How Obama lost the 9/11 terrorism bill fight
Congress for first time overrides a bill vetoed by Obama
President Obama could use a hug. Congress delivered a historic blow to the president when both the House and Senate voted to override his veto of legislation that would allow lawsuits against foreign sponsors of terrorism. Back up, how did the president get here? Obama vetoed the measure last week, saying it would infringe on his ability to conduct foreign policy. Civics lesson: To override a veto, both the Senate and House need votes of two-thirds majorities, which they got. Now Obama has to live with the first veto override in his presidency. In much better news for the president, the Senate approved a deal to prevent another government shutdown. The deal provides $1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus but doesn't set aside money for the Flint, Mich., water crisis, which Democrats wanted. Instead, Republican leaders assured Democrats that Flint will receive money after the election in a sweeping water bill called the Water Resources Development Act. Next up, the House is expected to approve its version of the bill that will prevent a shutdown.
The most disliked player in the NFL risks losing the friends he's got
Colin Kaepernick's message is in danger of going off track. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback has been protesting racial inequality and police brutality by refusing to stand during the national anthem at games. Americans are intensely divided on whether they're cool with that. Then on Tuesday, Kaepernick dissed both presidential candidates when he called Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton "liars" who seem to be debating "who's less racist." Ouch. Harry Edwards, the civil rights activist who works with Kaepernick (and helped convince him to stop wearing socks with cartoon pigs dressed as policemen) said the 49er has to work on his delivery or he could lose support he needs to affect real change. USA TODAY Sports' Josh Peter thinks the most disliked player in the NFL better learn fast.
A moment of silence for BlackBerrys
You know, you might not remember it, but there was a time before iPhones when you could actually eat a meal without taking a photo of it. Back then BlackBerry was king of the smartphone market. That was until Apple, Google and Samsung got in on the game, and BlackBerrys slowly became old news. Blackberry CEO said Wednesday the company will stop manufacturing its iconic smartphones and will instead outsource them to partners. BlackBerry fought long and hard to keep everyone from ditching its devices (full touchscreen, BlackBerry 10 operating software, the Android-powered DTEK50) but the company just couldn't stop the bleed. RIP #CrackBerry.
“Racists and haters have taken a popular Internet meme and twisted it for their own purposes”
So long Pepe the Frog, it was nice knowing you. The Anti-Defamation League added Pepe, a cartoon character and popular internet meme, to its database of hate symbols. The character was added because Internet users such as 4chan and 8chan began to use Pepe for anti-Jewish and bigoted ideas. This is why we can’t have nice things. Before the meme took a turn for the worse, Pepe was known as the “sad frog.” Pepe’s creator Matt Furie hopes the demonization of Pepe will be a “passing phase.” We’re not so sure.
Russia on shot down Malaysia Airline: ‘It wasn’t me’
A Dutch-led criminal investigation on the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 pointed Wednesday to Russia. The plane was shot down, killing all 298 people aboard, by a Russian-made Buk missile that was moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia, the investigation team announced. But Russia says no way it could be us. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the investigation “biased and politically motivated.” Despite Russia repeatedly denying allegations that pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine were responsible for downing the plane, multiple findings have fingered Russia as the culprit.
Extra bites:
Developing: At least two children and one teacher were shot at a South Carolina elementary school.
Kristen Wiig and Zach Galifianakis find out what happens when an interview goes wrong.
James Corden, Owen Wilson and Usain Bolt raced. Guess who won?
Tim Tebow hit a home run on his first pitch as a professional baseball player.
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This is a compilation of stories across USA TODAY.