- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Scaramucci says he will start and fund a super PAC to 'dismantle' Trump
In a conversation on the political commentary podcast Hacks on Tap, Scaramucci said Trump is “such a narcissist” and that “he thinks he's the only one who can do it. Scaramucci, whose short stint as White House communications director made headlines in 2017, is in the midst of a heated back-and-forth with the president. Scaramucci took a sharp turn in recent weeks from supporting Trump to saying he could no longer support the president.
- NewsAssociated Press
North Dakota court overturns life term in cut from womb case
A judge overstepped by giving a life prison sentence to a man whose girlfriend cut the baby from the womb of an unsuspecting neighbor, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, ordering that the man be resentenced. William Hoehn, of Fargo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the August 2017 attack on Savanna Greywind, who died of her injuries but whose baby survived. Hoehn's girlfriend, Brooke Crews, admitted that she sliced Greywind's baby from her womb.
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".
- BusinessNational Review
Overstock.com CEO Resigns after Disclosing Relationship with Russian Agent Maria Butina
Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne stepped down Thursday amid the backlash to his disclosure of a romantic relationship with Russian agent Maria Butina. Byrne caused Overstock's shares to plummet last week after he admitted to carrying on a romantic relationship with Butina from 2015 to 2016. Byrne issued a statement on August 12th confirming a series of articles by Fox News contributor Sara Carter that exposed his relationship with Butina, a Russian national who pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the U.S. earlier this year.
- 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
- WorldBloomberg
Iran Tanker Helm Makes Distress Call Near Saudi Red Sea Port
The Iranian oil carrier Helm experienced technical issues in the Red Sea off the Saudi port of Yanbu and the crew is working to resolve them, according to the National Iranian Tanker Co. The vessel, one of the world's largest crude tankers, signaled distress at 6:30 a.m. Iran time on Tuesday, about 75 miles (about 121 kilometers) off of Yanbu, owner NITC said in a statement. Both the ship and crew are safe and stable, NITC said without saying whether the Helm can continue the voyage.
- WorldReuters
Iranian tanker wanted by U.S. not heading to Greece: Greek prime minister
An Iranian tanker which the United States wants seized is not heading towards Greece as it sails through the Mediterranean, Greek Prime Minister Kyrikos Mitsotakis told France 24 TV on Thursday. The Adrian Darya, formerly called Grace 1, left Gibraltar on Sunday. Ship-tracking data on Tuesday showed it was heading toward the Greek port of Kalamata on the southern coast of the Peloponnese and was scheduled to arrive next Monday.
- U.S.KFSN – Fresno
Passengers furious with Delta as no hotels offered during 18-hour delay on flight from NYC to LA
Passengers, including "Dancing with the Stars" dancers, are furious with Delta after their flight from New York to Los Angeles was delayed multiple times -- and no hotel vouchers were offered.
- WorldThe Independent
Brexit: Boris Johnson warned US trade deal 'highly unlikely' if Ireland has hard border
A post-Brexit trade deal with the US would be "highly unlikely" if there is a hard border on the island of Ireland, Boris Johnson has been warned. The Congressional Friends of Ireland, a group in the US Congress which supports and promotes peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, has written to the prime minister warning that it will oppose any US-UK trade deal if it risks undermining the Good Friday Agreement. Any trade deal that put that in jeopardy would be "highly unlikely", it said.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump again says he is 'very seriously' looking to end birthright citizenship
Eight months after first raising the idea, President Trump on Wednesday said his administration is again “very seriously” looking into ending the practice of conferring U.S. citizenship on anyone born in the United States. “We're looking at that very seriously, birthright citizenship, where you have a baby on our land, you walk over the border, have a baby — congratulations, the baby is now a U.S. citizen,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. In October, on the eve of the 2018 midterm elections, Trump said he believed he could end birthright citizenship by executive order, claiming it was not part of the U.S. Constitution, and predicting the question would ultimately be settled by the Supreme Court.
- NewsAssociated Press
Texas executes man in 1998 slaying of college student
A Texas death row inmate who argued that his conviction was based on junk science was executed Wednesday for the abduction, rape and killing of a suburban Houston community college student more than 20 years ago. Larry Swearingen, 48, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the December 1998 killing of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Swearingen, who had always maintained his innocence in Trotter's death, was the 12th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the fourth in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state.
WorldAFPChinese state media accuses Hong Kong metro of aiding protesters
China's state-run media have launched a co-ordinated attack on the company that runs Hong Kong's train network for its perceived support of pro-democracy protesters, echoing a campaign against Cathay Pacific. As hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in the financial hub approach their third month of rallying around democratic reforms, Beijing has upped its rhetoric against the movement -- and any organisation appearing to support it. On Thursday, Chinese state-backed outlets accused Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) company of abetting protesters by offering them a free and "exclusive" train to escape police, after a sit-in to mark a mob attack by suspected triad gang members one month earlier.
- NewsNational Review
Buttigieg Caters to the Abortion-Rights Constituency
A Harvard graduate, Buttigieg is surely intelligent enough to know that support for Roe — a widely misrepresented and misunderstood ruling — is not the same as support for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, the federal abortion policy he advocates. But Buttigieg knows his crowd. He knocked Vice President Mike Pence for his pro-life views, begging the audience, “Please don't judge my state by our former governor.
- 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.
- 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.
- BusinessReuters
Farmer's threat prompts U.S. Agriculture Department to pull staff from crop tour
CORALVILLE, Iowa/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and three sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer. U.S. farmers have complained this month that a government crop report did not reflect damage from historic flooding this spring. Lance Honig, crops chief at the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, was among the USDA staffers who had to leave the privately-run Pro Farmer tour, three sources with knowledge of the situation said.
WorldUSA TODAYAfter 11 tons of trash taken off Mount Everest, officials ban single-use plastics
Officials banned single-use plastics in the Mount Everest region in an effort to reduce the increasing amounts of trash left behind by thrill-seeking climbers and tourists. The ban goes into effect January 2020 and covers all plastics less than 30 microns in thickness, according to Agence France-Presse. This includes plastic bags, straws, soda and water bottles and most food packaging, The Hindu reported.
- NewsThe Independent
Parkland students unveil gun violence prevention plan: 'Policymakers have failed, so survivors are stepping up'
March For Our Lives, the group formed by the Parkland students in the wake of the mass shooting at their school in February 2018, has unveiled a new plan for gun control. The Peace Plan is a six-step proposal focused on changing gun laws in America to prevent mass shootings, which continue to ravage the country. “Everywhere we look, gun violence is decimating our families and communities,” the plan reads.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump dismisses criticism of his dual loyalty comments: 'It's only anti-Semitic in your head'
President Trump Wednesday expanded on his views about how Jews who vote for Democrats are “disloyal” and dismissed any criticism of his comments. When asked by a reporter on the White House lawn Wednesday afternoon if his comments were anti-Semitic, Trump dismissed the criticism. “Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump said on Tuesday.
- NewsAssociated Press
Parking lot shooter told detectives he feared severe injury
The Florida man who fatally shot an unarmed black man during a dispute over a handicapped-accessible parking space told detectives he fired because he had been pushed to the ground and feared the man was about to "finish" what he started, video played at his trial Thursday shows. Prosecutors played Michael Drejka's interview with Pinellas County detectives during his manslaughter trial in Clearwater, Florida. He is charged with the July 2018 death of Markeis McGlockton, 28.
BusinessAFPAlbania bulldozes restaurant after owner attacks tourists
Albanian officials on Wednesday razed a beachfront restaurant whose owner was captured on camera attacking a car rented by Spanish tourists, as the country scrambles to clean up its reputation as a burgeoning holiday destination. The incident, filmed by the victims' tour guide from inside their vehicle, took place at the weekend in Porto-Palermo on the Ionian coast in southern Albania, a popular tourist spot. The restaurant owner, 51-year-old Mihal Kokedhima, was arrested and faces trial for "verbally assaulting a group of Spanish tourists for futile reasons", damaging their car and causing minor injuries, police said.
- WorldNational Review
Brexit Held at the Border
Basically, the backstop is a promise that there will be no hard border — a customs border across the island of Ireland, between the Republic of Ireland and the six counties of Northern Ireland. Irish public officials have argued (with the support of the EU) that a frictionless border is necessary for economic and political reasons. The frictionless border is understood there as part of the the peace settlement in Northern Ireland, following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
- PoliticsKGO – San Francisco
Chaotic scene as DNC votes down climate change debate at San Francisco meeting
The move sparked loud and angry backlash from climate change activists who believe the Democratic Party should change the rules to allow for a debate focused solely on climate issues.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Hong Kong protesters join in 'Baltic Chain' link of hands
Thousands of chanting Hong Kong protesters joined peaceful "Baltic Chain" links of hands on Friday, with almost three months of anti-government demonstrations showing no sign of let-up across the Chinese-ruled territory. Demonstrators, some masked, some using hand wipes to stay clean, linked hands across different districts as others held up banners thanking overseas nations for supporting "freedom and democracy" in Hong Kong. In 1989, an estimated two million people joined arms across three Baltic states in a protest against Soviet rule that became known as the "Baltic Way" or "Baltic Chain".
