WASHINGTON (RIA Novosti) – Well over half of U.S. voters now believe the nation’s media are enemies of the American people, a Rasmussen poll found. “A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 58% of likely U.S. voters at least somewhat agree that the media are ‘truly the enemy of the people’,” the organization announced. More than half of that number, comprising 34 percent of all those polled, “strongly agree” that the American media are hostile to the interests of the public they claim to serve, according to Rasmussen Reports. “Voters overwhelmingly believe ‘fake news’ is a problem and a majority agrees with former president Donald Trump that the media have become ‘the enemy of the people’,” the polling organization advised. Only 36 percent of those polled did not agree that the media was the enemy of the people and just 23 percent “strongly” disagreed with the proposition, Rasmussen Reports said. The poll was conducted among 1,000 American adults nationwide on July 7-8 and come with a 95 percent likelihood of reliability, the company added.

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MOGADISHU (Xinhua) – At least eight people were killed and ten others injured in a suicide car bombing attack targeting Mogadishu police chief in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, police and witnesses said. A police officer who declined to be named told Xinhua that a vehicle borne improvised explosive device targeted the vehicle of Mogadishu police commander Frahan Qarole at Banadir junction. The attack caused casualties but the police chief survived the attack. Somali police spokesman Sadik Aden confirmed the attack which took place at Banadir junction hit the vehicle of Qarole but the police chief survived the attack. The impact of the deadly explosion destroyed several buildings nearby. Aden said at the time of the attack, the convoy of vehicles carrying Mogadishu police chief was traveling between Banadir and Medina hospitals. The incident caused a huge traffic snarl-up in Mogadishu streets as photos and plume of black smoke from the scene indicated that the explosion was huge.

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FLORIDA (AFP) – The death toll from the collapse of an apartment building in Florida has risen to 79, after 14 bodies were recovered from the rubble, authorities said Friday. “It is a staggering and heartbreaking number that affects all of us very, very deeply,” said Miami-Dade county mayor Danielle Levine Cava. Champlain Towers South, a 12-story building in Surfside, a town north of Miami Beach, came tumbling down on June 24, as dozens of residents slept inside. No survivors have been found since the day of the collapse. Out of the 79 victims, 53 have been identified and 61 people are still missing, the mayor said. Authorities announced on Wednesday they had decided to transition from a search and rescue mission for potential survivors to an operation to recover remains. Multiple investigations are underway to determine the cause of the collapse. A 2018 report released by city officials revealed fears of “major structural damage” in the complex, from the concrete slab under the pool deck to columns and beams in the parking garage.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE (Dispatches) – The United States says it rejected a request from Haiti’s government to deploy troops in the Caribbean country after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise even as Washington is under suspicion for the involvement of two Americans. Mathias Pierre, Haiti’s elections minister, said the request for U.S. security assistance was raised in a conversation between interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday but a senior U.S. administration official later announced that there were “no plans to provide U.S. military assistance at this time.” The request was for the U.S. dispatch of troops to support the national police in re-establishing security and protecting key infrastructure across the country following Moise’s assassination. The 53-year-old Haitian president was killed in an armed attack at his private residence in the capital Port-au-Prince by a group of gunmen who spoke Spanish and English. Moise’s wife was also wounded in the attack and taken to a hospital for treatment. Police in Haiti said the assassination was carried out by a commando unit of 26 Colombian and two American mercenaries identified as James Solages and Joseph Vincent, both from Florida.

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SANTIAGO (AFP) – The son of a leader of Chile’s indigenous Mapuche people has been shot dead by police in Araucania province, raising fears of renewed tensions in the region amid efforts to improve relations between the state and its native population. The shooting reportedly followed an altercation between police and alleged intruders at a forestry company and is likely to stir up tensions in the restive central province amid decades of complaints by the local indigenous people that their land has been illegally taken over by agriculture and forestry companies acting with state complicity. Local media outlets identified the victim as 26-year-old Ernesto Llaitul, citing the Chilean prosecutor’s office, noting that he was the son of Hector Llaitul, a Mapuche leader described as a spokesperson for the activist group Coordinadora Arauco - Malleco.