- PoliticsReuters
U.S. removed almost 2.7 million barrels daily of Iranian oil from market: Pompeo
The United States has removed nearly 2.7 million barrels of Iranian oil from global markets daily as a result of Washington's decision to reimpose sanctions on all purchases of Iran's crude, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday. In an interview with MSNBC, Pompeo said the U.S. government was confident it could continue with its strategy. The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers.
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 Independent
Three migrant children die of flu in detention with US authorities refusing to give vaccines, as reports of child molesting emerge
At least three migrant children being held in detention centres have died at least in part from the flu, but US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says that it does not plan on giving immigrant families it detains vaccines as winter approaches. The decision has renewed criticism of the squalid conditions in US detention centres, as further reports suggest children are being molested in some sites while in the care of the government. In general, due to the short-term nature of CBP holding and the complexities of operating vaccination programmes, neither CBP nor its medical contractors administer vaccinations to those in our custody,” a CBP spokeswoman said in a statement emailed to CNBC.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'Storm Area 51' event pushes rural Nevada county to declare emergency
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Commissioners in Nevada's rural Lincoln County have voted to pre-sign an emergency declaration ahead of the "Storm Area 51" raid event that's so far drawn more than 2 million RSVPs on Facebook. "We passed this with the caveat that this may or may not happen," said District D Commissioner Kevin Phillips. "We're just trying to do the best we can to prepare for something we know not of. California resident Matty Roberts created the event – called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" – in June after listening to an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
- 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.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Police Arrest Two Louisiana Men in 39-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Teen
After nearly four decades, Louisiana police have charged two men they believe brutally raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl before disposing of her body in the woods. Leo Laird, 64, and Gary Haymon, 54, were both charged on Monday in the death of 18-year-old Donna Gayle Brazzell, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office. The young woman's skeletal remains were found near Nichols Cemetery Road in 1980, but authorities were unable to identify them until last month.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space.
The link between fires and climate change Individual wildfires and heat waves can't be directly linked to climate change, but accelerated warming increases their likelihood, size, and frequency. July was the hottest month ever recorded, period. The month prior, meanwhile, was the hottest June ever in Earth's history, with temperatures nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
- LifestyleDelish
Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
For those 'not turning on the oven today' moods. From Delish
- WorldAssociated Press
The Latest: Albania rescues 36 Afghans in Aegean
Albania's Defense Ministry says its ship in the Aegean Sea has rescued 36 Afghans trying to cross into Greece. Defense Minister Olta Xhacka tweeted Wednesday that 19 Afghan children, eight women and nine men were rescued by the ship Oriku in cooperation with Frontex, the European Union's border control force. Xhacka did not say exactly where the migrants were found.
- NewsReuters
WIDER IMAGE-"I don't recommend you do this": Thailand's stealthy snake wrangler
In the dead of night, Thai firefighter Pinyo Pukpinyo stealthily approaches a python coiled around the rafters of a home in Bangkok, and quickly grabs its head with his bare hands. "I need to remain steady and calm," says the 50-year-old, as he pulls the fat snake, almost five metres (16 ft) long, off the roof and wrestles it into a rice sack.
WorldAFPIraq paramilitary units blame US for base attacks
On Wednesday, the paramilitary group said in a statement it had carried out its own investigation and pointed the finger at the US military, but also accused Israel of infringing Iraqi airspace. "We announce that the first and last entity responsible for what happened are American forces, and we will hold them responsible for whatever happens from today onwards," said the statement, attributed to Hashed deputy chief Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis. He said the attacks were carried out by "agents or in special operations with modern airplanes," without providing further details.
- NewsThe Independent
US mental health staff warned not to contradict Trump after mass shootings
When Donald Trump targeted mental illness as the cause of the mass shootings that killed 31 people in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, federal health officials made sure no government experts might contradict him. A Health and Human Services (HHS) directive on 5 August warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval. That alarmed some government mental health experts who said they felt muzzled at a moment many Americans were searching for answers to the US epidemic of mass shootings, said three agency employees.
- 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.
- BusinessCar and Driver
Ford's "Mustang-Inspired" Mach E Electric SUV Steps Out in Prototype Form
These spy photos give us our first look at the upcoming Ford Mach E electric crossover in the flesh. While we can't see much through the heavy camouflage, we can see glimpses at the Mustang-inspired front end. The Mach E will debut sometime in 2020, likely as a 2021 model.
PoliticsFOX News VideosJoe Biden gets defensive about crowd size in Iowa
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden rejects comparisons to rivals' campaign events, claims he is drawing crowds 'bigger than anybody' in Iowa.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Ex-VA doctor who was fired for being drunk on job charged with manslaughter in 3 veterans' deaths
A former Veterans Affairs pathologist fired for being intoxicated on the job was charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with "incorrect and misleading diagnoses" he made, federal prosecutors in Arkansas said Tuesday. Robert Morris Levy was indicted by a federal grand jury and faces additional charges of fraud and making false statements. Levy not only lied about his alcohol use and manipulated mandatory alcohol and drug tests, but he also falsified patient records that ultimately caused the veterans' deaths, a federal investigation found.
- NewsBusiness Insider
23 towns in Texas were hit by possibly the largest-ever ransomware attack, in what could be the first coordinated cyberattack of its kind
23 towns in Texas had their computer systems hacked and their data held hostage in a large-scale coordinated ransomware attack August 16, the Texas Department of Information Resources said. It's unclear whether the computer systems in the affected town had sufficient security measures, or whether they have backups of their data. Twenty-three towns in Texas had their computer systems hacked and their data held hostage in a large-scale coordinated ransomware attack August 16, the Texas Department of Information Resources said in a statement.
- WorldAssociated Press
Pentagon cancels billion-dollar missile defense project
The Pentagon is pulling the plug on a billion-dollar, technically troubled project to build a better weapon that would destroy incoming missiles. The move is aimed in part at considering new approaches to missile defense at a time of rapid technological change. The announced reason for canceling the Boeing contract, effective Thursday, was that the project's design problems were so significant as to be either insurmountable or too costly to correct.
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 2-Canada's Trudeau says won't back down in dispute with China, urges restraint in Hong Kong
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said he would not escalate a deepening trade and diplomatic dispute with China but added that his government had no intention of backing down as it defended its interests. Speaking to an audience in Montreal just days after Beijing warned Ottawa not to meddle in Hong Kong's affairs, Trudeau also repeated his call for restraint and respect for human rights as protests sweep the former British colony. China has detained two Canadian citizens and halted imports of canola seed and meat products from Canada since Vancouver police detained a senior Huawei Technologies Co Ltd executive on a U.S. arrest warrant last December.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY Opinion
The Trump-Greenland effect: Deplorable policies buried in an avalanche of absurd optics
Donald Trump giving a thumbs-up as if congratulating a baby orphaned during the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, stirred some condemnation. Trump is also preparing to contest a possible loss in 2020 by resuscitating his aging voter fraud lies that even his own “Election Integrity” commission debunked as Republicans, led by “Moscow” Mitch McConnell, keep blocking any legislation that might prevent the sort of Russian interference in our elections that FBI Director Christopher Wray says is “absolutely” happening. Pretty much the only person rushing to Todd's defense was Frank Luntz — the Republican “wordsmith” who helped popularize the term “illegal immigrant” to help kill immigration reform during George W. Bush's presidency.
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.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Fox News Tried to Get Jill Abramson to Call the New York Times Biased. It Backfired.
During a lengthy Fox News interview on Wednesday morning, former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson repeatedly frustrated America's Newsroom anchors Sandra Smith and Jon Scott as she rebuffed their attempts to get her to criticize the paper's coverage of President Trump. In recent days, Fox News has been laser-focused on a transcript of the newspaper's recent town-hall meeting, claiming it showed current Times executive editor Dean Baquet admitting the paper switched narratives from the Russia investigation to racism in an effort to take out the president.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
Here's How Aliens Might See Earth
Cornell researchers have released a working concept of what Earth may look like from other exoplanets. The two-dimensional alien map in the image above depicts Earth as an exoplanet. To make the map, the researchers captured about 10,000 images of Earth from NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Carrie Symonds 'barred from entering the US over Somaliland trip'
The situation could prove embarrassing for the Prime Minister, who is expected to meet US President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in France which begins on Saturday. The problem with Ms Symonds' travel plans could be linked to a trip to Somaliland last year. The US does not recognise Somaliland as an independent country, instead viewing it as part of Somalia.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Former Massachusetts police union president used dues as 'personal piggy bank,' feds say
BOSTON – The former president of the Massachusetts state police union and the organization's top lobbyist were arrested Wednesday in an alleged kickback and bribery scheme involving the misuse of thousands of dollars in union dues. Dana Pullman, ex-president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, is accused of using the union's debit card to pay for personal expenses. Feds said Pullman used the union's bank account like his "own personal piggy bank," embezzling funds to pay for romantic gifts and a trip to Miami with an unnamed woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair.
