PoliticsAFPPentagon chief confirms death of Qaeda's Hamza bin Laden
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has confirmed the death of Hamza Bin Laden, the son and designated heir of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden. "That's my understanding," Esper said in an interview late Wednesday with Fox News, when asked if Hamza bin Laden was dead. "I don't want to comment on it," Trump told reporters when asked.
- 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.
- NewsBusiness 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.
- WorldINSIDER
A Mexican judge says 2 people can legally use cocaine — but they can't buy or sell it
Mexico United Against Crime said in a press release on Tuesday that the rulings open the door for a larger debate about legalizing cocaine, and whether law enforcement should focus its resources on violent crime rather than drug use. A court in Mexico has granted two people the legal right to carry and use cocaine in a landmark case launched by a pro-legalization group. Mexico United Against Crime announced on Tuesday that a court in Mexico City had granted two injunctions ordering the government to allow plaintiffs to "possess, transport and use cocaine," but not to sell or buy it, AFP reported.
- WorldThe Independent
Brexit: Boris Johnson warned US trade deal 'highly unlikely' if Ireland has hard border
A post-Brexit trade deal with the US would be "highly unlikely" if there is a hard border on the island of Ireland, Boris Johnson has been warned. The Congressional Friends of Ireland, a group in the US Congress which supports and promotes peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, has written to the prime minister warning that it will oppose any US-UK trade deal if it risks undermining the Good Friday Agreement. Any trade deal that put that in jeopardy would be "highly unlikely", it said.
- 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."
- 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
- BusinessCar and Driver
2020 Chevy Bolt EV Gets More Driving Range
According to the EPA, the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV has an estimated driving range of 259 miles, up from 238 miles. Chevrolet isn't saying yet exactly what it did to achieve this improvement, but we hear it has to do with new chemistry for the lithium-ion battery pack. The 2020 Chevy Bolt EV will go further on a charge than before, with the EPA reporting that the electric hatchback's range goes up to 259 miles, from 238.
- Businessmotorious
2016 Ford Mustang Roush Stage 3 Is A Wild Pony
The 2016 Ford Mustang Roush Stage 3 is a perfect example of how far the modern Mustang can be pushed, and this gorgeous, one-owner Roush Mustang will be auctioned off at no reserve by GAA Classic Cars. The highest of the Roush tuning levels, the Stage 3 transforms the Mustang into a track car. This starts by bolting a Roush supercharger atop the Mustang's 5.0-liter Coyote V8 resulting in 670 horsepower – a significant improvement over the 435 -horsepower Mustang GT.
- WorldReuters
Mexican president says government not talking with criminal gangs
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said his nine-month-old administration's efforts to bring down record rates of violent crime do not include talks with criminal gangs or armed self-defense groups. On Tuesday, Mexico's interior minister told reporters the government was holding talks with "various groups" in states hard hit by violence, in response to a question about organized criminals. She later clarified that she was referring to self-defense groups.
BusinessAFPAlbania bulldozes restaurant after owner attacks tourists
Albanian officials on Wednesday razed a beachfront restaurant whose owner was captured on camera attacking a car rented by Spanish tourists, as the country scrambles to clean up its reputation as a burgeoning holiday destination. The incident, filmed by the victims' tour guide from inside their vehicle, took place at the weekend in Porto-Palermo on the Ionian coast in southern Albania, a popular tourist spot. The restaurant owner, 51-year-old Mihal Kokedhima, was arrested and faces trial for "verbally assaulting a group of Spanish tourists for futile reasons", damaging their car and causing minor injuries, police said.
- U.S.WTVD – Raleigh/Durham
Man convicted of killing college student 40 years ago found innocent of the crime
A three-judge panel found a convicted murderer innocent of the 1979 murder that sent him to prison.
- PoliticsPolitico
Former Manafort deputy Rick Gates testifies against Greg Craig
Rick Gates, the former Trump deputy campaign chairman and a central witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, appeared in federal court again on Thursday to testify against former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig at his ongoing trial connected to a Ukraine-related legal project that Craig did involving Gates' former boss Paul Manafort. Gates' turn as a prosecution witness on Thursday morning was his first public court appearance since he took the stand a year ago at the trial of Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, on tax and bank fraud charges brought by Mueller. Gates served as Manafort's right-hand man for about a decade, including the period in 2012 when Manafort oversaw an in-depth review that Craig conducted of the widely criticized trial of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of Ukraine on abuse-of-power charges.
- WorldBloomberg
China State Media Says U.K. Consulate Worker Visited Prostitute
China detained a U.K. consulate staffer from Hong Kong for visiting a prostitute, a Chinese newspaper alleged, a new twist in a case that has raised concerns Beijing is trying to warn the British government against meddling in its former colony. Police in the border city of Shenzhen said Simon Cheng, 28, “violated the 66 article of China's law on administrative penalties for public security, which states that people who engage in prostitution or visit prostitutes shall be detained for no less than 10 days but no more than 15 days,” the Communist Party's Global Times reported Thursday. Cheng's 15th day of detention is Friday.
- WorldThe Independent
Amazon fires: Bolsonaro actively trying to devastate rainforest, leaked documents show
Jair Bolsonaro hopes to sabotage conservation efforts in the Amazon, leaked documents show. A series of powerpoint slides reveal that Brazilian government officials intend to build a bridge, motorway and hydroelectric plant through the rainforest. The plans, which were leaked to Open Democracy, have emerged as fires rage throughout the Amazon.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Hispanic Journalism Group Boots Fox News Over Immigrant ‘Invasion’ Rhetoric
A major organization for Hispanic journalists on Thursday gave Fox News the boot from its upcoming conference in response to the network's use “invasion” rhetoric when discussing immigration. Fox News was set to appear as a sponsor at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' confab next month in San Antonio, but in a letter to the group's members, NAHJ President Hugo Balta said that invitation has been revoked. “The line between commentary and journalism was crossed long ago by Fox News and is no longer even in sight,” wrote Balta, who is currently an MSNBC senior producer.
- WorldNational Review
U.S. Drone Shot Down over Yemen
A U.S. drone was shot down over Yemen late on Tuesday by a surface-to-air missile, U.S. officials said. Officials believe Iran provided Houthi rebels with the missile, which downed the U.S. military MQ-9 drone southeast of Sanaa, capital of Yemen. The U.S. is expected to publicly chastise Iran for the occurrence.
- NewsINSIDER
Drivers in Idaho keep harassing busloads of immigrants' children on their way to pre-school
Idaho motorists have reportedly been harassing buses carrying children under the age of five. The buses drive low-income children of migrants or agricultural workers to federally funded educational programs during the day. Idaho drivers have reportedly been harassing busloads of young kids, prompting a local nonprofit to remove signs from the buses that identify the riders as children of migrant workers.
- WorldReuters
Russia, China ask U.N. Security Council to meet Thursday over U.S. missile developments
Russia and China have asked the United Nations Security Council to meet on Thursday over "statements by U.S. officials on their plans to develop and deploy medium-range missiles," according to the request seen by Reuters. Moscow and Beijing want to convene the 15-member council under the agenda item "threats to international peace and security" and have requested that U.N. disarmament affairs chief Izumi Nakamitsu brief the body. The Pentagon said on Monday it had tested a conventionally-configured cruise missile that hit its target after more than 500 km (310 miles) of flight, the first such test since the United States pulled out Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
WorldAFPIndia's ex-finance minister arrested at home in dramatic raid
High drama unfolded in New Delhi late Wednesday as officers from India's equivalent of the FBI scaled the walls of a former finance minister's home to arrest him on corruption charges, local media reported. Earlier in the day, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had alerted airports to prevent Palaniappan Chidambaram, finance minister from 2004-2008 and again from 2012-2014, from leaving the country. Chidambaram, 73, earlier this week failed to secure bail and had not been seen since Tuesday, until he showed up at the headquarters of the opposition Congress party on Wednesday to proclaim his innocence.
- 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.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Yale failed to stop professor who sexually assaulted students over decades, report says
A Yale professor sexually assaulted five students over decades, according to a report commissioned by the university, which had investigated the professor's behavior in 1994 but failed to stop him. D. Eugene Redmond was a professor of medicine before he retired from the university in 2018 while facing disciplinary action. “Redmond's actions, reported by the survivors who came forward, are reprehensible and antithetical to the educational mission of our university,” said Peter Salovey, Yale's president.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Progressive Group That Backed AOC Takes Aim at Incumbents Across U.S.
But occasionally, interest is piqued, and another potential voter's name is logged for the middle school principal endorsed by Justice Democrats, the progressive activist group that backed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a neighboring district. The group is hoping to repeat Ocasio-Cortez's stunning 2018 Democratic primary victory over Joe Crowley, who was a member of House leadership and a 20-year incumbent. Energized by that upset, the Justice Democrats who has endorsed candidates in Massachusetts, Texas and Ohio to challenge Democratic incumbents they deem as too moderate to reflect the progressive energy animating voters in solidly blue districts.
- NewsThe Independent
Parkland students unveil gun violence prevention plan: 'Policymakers have failed, so survivors are stepping up'
March For Our Lives, the group formed by the Parkland students in the wake of the mass shooting at their school in February 2018, has unveiled a new plan for gun control. The Peace Plan is a six-step proposal focused on changing gun laws in America to prevent mass shootings, which continue to ravage the country. “Everywhere we look, gun violence is decimating our families and communities,” the plan reads.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Brown bear that is killing livestock and startling hikers in Italy's Dolomites is wanted, dead or alive
A bear that is raiding beehives, attacking livestock and startling hikers in the Dolomite mountains of Italy is now wanted dead or alive. The brown bear is known to scientists as M49 but was nicknamed Papillon, after the Henri Charrière novel about escaping from Devil's Island in French Guiana, when it managed to climb over a 16ft-high fence and flee an enclosure last month. Since escaping the enclosure in a wildlife sanctuary in the province of Trentino on July 15, it has been slowly moving northwards, disemboweling a cow and encountering hikers.
