WorldAFPUS offers $7 mn to find Hezbollah agent as Pompeo visits Argentina
The United States on Friday offered a $7 million reward to find a Hezbollah operative accused of masterminding a deadly 1994 attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to unite Latin American nations against the militants. Pompeo visited to mark the 25th anniversary of Argentina's deadliest attack, lighting a candle at the site of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association where a plaque lists the names of the 85 dead. "They were killed by members of a terrorist group, Hezbollah, and had help that day from Iran," Pompeo told a remembrance ceremony, saying that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards provided "logistical support and funding."
- WorldAssociated Press
Ukraine's president says he backs prisoner swap with Russia
Ukraine's president on Friday outlined the details of an impending prisoner swap with Russia, saying that Kiev is willing to release a jailed Russian journalist in exchange for a Ukrainian film director. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's statement comes at the end of the week of shuttle diplomacy, with the Russian and Ukrainian human rights ombudswomen holding talks both in Moscow and in Kiev. The flurry of activity around imprisoned Russians and Ukrainians follows last week's first telephone call between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- WorldReuters
Gibraltar extends detention of Iranian tanker for a month
Gibraltar was granted the power on Friday to detain Iran's Grace 1 oil tanker for another month, keeping the vessel at the center of a big-power quarrel between Iran and the United States and its allies. Gibraltar said the Iranian vessel, seized by marines in a daring landing in darkness off the coast of the British territory on July 4, was suspected of smuggling oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. Iran has repeatedly called for the ship's release, denies the allegation that the tanker was taking oil to Syria in violation of sanctions and says Gibraltar and Britain seized the vessel on the orders of Washington.
- U.S.KTLA - Los Angeles
Father Charged With Murder in Deaths of Two Sons with Autism Who Drowned After Car Went Off California Dock
A man whose two sons with autism drowned after the family's car plunged off a dock in California four years ago was charged Wednesday with capital murder, as prosecutors allege he killed the boys for financial gain.
- TechnologyThe National Interest
The Navy's 6th Generation Fighter Could Put the F-35 in a Museum
New much-longer range sensors and weapons, incorporating emerging iterations of AI, are expected to make warfare more disaggregated, and much less of a linear force on force type of engagement. The Navy is currently analyzing air frames, targeting systems, AI-enabled sensors, new weapons and engine technologies to engineer a new 6th-Generation fighter to fly alongside the F-35 and ultimately replace the F/A-18. The Navy program, called Next-Generation Air Dominance, has moved beyond a purely conceptual phase and begun exploration of prototype systems and airframes as it pursues a new, carrier-launched 6th-Gen fighter to emerge in 2030 and beyond, service officials explained.
- NewsUSA TODAY
California city votes to ban gendered words as 'manhole' becomes 'maintenance hole'
A California city voted to ban some gender-specific words in its city code and replace them with gender-neutral options. Berkeley's municipal code will no longer feature words like "manhole" and "manpower," and instead say, "maintenance hole" and "human effort" or "workforce." The measure passed unanimously Tuesday and replaces more than two dozen terms.
PoliticsAssociated PressMueller probe witness now faces child sex trafficking charge
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) A businessman who served as a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation now faces a charge of child sex trafficking in addition to transporting child pornography. An indictment made public Friday in federal court in Alexandria charges Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, 60, with transporting a 14-year-old boy from Europe to Washington, D.C., in February 2000 and engaging in sex acts with him. It details his efforts to serve as liaison between a Russian banker close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of President Donald Trump's transition team.
- WorldBloomberg
Hong Kong Protesters Who Stormed Legco Seek Asylum in Taiwan: Report
About 30 protesters have already landed in Taiwan, while as many as 30 others -- and possibly more -- are planning to try soon, the Hong Kong newspaper said, citing unidentified people who assisted them. The people who assisted the protesters told the paper they had been in contact with Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which handles the island's relations with Beijing, to seek help. The council hasn't received any formal asylum applications from Taiwan's National Immigration Agency, its deputy minister Chiu Chui-cheng said in a text message.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Journalist reporting on immigration released from ‘inhumane’ US migrant detention centre after 15 months
Those are just some of the conditions Manuel Duran described after he was released from a US immigration detention centre. As a journalist in Memphis, Tennessee, Mr Duran had been reporting on immigration enforcement officials and sordid conditions for more than a decade by the time they took him into custody last year. Now, he says he's experienced the neglect himself.
WorldAFPRamush Haradinaj, Kosovo's 'Rambo' ex-PM and Serbian antagonist
Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned as Kosovo's prime minister on Friday, is hailed as a hero at home -- where he is nicknamed "Rambo" -- but considered a war criminal by Belgrade, which has long sought to see him behind bars. The controversial 51-year-old, who was a wartime commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), stepped down after being summoned as a suspect by a war crimes court in the Hague. It is the second time he has resigned after being called before a war crimes court over crimes allegedly committed by the ethnic Albanian KLA separatists during the 1998-99 war.
- WorldAssociated Press
Strong quake hits near Greek capital of Athens, 4 hurt
A strong earthquake centered northwest of Athens shook Greece on Friday, causing frightened residents to run into the capital's streets and damaging several buildings. The Athens Institute of Geodynamics gave the earthquake that struck at 2:13 p.m. local time (1113 GMT) a preliminary magnitude of 5.1. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 5.3.
- BusinessCar and Driver
View Photos of the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO
View Photos of the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO From Car and Driver
- WorldReuters
U.S. amphibious group patrols Arabian Sea as Iran tensions simmer
At a thumbs-up sign from a sailor, a U.S. Harrier fighter jet takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Arabian Sea as an oil tanker passes, a nautical mile away. The patrol is "standard" but the situation - growing tension between the United States and Iran - is not. "We want to make sure that we assure allies in the region and to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce," says Colonel Fridrik Fridrikson, commanding officer of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
- LifestyleUSA TODAY
Texas teen arrested for spitting in tea bottle and putting it back, police say
The police officer said the teen repeatedly told him that he took a drink of the tea, then put it back, because it was "gross." has seen a number of Texans gain viral fame for doing weird and often disturbing things with food and drinks, including licking ice cream and drinking wine from a Pringles can. Woman licks tub of Blue Bell ice cream, then puts it back in the store freezer A video posted in June of a woman appearing to lick a tub of Blue Bell ice cream before putting it back in a grocery store freezer attracted the attention of millions, including Blue Bell Creameries.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
How Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution Was Resurrected—and Betrayed
White Pine Pictures is a Canadian documentary film production company whose members in 1986 produced The World Is Watching, about the coverage of the Contra War in Nicaragua by Western media. I was one of the featured journalists. In 2002, some 16 years later, White Pine contacted me to ask whether I would be willing to return to Nicaragua to film a sequel.
- WorldAssociated Press
Mexican to seek return of "Chapo" Guzman's drug money
Mexico's president said Thursday he will use legal channels to try to get the fortune of convicted drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman returned to Mexico. "I think that everything that is confiscated and has to do with Mexico must be returned to Mexico," López Obrador said at his daily news conference. U.S. officials have estimated Guzman's fortune at $14 billion and a judge ordered Guzman to pay $12.6 billion as part of his U.S. life sentence announced Wednesday.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
Rep. Ilhan Omar Stonewalling Hometown Paper on Marriage Controversy, Editor Says
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has allegedly been uncooperative with her hometown paper's efforts to get to the bottom of accusations that she committed marriage fraud, the paper's political editor said. Omar's brief congressional career has been dogged by accusations — which she has denied — that she married a male relative, possibly her brother. Omar and her current husband, Ahmed Hirsi, filed joint tax returns while Omar was married to another man, Ahmed Elmi, Minnesota campaign finance officials said.
- Lifestylemotorious
First Thoughts On The 2020 Mid-Engine Corvette C8
The Corvette C8 reveal was perhaps one of the most highly anticipated unveilings in recent automotive history. Let's take a moment to go over the facts and features of the all-new, 2020 mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8. While our sister site, Motor1, has been diligently covering this, I wanted to speak out from an enthusiast and Chevrolet owner's standpoint. This Corvette C8 event was on my calendar for months and, while I wish I was actually there, I feel like the excitement on the web and the ongoing real-time conversations made up for that.
WorldAFPS. Korean man kills himself as dispute with Japan escalates
An elderly South Korean man died on Friday after setting himself on fire outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul as a bitter diplomatic dispute over wartime forced labour compensation took a fatal turn. The row has seen Tokyo restrict exports of chemicals vital to Seoul's world-leading chip and smartphone industry in an escalation of a decades-long dispute over Japanese forced labour during World War II. The man in his 70s started a fire inside his vehicle parked in front of the embassy building and later died after being treated in hospital, authorities said, adding around 20 disposable gas canisters were also found in the car.
- WorldAssociated Press
Navy warship sunk by German sub in WWII finally located
A private dive team has located the last U.S. Navy warship to be sunk by a German submarine in World War II, just a few miles (kilometers) off the coast of Maine. The sinking of the USS Eagle PE-56 on April 23, 1945, was originally blamed on a boiler explosion. But the Navy determined in 2001 that it had been sunk by a German submarine.
- WorldThe Telegraph
France turns down citizenship for immigrant nurse because she 'works too much'
France has rejected an immigrant nurse's application for citizenship on the grounds that she was working too many hours a week in breach of the statutory 35-hour week and strict limits on overtime. The nurse, whose name and nationality have not been made public, holds three jobs and averages 59 hours a week, which the authorities said placed her “in violation of regulations on working time in France”. The 35-hour rule introduced under a Socialist government in 2000 gave France one of the world's shortest working weeks, but it has since been loosened and employees may be permitted to work up to 48 hours a week including overtime.
- WorldReuters
Iran says it seized British tanker, denies U.S. brought down drone
DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran said it had seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday but denied Washington's assertion that the U.S. Navy had downed an Iranian drone nearby this week, as tensions in the Gulf region rose again. Britain said it was urgently seeking information about the Stena Impero tanker, which had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia and suddenly changed course after passing through the strait at the mouth of the Gulf. The tanker's operator, Stena Bulk, said in a statement the ship was no longer under the crew's control and could not be contacted.
- CelebrityUSA TODAY
'Not what your mom sent you:' Teen takes legendary senior photos in a bathrobe
When Tiffany Clark, owner of Chaos and Clark Photography, went to pick up her cousin for his senior photo session, she wasn't expecting anything crazy. Evan Dennison got in the car wearing sweatpants and carrying a bag. Clark asked him where his clothes were. Dennison assured her they were in his bag and he would change once they got to their location.
- WorldBloomberg
‘LGBT-Free Zone’ Push in Poland Draws Fire From U.S. Ambassador
The U.S. ambassador to Poland joined a litany of criticism against “hatred and intolerance” by supporters of the conservative government over a magazine's plan to distribute “LGBT-free zone” stickers. The question over gay rights is becoming a polarizing issue before fall general elections, underscoring a departure by the ruling Law & Justice Party from the European Union's liberal, multicultural mainstream. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has warned that the advancement of gay rights is a “grave danger” for Poland's families and the future of the bloc.
- WorldAssociated Press
Germany honors resisters who tried to assassinate Hitler
Germany is marking the 75th anniversary of the most famous plot to kill Adolf Hitler, honoring those who resisted the Nazis — who were stigmatized for decades as traitors — as pillars of the country's modern democracy amid growing concerns about the resurgence of the far-right. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will speak Saturday at an annual swearing-in ceremony for some 400 troops before addressing a memorial event, paid tribute ahead of the anniversary to executed plot leader Col. Claus von Stauffenberg and his fellow conspirators and highlighted their importance to modern Germany. Von Stauffenberg tried to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb on July 20, 1944, during a meeting at his headquarters in East Prussia.
