Russia 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.

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  Russia's floating nuclear plant sails to its destination

  Associated Press
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  A floating nuclear plant in Russia features a gym, bar, and pool. An expert calls it 'Chernobyl on ice.'

  Business Insider

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.

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  Chinese state media accuses Hong Kong metro of aiding protesters

  AFP
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  Timelapse Footage Spans Hong Kong Human Chain from Times Square to Tin Hau

  Storyful

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.

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  Man charged in death of Michigan girl attacked by 3 dogs

  Yahoo News Video
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  Man charged in dog mauling death of Detroit girl

  USA TODAY

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.

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

David Koch's Millions Remade the Republican Party. He Didn't Like the Results

When Bill Koch challenged sibling Charles' spending on libertarian causes and staged a failed boardroom coup, David and Charles began a bitter and years-long battle against two other siblings to wrest control of the vast Koch Industries out of their hands. And as the nascent Tea Party movement started stirring in the late 2000s, it was David Koch who saw the potential to use his family's already formidable network of deep-pocketed allies to tap into the nation's frustrations through groups like Americans for Prosperity. In doing so, Koch became perhaps the most prominent and vilified symbol of the billionaires who have turned 21st century politics into a playground of the privileged.

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  David Koch dead at 79, brother Charles Koch announces

  FOX News Videos
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  How the Koch brothers used their massive fortune to power a conservative crusade that reshaped American politics

  Business Insider

Rep. Jerry Nadler slams 'growing anti-Semitism,' condemns cartoon shared by Omar and Tlaib

Zach Friend and David Bahnsen weigh in on controversial comments made by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar and President Trump.

Metal detectorist finds £10,000 gold ring in garage 40 years after discarding it as worthless

A metal detectorist who discarded a gold ring in his garage for 40 years after a museum told him it was worthless has discovered its real value is £10,000. Tom Clark, 81, dug up the buried treasure while scanning an area of farmland near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979, then put it inside a metal tin and forgot about it. But the retired leather craftsman came across the rare seal ring eight years ago while sorting through items from his mother's house after she passed away.

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 ...

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  Jay Inslee begins campaign for 3rd term as governor after dropping out of presidential race

  USA TODAY
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  How Jay Inslee moved the ball on the climate issue in presidential bid, and why he fell short of the goal

  GeekWire

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.

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  Putin promises 'symmetrical response' to US missile test after end of nuclear treaty

  The Telegraph
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  Kremlin dismisses doctors' complaints they were exposed to radiation after blast

  The Telegraph

Overstock CEO resigns over relationship with Russian 'spy'

The chief executive of the e-commerce firm Overstock.com stepped down Thursday over his relationship with an alleged Russian intelligence operative jailed for meddling in US politics. Patrick Byrne only recently admitted that he had a close relationship with Maria Butina for three years, during the period when she beguiled top Republican and National Rifle Association officials with talk of strengthening Moscow-Washington relations and her flair with guns. He said in an eccentric company statement last week that he had been pulled into the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election by the deep state and men in black , charging that the FBI probe was political ...

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  Overstock Ex-CEO’s Bonkers Rant to Fox Business: I’m Part of ‘Deep State’

  The Daily Beast
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  Chris Cuomo on former Overstock CEO's wild claims: ‘I've never heard anything like this’

  Yahoo Entertainment

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.

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.

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.

Man arrested for holding woman as sex slave and keeping her eight-month-old baby captive

A North Carolina man has been arrested after holding a woman and her 8-month-old baby captive for over a month, authorities said. The Pender County Sheriff's department said in a press release they received an emergency call on 9 August from a woman who said she was being held against her will at a home in Willard, North Carolina. Deputies responding to the call found a 24-year-old woman and her infant child, both unnamed, being held by James Bryan Peterson, 54, who had apparently kept them for weeks.

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.

U.S. new home sales drop sharply, point to more housing weakness

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes sank more than expected in July, a sign that the housing market continued in low gear despite lower mortgage rates and a strong labor market. The Commerce Department said on Friday new home sales dropped 12.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 635,000 units last month. Economists had expected a sales pace of 649,000 units.

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  ETFs to Grab as US Existing Home Sales Hit a 5-Month High

  Zacks
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  3 Homebuilder Stocks to Consider After Upbeat July Home Sales

  Zacks

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.

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  Seth Moulton drops out of 2020 presidential race

  USA TODAY
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  Candidates face opposition on Day 2 of Democratic summer meeting in San Francisco

  KGO – San Francisco

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.

Fear 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.

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  Myanmar blames Rohingya repatriation failure on Bangladesh

  AFP
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  Rohingya offer special prayers to go home

  AFP

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.

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.