- WorldAssociated Press
Strikes on Iran-backed militias threaten to destabilize Iraq
An Israeli airstrike on an Iranian weapons depot in Iraq, confirmed by U.S. officials, is threatening to destabilize security in the volatile country that has struggled to remain neutral in the conflict between Washington and Tehran. It would be the first known Israeli airstrike in Iraq since 1981, when Israeli warplanes destroyed a nuclear reactor being built by Saddam Hussein, and significantly expands Israel's campaign against Iranian military involvement in the region. The July 19 attack targeted a base belonging to Iranian-backed paramilitary forces in Amirli in the northern Salaheddin province, and killed two Iranians.
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.
- WorldReuters
Chinese ship inches closer to Vietnam coastline amid South China Sea tensions
A Chinese survey vessel on Saturday extended its activities to an area closer to Vietnam's coastline, ship tracking data showed, after the United States and Australia expressed concern about China's actions in the disputed waterways. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 vessel first entered Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) early last month where it began a weeks-long seismic survey, triggering a tense standoff between military and coastguard vessels from Vietnam and China. The Chinese vessel continued to survey Vietnam's EEZ on Saturday under escort from at least four ships and was around 102 kilometres (63 miles) southeast of Vietnam's Phu Quy island and 185 kilometres (115 miles) from the beaches of the southern city of Phan Thiet, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessel movements.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Dog owner charged with second-degree murder in Detroit 9-year-old's mauling death
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Thursday that Pierre Cleveland, 33, will face charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and having a dangerous animal causing death. Cleveland was arrested Monday and arraigned in Detroit's 36th District Court. According to the prosecutor, Cleveland allegedly left his three dogs in his backyard Monday behind a fence that was damaged and not secure.
- 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.
- 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 ...
- 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.
- 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.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Released from death row, then returned — forced to prove race discrimination a second time
Next week, Tilmon Golphin, a black man who had already proved that his murder trial was tainted by racial discrimination, will be forced to fight for his life before the North Carolina Supreme Court — yet again. Golphin was just 19 in 1997 when he was charged with capital murder. During jury selection, a black man in the jury pool reported that he overheard two white jurors remarking that Golphin “never should have made it out of the woods” where he and his brother fled.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Sanders campaign boss concedes he may not win New Hampshire
The campaign manager for Bernie Sanders emphasized Thursday that New Hampshire is a critical presidential primary state he expects Sanders to win, but he's leaving room for a scenario in which Sanders falls short. Faiz Shakir said he doesn't "like the language of must-win," though he does believe it is an important early voting state. But he said he still thinks Sanders could win the Democratic nomination without taking New Hampshire, though he acknowledges that the path to victory would be more difficult if Sanders doesn't.
- WorldThe Telegraph
UK Hong Kong consulate worker Simon Cheng freed after detention in mainland China
A British consulate employee in Hong Kong has been freed by China after being detained for 15 days on the mainland amid rising tensions between the former British colony and Beijing. Simon Cheng, 28, a trade and investment officer at the Hong Kong consulate's Scottish Development International section, went missing on August 8 on his way back from a work trip in Shenzhen, a neighbouring Chinese city. It was not until after the UK expressed “extreme concern” about his disappearance that China's foreign ministry broke its silence, confirming Mr Cheng had been detained without releasing further details.
- 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
- HealthReuters
U.S. Justice Ginsburg treated for pancreatic cancer
Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has completed a three-week course of radiation therapy to treat a cancerous tumor on her pancreas, a court spokeswoman said on Friday. The 86-year old justice, who has had previous cancer scares, tolerated the therapy well and no further treatment is required, spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said in a statement. An abnormality was first detected in July, and the tumor was identified following a biopsy performed on July 31 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
PoliticsFOX News VideosFederal appeals court rules Colorado was 'wrong' to force electors to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016
Bradley Moss and John Yoo weigh in on a federal court ruling in Colorado on the Electoral College that could make its way to the Supreme Court.
- NewsThe Guardian
Governor criticized for 'disgusting' anti-immigrant email sent day before El Paso attack
The day before a gunman in El Paso carried out the deadliest attack against Latinos in modern US history, the Texas governor sent out an anti-immigrant fundraising letter calling on Republicans to “DEFEND TEXAS NOW” and “take matters into our own hands”, according to news reports. The 2 August letter from the governor, Greg Abbott, lamented that in “just three weeks in June, 45,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended crossing the Mexican border into Texas!” It continued: “That amounts to the entire population of Galveston – every three weeks. “If we're going to DEFEND Texas, we'll need to take matters into our own hands,” Abbott wrote in the mailer, which was reported by the Texas Signal website.
WorldAFPFear grips Bangladesh camp as 2 Rohingya refugees killed
Bangladesh police said they had shot dead two Rohingya refugees during a gunfight in a refugee camp on Saturday after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official. Nearly a million Rohingya live in squalid camps in southeast Bangladesh, 740,000 of whom fled a 2017 military offensive against the Muslim minority in Myanmar. The incident comes two days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border to conflict-scarred Rakhine state.
- WorldBloomberg
Iceland Held Talks With U.S. Ambassador Over Pence Visit
Iceland' prime minister is open to a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence during his trip to the Nordic island, should the visit be extended. The option was discussed during a pre-scheduled meeting on Friday between Katrin Jakobsdottir and ambassador Jeffrey Gunter, a government spokesman told Bloomberg. Jakobsdottir, a left-of-center feminist and LGBT advocate, is due to attend a conference by Nordic trade union leaders in Sweden on Sept.
- WorldThe Independent
Nasa investigating first ever ‘space crime’ as astronaut accused of committing theft from ISS
Ms Worden put her intelligence background to work, asking her bank about the locations of computers that had recently accessed her bank account using her login credentials. The bank got back to her with an answer: one was a computer network registered to Nasa. Ms Worden's spouse, Anne McClain, was a decorated Nasa astronaut on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
- 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.
- PoliticsYahoo News
DNC likely to raise polling threshold for November debate, sources say
The field of eligible candidates may actually grow bigger for the October debate, since the DNC has decided not to raise the polling threshold above 2 percent from its September rules and will also keep the marker for small-dollar donations at 130,000. But in November the DNC, which is increasingly under fire for its handling of presidential debates, is likely to raise the polling requirement above 2 percent, according to multiple sources involved in the process who spoke to Yahoo News about internal deliberations on the condition they not be identified. What's not clear — and seems to be unsettled still — is how high that number will go.
U.S.USA TODAYSpecial prosecutor named in Jussie Smollett case
A Chicago judge on Friday named a special prosecutor to look into why state prosecutors abruptly dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett that accused him of staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself. Aug.
- WorldReuters
Russia's Chechnya inaugurates what it says is Europe's largest mosque
Authorities in the Russian region of Chechnya on Friday inaugurated what they said was the largest mosque in Europe in a pomp-filled ceremony attended by local and foreign officials. Named after the Prophet Mohammed, the marble-decorated mosque has capacity for more than 30,000 people and has been described by the Chechen authorities as the "largest and most beautiful" mosque in Europe. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said the mosque -- located in Shali, a town of 54,000 just outside the regional capital Grozny -- was "unique in its design, and majestic in its size and beauty".
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Prince Andrew: Staying Pals With Jeffrey Epstein a ‘Mistake and an Error’
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, issued a lengthy statement on Saturday in which he admitted it was a “mistake and an error” to continue his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after the convicted pedophile was released from a Florida jail in 2009. “I can only reiterate my regret that I was mistaken to think that what I thought I knew of him was evidently not the real person, given what we now know,” wrote the embattled brother of Prince Charles. The statement is clearly meant to distance the prince from Epstein who Andrew visited in 2010.
- NewsThe Guardian
Fast-moving wildfire erupts in California, forcing thousands to evacuate
A fast-moving wildfire that broke out on Thursday in northern California has forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 residents, racing across at least 600 acres within just a few hours, officials say. The Mountain fire, which erupted on the outskirts of a national forest in northern California, has threatened 1,110 homes and structures. Photos of the blaze posted on Twitter by the Shasta county sheriff's office showed thick black and gray smoke billowing into the area over a highway near the Shasta-Trinity national forest.
WorldAFPHong Kong police fire tear gas as clashes return to city streets
Hong Kong riot police on Saturday fired tear gas and baton-charged protesters who retaliated with a barrage of stones, bottles and bamboo poles, in another tense bout of violence. The city has been gripped by three months of street protests that started against a proposed extradition bill to China but have spun out into a wider pro-democracy movement. An uneasy peace had descended this week but that was broken on Saturday as thousands of demonstrators -- many wearing hard hats and gas masks -- marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of officers with shields and batons outside a police station.
