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Hantavirus. Ebola. West Nile. Measles. And, of course, cyclospora — that stomach parasite making people miserable across the country. Americans have plenty to worry about this summer.

But remember COVID-19? It may not be surprising that many people may have almost forgotten about COVID. Unfortunately, COVID hasn't forgotten about us.

"We're now in the midst of a growing summer surge of COVID here in the United States," says Dr. John Brooks, an infectious disease doctor at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., who used to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I think most of us kind of feel like it's fading away and are certainly very grateful for that. But nationally we're seeing it ticking up pretty much everywhere."

The virus is spreading the most again in the South and West, but is also on the rise in the Northeast and Midwest. The good news is the virus is still at very low levels. And so far this summer's wave seems to be continuing the trend of getting milder each year, sending fewer people to the hospital and causing fewer deaths.

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A mass shooting on Friday has left six people dead, including the suspected gunman, in Missaukee county, a rural area of northern Michigan, according to state police. Another person is in critical condition at a local hospital.

Michigan state police identified the suspected gunman as 39-year-old Chad Hickman in a statement posted on social media.

Hickman fled the scene, prompting a manhunt, the police said. The Missaukee county sheriff’s office had appealed to the public for help in locating the “armed and dangerous” Hickman, before he was located by state police.

Investigators tracked Hickman’s vehicle to a wooded area, where he and another individual were found deceased. It is unclear what circumstances led up to the shooting.

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President Donald Trump‘s administration lost its second top official in just as many days on Friday, with White House deputy national security adviser Andy Baker confirming his departure some 48 hours after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced hers.

“This has been an amazing journey,” Baker told Axios in a statement Friday. “I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved and, of course, am incredibly grateful to the President, Vice President [JD Vance], and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio.”

The news comes on the heels of Leavitt confirming her own exit Wednesday on social media, similarly stating how “incredibly grateful” she was to the president and describing her tenure in the administration as “the adventure of a lifetime.”

Leavitt gave birth to her second child in May and explained in her announcement Wednesday that she is leaving to be with her family. A source close to Baker told Axios Friday that he similarly plans to spend more time with his family.

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President Donald Trump denied that family members of sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln ‒ now being replaced in the Middle East ‒ have concerns about the ship after reports of suicide attempts and declining moral amid extended deployment.

"Well, no, that ship is moving. No, they're not," Trump said on Aug. 14 in a response to a reporter who began a question by stating families are concerned about the conditions on the USS Lincoln.

Asked whether the deployment of the ship's sailors has gone too long amid the war in Iran, Trump responded: "No, not nearly long enough."

Trump's remarks came after two military-focused outlets, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, this week reported on suicide attempts aboard the ship, exhaustion among the crew of 5,000 sailors and sharply declining morale.

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Home demolitions by Israeli forces; attacks on healthcare infrastructure, homes, and schools; mass displacement of Palestinians; and the expansion of illegal settlements across the West Bank have brought the occupied Palestinian territory to “the breaking point,” said a top humanitarian official at the United Nations Security Council Tuesday, calling for a “coordinated international effort” to end the violent Israeli occupation.

At a meeting on the situation in the territory, Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, addressed the council as families in the town of Qusra, northern Nablus, were facing days of attacks by Israeli settlers.

That violence exemplified what the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem called an escalating “ethnic cleansing” operation that Israel’s military allows.

As B’Tselem said Wednesday, settlers had established an illegal outpost in the yards of two Palestinian families’ homes, “forcing the families out and taking over their homes,” and the US-backed Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had done nothing to protect the Palestinian residents.

“Israeli ethnic cleansing in the West Bank is accelerating and expanding in full view of everyone,” Yuli Novak, president of B’Tselem, told Anadolu Agency, adding that the settlers’ seizure of the Palestinian homes was “not an isolated incident.”

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A recent controversy involving Palestinian medical staff at Haifa’s Rambam Hospital reveals several important things about the position of Palestinian citizens of Israel, particularly within the healthcare system.  

The staff members were publicly lambasted following allegations that they mistreated and neglected Israeli soldiers in their care, including by speaking only Arabic at the hospital. 

The subsequent public debate has gone beyond the specific details of this case, raising broader questions about linguistic rights. In several other recent incidents, Palestinian citizens of Israel have been banned from speaking Arabic in their workplaces.

Far-right politicians, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have amplified the Rambam allegations, fuelling claims that Palestinian healthcare staff should not speak Arabic at work – a demand that has previously been formalised in some hospitals.

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Today's floods come after a week of storms in the region.

Japan, China and the Philippines were hit by back-to-back storms – Dolphin, Chan-Hom and Peilou – which are churning across the region at the same time.

Earlier this week, Chinese authorities evacuated more than a million people from their homes as Dolphin, the strongest typhoon to hit China so far this year, made landfall in thMore...e country's east.

On Friday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said the deluge was brought by warm, humid air flowing into eastern Japan that combined with cold air above to make atmospheric conditions extremely unstable.

Around 7,000 people were left stranded overnight at Narita, one of Tokyo's two main airports, as the rain cut transport services linking to the airport on Thursday.

All flights are scheduled to operate normally on Friday, an airport spokesperson says. National flag carrier Japan Airlines says some of its flights may be delayed but it does not expect any cancellations.

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Newly disclosed records reveal the US government extensively spied on prominent leftwing organizations and on protesters as part of a vast operation into groups opposing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year.

Internal investigative reports show the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent undercover agents to community meetings in the Twin Cities and New York City, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records of mainstream unions and left-leaning non-profit groups.

Nearly 30 internal law enforcement reports were released on Thursday as part of a criminal case the Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed against 15 Minneapolis protesters. The defendants are accused of a “conspiracy” to “impede” US immigration officers during the Trump administration’s surge in the region.

The DHS investigative reports were disclosed by the government and submitted to the court by an attorney for one of the defendants. The records show that in January, DHS launched an inquiry called “Operation Puppet Master” to identify a “network of conspirators” organizing against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The operation came as community organizing against ICE was swelling in the region in response to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

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