- WorldAssociated Press
Greece says it won't assist Iranian tanker sought by US
Greece said on Wednesday it won't endanger its relations with the United States by aiding an Iranian supertanker sought by the U.S. but released by Gibraltar that's currently in the Mediterranean Sea, believed heading for a Greek port. Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said Athens is under pressure from U.S. authorities, which claim the Iran-flagged Adrian Darya 1 is tied to a sanctioned organization. He told private Antenna TV that the 330-meter (1,000-foot) tanker is too big anyway to enter any Greek port and can't legally unload its $130 million worth of light crude at EU refineries.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Ex-VA doctor who was fired for being drunk on job charged with manslaughter in 3 veterans' deaths
A former Veterans Affairs pathologist fired for being intoxicated on the job was charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with "incorrect and misleading diagnoses" he made, federal prosecutors in Arkansas said Tuesday. Robert Morris Levy was indicted by a federal grand jury and faces additional charges of fraud and making false statements. Levy not only lied about his alcohol use and manipulated mandatory alcohol and drug tests, but he also falsified patient records that ultimately caused the veterans' deaths, a federal investigation found.
- WorldReuters
UPDATE 2-France's Macron says no-deal Brexit would be Britain's fault
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said a no-deal Brexit would be of Britain's own making and not the European Union's, adding that any trade pact London cut with Washington would not mitigate the cost of leaving the bloc without a deal. The French leader said the demands made by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a renegotiation of the divorce deal, including the removal of the Irish backstop, were not workable. He spoke to reporters in Paris as German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin gave Johnson 30 days to draw up an alternative solution to the backstop, an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border between Britain's province of Northern Ireland and EU-memb...
- NewsNational Review
CNN Pundit’s Bodyguard Charged with Assault after Removing Reporter Covering Her Speech
CNN pundit April Ryan's security guard has been charged with assault after he forcibly removed a local New Jersey reporter from an event at which Ryan was delivering a speech. Charlie Kravotil, editor of New Brunswick Today, claims that Ryan's bodyguard, 30-year-old Joel Morris, approached him during Ryan's speech at The Heldrich Hotel on August 3 and stole his camera after he refused to stop filming. A video of the incident shows Kravotil, who secured press credentials for the event, following Morris into the lobby of the hotel to retrieve his camera.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space.
The link between fires and climate change Individual wildfires and heat waves can't be directly linked to climate change, but accelerated warming increases their likelihood, size, and frequency. July was the hottest month ever recorded, period. The month prior, meanwhile, was the hottest June ever in Earth's history, with temperatures nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
NewsAFPAlbania bulldozes restaurant after owner attacks tourists
Albanian officials on Wednesday razed a beachfront restaurant whose owner was captured on camera attacking a car rented by Spanish tourists, as the country scrambles to clean up its reputation as a burgeoning holiday destination. The incident, filmed by the victims' tour guide from inside their vehicle, took place at the weekend in Porto-Palermo on the Ionian coast in southern Albania, a popular tourist spot. The restaurant owner, 51-year-old Mihal Kokedhima, was arrested and faces trial for "verbally assaulting a group of Spanish tourists for futile reasons", damaging their car and causing minor injuries, police said.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Biden Cites Jewish Proverb to Condemn Trump: Campaign Update
Jews “understand that and Trump does not understand it at all,” Biden said Wednesday after a campaign stop in Newton, Iowa, in which he called Trump's questioning the loyalty of Jewish people a “dog whistle. That's not who the American Jewish community is,” Biden told reporters. The American Jewish community is extremely well informed and involved and they come from a core value set.
- NewsINSIDER
Drivers in Idaho keep harassing busloads of immigrants' children on their way to pre-school
Idaho motorists have reportedly been harassing buses carrying children under the age of five. The buses drive low-income children of migrants or agricultural workers to federally funded educational programs during the day. Idaho drivers have reportedly been harassing busloads of young kids, prompting a local nonprofit to remove signs from the buses that identify the riders as children of migrant workers.
- BusinessCar and Driver
Ford's "Mustang-Inspired" Mach E Electric SUV Steps Out in Prototype Form
These spy photos give us our first look at the upcoming Ford Mach E electric crossover in the flesh. While we can't see much through the heavy camouflage, we can see glimpses at the Mustang-inspired front end. The Mach E will debut sometime in 2020, likely as a 2021 model.
- NewsAssociated Press
Jet catches fire in Northern California; 10 aboard unhurt
All 10 people aboard a small jet escaped injury Wednesday after the aircraft aborted its takeoff at a small Northern California airport, went off the runway and burst into flames, officials said. The pilot of the twin-engine Cessna Citation jet aborted its takeoff at Oroville Municipal Airport for unknown reasons shortly before noon, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. The plane was carrying two pilots and eight passengers, and "all were accounted for, no injuries," said Joe Deal, Oroville's fire and police chief.
- LifestyleDelish
Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
For those 'not turning on the oven today' moods. From Delish
- WorldReuters
U.S. removed almost 2.7 million barrels daily of Iranian oil from market: Pompeo
The United States has removed nearly 2.7 million barrels of Iranian oil from global markets daily as a result of Washington's decision to reimpose sanctions on all purchases of Iran's crude, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday. In an interview with MSNBC, Pompeo said the U.S. government was confident it could continue with its strategy. The United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Police Arrest Two Louisiana Men in 39-Year-Old Cold Case Murder of Teen
After nearly four decades, Louisiana police have charged two men they believe brutally raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl before disposing of her body in the woods. Leo Laird, 64, and Gary Haymon, 54, were both charged on Monday in the death of 18-year-old Donna Gayle Brazzell, according to the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office. The young woman's skeletal remains were found near Nichols Cemetery Road in 1980, but authorities were unable to identify them until last month.
- WorldReuters
Climate change will cripple economies regardless of countries' wealth- report
NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Climate change will damage the economies of countries whether they are rich or poor, hot or cold by the year 2100, economists said in a new report, dispelling the notion that impoverished, warm countries will suffer the most on a warming planet. Researchers who examined data from 174 countries over 50 years found that persistent temperature changes above or below a country's historical norm adversely affected economic growth, regardless of how warm a country is. The United States could see a 10% loss in gross domestic product (GDP) without significant policy change.
NewsAFPTexas school district sued for coloring black pupil's scalp with marker
Parents of a black teenager in Texas are suing their Houston-area school district after three white middle school personnel used a marker to blot out a design in their son's scalp. The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed Sunday against the Pearland Independent School District and the three staff members of Berry Miller Junior High who used the marker to color the student's scalp. The three claimed that his "common African American 'fade' haircut violated the Pearland ISD dress code policy," the lawsuit reads.
- PoliticsThe Independent
'I am the chosen one': From insulting allies to changing constitution and detaining child migrants, Trump's wild day of authoritarian and incoherent outbursts
Donald Trump suggested dramatic constitutional changes and claimed to be "the chosen one", on a day when he lurched from insulting allies to claiming American Jews who vote Democrat are being disloyal to a foreign country. In day extraordinary even by his standards, the US president delivered a remarkable series of statements, veering from quasi-authoritarian proposals for serving more than two terms to apparently humorous suggestions that he should be awarded the Medal of Honor - despite his repeated draft deferrals.
- NewsINSIDER
A man lost his wife in the El Paso Walmart shooting, then his car was stolen during her funeral. His community came together to replace it.
Antonio Basco's blue Ford Escape was stolen and totaled hours after he hosted a funeral for his wife, Margie Reckard, who was among 21 people were killed at an El Paso Walmart on August 3. "We donated it to him so that he could have a mode of transportation and still have a connection to his wife," Ronnie Lowenfield, who owns Casa Ford Lincoln with his brothers, told Buzzfeed News. Antonio Basco lived in his blue Ford Escape in the Walmart parking lot for nearly a week after his wife Margie Reckard was among 21 people killed in the store on August 3.
BusinessFOX News VideosF-35 stealth fighter jets on fast track to receive laser-based offensive and defensive capabilities
The Air Force Research Lab and Office of Naval Research are currently developing fast and precise laser weapons that can “burn holes” through enemy targets at the speed of light. Concurrently, the U.S. Navy is developing a laser-application for its Marine Corps F-35B, intended to effectively maintain the stealth fighter for future decades of war.
- WorldAssociated Press
The Latest: Japan 'deeply concerned' about Hong Kong
A statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was seeking information from Hong Kong and Guangdong province about the fate of the employee who was detained while crossing from the Chinese city of Shenzhen into Hong Kong. Local media identified him as Simon Cheng Man-kit, a trade and investment officer at the Scottish Development International section of the consulate, who attended a business event in Shenzhen on Aug. 8. They say he never returned to Hong Kong despite plans to do so the same day via the high speed rail link Express Rail Link.
- PoliticsNational Review
Why Kamala Harris Is Fading in the Democratic Primary
Anew national CNN poll of the 2020 Democratic primary has some pretty brutal numbers for Kamala Harris. When CNN last polled the presidential race shortly after the first Democratic debate in June, Harris was on Joe Biden's heels, trailing just 17 percent to 22 percent. But according to the latest survey by CNN, conducted August 15 to 18, Biden has rebounded to 29 percent, while Harris has dropped all the way down to 5 percent, tied for fourth place with South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg.
- U.S.WPIX - New York
2 Proud Boys Convicted in 2018 NYC Clash with Protesters
Two members of the alt-right Proud Boys have been found guilty of charges including attempted gang assault for their part in a New York City attack.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Former Massachusetts police union president used dues as 'personal piggy bank,' feds say
BOSTON – The former president of the Massachusetts state police union and the organization's top lobbyist were arrested Wednesday in an alleged kickback and bribery scheme involving the misuse of thousands of dollars in union dues. Dana Pullman, ex-president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, is accused of using the union's debit card to pay for personal expenses. Feds said Pullman used the union's bank account like his "own personal piggy bank," embezzling funds to pay for romantic gifts and a trip to Miami with an unnamed woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair.
- BusinessReuters
Farmer's threat prompts U.S. Agriculture Department to pull staff from crop tour
CORALVILLE, Iowa/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and three sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer. Lance Honig, crops chief at the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, was among the USDA staffers who had to leave the privately-run Pro Farmer tour, three sources with knowledge of the situation said. A local police officer was present at an event in Coralville, Iowa, on Wednesday evening, a Reuters witness said.
WorldAFPTeens swept up in night raids in Kashmir clampdown
Ali Mohammad Rah sat on the pavement outside a police station in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Tuesday, waiting to see his teenage sons, who were swept up in government raids overnight. "Soldiers violently banged windows of our home while we were sleeping," Rah told AFP, saying his sons -- aged 14 and 16 -- were taken away before dawn in the Srinagar neighbourhood of Mehjoor Nagar. Government sources say at least 4,000 people have been detained in Kashmir since India revoked the restive Himalayan region's autonomy on August 5 and imposed a massive security lockdown on the restive region.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump’s White House guest list favours smaller European countries over traditional allies
When Klaus Iohannis smiled for cameras alongside Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Romanian president became the 10th European leader to visit the president at the White House this year. Instead, Mr Trump has courted and been courted by Central and Eastern European leaders. For Mr Trump, the region offers the potential for new trade, energy and military arrangements that can sometimes circumvent Western Europe and tweak traditional leaders, such as Angela Merkel.
