THE BIG STORY

Trump says he won’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump refused to say if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the November election.

“We're going to have to see what happens,” the president said at a White House press conference. “I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very peaceful— There won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation.”

Because of the coronavirus, millions of Americans are expected to choose mail-in voting, which the president has been attacking for months using the courts and the media. Democrats and election observers fear Trump is attempting to sow distrust and confusion about the vote so he can question its integrity if he loses.

In July, Trump told Fox News, “You don't know until you see. I think it depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election.”

Mandel Ngan / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

A cop was charged with firing into Breonna Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment. No one was charged with actually killing her.

A Kentucky grand jury announced that one of the three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be charged — but not in connection with her death.

Rather, Former Louisville detective Brett Hankison will be charged for shooting into a neighboring apartment. Hankison was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree for firing his weapon through Taylor's apartment and into her neighbor’s.

The Kentucky attorney general confirmed that the grand jury decided no officer would be charged for Taylor's death. He announced that the state investigation found the two officers who shot her were justified because they were fired upon first by Taylor's boyfriend.

Hundreds of people in Louisville and other cities across the US took to the streets to protest the lack of charges in Taylor’s killing.

Demonstrators march in Louisville. Brandon Bell / Getty Images

SNAPSHOTS

The US says Alexander Lukashenko is not the legitimate president of Belarus. The State Department said Lukashenko's Aug. 9 victory was “fraudulent”, as protests across the country continue.

How to find a company that barely even exists. A $27.1 million shipment of fluorescent lamps. A bogus website. Elusive owners. Read this FinCEN Files detective story.

A powerful lawmaker is asking the British government hard questions about the FinCEN files investigation. The FinCEN Files investigation showed the US government describing Britain as a “higher-risk jurisdiction” for money laundering.

A judge ordered a man released from prison due to COVID-19 concerns. He died of the disease two months later in ICE custody. Cipriano Chavez-Alvarez, who had lymphoma, diabetes, kidney disease, and hypertension, died in ICE custody from COVID-19 more than two months after a federal judge ordered his release.

ACCUSED OF INACTION

The victims of violence during the Kenosha protests are suing Facebook

Four people are suing Facebook for its alleged role in enabling the violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August.

The lawsuit’s argument is that Facebook “empowered right wing militias to inflict extreme violence and deprive Plaintiffs and protestors of their rights” by providing a platform for the groups to invite people to attend and plan violence.

Earlier this month, we reported that an event page from the self-described militia group Kenosha Guard encouraging attendees to bring arms to the city had been flagged 455 times by people on Facebook.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees the company’s failure to remove the event page was “an operational mistake.”

IN ON THE JOKE

The TikTok twins who went viral for saying “Da Vinki?!” fully understand you think they’re dumb

Chris and Patrick Vörös, 27-year-old Hungarian-Canadian twins, became meme sensations for reacting to the trivia question, “Who painted the ‘Mona Lisa’?”

Their answer, “da Vinki?!”, has gone hugely viral, with almost 6 million views and almost a million likes. The pair became the faces of the internet punchline “my last two brain cells.”

We spoke to the twins — they assure us they know who Leonardo da Vinci is, but they just wanted the world to laugh.

Take notice of the small pleasures in your life today,

Elamin