- PoliticsYahoo News
2020 Vision: Democratic field continues to shrink as Inslee and Moulton drop out
Inslee and Moulton follow former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who announced Thursday he was dropping his presidential bid to run for the Senate. Incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner is seen as one of the most vulnerable Republican targets in the 2020 cycle. Debate field expands — for now After earning 2 percent in a CNN national poll released earlier this week, former Housing Secretary Julián Castro became the 10th Democratic to qualify for next month's debates, joining: Joe Biden Cory Booker Pete Buttigieg Kamala Harris Amy Klobuchar Beto O'Rourke Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Andrew Yang If billionaire Tom Steyer reaches 2 percent in one more poll, or Rep. Tulsi Gabbard hits that mark in two ...
- WorldAssociated Press
Hong Kong protesters form human chains to call for democracy
Supporters of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement lined the streets and part of the city's harbor front Friday, inspired by a human chain in a historic Baltic states protest against Soviet control 30 years ago. Some raised linked hands while others switched on their smartphone lights and held the devices aloft to create a row of white lights against the nighttime skyline. Organizers hoped the chains, which traced three subway routes, would total 40 kilometers (25 miles) in length.
- NewsThe Guardian
Radical gun reform may finally have a voice in Washington
And it may represent the first time in decades that the majority of Americans will get any real representation in the gun control debate in Washington. March for Our Lives' young activists endorsed an Australia-style mandatory government buyback and destruction of “assault weapons”. They want to decrease the number of guns in circulation by 30% – which would mean roughly 100m fewer firearms in American hands.
BusinessAFPOverstock CEO resigns over relationship with Russian 'spy'
The chief executive of the e-commerce firm Overstock.com stepped down Thursday over his relationship with an alleged Russian intelligence operative jailed for meddling in US politics. Patrick Byrne only recently admitted that he had a close relationship with Maria Butina for three years, during the period when she beguiled top Republican and National Rifle Association officials with talk of strengthening Moscow-Washington relations and her flair with guns. He said in an eccentric company statement last week that he had been pulled into the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election by the deep state and men in black , charging that the FBI probe was political ...
- WorldBloomberg
Putin Needs to Bury This Relic of Stalin
As Europe marks 80 years of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, which carved up eastern Europe between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Russia is trying to defend the agreement again. There is no political benefit to doing this. President Vladimir Putin needs to abandon his Stalinist inheritance of a foreign policy based solely on national interest.
- WorldNational Review
Brexit Held at the Border
Basically, the backstop is a promise that there will be no hard border — a customs border across the island of Ireland, between the Republic of Ireland and the six counties of Northern Ireland. Irish public officials have argued (with the support of the EU) that a frictionless border is necessary for economic and political reasons. The frictionless border is understood there as part of the the peace settlement in Northern Ireland, following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
- NewsINSIDER
An innocent man spent months in jail after customs officials thought honey he brought back from Jamaica was liquid meth
Leon Haughton told The Washington Post that he was stopped at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on December 29. Haughton, a Jamaican native and green card holder with no prior convictions, told The Post that this was the first time he had been stopped by customs in the 10 years he had been traveling back and forth to visit his mother. A Maryland man spent nearly three months in jail after US Customs and Border Protection agents at Baltimore's airport thought honey he had brought back from a trip to Jamaica was liquid meth.
- 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
- 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."
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump struggles to pronounce various words during rambling speech to veterans
Wednesday's official event in Louisville, Kentucky, nominally used to announce a cancellation of student debt owed by permanently disabled US veterans, at times resembled a Trump campaign rally, and saw the president repeatedly stumble over lines read out from a teleprompter. It followed an extraordinary huddle with reporters earlier in the day outside the White House in which Mr Trump attacked the Danish prime minister for rejecting his advances over Greenland, referred to himself as the “Chosen One”, suggested he could change the constitution to abolish birthright citizenship and talked about serving another 14 years as president. The Europe (sic), certain countries in Europe, they got to take them back because we don't want to hold them,” Mr Trump said in reference to America's presence in Syria.
- U.S.WPIX - New York
Man Throws Brick at Woman's Head in One of Several Random NYC Attacks
A man has attacked at least four people in random Manhattan attacks this August, police said.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Rep. Steve King wants to make abortion point in 'softer way'
Backed by supporters at a news conference in Des Moines, the Iowa Republican affirmed his belief that abortion should be outlawed with no exceptions for rape or incest. King faced criticism for his comment Aug. 14 that questioned whether there would be "any population of the world left" if not for births due to rape or incest. The remarks were condemned by numerous groups and individuals, including Republican and Democratic candidates seeking to oust King, Democratic presidential candidates as well as the Iowa Republican Party and Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in House leadership.
WorldAFPFamily of detained UK consulate worker rejects 'made-up' report
The family of a staffer at the UK consulate in Hong Kong have rejected a "made-up" report by Chinese state media that he was detained in the mainland for visiting prostitutes. Simon Cheng disappeared after visiting the city of Shenzhen from the semi-autonomous city on August 8, and the Foreign Office in London said both British officials and relatives have been unable to speak to him since. The Global Times, a tabloid state-run newspaper, said he had been detained for "soliciting prostitutes", citing police in Shenzhen, which lies on the China-Hong Kong border.
- WorldBusiness Insider
A floating nuclear plant in Russia features a gym, bar, and pool. An expert calls it 'Chernobyl on ice.'
But some environmentalists are concerned that the floating plant could fall victim to a disaster like a tsunami, resulting in a possible nuclear catastrophe. "It's riskier than running an ordinary nuclear-power station, and Russia has a checkered past when it comes to ordinary power stations," Jan Haverkamp, a nuclear-energy expert at the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace, told Business Insider. Last year, Haverkamp published a blog post that referred to the floating plant as "Chernobyl on ice."
- NewsReuters
Psychologist approved Jeffrey Epstein's removal from suicide watch
A psychologist at the federal detention center in New York City where financier Jeffrey Epstein was jailed on sex-trafficking charges had approved his removal from suicide watch before he killed himself, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. The disclosure came in a letter dated on Thursday from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd and addressed to the leaders of the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, seeking details about the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death earlier this month. Epstein, who was 66, was found dead Aug. 10 in his cell inside a segregated housing unit of the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
2020 Toyota GR Supra vs. 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350: Which Is the Better Driver's Machine?
This is a fight between the 2019 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and the 2020 Toyota GR Supra. Carroll Shelby's first Mustang GT350 was built in 1965, constructed in a small industrial building in Venice, California. Now, with the return of the Supra for 2020—albeit with more than a little help from BMW—these two legends are finally rolling off assembly lines at the same time.
- NewsThe Guardian
Hotline for detained migrants featured on Orange is the New Black shut down
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has shut down a national hotline that connected detained migrants to an advocacy group, a month after the hotline was featured in a storyline in the hit TV series Orange is the New Black. Founded in 2013, the hotline connected migrants in the world's largest immigration detention system with advocates at Freedom for Immigrants, which also consulted for the award-winning Netflix production and was named in the show. “Ice is attempting to silence its critics and block people in immigration detention from connecting with communities on the outside,” said Christina Fialho, the group's co-executive director.
- NewsUSA TODAY
More than 6,100 flights delayed across the US over thunderstorms in the Northeast
"We are experiencing some delays for flights to and from the Northeast tonight due to weather in the region," Southwest spokesperson Dan Landson said in a statement to USA TODAY Thursday. Southwest had the most disruption, with 124 flights cancelled and 775 delayed. "Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain possible from the Northeast to the central Great Plains late Thursday into early Friday. Heavy rain threat expected to settle farther to the south into the southern Mid-Atlantic region on Friday.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Trump fumes over emissions deal between automakers and California
California announced a deal with four automakers Wednesday that would increase vehicle fuel efficiency and defy the Trump administration's plan to ease tailpipe emissions standards. In response, the president vented his frustration on Twitter. Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW signed on to the voluntary agreement with California, but the deal will have nationwide impact, as the four automakers account for 30 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. annually.
- WorldAssociated Press
Iranian oil tanker pursued by US says it is going to Turkey
An Iranian-flagged oil tanker pursued by the U.S. amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington changed its listed destination to a port in Turkey Saturday after Greece said it wouldn't risk its relations with America by aiding it. The crew of the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, updated its listed destination in its Automatic Identification System to Mersin, Turkey, a port city in the country's south and home to an oil terminal. However, mariners can input any destination into the AIS, so Turkey may not be its true destination.
- 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.
- WorldINSIDER
3 Russian teen sisters on trial for killing their father, citing years of horrific abuse, put a spotlight on domestic violence in the country
Russia is captivated by the murder trial of three teen sisters who killed their abusive father. Krestina Khachaturyan, 19, and her sisters Angelina, 18, and Maria, 17, do not deny killing their father Mikhail, but say they had no choice after years of sexual and physical abuse. The Russian public has rallied behind the sister's cause, and large protests have been held demanding their freedom.
- WorldBloomberg
Modi Ally Calls for Boycott of China Companies on Kashmir, Trade
Indians should stop buying from Chinese companies and the government should reconsider trade concessions to its biggest neighbor after China allied with Pakistan on Kashmir, according to an economic policy group linked with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Companies like technology giant Huawei Technologies Co. should be barred from accessing the Indian market in the future and Chinese companies should be banned from state tenders, Ashwani Mahajan, co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, affiliated to the ruling party's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said in an interview Thursday.
- WorldReuters
Russia's Chechnya inaugurates what it says is Europe's largest mosque
Authorities in the Russian region of Chechnya on Friday inaugurated what they said was the largest mosque in Europe in a pomp-filled ceremony attended by local and foreign officials. Named after the Prophet Mohammed, the marble-decorated mosque has capacity for more than 30,000 people and has been described by the Chechen authorities as the "largest and most beautiful" mosque in Europe. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said the mosque -- located in Shali, a town of 54,000 just outside the regional capital Grozny -- was "unique in its design, and majestic in its size and beauty".
