- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump tells Republicans he may begin cutting social security and Medicare if he wins in 2020
Republicans on Capitol Hill say Donald Trump may be willing to cut Social Security and Medicare if he wins in 2020, reportedly describing the potential move as a “second-term project”. Several senators told the New York Times in a report published this week they spoke to the president about reducing the costs of the federal health care and retirement programs — a move that would likely stir controversy in a presidential election season. Republicans have said cutting both programs is crucial to reducing the nation's deficit, which has ballooned under Mr Trump thanks, in part, to the GOP tax bill passed in 2017.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Ex-wife, children of Atlanta surgeon Christopher Edwards found dead in apparent murder-suicide
ATLANTA – The ex-wife and two adult children of a prominent Atlanta surgeon and housing chairman were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. The shooting victims were identified as Dr. Marsha Edwards, 58; Christopher Edwards Jr., 24; and Erin Edwards, 20, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Authorities say they believe Marsha Edwards shot both of her children before turning the gun on herself.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Texas executes man in college student's death
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to halt the scheduled execution of a Texas inmate who maintains his innocence and contends his murder conviction for killing a suburban Houston college student was based on junk science. Larry Swearingen is set to receive a lethal injection Wednesday evening for the 1998 killing of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter. Her body was found about a month after she was seen leaving her campus.
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.
- 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
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Le Brexit breakthrough? Europe says "Nein", "non", "no"
After sterling soared and some British newspapers roared at a supposed Brexit victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Europe's power brokers had a more sobering message: the basic divorce deal is not changing. Three years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the outcome of the tortuous Brexit crisis remains unclear, with options ranging from an acrimonious rupture on Oct. 31 to a smooth, amicable exit or even another referendum. Enter PM Johnson, an avowed Brexiteer whose bet is that the threat of a disorderly 'no-deal' exit will convince German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron that the EU must grant him the divorce deal he wants.
- 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.
- WorldTime
Border Agents Are Searching for Migrant Boy, 3, Swept Away With His Mom in the Rio Grande
U.S. Border Patrol agents are searching for a 3-year-old boy who went missing after attempting to cross the Rio Grande River with his mother, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a Thursday statement. On Tuesday, a dozen migrants who were trying to cross the river near a port of entry in Texas alerted border control officials that the toddler and his mother had broken off from the pack while attempting to navigate the river's intense current. With the assistance of CBP Air and Marine Operations aircraft, agents immediately began searching the area.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump fumes over emissions deal between automakers and California
California announced a deal with four automakers Wednesday that would increase vehicle fuel efficiency and defy the Trump administration's plan to ease tailpipe emissions standards. In response, the president vented his frustration on Twitter. Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW signed on to the voluntary agreement with California, but the deal will have nationwide impact, as the four automakers account for 30 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. annually.
- 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."
- 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.
WorldAFPEx-US marine says injured by Russian prison guards
A former US marine who was arrested in Moscow on espionage charges said Friday he had been injured by guards in the prison where he is being held awaiting trial. "I was injured in the prison... the prison doesn't want to tell you," Paul Whelan told journalists from a cage in a Moscow court, which was to decide on whether to extend his provisional detention. Whelan arrived in the court handcuffed and escorted by two security guards wearing black masks and plain clothes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- NewsINSIDER
A woman caught a fish with two mouths and the photo is just as shocking as you would expect
Courtesy of Knotty Boys Fishing A woman in upstate New York surely found the "catch-of-the-day" when she reeled in a fish that looks like it has two mouths. Debbie Geddes caught the fish while out with her husband on Lake Champlain and released the fish back into the water after snapping some photos. Her colleague, Adam Facteau, thought the lake oddity would likely garner some attention online and posted it to a local fishing enthusiasts page on Facebook, where it has since garnered thousands of comments and shares.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
Joe Biden inspires no one – not even his own wife
Much like Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden's Democratic primary campaign has thus far cloaked itself in an aura of inevitability. You might not like Joe Biden. Jill Biden, the former vice-president's wife, made the case bizarrely explicit on MSNBC earlier this week.
- 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.
- NewsBusiness Insider
Democratic presidential candidates have a new approach for tackling gun violence: Treat it as a public-health crisis
Warren and Booker have outlined the need to fund public-health research to inform better policies to address gun violence, saying they will fund and use the tactics of community-based intervention. These programs use data to locate high-risk areas for gun violence. Community members then intervene to mediate and de-escalate violence and refer people to social services.
U.S.Yahoo News VideoFlorida set to execute serial killer who preyed on gay men
A serial killer who preyed on older gay men during an eight-month spree that left six dead on or near the East Coast is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening.
- 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.
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.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
20 of the Craziest Pickup Trucks Ever
A pickup truck's job is simple, but that didn't stop some makers from turning these basic workhorses into wild machines. From Car and Driver
