- WorldReuters
U.S. will act if Iranian tanker tries to deliver oil to Syria: Pompeo
The United States will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian tanker sailing in the Mediterranean from delivering oil to Syria in contravention of U.S. sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday. Greece said earlier in the day that it had not had a request from the Adrian Darya 1, the vessel at the center of a dispute between Iran and the United States, to dock at one of its ports, as Washington warned Greece against helping the vessel. The tanker, formerly called Grace 1, left Gibraltar on Sunday.
WorldAFPMoney, muscle, media: how China has handled Hong Kong protests
Shaping the narrative - As protests erupted in June, discussion inside authoritarian China was muted, censored on social media or played down on state outlets. But as chaos unfurled across Hong Kong, Beijing changed tack seeking to shape the narrative in its favour. After a tense airport siege, which saw protesters assault two Chinese nationals accused of being "spies", Beijing ramped up the rhetoric saying protesters were guilty of "terrorist-like actions".
- NewsNational Review
CNN Pundit’s Bodyguard Charged with Assault after Removing Reporter Covering Her Speech
CNN pundit April Ryan's security guard has been charged with assault after he forcibly removed a local New Jersey reporter from an event at which Ryan was delivering a speech. Charlie Kravotil, editor of New Brunswick Today, claims that Ryan's bodyguard, 30-year-old Joel Morris, approached him during Ryan's speech at The Heldrich Hotel on August 3 and stole his camera after he refused to stop filming. A video of the incident shows Kravotil, who secured press credentials for the event, following Morris into the lobby of the hotel to retrieve his camera.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Police Arrest Two Louisiana Men in 39-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Teen
After nearly four decades, Louisiana police have charged two men they believe brutally raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl before disposing of her body in the woods. Leo Laird, 64, and Gary Haymon, 54, were both charged on Monday in the death of 18-year-old Donna Gayle Brazzell, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office. The young woman's skeletal remains were found near Nichols Cemetery Road in 1980, but authorities were unable to identify them until last month.
- NewsUSA TODAY
A Florida man fed a kinkajou. The next morning, the 'super aggressive' exotic creature attacked him
Florida wildlife officials say a man was attacked last month by a kinkajou, a small, raccoon-like animal native to Central and South America. Michael Litersky, 37, noticed the exotic creature outside his girlfriend's home in Lake Worth on the night before the attack and left it some watermelon, according to a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission. When he opened the door to leave for work the next day around 5:45 a.m., the kinkajou was waiting for him.
- NewsINSIDER
A shark attacked a woman in Hawaii, and authorities are warning it's 'still in the area'
On Tuesday, a 27-year-old woman was attacked by a shark while swimming at Napoopoo Beach Park in Kealakekua Bay. "The shark is still in the area, so we're trying to get people out of the water at this time," Hawaii Fire Department Battalion Chief William Bergin told the Associated Press.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space.
The link between fires and climate change Individual wildfires and heat waves can't be directly linked to climate change, but accelerated warming increases their likelihood, size, and frequency. July was the hottest month ever recorded, period. The month prior, meanwhile, was the hottest June ever in Earth's history, with temperatures nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
- NewsThe Independent
US mental health staff warned not to contradict Trump after mass shootings
When Donald Trump targeted mental illness as the cause of the mass shootings that killed 31 people in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, federal health officials made sure no government experts might contradict him. A Health and Human Services (HHS) directive on 5 August warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval. That alarmed some government mental health experts who said they felt muzzled at a moment many Americans were searching for answers to the US epidemic of mass shootings, said three agency employees.
- U.S.KFSN – Fresno
Governor Newsom signs law to limit shootings by police
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a measure aimed at deterring shootings by police.
- BusinessReuters
U.S. removed almost 2.7 million barrels daily of Iranian oil from market: Pompeo
The United States has removed nearly 2.7 million barrels of Iranian oil from global markets daily as a result of Washington's decision to reimpose sanctions on all purchases of Iran's crude, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday. In an interview with MSNBC, Pompeo said the U.S. government was confident it could continue with its strategy. The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers.
- LifestyleDelish
35 Ways To Make Baked Potatoes Even More Amazing
We'll use any excuse to use the phrase "fully loaded." From Delish
WorldAFPSudan's Burhan, from relative unknown to head of state
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who was sworn in as the chairman of Sudan's ruling sovereign council Wednesday, was largely unknown before becoming de facto head of state four months ago. The body took charge after longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir was deposed on April 11 following a relentless wave of protests against his regime. "Veteran soldier" Burhan was sworn in as Sudan's interim leader the following day, after consolidating his position as a player on the regional scene.
- CelebrityThe Daily Beast
Bill Gates Adviser ‘Shocked’ Jeffrey Epstein Named Him in Will
Jeffrey Epstein signed his last will and testament just two days before he killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell—naming as his backup executor a former adviser to Bill Gates who doesn't even want the job. Epstein's longtime lawyers, Darren K. Indyke and Richard D. Kahn, were named as primary executors of the estate and are slated to receive $250,000 of the $577 million fortune for their efforts. Nikolic was reportedly “shocked” to learn that he was listed in the will—which dictates that all of Epstein's personal property should go to the trustees of a mysterious entity called The 1953 Trust.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Former Massachusetts police union president used dues as 'personal piggy bank,' feds say
BOSTON – The former president of the Massachusetts state police union and the organization's top lobbyist were arrested Wednesday in an alleged kickback and bribery scheme involving the misuse of thousands of dollars in union dues. Dana Pullman, ex-president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, is accused of using the union's debit card to pay for personal expenses. Feds said Pullman used the union's bank account like his "own personal piggy bank," embezzling funds to pay for romantic gifts and a trip to Miami with an unnamed woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair.
- NewsINSIDER
A man lost his wife in the El Paso Walmart shooting, then his car was stolen during her funeral. His community came together to replace it.
Antonio Basco's blue Ford Escape was stolen and totaled hours after he hosted a funeral for his wife, Margie Reckard, who was among 21 people were killed at an El Paso Walmart on August 3. "We donated it to him so that he could have a mode of transportation and still have a connection to his wife," Ronnie Lowenfield, who owns Casa Ford Lincoln with his brothers, told Buzzfeed News. Antonio Basco lived in his blue Ford Escape in the Walmart parking lot for nearly a week after his wife Margie Reckard was among 21 people killed in the store on August 3.
- WorldBusiness Insider
Mitch McConnell slams China over Hong Kong, threatens a global confrontation that could tank the finance hub
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote a blistering op-ed calling out China for various human rights violations and a crackdown on Hong Kong. He said the US could revisit the 1992 Hong Kong Policy Act, which gave the city special access to the US market and poured billions into Beijing's pockets. The act allows the US to trade with Hong Kong on better, more favorable terms than it affords the Chinese mainland.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
Here's How Aliens Might See Earth
Cornell researchers have released a working concept of what Earth may look like from other exoplanets. The two-dimensional alien map in the image above depicts Earth as an exoplanet. To make the map, the researchers captured about 10,000 images of Earth from NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite.
WorldAFPSpain sends navy to save migrants as Italian justice intervenes
Spain on Tuesday deployed a naval patrol boat to pick up migrants on a charity rescue boat that has been stranded off Italy's Lampedusa island for days after numerous people jumped overboard in a desperate bid to swim ashore. Prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio also ordered the Open Arms charity vessel preventatively seized after inspecting the Spanish boat on which migrants have spent 19 days and "given the difficult situation on board", a judicial source said. Against the backdrop of a major political crisis in Italy, Patronaggio intervened as part of his probe into alleged kidnapping and refusing to obey orders targeting far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
- NewsReuters
WIDER IMAGE-"I don't recommend you do this": Thailand's stealthy snake wrangler
In the dead of night, Thai firefighter Pinyo Pukpinyo stealthily approaches a python coiled around the rafters of a home in Bangkok, and quickly grabs its head with his bare hands. "I need to remain steady and calm," says the 50-year-old, as he pulls the fat snake, almost five metres (16 ft) long, off the roof and wrestles it into a rice sack.
- LifestyleDelish
Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
For those 'not turning on the oven today' moods. From Delish
- WorldUSA TODAY Opinion
Take the deal, President Trump. Eighteen years is enough. It's time to leave Afghanistan.
US should have quit when it was ahead The Taliban government of Afghanistan had reluctantly hosted al-Qaida on its soil and allowed it to train there. The United States not only used air power to attack Afghanistan, beginning in late 2001, but in conjunction with “friendly” Afghan forces, it put U.S. forces on the ground to ensure that al-Qaida and the Taliban government were destroyed. Yet those “friendly” forces allowed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to escape to neighboring Pakistan, and the Taliban sheltered there, too.
- PoliticsPolitico
Luntz: ‘I was wrong’ on climate change
Luntz, who said he's doing work for both Democrats and Republicans, urged Democrats to "personalize, individualize and humanize" the impacts of climate change to make it more relatable to the average person. While he has polled the issue, Luntz said he was not associated with June 2019 polling for the Climate Leadership Council, conducted by Luntz Global Partners, finding widespread support among young Republicans for a carbon tax.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'They don't respect our security measures': Large alligator scales fence at Florida naval air station
Florida television station WJAX-TV in Jacksonville on Sunday posted a video of a large gator climbing over a fence at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. The video came from a viewer, identified by the station as Christina Stewart. The gator landed on the other side of the fence and promptly strolled away.
- U.S.KABC – Los Angeles
VIDEO: Fresno police officer punches teen multiple times
Allegations of excessive force are being aimed at a police officer in Fresno after bodycam video shows a teen being repeatedly punched.
- WorldThe Independent
China could ‘render US military bases useless’ within hours of conflict in Asia, report says
China's military could use missiles to overwhelm American military bases in Asia within hours, a think tank has warned. The US defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific is “in the throes of an unprecedented crisis”, according to a report from the United States Studies Center, at the University of Sydney in Australia. The report said China has deployed a “formidable array of precision missiles and other counter-intervention systems to undercut America's military primacy” in the region.
