- WorldThe Telegraph
Assad troops force Syrian rebels to retreat from key town
Bashar al-Assad has vowed to recapture all of Syria as his forces made significant battlefield gains and drove rebel fighters out of a strategic town he once attacked with chemical weapons. Syrian regime troops pushed rebel forces from Khan Sheikhoun, a town where Assad's jets once dropped chemical weapons and killed nearly 100 people, prompting Donald Trump to launch retaliatory airstrikes in 2017. The town has been under rebel control since 2014 and its fall marks a victory for Assad as his troops attempt to conquer Idlib, the last opposition-held province in the northwest of Syria.
- NewsUSA TODAY
A Florida man fed a kinkajou. The next morning, the 'super aggressive' exotic creature attacked him
Florida wildlife officials say a man was attacked last month by a kinkajou, a small, raccoon-like animal native to Central and South America. Michael Litersky, 37, noticed the exotic creature outside his girlfriend's home in Lake Worth on the night before the attack and left it some watermelon, according to a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission. When he opened the door to leave for work the next day around 5:45 a.m., the kinkajou was waiting for him.
- WorldThe Independent
Detained Iranian tanker sets sail from Gibraltar as Tehran warns US not to seize ship
The Iranian tanker seized by British royal marines near Gibraltar in July on suspicion of carrying oil to Syria has left port. Shipping data showed the Grace 1, renamed the Adrian Darya 1, leaving Gibraltar around 11pm on Sunday, and is believed to be heading to Kalamata in Greece. Authorities in Gibraltar released the tanker last week but on Friday a federal court in Washington issued a warrant for its seizure, along with its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil, and nearly $1m (£824,000).
- U.S.KSTU - Salt Lake City
Hiker Who Survived Being Lost in Montana Wilderness for Days Speaks Out
Sunday marks a week since Kaden Laga went missing in Montana. He and his wife Arden, who are expecting their first baby, were out visiting family when a normal hike turned into a search and rescue.
- NewsReuters
U.S. Democrat Warren wants to repeal 1994 crime bill, end cash bail
U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday proposed sweeping changes to federal and state criminal justice systems, including ending cash bail requirements and doing away with a crime bill that rival Joe Biden helped make law. Warren's popularity has risen in public opinion polls measuring the crowded Democratic field, but she has not gained much traction among black voters, a key voting demographic in the party's nominating contests. Criminal justice reform has been identified as a key issue among black voters because the current system has disproportionately incarcerated minorities.
- NewsSacramento Bee
Mexican man facing voter fraud trial in Sacramento. He’s a Trump supporter
For years, President Trump has claimed that millions of noncitizens voted in the 2016 presidential election, unfairly skewing his vote as Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College. On Monday in federal court in Sacramento, a man accused of coming to the United States from Mexico and voting illegally in elections for the past 20 years went on trial on charges of aggravated identity theft, voting by an alien and making a false statement on a passport application. Gustavo Araujo Lerma is an avowed Trump supporter, and evidence expected to be introduced in his trial includes letters of thanks from Trump, former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and current RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.
- WorldNational Review
Palestinian Authority Bans LGBTQ Organizing in West Bank
The Palestinian Authority has banned all LGBTQ political organizing in the West Bank in response to the news that a pro-LGBTQ advocacy group was planning to hold a gathering for its members at the end of the month. The ban, which was first reported Sunday by the Jerusalem Post, was issued in response to the organizing efforts of Al-Qaws for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, a pro-LGBTQ political group that held an event last month and was planning to hold another in the coming weeks. Palestinian Authority police spokesperson Luay Zreikat said that LGBTQ events were “harmful to the higher values and ideals of Palestinian society” in justifying the ban.
- NewsINSIDER
The police officer who fatally choked Eric Garner has been fired. The guy who filmed it is still in prison.
Activists used the #FreeRamsey hashtag on Twitter on Monday to demand the release of Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the deadly 2014 encounter between a New York City police officer and Eric Garner. Orta has been locked up for years on various drug and gun charges, which he and his supporters believe are retaliation for filming the viral video of Garner's death. NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo was fired on Monday for placing Garner in a chokehold that led to his death.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
A Neutron Star Might Have Just Collided with a Black Hole
Scientists at the Hawaii-based Keck Observatory believe they might have an exciting find on their hands, something like a galactic playoff game: nebula star vs. black hole. The black hole wins, but capturing the act of destruction, as they believe they have, would be a type of collision never seen before. The event has been named S190814bv and was detected by the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo interferometers on August 14.
WorldAFPRussia and China blast US missile test
Russia and China warned Tuesday that a new US missile test had heightened military tensions and risked sparking an arms race, weeks after Washington ripped up a Cold War-era weapons pact with Moscow. The US and Russia ditched the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty this month after accusing each other of violating the accord. Washington said the agreement also tied its hands in dealing with other powers such as China.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Fox News Guest: Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib Have ‘Grotesque Holocaust Envy’
Reacting to the controversy surrounding Israel's decision to deny entry to Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a Fox News guest said on Monday night that the two Muslim congresswomen have “Holocaust envy” because they're “Islamists. Appearing on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle, Qanta Ahmed—who has written for The Daily Beast in the past—blasted the two progressive lawmakers over their Monday press conference in which they denounced the travel restrictions and claimed Israel was suppressing voices of dissent.
- NewsAssociated Press
Authorities praised for handling of protests in Portland
After previous political rallies that ended in violence, police in Portland, Oregon, earned praise Monday from outside observers for using a natural barrier — the city's Willamette River — to keep dueling protesters apart during a weekend far-right rally and large counter-demonstration that included a subset of masked and black-clad anti-fascists. As the city returned to normal, Mayor Ted Wheeler called Saturday's dueling demonstrations a win for residents. Oregon's top federal prosecutor called the handling of the event a "definitive counterpoint" for those who on both sides who have criticized police after past protests for favoring one side or the other.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
The Must-See, Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Cars from the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance
These incredible rides glittered on the 18th green at Pebble Beach this year and caught our editors' attention. From Car and Driver
- NewsUSA TODAY
Two firefighters disappeared Friday on a fishing trip. The search for them continues
Surrounded by volunteers, Stephanie McCluney, the wife of a firefighter lost at sea along with a friend since Friday, called for prayers and positivity Sunday as they began a search of the shoreline at Jetty Park in Florida's Port Canaveral. Further out to sea, the U.S. Coast Guard — joined by over a dozen private boaters and several other agencies — continued to scour a 5,000-square nautical mile section of the Atlantic to find two off-duty firefighters missing after leaving Port Canaveral on Friday. By Sunday, the agency was headed toward an area about 50 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, after a civilian aircraft reported seeing a vessel matching the description of the missing boat.
- NewsSacramento Bee
School workers who used Sharpie to color in black teen’s hair in Texas are being sued
A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed on Sunday against a Texas school district and three officials after they took disciplinary action for a student's haircut, court documents say. In April, school officials at Pearland Independent School District used marker to color in the design shaved into a 13-year-old boy's haircut because they say it did not adhere to the district's dress code, KHOU reported. Extreme hair styles such as carvings, mohawks, spikes, etc. are not allowed,” according to the news outlet.
- NewsNational Review
CNN Pundit’s Bodyguard Charged with Assault after Removing Reporter Covering Her Speech
CNN pundit April Ryan's security guard has been charged with assault after he forcibly removed a local New Jersey reporter from an event at which Ryan was delivering a speech. Charlie Kravotil, editor of New Brunswick Today, claims that Ryan's bodyguard, 30-year-old Joel Morris, approached him during Ryan's speech at The Heldrich Hotel on August 3 and stole his camera after he refused to stop filming. A video of the incident shows Kravotil, who secured press credentials for the event, following Morris into the lobby of the hotel to retrieve his camera.
- WorldThe Independent
Rape victim facing 40 years in prison after suffering stillbirth is cleared by court
A rape victim who faced up to 40 years in prison after she suffered a stillbirth has been cleared at retrial. Evelyn Hernández was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide by a court in El Salvador in July 2017. She was prosecuted under the Central American country's strict abortion laws.
ScienceAFP Relax NewsIndia's Moon probe enters lunar orbit
India's Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft entered lunar orbit on Tuesday, executing one of the trickiest manoeuvres on its historic mission to the Moon. After four weeks in space, the craft completed its Lunar Orbit Insertion as planned, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement. ISRO chief K. Sivan said the manoeuvre was a key milestone for the mission, adding he was hoping for a perfect landing next month.
- PoliticsReuters
For Trump, appeals to white fears about race may be a tougher sell in 2020: Reuters/Ipsos poll
U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and focus on the grievances of white voters helped him win the 2016 election. The analysis comes amid widespread criticism of Trump's racially charged comments about four minority women lawmakers and the fallout from a mass shooting of Hispanics in El Paso, Texas, that many Democratic presidential candidates swiftly blamed on the president's rhetoric. While Reuters did not measure anti-Hispanic biases in 2016, political scientists say that people who express them closely overlap with those who are biased against other racial minorities.
WorldAFPTeens swept up in night raids in Kashmir clampdown
Ali Mohammad Rah sat on the pavement outside a police station in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Tuesday, waiting to see his teenage sons, who were swept up in government raids overnight. "Soldiers violently banged windows of our home while we were sleeping," Rah told AFP, saying his sons -- aged 14 and 16 -- were taken away before dawn in the Srinagar neighbourhood of Mehjoor Nagar. Government sources say at least 4,000 people have been detained in Kashmir since India revoked the restive Himalayan region's autonomy on August 5 and imposed a massive security lockdown on the restive region.
- WorldAssociated Press
The Latest: Japan 'deeply concerned' about Hong Kong
A statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was seeking information from Hong Kong and Guangdong province about the fate of the employee who was detained while crossing from the Chinese city of Shenzhen into Hong Kong. Local media identified him as Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the Scottish Development International section of the consulate, who attended a business event in Shenzhen on Aug. 8. They say he never returned to Hong Kong despite plans to do so the same day via the high speed rail link Express Rail Link.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Chevy Baits Ford Mustang Owners with Special Camaro Discount
Current Ford Mustang owners can get $2500 off a new 2019 Chevrolet Camaro this month, assuming they would make such a switch. The Mustang continues to lead the Camaro in total sales through June. On one side, there are those who call the Camaro's current face fugly and believe the Mustang is just a superior car.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Rep. Steve King wants media to apologize for reporting what he said about rape and incest
Republican Rep. Steve King said the media and Republican leaders owe him an apology for their remarks after he suggested that there would be "no population" without rape and incest. King was arguing in favor of an abortion ban with no exceptions for pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest when he made the comment at an Iowa event last week. King took aim at the Des Moines Register and the Associated Press, saying the stories were based on a misquote.
- NewsThe Telegraph
Tourists who stole sand from beach in Sardinia could face up to six years in prison
A pair of tourists face up to six years in prison after allegedly stealing a large quantity of sand from the pristine beaches of Sardinia. The French couple were found to have nearly 40kg (90lb) of fine white sand in the boot of their car. The vehicle was stopped during a routine check by border police as the tourists were preparing to board a ferry in Porto Torres, on the north coast of the island, bound for Toulon in France.
- LifestyleDelish
Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
For those 'not turning on the oven today' moods. From Delish
