Russia is attempting to influence the outcome of the 2020 election in President Trump's favor, while China appears to prefer Trump lose and is considering engaging in "aggressive action" to influence the election, an intelligence report reveals. The director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center released a statement detailing in broad strokes the actions of China, Russia, and Iran as pertains to the 2020 election. While Russia seems to be engaged in the same interference tactics it used during the 2016 election, China's efforts to help former Vice President Joe Biden thus far appear limited to public criticism of the Trump administration.

More:

• The report references "Kremlin-linked actors" who seek to "boost President Trump's candidacy on social media and Russian television."
• The report also references Iran, which reportedly seeks to "undermine U.S. democratic institutions" and President Trump through the spread of misinformation and propaganda on social media.
• In a press release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) criticized the report for treating China, Iran, and Russia as "equal threats," and claims that Russia's actions are the most likely to influence the election.
• When asked about the report during a press conference at his New Jersey golf club Friday night, Trump replied: "The last person Russia wants to see in office is Donald Trump."

Thousands are protesting what they see as a corrupt and incompetent government in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, four days after a massive explosion killed at least 154 people. Marchers walked from near the port site of the blast to Martyrs' Square, where large anti-government demonstrations started last October. Mock gallows were erected in Martyrs' Square as police fired tear gas, and some in the crowd threw rocks.

More: 

• Though an investigation is ongoing, the explosion appears at the moment to have been an accident, though protesters blame government neglect for allowing a stockpile of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate to sit unsupervised in the city.
• Earlier this week, two government ministers were chased out of blast areas as they sought to survey the damage.
• French President Emmanuel Macron has organized a virtual donor summit for Sunday with a number of global leaders, including President Trump.
• Macron visited Beirut following the explosion. According to the BBC, he was "mobbed in the streets by welcoming crowds calling for outside intervention."

Hundreds of thousands of bikers are gathering in South Dakota this weekend for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which city officials voted to allow despite COVID-19. This year's rally, however, may be somewhat smaller than usual – 250,000 bikers are expected to attend instead of the usual 400,000.

More:

• The City of Sturgis said it heard from thousands of bikers who said they planned to come to town even if the event was canceled.
• Mayor Mark Carstensen said he couldn't stop people from attending and was encouraging "personal responsibility."
• Sturgis has installed hand sanitizing stations and is providing PPE for city staff and businesses.
• South Dakota has reported 9,371 COVID-19 cases (~1% of its population) and 144 deaths.
• The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally started Friday and runs through Sunday, Aug. 16.

GOOD NEWS: A man in Louisiana serving a life sentence after a 2008 conviction for selling less than one gram of marijuana will be set free. Derek Harris was arrested for selling $30 worth of marijuana to an undercover law enforcement officer and was sentenced to life as required by Louisiana's habitual-offender law. Harris was granted an appeal after a lawyer with the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI) successfully argued that Harris received ineffective assistance of counsel. His representation argued that judges can deliver a lesser sentence should the mandatory minimum "shock the conscience." PJI said in a statement that the decision from prosecutors to agree to Harris's release should serve as a beacon to others in Louisiana serving long prison terms for relatively minor drug offenses.

Jerry Falwell Jr. will take an indefinite leave of absence as president of Liberty University following the publication of a photo of Falwell with his pants unzipped on a yacht. Though Falwell deleted the photo from his Instagram account, he said it was taken "just in good fun" at a costume party. The photo spread on Twitter this week after it was posted by Houston Chronicle writer Robert Downen with the caption "wut is happening." 

More:

• On Thursday, Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), a former instructor at Liberty University, called on Falwell to resign.
• A Liberty University statement announcing Falwell's leave of absence did not reference the photo or any other reason for his departure.

The Canadian Arctic's last intact ice sheet has collapsed, according to the Canadian Ice Service. The resulting "ice island" covers an area of ~79 square kilometers. (Manhattan is ~59 square kilometers.) The sheet was part of the Milne Ice Shelf, just north of Ellesmere Island in the Arctic.

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• Over about two days, the ice shelf lost 43% of its area.
• The Canadian Ice Service blamed hot air temperatures, offshore winds, and adjacent open water for the collapse.
• For most of the last 30 years, the Arctic has been warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world, in a process known as Arctic Amplification.
• Canadian Arctic temperatures this summer were 9°F above the 30-year average.

Cardiovascular experts are warning about the potential long-term impact of COVID-19 on heart health and are encouraging recovered athletes to get cardiac screenings before returning to their sports. Though early data is inconclusive, many heart experts believe the coronavirus has a "higher predilection for involvement with the heart" than other illnesses. According to one infectious disease doctor from Stanford, up to 20% of those who recover from COVID-19 experience some sort of cardiac abnormality.

More:

• In a recent German study that administered cardiac MRI exams to 100 recovered COVID-19 patients (two-thirds of whom experienced only mild or no symptoms), 78% had a cardiac abnormality, and 60% had heart muscle inflammation.
• Myocarditis, inflammation in the heart, can lead to heart attacks and death, especially in those engaged in rigorous exercise who don't know they have it.
• Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was ruled out for the remainder of the MLB season after doctors discovered he'd developed myocarditis following a COVID-19 infection.
• Several experts who talked to WaPo suggested that cardiac MRI exams, EKGs, and blood tests should be standard for recovered COVID-19 patients before they return to strenuous athletic activity.

An MIT-developed AI algorithm could curate art exhibitions by identifying hidden similarities between works of different cultures, media, and time periods. MosAIc uses machine learning and an image-retrieval system to generate pairings of works, similar to a human art curator.

More:

• Researchers developed mosAIc from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Microsoft. They trained it using image sets from open-access collections from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
• One unlikely pairing matched a piece of blue Persian glassware with Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon's drawing of a blue crane.
• Ph.D. student Mark Hamilton, one of MosAIc's developers, said he was surprised when the AI matched a Dutch garment with a Delft violin.
• The AI could help art historians discover patterns across history and find evidence to support their hypotheses, Hamilton said. While it could curate art exhibitions, it's not aiming to replace human curators, he added.

A version of this story first appeared in Inside AI.

QUICK HITS

• A reboot of the 1990s animated show "Animaniacs" will premiere on Nov. 20 on Hulu.
• Former Los Angeles Angels director of communications Eric Kay has been charged with supplying drugs to Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in July 2019 from a drug overdose at the age of 27.
• The Perseid meteor shower will peak next week. Here's how to get the best view of shooting stars.
• The suspension of a Georgia student who posted a viral photo of a crowded hallway at a reopened public school has been lifted after her mother filed a grievance.
• Thousands of guys are seeing real results and telling the world about Geologie skincare.*

*This is sponsored content.

Here's what's new on streaming services this weekend, courtesy of our Inside Streaming newsletter:

AVAILABLE NOW

WIZARDS: TALES OF ARCADIA: The third and final entry in producer Guillermo del Toro's animated trilogy of series, following up on the events of "Trollhunters" and "3Below." In the new show, the residents of the small suburban town of Arcadia Oaks must reunite to prevent an apocalyptic war between humans, monsters, and aliens. A number of voice actors from the previous series – including Emile Hirsch, Clancy Brown, Kelsey Grammer, Diego Luna, Nick Offerman, and Ron Perlman – reprise their roles. [Netflix]

SELLING SUNSET: The reality series, following high-profile realtors from Los Angeles' Oppenheim Group, returns for a third season. According to star Christine Quinn, much of the new season revolves around feuds between her and colleagues Davina Potratz and Heather Rae Young. [Netflix]

TINY CREATURES: Debut nature series looking in on some of the world's smallest animals, in a variety of habitats and environments. "Luke Cage" star Mike Colter narrates; "Planet Earth II" cinematographer Jonathan Jones directed. [Netflix]

WORK IT: Sabrina Carpenter stars in this original coming-of-age comedy feature as an inexperienced dancer who must win a big competition in order to earn admission to her top college choice. YouTuber Liza Koshy co-stars; Alicia Keys produced. [Netflix]

THE NEW LEGENDS OF MONKEY: This fantasy-adventure series from Australia and New Zealand, about a young monk (Chai Hansen) and his godly protectors, is a remake of a Japanese show from the '70s and '80s that found a cult audience around the world. The second season is out now. [Netflix]

THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS RIDES AGAIN: KIDS IN SPACE: This animated special continues the story from the educational series "The Magic School Bus Rides Again," a sequel to the original '90s PBS Kids series. Kate McKinnon reprises the role of Miss Frizzle, who takes her students on a wild trip to the International Space Station. [Netflix]

WORD PARTY SONGS: A new collection of music videos featuring the characters from Netflix Jr's educational "Word Party" series. [Netflix]

¡NAILED IT! MÉXICO: The Mexican remake of Netflix's satirical reality competition series – in which amateur bakers attempt to recreate extremely elaborate cake designs – returns for a second season. [Netflix]

HIGH SEAS (ALTA MAR): The stylish Spanish period mystery series – set on board an ocean liner in the 1940s – returns for a third season. A fourth season is already in development. [Netflix]

BERLIN, BERLIN: LOLLE ON THE RUN: This comedy-drama feature from Germany continues the story from ARD TV series "Berlin, Berlin."  Felicitas Woll reprises the lead role of Lotte, who's planning to marry her best friend, Hart (Matthias Klimsa). [Netflix]

SING ON! GERMANY: The German edition of the international karaoke competition series debuts on Netflix today. The winning singer receives a 30,000 euro grand prize. Palina Rojinski hosts. [Netflix]

HOWARD: Feature documentary profiling the legendary director, writer, and lyricist Howard Ashman, whose work includes the Off-Broadway hit "Little Shop of Horrors" and the Disney animated classics "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast." Featuring interviews with Ashman's frequent collaborator, composer Alan Menken, along with Jodi Benson and Paige O'Hara, the voices of Ariel and Belle. Ashman collaborator Don Hahn, who produced "Beauty and the Beast," directed. [Disney+]

STAR WARS GALAXY'S EDGE: ADVENTURE AWAITS: Two-hour TV special, that originally aired on Freeform in 2019, giving viewers a complete behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Disneyland's newest themed area. Neil Patrick Harris hosts. [Disney+]

THIS IS DOMINIC FIKE: THE NEXT BIG THING?: The latest entry in Hulu's "The New York Times Presents" documentary series is this profile of an "overnight sensation" Florida musician from filmmaker Alexandra Garcia. [Hulu]

GET DUKED!: In this 2019 satirical British horror-comedy film from writer/director Ninian Doff (originally titled "Boyz in the Wood"), a group of boys on a camping trip in the Scottish Highlands realize they're being hunted by a group of rich and powerful individuals. [Amazon]

THE FIGHT: Political documentary following lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union as they face off against the Trump administration in court. Actor Kerry Washington produced. [Amazon]

JESSY & NESSY: The hybrid live-action/animated series for preschoolers -- about a curious young girl with magic glasses -- returns for the second half of its first season. [Amazon]

BREAD & CIRCUSES (PAN Y CIRCO): Actor Diego Luna hosts this debut chat series in which diverse groups of experts, creators, and personalities discuss political and social issues over meals prepared by well-known Mexican chefs. [Amazon]

RICHARD JEWELL: Clint Eastwood directed and produced this 2019 feature, based on a Vanity Fair article, about the security guard who was wrongfully accused of placing an explosive device in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in 1996. Paul Walker Hauser stars as Jewell; Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, and Olivia Wilde also make appearances. [HBO]

WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS: 2019 horror film about three friends who cross paths with a group of sadistic killers en route to a heavy metal concert in 1988. Alexandra Daddario, Keean Johnson, Maddie Hasson, and Johnny Knoxville star. [Netflix]

BEING REUBEN: Reality series following the everyday family life of 14-year-old Welsh singer, online influencer, and makeup expert Reuben de Maid. [CW]

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

WE HUNT TOGETHER: Six-part thriller series from the U.K. starring Eve Myles and Babou Ceesay as conflicted detectives on the trail of a pair of killers (Hermione Corfield and Dipo Ola). [Showtime]

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