- PoliticsThe Guardian
Trump wanting to buy Greenland is yet another sign of Putin’s puppetry
It's tempting to look at Donald Trump's ludicrous desire to buy Greenland – and the Danish spat that followed – as just another sick joke of the Trump presidency: an aberration that the world will forget with tomorrow's distracting tweets on some other outrage. The madness of Donald Trump is getting worse, not better. The presidency has not normalized him, it has only normalized our numbed reaction to his excesses.
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 1-U.S. man accused of spying by Russia says he was hurt in prison
A former U.S. Marine held in Russia on suspicion of spying said on Friday that prison authorities in Moscow had injured him, as a court ruled to extend his detention by two months. Paul Whelan, who holds U.S., British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained in a Moscow hotel room on Dec. 28 and accused of espionage, something he denies. A Russian acquaintance gave him a flash drive which his lawyer said Whelan thought contained holiday photos, but which actually held classified information.
WorldAFPFamily of detained UK consulate worker rejects 'made-up' report
The family of a staffer at the UK consulate in Hong Kong have rejected a "made-up" report by Chinese state media that he was detained in the mainland for visiting prostitutes. Simon Cheng disappeared after visiting the city of Shenzhen from the semi-autonomous city on August 8, and the Foreign Office in London said both British officials and relatives have been unable to speak to him since. The Global Times, a tabloid state-run newspaper, said he had been detained for "soliciting prostitutes", citing police in Shenzhen, which lies on the China-Hong Kong border.
PoliticsFOX News VideosFederal appeals court rules Colorado was 'wrong' to force electors to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016
Bradley Moss and John Yoo weigh in on a federal court ruling in Colorado on the Electoral College that could make its way to the Supreme Court.
- NewsUSA TODAY
More NRA drama: Legal team shaken up as group cuts ties with longtime outside attorney
The National Rifle Association's outside legal team was reportedly shaken up on Thursday, during what can only be described as a turbulent time for the gun rights lobbying group. Since the spring, the NRA's president, chief lobbyist and several board members have also parted ways with the organization. In the apparent next phase of a continuing civil war within the NRA, the country's most powerful gun lobbying organization cut ties with outside attorney Charles Cooper, the New York Times and both Washington Post both reported.
- NewsINSIDER
Drivers in Idaho keep harassing busloads of immigrants' children on their way to pre-school
Idaho motorists have reportedly been harassing buses carrying children under the age of five. The buses drive low-income children of migrants or agricultural workers to federally funded educational programs during the day. Idaho drivers have reportedly been harassing busloads of young kids, prompting a local nonprofit to remove signs from the buses that identify the riders as children of migrant workers.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Sanders campaign boss concedes he may not win New Hampshire
The campaign manager for Bernie Sanders emphasized Thursday that New Hampshire is a critical presidential primary state he expects Sanders to win, but he's leaving room for a scenario in which Sanders falls short. Faiz Shakir said he doesn't "like the language of must-win," though he does believe it is an important early voting state. But he said he still thinks Sanders could win the Democratic nomination without taking New Hampshire, though he acknowledges that the path to victory would be more difficult if Sanders doesn't.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
L.L. Bean's Huge End-of-Summer Sale Is Taking Up to 70% Off
Gear up for colder weather with jackets, fleece sweaters, boots, and more. From Popular Mechanics
- BusinessCar and Driver
2020 Chevy Bolt EV Gets More Driving Range
According to the EPA, the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV has an estimated driving range of 259 miles, up from 238 miles. Chevrolet isn't saying yet exactly what it did to achieve this improvement, but we hear it has to do with new chemistry for the lithium-ion battery pack. The 2020 Chevy Bolt EV will go further on a charge than before, with the EPA reporting that the electric hatchback's range goes up to 259 miles, from 238.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump ranted for 35 minutes in 89-degree heat, calling the prime minister of Denmark 'nasty,' repeating his claim that Jewish voters are 'disloyal,' and saying it 'isn't my trade war'
President Donald Trump ranted about trade with China, the prime minister of Denmark, and Jewish voters being "disloyal" in a freewheeling 35-minute session with reporters. Trump harshly criticized Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen for calling his interest in buying Greenland "absurd," which caused Trump to cancel his scheduled visit to the country, calling her remarks "nasty" and "inappropriate." He repeated his claim that Jewish Americans voting for Democrats are disloyal, saying, "In my opinion, you vote for Democrats, you're being very disloyal to Jewish people, and you are being very disloyal to Israel."
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 1-Putin orders reciprocal Russian response to U.S. missile test
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered a like-for-like response to a recent U.S. missile test, which he said showed that Washington aimed to deploy previously banned missiles around the world. The Pentagon said on Monday it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km (310 miles) of flight, its first such test since the demise of a landmark nuclear pact this month. Putin told his Security Council on Friday that Russia could not stand idly by, and that U.S. talk of deploying new missiles in the Asia-Pacific region "affects our core interests as it is close to Russia's borders".
WorldAFPRussia launches floating nuclear reactor in Arctic despite warnings
Russia will launch the world's first floating nuclear reactor and send it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region. Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov will leave the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000 kilometre (3,000-mile) voyage to northeastern Siberia. Nuclear agency Rosatom says the reactor is a simpler alternative to building a conventional plant on ground that is frozen all year round, and it intends to sell such reactors abroad.
- WorldBloomberg
Modi Ally Calls for Boycott of China Companies on Kashmir, Trade
Indians should stop buying from Chinese companies and the government should reconsider trade concessions to its biggest neighbor after China allied with Pakistan on Kashmir, according to an economic policy group linked with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Companies like technology giant Huawei Technologies Co. should be barred from accessing the Indian market in the future and Chinese companies should be banned from state tenders, Ashwani Mahajan, co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, affiliated to the ruling party's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said in an interview Thursday.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Prosecutor: Cannibalism victim was butchered 'like you wouldn't kill a livestock animal'
When police in Jeffersonville, Indiana, found Tammy Jo Blanton's dismembered body in her bathtub, it was draped with a camping tent with at least 25 stab wounds and blunt-force injuries on her throat, neck, nose, mouth, lips, fingers and chest, a prosecutor told a Clark County jury at a murder trial Wednesday. "Joseph Oberhansley butchered Tammy Blanton like you wouldn't kill a livestock animal," Clark County prosecutor Jeremy Mull told 12 jurors and four alternates who were bused to Jeffersonville from Hamilton County on Wednesday for Oberhansley's trial. The prosecution and defense agreed to take the death penalty off the table if Oberhansley's attorneys agreed not to use insanity as a defense.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Want an assault weapons ban? Don't couple it with a mandatory gun buyback.
Now some of the Democratic presidential hopefuls are playing right into the NRA's hands by advocating mandatory buybacks of assault-style rifles already in circulation. Somewhere between confiscating every gun, which is impossible under the Supreme Court's current interpretation of the Second Amendment, and allowing the United States to drown in an ocean of firearms — estimated at 393 million — are commonsense gun laws. One example is universal background checks.
- WorldAssociated Press
2 more El Salvador ex-officers to face trial in '81 massacre
Two ex-military officers were notified Thursday that they will join more than a dozen others in being prosecuted for the 1981 El Mozote massacre, a particularly infamous moment from El Salvador's nation's civil war. A judge in San Francisco Gotera, about 100 miles (170 kilometers) east of the capital, summoned former Cols. Roberto Antonio Garay and José Antonio Rodríguez to inform them they will be tried on the charges of torture, forced disappearance and forced displacement.
- NewsINSIDER
In the streets and on the run: Alligators are having a 'hot girl summer' of their own
From climbing fences in Florida to swimming in a Chicago lagoon, here are 11 of the best alligator stories so far this year. Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories. Sure, tales of Florida Man are well documented, but perhaps less talked about are the tales of Florida alligators, which have been popping up in the most unlikely of places.
- PoliticsPolitico
Luntz: ‘I was wrong’ on climate change
Luntz, who said he's doing work for both Democrats and Republicans, urged Democrats to "personalize, individualize and humanize" the impacts of climate change to make it more relatable to the average person. While he has polled the issue, Luntz said he was not associated with June 2019 polling for the Climate Leadership Council, conducted by Luntz Global Partners, finding widespread support among young Republicans for a carbon tax.
- NewsThe Independent
Trump claim doctors treating mass shooting victims 'were coming out of operating rooms' to meet him dismissed by hospitals
Two hospitals have denied Donald Trump's claim doctors “were coming out of operating rooms” to meet him when he travelled to Texas and Ohio to console victims of two mass shootings. "At no time did, or would, physicians or staff leave active operating rooms during the presidential visit,” University Medical Center (UMC) spokesperson Ryan Mielke told local TV station KVIA. “When I went to Dayton and when I went to El Paso, and I went into those hospitals, the love for me – and 'me' maybe as the representative of the country – but for me, and my love for them was unparalleled, these are incredible people,” Mr Trump said.
- WorldReuters
U.S. will aggressively enforce sanctions over Iran tanker: State Department official
The United States will aggressively enforce its sanctions to prevent the private sector from assisting an Iranian oil tanker that is traveling through the Mediterranean and that Washington wants seized, a State Department official said on Thursday. "The shipping sector is on notice that we will aggressively enforce U.S. sanctions," the official told Reuters days after warning countries not to allow the tanker to dock. Ship tracking data has shown the ship, Adrian Darya, formerly called Grace 1, last heading toward Greece, although Greece's prime minister said it was not heading to his country.
WorldAFPBeijing hits back after Trudeau vows to stand up to China
Beijing on Thursday accused Ottawa of worsening bilateral relations after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to stand up to China amid deepening diplomatic and trade disputes. The two countries have been locked in a feud since last December, when Canada detained top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and -- in apparent retaliation -- China detained two Canadian nationals over espionage-linked accusations. On Wednesday, Trudeau pushed back against Beijing in a speech that promised to "always defend Canadians and Canadian interests" and to not "back down".
- LifestyleCar and Driver
The 10 Least Expensive New Compact SUVs to Own
We calculated key factors contributing to ownership costs - purchase price, fuel economy, and insurance - to find the cheapest 2019 compact SUVs to own. From Car and Driver
- NewsUSA TODAY
Yale failed to stop professor who sexually assaulted students over decades, report says
A Yale professor sexually assaulted five students over decades, according to a report commissioned by the university, which had investigated the professor's behavior in 1994 but failed to stop him. D. Eugene Redmond was a professor of medicine before he retired from the university in 2018 while facing disciplinary action. “Redmond's actions, reported by the survivors who came forward, are reprehensible and antithetical to the educational mission of our university,” said Peter Salovey, Yale's president.
- PoliticsNational Review
Sanders Releases ‘Green New Deal’ He Says Will Create 20 Million Jobs
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders on Thursday released his massive climate change plan, a more detailed version of the Green New Deal, which he said will address the “global emergency” of climate change and create 20 million news jobs. The scientific community is telling us in no uncertain terms that we have less than 11 years left to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy,” the Vermont senator wrote. The climate crisis is not only the single greatest challenge facing our country; it is also our single greatest opportunity to build a more just and equitable future, but we must act immediately.
- NewsAssociated Press
Baltimore teen gets life in prison in police officer slaying
A Baltimore teenager was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday, more than a year after he accelerated a stolen Jeep and fatally struck a Maryland police officer in a suburban cul-de-sac. Dawnta Harris, 17, was tried as an adult earlier this year and convicted of felony murder in the slaying of Baltimore County police Officer Amy Caprio. A judge in the suburban county that surrounds the city of Baltimore also sentenced Harris to 20 years in prison for burglary.
