- WorldAssociated Press
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.
NewsAFPUS 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.
- NewsThe Independent
Portland on high alert as duelling far-right and anti-fascist groups protest
The city of Portland is braced for violence with anti-fascist groups expected to face down a right-wing rally that's expected to draw demonstrators from across America. Self-described anti-fascists — known as Antifa — say they will confront the rally in Oregon while leaders from the far-right urged their followers to turn out in large numbers to protest the arrests of six members of right-wing groups in the run-up to the event. Authorities have asked residents not to call 911 unless it's a life-threatening emergency and to stay away from the heart of the downtown area.
- NewsNational Review
Philly Mayor Peddles False Narrative for Gun Control After a Man with a Long Criminal History Shoots Six Police Officers
All eyes were on North Philadelphia last night after a gunman fired on police serving a narcotics warrant. At around 4:30 p.m., the suspect barricaded himself in a North Philadelphia home and began a standoff that would last for almost eight hours. Thankfully, the injuries to the police officers were not life-threatening and the two officers trapped inside were evacuated by a SWAT team several hours before the suspect, Maurice Hill, surrendered.
- WorldUSA TODAY
U.S. issues warrant to seize Iran oil tanker 'Grace 1' after Gibraltar judge orders its release
The U.S. Justice Department issued a warrant to seize an Iranian oil tanker detained in Gibraltar, a day after a judge in the British overseas territory ordered its release. The U.S. move late Friday deepens a weeks-long diplomatic dispute between Tehran and Washington. It also comes amid a standoff between the two countries after President Donald Trump withdrew from an international nuclear accord with Tehran and reimposed sanctions.
- NewsCharlotte Observer
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.
- NewsINSIDER
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.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
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
- WorldReuters
Mexico to deport U.S. citizen suspected of supporting 'violent jihad'
Mexican authorities arrested a U.S. citizen suspected of supporting militant Islamists in an example of Mexico's security cooperation with the United States even as the two neighbors grapple with sharp disagreements over trade and migration. The unidentified American man sought by Interpol was under investigation for supporting terrorist groups and will be deported to the United States later on Friday, the Mexico's attorney general's office said in a statement. The man was detained at a migrants office near Mexico's border with Guatemala in the town of Huehuetan with the help of officials from Mexico's National Migration Institute.
- NewsAssociated Press
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.
WorldAFPKazakhstan 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.
- NewsAssociated Press
Arrests precede major demonstrations in Portland, Oregon
Authorities arrested the leader of a right-wing group on the eve of a rally that's expected to draw people from around the U.S. to Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, prompting Patriot Prayer's Joey Gibson to urge his followers to "show up one hundred-fold" in response. Self-described anti-fascists have vowed to confront the right-wing groups at the downtown rally and the arrests of Gibson and five other right-wing supporters appeared to be intended to send a signal from police to organizers to remain peaceful or stay away. In a video he livestreamed on Facebook, Gibson accused the police of playing politics by arresting him and other right-wing members but not the masked demonstrators who beat up conservative blogger Andy Ngo at a June 29 rally.
- NewsThe Independent
Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell pictured at burger bar in first public sighting since financier’s death
The “missing” former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein and the woman accused of recruiting young women for him – claims she has strongly denied – has been spotted eating at a fast food restaurant in Los Angeles. In the days since the death of the disgraced financier, accused of sex trafficking young girls, much attention has focused on the whereabouts of socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late press baron Robert Maxwell, and Epstein's longtime confidante. “Well, I guess this is the last time I'll be eating here,” the 57-year-old is said to have remarked after being snapped at an In-N-Out restaurant in Los Angeles, according to the New York Post.
- NewsMiami Herald
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.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Shell workers in Pennsylvania say they were told to either attend a recent Trump event, or not get paid
Workers at a new Shell plant in Pennsylvania say were told they had to attend a speech by President Donald Trump in order to get paid, according to a report from the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. The president's rally-style speech, which a senior administration official described as "not a political event but an official event," included jabs at Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, calls for union leaders to support him in 2020, a warning that Democrats would take their jobs, and taking credit for the complex, which is still under construction and was first announced in 2012 when former president Barack Obama was still in office.
- CelebrityTime
Kidnapping Victim Elizabeth Smart's Father Comes Out as Gay
The father of Utah kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart has come out as gay in a heartfelt letter that reveals he has struggled throughout his life with pain and guilt. The decision to be honest and truthful about my orientation comes with its own set of challenges, but at the same time it is a huge relief,” Ed Smart wrote in a letter posted on his Facebook page Friday. I can no longer live trying to appease someone else's idea of who I should be, and have come to the conclusion that it was never my Savior's intent to change me from the way I was born.
WorldYahoo News VideoSen. Bernie Sanders to Israel: Ban U.S. congresswoman — then don’t take U.S. money.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has suggested Israel should now decline the billions of dollars it receives in U.S. aid in the wake of its ban on Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country.
- WorldReuters
Cathay CEO resigns amid Hong Kong protest blowback as more rallies planned
The boss of Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways quit on Friday, the highest-profile corporate casualty of unrest roiling the former British colony, after Beijing targeted the airline over staff involvement in mass protests. The corporate upheaval comes ahead of a weekend where further protests are planned, including what could be a large gathering on Sunday that could test whether a movement that has enjoyed broad support can retain it, even as violence escalates. Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the "one country, two systems" arrangement that has enshrined some autonomy for Hong Kong since China took it back from Britain in 1997.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
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.
WorldAFPAfghan palace emerges from ruins as centenary nears
They have just days to finish a total renovation of the once-ruined Darulaman Palace, a hulking showpiece of Afghan architecture that came to symbolise the country's turmoils during decades of war. With questions looming over Afghanistan's future and a possible deal between the US and the Taliban imminent, the war-torn nation is this month hoping to briefly celebrate its past -- and Darulaman will be the centrepiece. Work at the famed palace must be completed by August 19, the date marking 100 years of Afghan independence from Britain, when President Ashraf Ghani will inaugurate the newly renovated structure.
- NewsAssociated Press
Claims: Migrant children molested in U.S.-funded foster care
This story is part of an ongoing joint investigation between The Associated Press and the PBS series FRONTLINE on the treatment of migrant children, which includes an upcoming film. Dozens of families separated at the border as part of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy are preparing to sue the federal government, including several who say their young children were sexually, physically or emotionally abused in federally funded foster care. A review of 38 legal claims obtained by The Associated Press — some of which have never been made public — shows taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $200 million in damages.
- NewsUSA TODAY
More than 40 charged in federal court from Mississippi ICE raid, but no company officials
Charges have been filed in federal court accusing more than 40 people detained in the recent Mississippi chicken processing plant raids of being in the United States illegally. But more than a week after the raids, there are no records of company officials charged with knowingly hiring undocumented workers. This is despite information in federal search warrant affidavits suggesting company officials knew their workers were undocumented.
- NewsThe Independent
White supremacy-fuelled killings to be classed as domestic terrorism under new law proposed in New York
Amid a national debate about racism, extremism and mass shootings, governor Andrew Cuomo proposed to make New York the first state to classify “hate-fuelled” killings as domestic terrorism on Thursday. Democrat Mr Cuomo unveiled the proposal almost two weeks after the back-to-back massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, prompted all-too-familiar cries for action from both political parties. Describing the need to address the “new violent epidemic” of “hate-fuelled, American-on-American terrorism,” Mr Cuomo called for raising the penalties for violence motivated by race, gender, sexual orientation or other protected classes by making them punishable by up to life in prison without parole.
- NewsCharlotte Observer
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.
- NewsBusiness Insider
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.
