Half a million residents have been told to leave parts of Texas and Louisiana as Hurricane Laura makes landfall overnight. / BBC News

Britain to pay low-income residents to self-isolate if they test positive for the coronavirus: £130 for 10 days of isolation. / World Economic Forum

New Covid-19 testing guidelines, crafted at the White House, alarm public health experts. / STAT

An outbreak of the coronavirus in a Starbucks spared the employees who were wearing masks. / Bloomberg

Usain Bolt tests positive just days after a party where he danced with dozens of people, most of whom weren’t wearing masks or social distancing. / The Guardian

Regarding women versus men when it comes to tackling COVID-19: gender doesn't have the same consequences for fighting a virus "as it does for social policy." / The Washington Post

See also: “Futures destroyed: COVID-19 unleashes 'shadow pandemics' on Africa's girls.” / Reuters

In the run-up to November, E. Jean Carroll is interviewing some of the 25-plus women who accuse Trump of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harrassment. / The Atlantic

The first excerpt appears from the new book by former Melania Trump friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. / New York Magazine

At the RNC, Trump surrogates use the past tense to claim the coronavirus has been defeated. / The Atlantic 

One speaker uses false statistics to explain why police officers would be smart to racially profile her son. Another is canceled for promoting an anti-Semitic Twitter thread from a QAnon supporter. / VICE, The Washington Post

Michael Cohen: Trump talking about law and order is laughable when “virtually everyone who worked for his campaign has been convicted of a crime or is under indictment. Myself included.” / Twitter

Still, there are many signs “that should give the Trump-is-toast self-assured pause.” / Axios

A podcast recommendation: “Rabbit Hole,” building off Kevin Roose’s reporting on QAnon, PewDiePie, and YouTube radicalization. / The Morning News

Photographs of the University of Virginia's recently completed memorial to the 4,000 enslaved African Americans who built UVA. / designboom

The WNBA, NBA, MLB, MLS stop games as players protest the shooting of Jacob Blake. / The Washington Post

Likewise, the Western & Southern Open cancels play for Thursday, led by Naomi Osaka. Also, Kenny Smith walked his show’s set. / USA Today, Instagram, CNN

Black surfers paddle out 13 blocks in tribute to Breonna Taylor. / The New York Times

Yet another city in California, this time Long Beach, launches a trial program to study Universal Basic Income. / LAist

This week in armchair glamping: a "minimalist" mobile home for $98,000. / Uncrate

"What does another person’s legal declaration really say about you?" For some, marriage feels like yet another overhyped nightclub. / The New York Times

Interview with a surrogate who gave birth to four babies for her best friend. / The Atlantic

Your weekly soothe: “Blue” by South Korean musician Nijuu, animated by artist Cecilia Reeve. Or try the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brussels. / The Morning News, WQXR

Do you know the game Codenames? It also works well for lockdown with an online adaptation. / Wikipedia, Horsepaste

Bryan Washington pays tribute to the pleasures of becoming a regular in a restaurant. / The Oxford American

The world's largest bronze gorilla statue offers free hugs to New Yorkers. / 6sqft