- PoliticsYahoo News
2020 Vision: Democratic field continues to shrink as Inslee and Moulton drop out
Inslee and Moulton follow former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who announced Thursday he was dropping his presidential bid to run for the Senate. Incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner is seen as one of the most vulnerable Republican targets in the 2020 cycle. Debate field expands — for now After earning 2 percent in a CNN national poll released earlier this week, former Housing Secretary Julián Castro became the 10th Democratic to qualify for next month's debates, joining: Joe Biden Cory Booker Pete Buttigieg Kamala Harris Amy Klobuchar Beto O'Rourke Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Andrew Yang If billionaire Tom Steyer reaches 2 percent in one more poll, or Rep. Tulsi Gabbard hits that mark in two ...
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.
- NewsINSIDER
Police are trying to arrest their way out of a mass shooting epidemic, and experts warn it could have dire consequences
Since the El Paso and Dayton shootings left 31 people dead on August 3 and 4, at least 28 people across the US have been arrested and accused of plotting or threatening mass shootings. In the weeks since two gunmen in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, slaughtered 31 people within 24 hours, dozens of people across the US have been accused of threatening deadly shooting sprees. Among them are teenagers accused of posting violent threats on social media, grown men who authorities say possessed massive stockpiles of guns, and even a Florida mom who police say threatened to shoot up an elementary school because her children were being rezoned there.
- NewsThe Guardian
Radical gun reform may finally have a voice in Washington
And it may represent the first time in decades that the majority of Americans will get any real representation in the gun control debate in Washington. March for Our Lives' young activists endorsed an Australia-style mandatory government buyback and destruction of “assault weapons”. They want to decrease the number of guns in circulation by 30% – which would mean roughly 100m fewer firearms in American hands.
- WorldBloomberg
Putin Needs to Bury This Relic of Stalin
As Europe marks 80 years of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which carved up eastern Europe between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Russia is trying to defend the agreement again. There is no political benefit to doing this. President Vladimir Putin needs to abandon his Stalinist inheritance of a foreign policy based solely on national interest.
- 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.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Rep. Steve King wants to make abortion point in 'softer way'
Backed by supporters at a news conference in Des Moines, the Iowa Republican affirmed his belief that abortion should be outlawed with no exceptions for rape or incest. King faced criticism for his comment Aug. 14 that questioned whether there would be "any population of the world left" if not for births due to rape or incest. The remarks were condemned by numerous groups and individuals, including Republican and Democratic candidates seeking to oust King, Democratic presidential candidates as well as the Iowa Republican Party and Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in House leadership.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Newt Gingrich says slavery needs to be put 'in context,' calls 1619 project a 'lie'
WASHINGTON – Appearing on "Fox and Friends" on Monday morning, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that The New York Times' 1619 Project was "a lie." The 1619 Project is an effort by the Times to commemorate the 400th anniversary of slavery's beginning in America. The 1619 Project aims to "reframe the country's history, [understand] 1619 as our true founding, and [place] the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are."
- WorldReuters
Netanyahu hints at Israeli involvement in Iraq blasts
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted on Thursday of possible Israeli involvement in attacks against Iranian-linked targets in Iraq. A series of blasts in the past few weeks have hit weapon depots and bases belonging to paramilitary groups in Iraq, many of them backed by Israel's regional foe Iran. The groups blamed the United States and Israel for the blasts on Wednesday.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump struggles to pronounce various words during rambling speech to veterans
Wednesday's official event in Louisville, Kentucky, nominally used to announce a cancellation of student debt owed by permanently disabled US veterans, at times resembled a Trump campaign rally, and saw the president repeatedly stumble over lines read out from a teleprompter. It followed an extraordinary huddle with reporters earlier in the day outside the White House in which Mr Trump attacked the Danish prime minister for rejecting his advances over Greenland, referred to himself as the “Chosen One”, suggested he could change the constitution to abolish birthright citizenship and talked about serving another 14 years as president. The Europe (sic), certain countries in Europe, they got to take them back because we don't want to hold them,” Mr Trump said in reference to America's presence in Syria.
- WorldAFP
UK consulate staffer returns to Hong Kong after China detention
A British consulate employee detained in China has returned to Hong Kong, his family said Saturday, ending a two-week ordeal during which Beijing's state media smeared him with lurid allegations. Simon Cheng disappeared after visiting the neighbouring city of Shenzhen on August 8 and was placed in administrative detention by police, unable to contact his family or his British employers. He was returning to Hong Kong on a high-speed train and sent messages to his girlfriend as he was about to go through customs, shortly before he was stopped by Chinese authorities.
- NewsINSIDER
A Beverly Hills realtor has been charged with burglarizing the homes of celebrities — including Adam Lambert and Usher — while hosting open houses
A Beverly Hills realtor and another man have been charged with burglarizing the homes of celebrities, mostly during open houses. Realtor Jason Yaselli and Benjamin Eitan Ackerman face 50 felony counts, and could spend more than 31 years in state prison if convicted. Ackerman has pleaded not guilty.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
2020 Toyota GR Supra vs. 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350: Which Is the Better Driver's Machine?
This is a fight between the 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and the 2020 Toyota GR Supra. Carroll Shelby's first Mustang GT350 was built in 1965, constructed in a small industrial building in Venice, California. Now, with the return of the Supra for 2020—albeit with more than a little help from BMW—these two legends are finally rolling off assembly lines at the same time.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
After Beating and Hernia, American Prisoner Paul Whelan Refused Hospitalization by FSB Doctors
MOSCOW–Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen held in Russia on suspicion of spying, looked pale and sick when his prison guards brought him to Lefortovo court on Friday. He said he had been beaten and is suffering from a hernia, but his condition is hardly a surprise after eight months in Moscow's Lefortovo, a prison run but the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB, and it looks like Whelan has learned only too well how incarceration there operates. Whelan is facing 20 years in Russian prison for spying, after accepting a flashcard that allegedly contains some sensitive information.
- U.S.WPIX - New York
Man Throws Brick at Woman's Head in One of Several Random NYC Attacks
A man has attacked at least four people in random Manhattan attacks this August, police said.
- WorldAssociated Press
Russian doctor has trace of radiation after explosion
More than 100 Russian medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday. It was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, but the authorities insisted it didn't pose any danger. The Arkhangelsk regional administration said Friday that 110 medical workers have undergone checks that one man was found with a low amount of radioactive cesium-137 in his muscle tissue.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Fires in the Amazon could be part of a doomsday scenario that sees the rainforest spewing carbon into the atmosphere and speeding up climate change even more
The Amazon rainforest provides 20% of the world's oxygen, but its destruction could cause it to not only stop helping the planet, but start releasing carbon and worsening climate change. In a "dieback" scenario, rising temperatures could dry trees, meaning they absorb less carbon and become more flammable, eventually turning the rainforest into a savannah and releasing billions of tons of stored carbon. Researchers have debated the likelihood of the scenario, but fears have heightened under Brazil's new president, who has advocated expansion of industry in the region, which involves burning and cutting down trees.
- 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
- PoliticsThe Guardian
Fox News is a dangerous state propaganda outlet. Sarah Sanders' job confirms that
The only surprising thing about Sarah Sanders joining FOX News was that it took this long. The former Trump press secretary is a perfect fit for the network, a faithful and shameless propagandist for the right. It would have been shocking if she'd ended up anywhere other than “Trump's personal YouTube channel.” It is, however, perhaps the most explicit confirmation we have that FOX now functions as the kind of “state television” apparatus that Americans think is is peculiar to countries like Russia and Iran.
- NewsReuters
Former police officer charged with murder for botched Houston raid
Prosecutors charged a former Houston police officer on Friday with two counts of murder and another ex-officer with evidence tampering, in connection with a deadly drug raid that was based on bogus information, officials said. The filing of criminal charges in the case comes as federal and local authorities investigate the January police raid at a house, which resulted in the shooting deaths of a couple who lived there and the wounding of four officers who took part in the operation. Prosecutors are reviewing 14,000 criminal cases involving the drug squad that conducted the raid for evidence of improprieties, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told a news conference.
- NewsINSIDER
An innocent man spent months in jail after customs officials thought honey he brought back from Jamaica was liquid meth
Leon Haughton told The Washington Post that he was stopped at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on December 29. Haughton, a Jamaican native and green card holder with no prior convictions, told The Post that this was the first time he had been stopped by customs in the 10 years he had been traveling back and forth to visit his mother. A Maryland man spent nearly three months in jail after US Customs and Border Protection agents at Baltimore's airport thought honey he had brought back from a trip to Jamaica was liquid meth.
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".
- 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.
- WorldAssociated Press
Hong Kong protesters form human chains to call for democracy
Supporters of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement lined the streets and part of the city's harbor front Friday, inspired by a human chain in a historic Baltic states protest against Soviet control 30 years ago. Some raised linked hands while others switched on their smartphone lights and held the devices aloft to create a row of white lights against the nighttime skyline. Organizers hoped the chains, which traced three subway routes, would total 40 kilometers (25 miles) in length.
