Nov 16, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Young Turks' founder Cenk Uygur running to fill ex-Rep. Katie Hill's seat

Photo: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Politicon

Cenk Uygur, founder of the liberal news site The Young Turks, announced he is running to replace Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), in a tweet Thursday night.

The state of play: Uygur is also running against former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos — who, in 2017, pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI about Russian contacts. The seat's previous holder Rep. Steve Knight (R), who Hill defeated in 2018, is running again as well.

Flashback: Hill resigned from Congress in October following a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations she had an improper relationship with a staffer. She has denied the claims.

What he's saying: "I'm going to represent those people in a way they have not seen before. I will not be a standard politician," Uygur said in a livestream of his web show ... I'm going to fight to get money of politics, and I'm going to call it like it is."

  • Reality check: Uygur tweeted that his campaign has already surpassed $100,000 in donations on Thursday night.

What's next: The special election for Hill's 25th Congressional District seat will take place on March 3.

Go deeper: Katie Hill feared for her life after allegations of improper staff relationship

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Dave Lawler
Updated 33 mins ago - World

At least 78 killed, 4,000 injured after massive explosion rocks Beirut

Photo: Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

A major explosion has slammed central Beirut, Lebanon, damaging buildings as far as several miles away and injuring scores of people.

Driving the news: More than 78 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured, Lebanon's health ministry said, per Reuters. Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the explosions occurred at a warehouse that had been storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for the past six years.

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Axios
Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11:30 p.m. ET: 18,480,000 — Total deaths: 699,250 — Total recoveries — 11,074,515 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11:30 p.m. ET: 4,768,829 — Total deaths: 156,771 — Total recoveries: 1,528,979 — Total tests: 57,543,852 — Map.
  3. States: New York City health commissioner resigns in protest of De Blasio's coronavirus response — Local governments go to war over schools.
  4. Public health: 59% of Americans support nationwide 2-week stay-at-home order in NPR poll.
  5. Politics: Trump's national security adviser returns to work after coronavirus recovery — Republicans push to expand small business loan program.
  6. Sports: Indy 500 to be held without fans — Rafael Nadal opts out of U.S. Open.
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Rebecca Falconer
Updated 1 hour ago - Science

In photos: Storm Isaias lashes the East Coast

Floodwaters in Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania, a result of Tropical Storm Isaias moving along the East Coast on Tuesday. Photo: Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Isaias became a post-tropical cyclone as it moved into southeast Canada late Tuesday after pummeling the East Coast for much of the day with heavy rains and wind —trigging tornadoes, floods and leaving millions without power. At least six people have lost their lives in the storm.

The big picture: Isaias made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in North Carolina late Monday before being downgraded. It dumped heavy rain across Florida as a tropical storm over the weekend and on July 31 lashed the Bahamas and parts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as a Category 1 hurricane.

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