Thursday's Morning Email: U.S. Women Triumph In Rio Again

TOP STORIES

USA WOMEN WIN BIG IN TRACK Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin swept the medals in the 100-meter hurdles while Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese took gold and silver in the long jump at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. [ESPN]

WIKILEAKS ISN’T THROUGH WITH HILLARY CLINTON “Democrats fear that the release last month of nearly 20,000 emails from inside the DNC was just the first blow in a flurry to come. And according to Julian Assange, they are right to worry. The editor of WikiLeaks has promised in several recent interviews to publicize additional material — information weaponized with the potential to influence the 2016 presidential election.” [BuzzFeed]

THIS RYAN LOCHTE STORY KEEPS GETTING WEIRDER “An Olympic swimmer wanted for questioning by Brazilian police returned to the United States before officers could seize his passport to ensure he was available for questioning, officials said Wednesday.” [CNN]

OBAMA SO BORED President Barack Obama said he’s “tired of talking about” Donald Trump, without actually speaking his name. [Yahoo! News]

TURKISH POLICE STATION BOMBED “At least three police officers were killed and about 100 people wounded by a car bomb at a police station in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig on Thursday, security sources said, hours after a similar bombing killed three people elsewhere in the region.” [Reuters]

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IS ON FIRE A huge blaze about 60 miles from Los Angeles is spreading, and has forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate. [Los Angeles Times]

THE DARK SIDE OF RIO 2016 “In the last two decades, the Olympics have become not just a sporting event but a vehicle for urban renewal, with cities pouring hundreds of millions ― if not billions ― of dollars into infrastructure and other projects that are intended to leave a positive, long-term legacy. In Rio and elsewhere, politicians have pitched these investments as a way to improve the city as a whole, for the benefit of everyone. In fact, the major beneficiaries of the Olympics are the local and international developers in charge of these projects, as well as the host city’s wealthy residents. The poor lose out.” [Travis Waldron and Edgar Maciel, HuffPost]

For more video news from The Huffington Post, check out this morning’s newsbrief.

YES, THE WEATHER IS AS BAD AS YOU THINK In fact, July literally was the hottest month in history. [Chris D’Angelo, HuffPost]

A NORTH KOREAN DIPLOMAT JUST DEFECTED TO SOUTH KOREA “The second in command of North Korea’s embassy in London defected to South Korea with his family, officials in Seoul said Wednesday, describing him as ‘sick and tired’ of Kim Jong Un’s regime.” [WaPo]

PAGING BRUCE WILLIS The crazy geniuses at NASA are trying to figure out how to redirect asteroids so they don’t crash into Earth and kill us all. [Yahoo! News]

YOU CAN PEE NEXT TO ME, TARGET SAYS The retail chain will follow through on its promise and provide gender-neutral bathrooms for its customers. [Daniel Marans, HuffPost]

PEACE RETURNS TO MILWAUKEE BUT BIG PROBLEMS REMAIN “CaIm has been mostly restored to many parts of Milwaukee since the police killing of Sylville Smith on Saturday led to violent protests, but the frustration over the poor treatment of black lives lingers.” [Lilly Workneh and Michael McLaughlin, HuffPost]

SEE THE DEVASTATION IN BATON ROUGE These videos show just how bad the damage is in the aftermath of massive flooding. [HuffPost]

TRUMP DUDE CLOWNED BY TV LADY “Michael Cohen, executive vice president at the Trump Organization and a special counsel to Donald Trump, on Wednesday appeared on CNN, clearly hoping to convince viewers that everything is just peachy at the former reality TV star’s presidential campaign. Anchor Brianna Keilar wasn’t having it.” [Nick Wing, HuffPost]

~ Aww, Zac Efron flew all the way to Rio just to meet Simone Biles!

~ Got millions of dollars lying around? Then hurry to Pebble Beach, because some amazing cars are for sale right now!

~ You can look at a photo of Chrissy Teigen’s stretch marks now, if that’s your cup of tea.

~ If you order from some British Pizza Huts, your food comes in a box that doubles as a DJ deck.

~ Here is a chicken wearing pants and running really fast. We’ll call him Usain Beak.

~ Phil Collins didn’t die, and The New York Times is ON IT.

~ These are your favorite celebrities’ favorite movies.

~ Donald Trump is worse than Ramsay Bolton, Sansa Stark says (basically).

~ You can tell Michelangelo didn’t use Photoshop on his David.

~ Behold, the worst Frisbee toss ever!