Britain weighs response to Iran Gulf crisis with few good options

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain was weighing its next moves in the Gulf tanker crisis on Sunday, with few good options apparent as a recording emerged showing that the Iranian military defied a British warship when it boarded and seized a ship three days ago. Prime Minister Theresa May's office said she would chair a meeting of Britain's COBR emergency response committee on Monday morning to discuss the crisis. Little clue has been given by Britain on how it plans to respond after Iranian Revolutionary Guards rappelled from helicopters and seized the Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday in apparent retaliation for the British capture of an Iranian tanker two weeks earlier.

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  UK Prime Minister holds emergency session on how to respond to Iran-seized tanker

  KGO – San Francisco
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  How geopolitical disputes are influencing the price of oil

  Yahoo Finance Video

US sanctions Chinese oil trader for violating Iran restrictions: Pompeo

The United States is placing a leading Chinese oil importer on its sanctions blacklist for trading in Iranian crude, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday. "As part of that maximum pressure campaign, I am announcing that the United States is imposing sanctions on the Chinese entity Zhuhai Zhenrong and its chief executive Youmin Li," Pompeo said in a speech. "They violated US law by accepting crude oil," he said.

U.S. Navy Identifies Missing Sailor Who Reportedly Went Overboard from Aircraft Carrier

Task and Purpose Security, A sad day. The Navy has identified the missing sailor from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Slayton Saldana, who was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, with Carrier Air Wing 7. Saldana has been listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown since July 17.

10 Surprising Moon Facts! (That Were Totally Wrong)

There are plenty of conspiracy theories, recent discoveries, and just plain old misconceptions about the moon. From Popular Mechanics

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  India counts down to new bid to launch Moon mission

  AFP
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  What Would a 21st Century Moon Base Look Like?

  Popular Mechanics

Black Georgia Lawmaker Alleges White Man Told Her to 'Go Back Where You Came From' in Grocery Store Confrontation

A black lawmaker in Georgia says a white man verbally harassed her and told her to “go back where you came from” during a confrontation at a Publix grocery store on Friday. Erica Thomas, a Democrat and Georgia state representative, alleges that the man cursed at her and called her “ignorant” and “lazy” because she was checking out in an express lane with more than 10 items. Thomas' young daughter was present at the time.

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  200 Years Before the 'Send Her Back' Chants, This U.S.-Backed Effort Tried to Send Free Black Americans 'Back'

  Time
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  Trump rips media over chant

  FOX News Videos

Sarah Huckabee Sanders shows up to govs shindig as Arkansas rumors swirl

Sarah Huckabee Sanders made an appearance Sunday at an exclusive Republican Governors Association-hosted retreat, further stoking anticipation that the former White House press secretary may pursue a bid for statewide office. Sanders, who is seen as a possible 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial candidate, attended a dinner hosted by the family of the late Fred Malek, a major GOP donor and former RGA finance chairman who died in March. The dinner kicked off a two-day retreat the RGA is hosting in Aspen, Colo., which is expected to draw an array of GOP governors and donors.

The Latest: Hospital sued over school principal's death

A hospital sued by the family of a New Jersey high school principal who died after a procedure to donate blood marrow to an anonymous French teenager says it is saddened by the tragic death. Hackensack University Medical Center is a defendant in the suit filed by the fiancee and family of Derrick Nelson, who fell into a coma in February and died in April. A spokeswoman for Hackensack Meridian Health says the hospital isn't commenting on the lawsuit but says it has been in touch with Nelson's family and fiance Sheronda Braker.

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  Wrongful death lawsuit filed after beloved New Jersey principal's death

  WPVI – Philadelphia
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  Fiancée of beloved principal who died after bone marrow donation sues New Jersey hospital

  USA TODAY

'Outrageous': Convicted criminals serve as Alaskan police amid public safety crisis, investigation finds

Local tribal governments have also hired tribal police officers convicted of domestic violence or sex crimes in an additional eight communities, the publications reported Thursday. Women in remote villages already face extraordinary barriers in reporting and dealing with sexual assault, USA TODAY reported last month, such as lacking access to victim support services. In the rural city of Stebbins, for example, the Daily News reported that all seven officers have pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges in the past 10 years.

American crocodiles thriving near Florida nuclear plant; great white shark nearly bites boy on fishing boat

Animal expert Jeff Corwin reacts to the week's biggest stories.

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  This Boy Is About To Get The Great White Shark Scare Of His Life

  HuffPost
• Watch the Crazy Moment a Great White Shark Leaps in Front of Boy on Cape Cod Boat

  Prevention

French submarine lost in 1968 found at last in Mediterranean

A French submarine that went missing in the western Mediterranean in 1968 has been found, officials said Monday, ending a 51-year wait for families of the crew who continue to seek answers to the naval disaster. The diesel-electric Minerve submarine was lost off France's southern coast with 52 sailors on board on January 27, 1968. "We found the submarine Minerve last night located 45 kilometres (30 miles) south of Toulon, about 20 kilometres further south than where it was searched for in 1968," the French maritime prefect of the Mediterranean, Vice Admiral Charles Henri du Che, told reporters in Toulon.

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  Missing for more than 50 years, wreckage of submarine is finally found

  USA TODAY
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  Vessel Finds French Submarine That's Been Lost for 50 Years

  Popular Mechanics

Fox News’ Shep Smith Grills Embattled Puerto Rico Governor: Can You Name Anyone Who Supports You?

During his first television interview since the scandal broke out over leaked private chats that have resulted in near-unanimous calls for his resignation, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló struggled to come up with a single name when Fox News anchor Shepard Smith pressed him to offer up anyone who currently supports him. With hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans taking to the streets of San Juan on Monday to demand Rosselló's resignation after the governor said he wouldn't step down on Sunday, Smith pointed out that “corruption is rampant” on the island before highlighting why the profanity-laced leaked chats have caused such backlash. Rosselló, meanwhile, meekly said he has apologized and is trying to make amends, prompting the Fox anchor to ask him what exactly he's apologized for.

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  Puerto Ricans launch massive protest against governor

  AFP
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  'Lion King,' heatwave and Puerto Rico protest: 5 things you need to know Monday

  USA TODAY

There's a Warning for the Thousands Who Signed Up to 'Storm Loch Ness' Because 'Nessie Can't Hide From Us All'

As the world—and the U.S. military—waits to see if any of the nearly two million people who signed up on Facebook for the Area 51 raid actually show up to invade the military installation to hunt for aliens, the viral story seems to have inspired a similar event overseas. Over 19,000 people have signed up to “Storm Loch Ness” on Facebook, saying that “Nessie can't hide from us all” and that “The time is now for us to find dat big boi”. The volunteer Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crew who monitors Loch Ness really hopes that no one actually shows up, according to the BBC, as they don't have the resources of the U.S. military, which is fully prepared to fend off any jokester planning to actually storm Area 51.

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  Storm Loch Ness: RNLI issues warning after thousands of monster hunters vow to 'find dat big boi'

  The Independent
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  RNLI urges Loch Ness monster 'spotters' against Area 51 style plan to storm the area

  The Telegraph

Widespread blackout hits Venezuela, government blames 'electromagnetic attack'

It was the first blackout to include the capital, Caracas, since March, when the government blamed the opposition and United States for a series of power outages that left millions of people without running water and telecommunications. Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said the outage on Monday was caused by an "electromagnetic attack," without providing evidence. Power returned for about 10 minutes to parts of southeastern Bolivar state, site of the Guri hydroelectric dam - the source of most of Venezuela's generation - but went out again, according to a Reuters witness.

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  Caracas, other parts of Venezuela hit by power cut

  AFP
• Widespread blackout hits Venezuela, first major outage since March

  Reuters

Correction: Military-Hyperfit Women story

In a story July 21 about a U.S. military study of "hyperfit" women, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a vo2 Max score measures how many millimeters of oxygen are used per kilogram of body weight per minute. ARMY SOLDIER SYSTEMS CENTER, Mass. (AP) — In the nearly four years since the Pentagon announced it was opening all combat jobs to women, at least 30 have earned the Army Ranger tab, two have graduated Marine infantry school and three have passed the grueling initial assessment phase for Green Beret training. "We're really interested in those elite women that are the first to make it through physically demanding training," said Holly McClung, a nutritional physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts.

Miss Michigan stripped of title over 'offensive' social media posts

DETROIT, Mich. A beauty queen was stripped of her title for what she claims is discrimination against her conservative political views. Kathy Zhu, also a University of Michigan student, was dismissed as a Miss World America pageant participant a day after she was crowned when the organization claimed the content of her social media was "offensive, insensitive and inappropriate."

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  Conservative beauty queen defends tweets after being dethroned for 'offensive' remarks

  FOX News Videos
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  ‘Coming out as conservative harder than coming out as gay’, says Miss Michigan sacked over ‘racist’ tweets

  The Independent

This Is the ATV-Mounted Jammer That Took Down an Iranian Drone

The U.S. Marine Corps used a new portable jammer system last week to jam an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle, forcing it to pitch into the sea. The new Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS) jams the signal between drones and their operators, leaving them at the mercy of physics, and inevitably, gravity. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked on the amphibious assault ship Boxer, parked a LMADIS jammer on the Boxer's flight deck to provide a defense against Iranian UAVs known to operate in the area.

Trump has not built single mile of new border wall since taking office

It was the controversial campaign promise that Donald Trump built his 2016 electoral success on: to build what he called a “big beautiful wall” on the US border with Mexico. Now, it has emerged that not a single new stretch of border wall has been built since Mr Trump took office in January 2017. A statement released by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency confirmed the 51 miles of fencing completed since Mr Trump took power has simply replaced barriers that already existed.

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  President Trump goes after Fed on Twitter: ‘Don’t miss it again!’

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  Potential for July rate cut

  Yahoo Finance Video

Millions of Barrels of Iranian Oil Are Piled Up in China’s Ports

Two and a half months after the White House banned the purchase of Iran's oil, the nation's crude is continuing to be sent to China where it's being put into what's known as “bonded storage,” say people familiar with operations at several Chinese ports. The store of oil has the potential to push down global prices if Chinese refiners decide to draw on it, even as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies curb production as growth slows in major economies.

Gambian soldier names ex-president in reporter's 2004 murder

A Gambian army officer on Monday accused ex-president Yahya Jammeh of ordering the 2004 murder of journalist Deyda Hydara and admitted he was involved in the killing. Hydara, who was editor and co-founder of the independent The Point daily and a correspondent for AFP and Journalists Without Borders (RSF), was killed by unidentified gunmen in his car on the outskirts of the Gambian capital Banjul in December 2004. The murder was widely condemned locally and abroad as another sign of Jammeh's despotic rule and his stifling of all opposition in the former British colony.

2020 Candidates Delayed Paying Staff to Look Richer on Paper

For months, Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (D-MN) presidential campaign made regular payments to its staff and vendors, with varying daily expenditures that never exceeded $335,000. By putting off the payments until then, Klobuchar was able to put the best possible spin on her presidential campaign's financial position during the previous three months. A Daily Beast review of campaign finance records indicates that the delayed-expenses strategy has continued through the just completed cycle, and has involved payments to campaign staffers as well.

F-35s Go to War: Why Israel's Strike on Syria Was so Successful

The Israeli Air-force had apparently been waiting for a provocation as the resulting counterattack against the launchers and the Iranian military infrastructure was an overwhelming one. On May 9th the Iranian Quds force that belongs into the Revolutionary Guards Corps launched a rocket salvo against the Israeli forces in the Golan heights. The IDF had anticipated the move and placed several Iron Dome batteries to protect the region, so the attack did very little damage and several rockets were shot down.

Putin gives Russian citizenship to Novatek's finance chief, a U.S. national

President Vladimir Putin handed Russian citizenship to gas producer Novatek's veteran finance chief Mark Gyetvay on Monday, a move that could potentially help the U.S. national bypass some sanctions restrictions. U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia in 2014 ban U.S. nationals and companies from helping organize long-term funding for some major Russian firms, including Novatek. When the U.S. and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia, executives with foreign passports at companies affected including Novatek - the country's largest non-state natural gas producer - and state bank VTB handed over responsibility for organizing new debt or equity issuance to colleagues without EU or U.S. passports.