Lawsuit challenges California's assault weapons ban

A gun-rights group sued Thursday to block California from enforcing its assault weapons ban, contending it violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The lawsuit was the latest among gun advocacy and lobbying groups to challenge California's firearms laws, which are among the strictest in the country, and comes after a recent series of deadly mass shootings nationwide involving military-style rifles. The lawsuit was filed in the same San Diego federal court district where a judge in April tossed out a nearly two-decade-old California ban on sales and purchases of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 bullets.

View Photos of the 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster

years after Car and Driver tested this roadster, it's up for auction. From Car and Driver

US murderer executed after choosing electric chair

A man put to death in the US state of Tennessee on Thursday for murdering a woman and her daughter chose in his final hours to be electrocuted rather than executed by lethal injection, prison officials said. Stephen West, who was convicted in the two killings more than 30 years ago, waited until Wednesday to choose his method of execution -- one day after Tennessee's Republican Governor Bill Lee refused his request for clemency. "After thorough consideration of Stephen West's request for clemency and a review of the case, the State of Tennessee's sentence will stand, and I will not be intervening," he said in a statement.

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  'And Jesus wept. That is all': Final words of double murderer executed by electric chair in Tennessee

  Yahoo News UK
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  Tennessee executes Stephen Michael West by electric chair

  USA TODAY

GPS monitoring violates some sex offenders’ rights, NC Supreme Court rules

Sex offenders have rights, too, and in some cases the state has been violating those rights, the NC Supreme Court ruled on Friday. The ruling concerns people who have been ordered to submit to satellite-based monitoring for the rest of their lives, which forces them to wear a tracking device so law enforcement can track their location via GPS using an ankle bracelet. Nearly 500 North Carolina sex offenders could now be freed from lifetime surveillance by the GPS monitoring program.

A couple in Australia and their pet dog were attacked by a giant carnivorous lizard

A 72-year-old man was seriously injured after attempting to break up a fight between his pet dog and a giant Goanna lizard, the Australian Broadcasting Company reported. Attempting to save his pup, a long-haired Jack Russell named Lilly, the man sustained a laceration and possible fracture on his right arm. Goannas are a carnivorous monitor lizard found in Australia.

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  'Freak' lizard attack in Australia injures elderly couple and their dog

  USA TODAY
• 
  Meatless Meal Ideas That Will Have Everyone Asking for More

  Delish

Police Release Body Cam Video of Controversial Shooting Death of Colorado Springs Man

Body camera video from officers involved in the controversial fatal shooting of a black Colorado Springs man was released to the public on Thursday.

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  Dramatic bodycam video shows confrontation between Vallejo police, man with a knife

  KGO – San Francisco
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  Police bodycam footage of Devon Bailey's death gives rise to more questions

  ABC News Videos

Putin gives pilot who landed in cornfield Russia's top medal

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday awarded the nation's highest medal, the Hero of Russia, to the pilot who managed to smoothly land his disabled passenger plane in a cornfield after a flock of birds hit both engines and knocked them out. The experienced captain, 41-year-old Damir Yusupov, said Friday that a quick landing was his only chance and he was not afraid of handling it. He said he had hoped to circle the airport and land normally when one engine shut down due to the bird strike moments after taking off from Moscow's Zhukovsky Airport.

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  Russian jet crash lands into cornfield after flock of birds hit both engines

  ABC News Videos
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  Russian jet passengers survive emergency landing in cornfield

  CBS News Videos

Greyhound riders are being asked for immigration papers at South Florida bus terminals

In the past few weeks, Customs and Border Patrol officials have been spotted by commuters at Greyhound bus stations across Miami-Dade and Broward counties, asking riders on board, or in the process of boarding a bus, for proof of legal status. The U.S. Border Patrol confirmed the sightings in an email to the Miami Herald: “U.S. Border Patrol has been performing enforcement actions away from the immediate border in direct support of border enforcement efforts and as a means of preventing trafficking, smuggling and other criminal organizations from exploiting our public and private transportation infrastructure to travel to the interior of the United States.

After Jeffrey Epstein's suicide, Ghislaine Maxwell may have taken his place as the 'kingpin' prosecutors are looking to take down. But experts say don't expect criminal charges anytime soon.

As pressure mounts on Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate and alleged madam, so has public speculation over why she hasn't yet been criminally charged. Former federal prosecutors told INSIDER that after Epstein's death on August 10, Maxwell is effectively the new "kingpin" of an alleged sex trafficking conspiracy that prosecutors will try to take down. But amid public outrage over allegations that Maxwell recruited and groomed young girls for Epstein, experts warn that investigators have a mountain of evidence still to go through.

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  Meet the Journalist Who Exposed the Jeffrey Epsteins of Victorian London

  The National Interest
• 
  Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy results confirm suicide by hanging, source says

  ABC News Videos

X-Ray Scans Uncover da Vinci's Hidden Painting in All Its Glory

While studying a Leonardo da Vinci painting in 2005, researchers found a hidden painting underneath. Researchers are still unsure why Da Vinci originally covered it up. Thanks to books and movies like The da Vinci Code, the name Leonardo da Vinci isn't just associated with being a polymath and a historically important genius, but also a mystery.

'Explosive' situation on migrant rescue boat in limbo off Italy

The captain of a Spanish charity ship carrying 134 rescued migrants warned Friday of an "explosive" situation on board the vessel anchored within swimming distance of Italy's Lampedusa island but forbidden to approach. Italy has evacuated a handful of people from the Open Arms ship for medical treatment but far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refuses to allow the vessel to dock despite other European countries agreeing to take in the people on board. The captain of the ship operated by Proactiva Open Arms, Marc Reig, said the migrants, rescued after leaving chaos-stricken Libya, were "broken psychologically".

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  Charity ship says migrants' safety at risk; minors allowed to disembark

  Reuters
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  Italy's Salvini dismisses fears for health of stranded migrants

  Reuters

Smiling cops take selfie near where dead baby was just found. Missouri city apologizes

A Missouri city is apologizing after posting a selfie of smiling police officers near the crime scene where a dead baby was found hours earlier. Columbia police posted the picture on Twitter on Thursday evening of smiling officers near where investigators sought clues in the unidentified baby's death, officials said. The infant, who was estimated to be less than one year old, was found near a wooded area shortly before noon Thursday, according to police.

Woman survives plunging a mile after parachute fails to open

A woman cheated death when she fell nearly a mile to the ground after her parachute and emergency back-up apparently both failed to open. Denis Demers, who saw her fall, told Radio-Canada: "It's a miracle. Police told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that the 30-year-old parachutist, who has not yet been identified, was an experienced skydiver.

Claims: Migrant children molested in US-funded foster care

The father and son are among dozens of families — separated at the border as part of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy — who are now preparing to sue the federal government, including several who say their young children were sexually, physically or emotionally abused in federally funded foster care. With more than 3,000 migrant children taken from their parents at the border in recent years, many lawsuits are expected, potentially totaling in the billions. Families who spoke to the AP and FRONTLINE did so on the condition of anonymity over fears about their families' safety.

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  Claim: Migrant children sexually abused in U.S.-funded foster care

  Yahoo News Video
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  Migrant kids separated at border faced abuse in federally funded foster homes

  KABC – Los Angeles

Germany expects No Deal and will not renegotiate, says leaked briefing

Germany expects a No Deal Brexit and is not prepared to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, according to leaked details of an internal briefing paper for Angela Merkel's government. The leaked paper is the first evidence that Germany may be preparing to let Britain walk away with No Deal rather than back down to Boris Johnson's demand to drop the Irish backstop. The paper was prepared by civil servants for the German finance minister, Olaf Scholz, ahead of face-to-face talks with the chancellor of the exchequer, Sajid Javid, in Berlin on Friday.

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  UK lawmakers opposed to Labour plan should consider no-deal Brexit threat: Corbyn

  Reuters
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  Conservative MP admits Commons cannot agree on plan to stop Boris Johnson forcing no-deal Brexit

  The Independent

‘A good 100 kills would be nice.’ Another Florida man arrested for mass shooting threats

In the weeks following the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, Florida has seen a fair share of mass shooting threats — from Walmarts to schools. Volusia County deputies have added Tristan Wix, 25, to the list of those making mass shooting threats. Wix, a Daytona Beach man, was arrested Friday after sending several text messages that included threats about shooting at large crowds and hoping for large kill counts, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

Epstein died by suicide using his jail bed sheet while his guards slept, according to report

The New York Times reports that accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein tied his jail bed sheet around his neck and used it to hang himself, breaking several bones in the process, while in federal custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Initial autopsy reports that revealed Epstein broke several bones in his neck, including his hyoid, a U-shaped bone in the front and middle of the neck, led conspiracists to suspect foul play. The bone can be broken during suicide by hanging, but is more commonly associated with strangulation, although medical experts and the coroner who oversaw Epstein's autopsy say he died by suicide.

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  New Jersey's Teterboro Airport was travel hub of Jeffrey Epstein's sex traffic ring

  USA TODAY
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  Tourists flocking to Jeffrey Epstein's 'Paedophile Island'

  The Telegraph

Kazakhstan court frees anti-Beijing activist

A rights activist in Kazakhstan who faced seven years imprisonment over his outspoken opposition to neighbouring China was unexpectedly freed Friday as public and international pressure over his case mounted. Serikjan Bilash, whose activism in defence of Muslim and Turkic minorities in Xinjiang earned him global media attention, told AFP he struck a plea bargain with the court that allowed him freedom but will end his activism. "I had to end my activism against China.

• Lawyer: Kazakh activist freed after signing guilt admission

  Associated Press
• The White House quietly appointed a new China director who could rattle Beijing and make a US-China trade deal even less likely

  Business Insider

Donald Trump reportedly wants to purchase Greenland from Denmark

Donald Trump is fond of bragging about his conspicuous wealth and buying power, plastering his name over buildings and gilding the elevators of Trump Tower. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US president has “expressed interest” in buying the expansive icy territory for the US, and has asked his aides to explore the possibility. News that Trump had set his sights on acquiring a meaty chunk of the Kingdom of Denmark set Twitter aflutter on Thursday night.

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  Trump ‘repeatedly raises idea of US buying Greenland’, aides reportedly claim

  The Independent
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  'Oh please God no': Greenland reacts with horror at Trump plan to buy island

  The Independent

Air Purifiers That Will Actually Help You Breathe Better

Clean and maintain your indoor air with these popular air purifiers. From Popular Mechanics