared to work against him. Biden, in a separate town hall, suggested he would like a mandatory mask policy, but added that it couldn’t be enforced by the White House. The Senate Judiciary Committee is meanwhile moving to subpoena Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey over the company’s decision to restrict distribution of an anti-Biden article.

3. War and Peace

Nigeria’s army has threatened to intervene if needed to stop continuing protests against police brutality. Over in Yemen, the country’s Saudi Arabia-backed government and Houthi rebels started the exchange of over 1,000 prisoners, sparking hopes of a truce. And Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbay Jeenbekov has resigned following unrest over a disputed parliamentary election.

4. Up His A**

Literally. Police searching for ill-gotten wealth at the home of senior Brazilian senator Chico Rodrigues, who is an ally of President Jair Bolsonaro, discovered notes worth more than $5,000 stashed between the politician’s clenched buttocks. In the U.S., prosecutors have charged billionaire software entrepreneur Robert Brockman over the biggest alleged tax evasion scheme in U.S. history, hiding $2 billion overseas. Sure, the money wasn’t in his underpants, but the stench of wrongdoing is just as strong.

1. Going With the Wind

Irrespective of whatJudge Amy Coney Barrett thinks about it, climate change is real and is one of our biggest long-term threats. So expect demand for clean energy to keep growing. That’s why jobs for wind turbine service technicians are expected to grow 61 percent between 2019 to 2029.

2. Pet Pay

COVID-19 has seen an uptick in animal adoption and purchases. What that has done is provide a robust market in animal caretaking, which, according to recent numbers, shot up during the pandemic.

3. Selling Home Dreams

Low interest rates and new telecommuting policies have led to increased refinancing and a surge in the purchase of new homes. The result? The mortgage industry is busy hiring home-loan underwriters to cash in.

Lenny Kravitz is a rock star who never wanted stardom. His daughter Zoë had it thrust on her, but has since emerged as a popular actor-musician in her own right, fronting the R&B band Lolawolf. Watch Lenny on the latest episode of The Carlos Watson Show today. Hear his advice to young hustlers and see his Bahamian paradise.

2. Ravi Shankar, Anoushka and Norah Jones

Ravi Shankar introduced Indian classical music to the West, dazzled Woodstock, taught George Harrison the sitar and, with the Beatle, led a global concert for Bangladesh war victims in 1971 that UNICEF called the first big fundraising pop event. But though he passed in 2012, his legacy continues to grow through daughters Anoushka Shankar, also a sitar legend, and Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Norah Jones.

3. Fela and Yeni Kuti

What Ravi Shankar did for Indian classical sounds, Fela Kuti did for African music. The legendary multi-instrumentalist and band leader was a political activist who challenged Nigeria’s authoritarian regime. His daughter Yeni Kuti is a singer and dancer who runs a music festival dedicated to her late father.  

What’s going on in America right now? The BBC’s Katty Kay and OZY’s Carlos Watson dissect American identity, racial bias, politics, recession and public health in a groundbreaking new podcast from OZY and the BBC: When Katty Met Carlos. Make sure you don't miss the latest episode, released today, by subscribing now onApple Podcasts,Stitcher, theiHeart Radio app orwherever else you get your podcasts.

1. Ice Cube

Ice Cube once rapped about arresting Donald Trump. So it’s little surprise that the revelation that he’s been quietly advising President Trump has sparked criticism. The Trump campaign has touted the links to Ice Cube as part of its outreach to Black Americans. But don’t be surprised if it receives an ice-cold reception.

2. Won’t Be Like My Father

Most political scions run on the legacy of their successful parents. But in 2016 in Peru, Keiko Fujimori tried the opposite — insisting she wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of her controversial father, former President Alberto Fujimori, who had orchestrated a so-called “self-coup” in 1992, ordering his military to close down Congress. It didn’t work, and she had to withdraw her campaign. Imagine Ivanka Trump, running for president eight years from now, disowning her father’s legacy. Nah, not happening.

3. 822 Houses A Day

This was never going to happen. Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party promised to build 1.5 million homes over its five-year term ahead of the country’s 2018 election, the first since the ouster of longtime President Robert Mugabe. Sure enough, the country’s government acknowledged in January it wouldn’t be able to meet that target of 822 new houses every day. I wonder what Mugabe’s successor Emmerson Mnangagwa will promise in 2023. Genuinely free and fair elections would be a good place to start.

Missing some vitamin D? Visit the sunniest place on earth — Yuma, Arizona. As per the World Meteorological Society, this Arizona town receives more than 4,000 sunlight hours per year. I’m already feeling hot, hot, hot.

2. Rjukan

If you’re the kind that doesn’t like the sun much, take a trip to this town 106 miles from Norway’s capital city of Oslo. Surrounded by mountains, it doesn’t get a ray of sunlight for six months of the year! Ready to hibernate? 

We asked you to identify a former kingdom that had an American student as its last queen. Matthew W., J. J-P., Benjamin E.B., Betty A., Aggie K., Douglas W., John H., Greg B., Eileen, Jon T., Joann W. and Paul A. — you got it right! It’s Sikkim, which was then annexed by India. Hope Cooke was the former queen.