- WorldReuters
UPDATE 6-Britain says Iran seizes two oil tankers in Gulf, Iran says captured one
Britain said Iran seized two oil tankers in the Gulf on Friday and told Tehran to return the vessels or face consequences in the latest confrontation to ratchet up tension along a vital international oil shipping route. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had captured the British-flagged Stena Impero, announcing the move two weeks after the British navy seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said the second vessel, the British-operated Mesdar, had not been seized.
- 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.
- NewsYahoo News
California city set to ban gendered words like 'manhole' and 'manpower'
The City Council in Berkeley, Calif., voted this week to ban gender-specific words in the liberal city's municipal code, clearing the way for the changes to become official. As a result of the vote on the proposed ordinance, the word “manhole” would be changed to “maintenance hole” in city documents, the news site Berkeleyside reported. “Amending the municipal code to include gender-neutral pronouns by eliminating any gender preference language within the municipal code will promote equality,” according to text explaining the rationale.
- 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.
- 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.
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."
- LifestyleCar and Driver
See the 2020 Chevy Corvette C8 Driving on the Road Undisguised
Our spy photographers caught two different versions of the C8 out on the road with no camouflage for the first time. From Car and Driver
- NewsAOL.com
Florida father allegedly zip-tied son to plywood and forced him to sleep without a mattress
A Florida father was arrested after he allegedly used zip ties to strap his 13-year-old son to a piece of plywood. In a press release, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that it had charged Frank McKay, 41, along with his girlfriend Adecia Johnson, 38, with aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment. The police had received reports of suspected abuse on Sunday.
PoliticsFOX News VideosHouse Democrats demand new testimony citing inconsistencies with newly released Michel Cohen documents
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler wants former White House aide Hope Hicks to clarify her testimony; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Aspen, Colorado.
- 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.
- 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.
- WorldThe Independent
Turkey considering ‘alternatives’ to US fighter jet amid Russian offer
A defiant Turkey said it was considering “alternatives” to US fighter jets, including Russian models or making its own, a day after Washington suspended it from a programme to build and deploy advanced warplanes. The US punished Turkey for its purchase of a Russian air defence system by pushing it out of a long-term programme to upgrade Nato forces with F-35 advanced fighter jets. The Kremlin quickly attempted to exploit the disagreement, which has already drawn Ankara closer to Moscow, offering to sell Turkey Russian fighter planes.
- NewsUSA TODAY
California father drowns in Oregon river after trying to help his daughter
Emergency officials responded around 2 p.m. to North Fork Park along the Little North Fork of the river after getting reports that a swimmer went underwater and didn't resurface, according to Sgt. Jeremy Landers, a spokesperson with the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses at the river were able to take the man out of the water before first responders arrived.
- WorldThe National Interest
Problem: Iran Is Using Western Technology Against U.S. Drones
For years, Iran has been successful in smuggling drone parts in spite of international sanctions, and now its smuggling efforts have moved into counter-drone markets. Iran shot down a RQ-4A Global Hawk drone last week. Several years ago, in 2011, it demonstrated its evolving capabilities at drone interception when it captured a RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone.
PoliticsAFP'It's our America,' reminds Michelle Obama
"What truly makes our country great is its diversity... Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there's a place for all of us," Obama tweeted, without mentioning Trump. "We must remember it's not my America or your America. In a rare move, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday rebuked Trump for "racist comments" after he said the four should "go back" to their countries of origin if they are not happy in the United States.
- 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.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Cyprus detains 12 Israeli men over allegations of gang rape of British teenager
Twelve Israeli tourists were remanded in custody for eight days by a court in Cyprus for the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old British woman at a popular holiday resort on the island. The Israelis were arrested on Wednesday after the British teenager told police that she had been raped at the hotel where she was staying in the beach resort of Ayia Napa. Doctors who treated the woman said they found bruises and scratches on her body.
- NewsAOL.com
Wasp spray leads to 3 deaths in West Virginia after being used as alternative meth
West Virginia state police are cautioning residents against using wasp spray as an alternative form of methamphetamine after three people purportedly overdosed. Sgt. Charles Sutphin told WCHS that a number of people in Boone County are making "a synthetic type methamphetamine out of wasp spray." Law enforcement believe it led to three fatal overdoses last week.
- WorldBloomberg
China Is Drafting Urgent Plan to Resolve Hong Kong Chaos, SCMP Says
Chinese officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs are working on an urgent strategy to solve the city's political chaos and have ruled out the use of military force, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussions. They will soon present top leaders in Beijing with both an immediate plan to handle the mass protests and a longer-term strategy that could result in China overhauling its management of the former British colony, the newspaper said, without elaborating on a date. Beijing maintains that the crisis is best left for Hong Kong authorities to resolve and doesn't want to get directly involved, according to the report.
- 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.
- BusinessReuters
Russia summons U.S. diplomat in Moscow in protest over visa row
Russia summoned a representative of the U.S. embassy in Moscow on Thursday to issue a protest after U.S. officials alleged Russia had refused visas to teachers at an international school in Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry said. The ministry said in a statement it had not denied the visas, but that teachers at the school were entering Russia under diplomatic visas, despite not being diplomats. It said Russia was ready to issue visas promptly to U.S. diplomatic personnel as soon as Washington started issuing visas promptly to Russian diplomats in the United States.
- 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.
- NewsThe National Interest
Marine Corps Tells Rep. Duncan Hunter He Can’t Use Trademarked Corps Material for His Campaign
"It is personally disappointing to Congressman Hunter that he is now being told that he cannot use this motto or image that thousands of Marines like Congressman Hunter, who went to war under this banner, have used for tattoos, coins, and multiple other items of personal sentiment," Harrison told Task & Purpose. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has been told to stop using the Marine Corps' emblem and the 1st Marine Division's motto in his campaign literature, Corps officials confirmed. The Marine Corps Trademark Licensing Office has sent Hunter, a Marine veteran, a cease and desist letter telling him to quit using the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem along with the phrase, "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy," on a fundraising mailer that accuses his political opponent of having links to terrorism, NBC News first reported on Wednesday.
- PoliticsPolitico
Dems ask whether DOJ memo prevented prosecuting Trump for hush payments
House Democrats want to know whether a decades-old Justice Department prohibition on indicting a sitting president played a role in federal prosecutors' decision not to criminally charge President Donald Trump over hush money payments that he directed his fixer to pay to women. The prohibition, laid out in a 2000 memo by the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, was also a key factor in former special counsel Robert Mueller's decision to refrain from considering whether to charge Trump with obstruction of justice for his repeated attempts to thwart the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Now Democrats on the House Oversight Committee say the federal prosecutors based in the Southern District of New York should disclose whether they made a similar analysis.
WorldAFPBrazil's Petrobras refuses to refuel Iran ships due to US sanctions
US-listed Brazilian state oil giant Petrobras said Friday it will not refuel two Iranian vessels that have been stuck for weeks at a Brazilian port for fear of violating American sanctions. Washington has imposed a slate of sanctions on Tehran and companies with ties to the Islamic republic since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a landmark nuclear pact last year. The ships Bavand and Termeh, which reportedly belong to Iranian company Sapid Shipping, arrived at Paranagua port in the southern state of Parana early last month, an official at the port told AFP.
