- WorldReuters
Iran has highly accurate missiles which it has not publicized: deputy defense minister
Iran has produced highly accurate missiles which it has not publicized, Iranian Deputy Defence Minister General Qassem Taqizadeh said on Friday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program last year and stepped up sanctions on Tehran in order to curb Iran's development of ballistic missiles and its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq. Iran displayed what it described as a domestically built long-range, surface-to-air missile air defense system on Thursday, amid rising tensions with the United States.
WorldAFPRussia launches floating nuclear reactor in Arctic despite warnings
Russia will launch the world's first floating nuclear reactor and send it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region. Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov will leave the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000 kilometre (3,000-mile) voyage to northeastern Siberia. Nuclear agency Rosatom says the reactor is a simpler alternative to building a conventional plant on ground that is frozen all year round, and it intends to sell such reactors abroad.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Beto O’Rourke: As president, I’d institute a mandatory buyback of assault weapons
On Aug. 3, my hometown of El Paso, Texas — one of the safest cities in America — was attacked in one of the deadliest mass shootings in our country's modern history. Some of the nurses, surgeons and doctors heroically treating victims at Del Sol and University Medical Center in El Paso told me they hadn't seen such horrific wounds since they were deployed abroad in our armed forces, saving the lives of soldiers on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. Some believe that our country is too divided to bring about this kind of change, and in a country where politicians are beholden to the National Rifle Association, I can understand their skepticism.
PoliticsFOX News VideosJoe Biden asks audience to imagine Barack Obama's assassination
Raw video: Speaking to supporters in New Hampshire, Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden recalls the political turmoil of 1968.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Sanders campaign boss concedes he may not win New Hampshire
The campaign manager for Bernie Sanders emphasized Thursday that New Hampshire is a critical presidential primary state he expects Sanders to win, but he's leaving room for a scenario in which Sanders falls short. Faiz Shakir said he doesn't "like the language of must-win," though he does believe it is an important early voting state. But he said he still thinks Sanders could win the Democratic nomination without taking New Hampshire, though he acknowledges that the path to victory would be more difficult if Sanders doesn't.
- WorldThe Telegraph
UK Hong Kong consulate worker Simon Cheng freed after detention in mainland China
A British consulate employee in Hong Kong has been freed by China after being detained for 15 days on the mainland amid rising tensions between the former British colony and Beijing. Simon Cheng, 28, a trade and investment officer at the Hong Kong consulate's Scottish Development International section, went missing on August 8 on his way back from a work trip in Shenzhen, a neighbouring Chinese city. It was not until after the UK expressed “extreme concern” about his disappearance that China's foreign ministry broke its silence, confirming Mr Cheng had been detained without releasing further details.
NewsUSA TODAYA man was training to get a gun permit. The instructor accidentally shot him, police say
A Riverside, California man attending a firearms training class to get his concealed weapons permit was accidentally shot by a Riverside County Sheriff's Department trainer, the department told The Desert Sun. On Aug. 10, the man, identified only as a civilian, was participating in a course at the Ben Clark Training Center's gun range in Riverside. According to a department news release issued in response to questions from The Desert Sun, gun range staff inspect students' firearms during the course and students are instructed to unload their guns.
- PoliticsYahoo News
DNC likely to raise polling threshold for November debate, sources say
The field of eligible candidates may actually grow bigger for the October debate, since the DNC has decided not to raise the polling threshold above 2 percent from its September rules and will also keep the marker for small-dollar donations at 130,000. But in November the DNC, which is increasingly under fire for its handling of presidential debates, is likely to raise the polling requirement above 2 percent, according to multiple sources involved in the process who spoke to Yahoo News about internal deliberations on the condition they not be identified. What's not clear — and seems to be unsettled still — is how high that number will go.
- 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.
- WorldReuters
Chinese ship inches closer to Vietnam coastline amid South China Sea tensions
A Chinese survey vessel on Saturday extended its activities to an area closer to Vietnam's coastline, ship tracking data showed, after the United States and Australia expressed concern about China's actions in the disputed waterways. The Haiyang Dizhi 8 vessel first entered Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) early last month where it began a weeks-long seismic survey, triggering a tense standoff between military and coastguard vessels from Vietnam and China. The Chinese vessel continued to survey Vietnam's EEZ on Saturday under escort from at least four ships and was around 102 kilometres (63 miles) southeast of Vietnam's Phu Quy island and 185 kilometres (115 miles) from the beaches of the southern city of Phan Thiet, according to data from Marine Traffic, a website that tracks vessel movements.
WorldAFPFear grips Bangladesh camp as 2 Rohingya refugees killed
Bangladesh police said they had shot dead two Rohingya refugees during a gunfight in a refugee camp on Saturday after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official. Nearly a million Rohingya live in squalid camps in southeast Bangladesh, 740,000 of whom fled a 2017 military offensive against the Muslim minority in Myanmar. The incident comes two days after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees, which saw not a single Rohingya turn up to return across the border to conflict-scarred Rakhine state.
- U.S.Car and Driver
20 of the Craziest Pickup Trucks Ever
A pickup truck's job is simple, but that didn't stop some makers from turning these basic workhorses into wild machines. From Car and Driver
- 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.
- NewsAssociated Press
Special prosecutor named to look into Jussie Smollett case
A judge appointed a special prosecutor Friday to look into why the Chicago state's attorney's office abruptly dropped the case against Jussie Smollett, leaving open the possibility that the former "Empire" actor could yet face charges in what police say was a phony attack on himself that he staged to get attention. Smollett, who is black and gay, maintains that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in January. But if the special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, determines that the charges shouldn't have been dropped, he could recommend that they be reinstated or that new charges be brought.
- BusinessUSA TODAY Opinion
China is feeling the pain of U.S. tariffs. Now it's time for negotiators to secure a deal.
With each passing week, we get more news that China's economy is under pressure from U.S. tariffs. Growth is slowing, production has faltered and consumers are pulling back. The president took a big economic and political risk by enacting tariffs to create a window for negotiations, and it would be a waste to let that window close. If his trade advisers can't unify around priorities and deliver a deal, the president should start looking for a new team.
- WorldBloomberg
Iceland Held Talks With U.S. Ambassador Over Pence Visit
Iceland' prime minister is open to a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence during his trip to the Nordic island, should the visit be extended. The option was discussed during a pre-scheduled meeting on Friday between Katrin Jakobsdottir and ambassador Jeffrey Gunter, a government spokesman told Bloomberg. Jakobsdottir, a left-of-center feminist and LGBT advocate, is due to attend a conference by Nordic trade union leaders in Sweden on Sept.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
How the Koch brothers used their massive fortune to power a conservative crusade that reshaped American politics
Since the 1970s, he and his brother Charles personally donated at least $100 million to aid the rise of the Tea Party movement and bolster the Republican Party, according to The New York Times. They also built an influential network of donors aligned with their libertarian ideals of free-markets, lower taxes, and shrinking the size of the federal government. Here's a look at how the Koch brothers realigned the nation's politics with their libertarian brand of conservatism.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Cathay Pacific cabin crew union leader fired as Hong Kongers warn of spread of 'white terror'
Cathay Pacific fired a cabin crew union leader on Friday, the latest casualty in a fast-spreading “white terror” as mass protests in Hong Kong continue into their third month. Rebecca Sy, head of the Cathay Dragon flight attendant's association, said she lost her job of 17 years, without explanation, after managers saw and confirmed her Facebook account, which included messages in favour of the protests. “White terror” is a term used to describe a slew of events that create a climate of fear particularly as companies and employees worry of serious repercussions for voicing their views.
- WorldReuters
Britain sends another warship to boost presence in the Gulf
Britain is sending another warship to the Gulf to defend freedom of navigation, the defence minister said on Saturday, after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the region. Tensions have risen between Iran and Britain after Iranian commandos seized a British-flagged tanker last month. The navy said HMS Duncan, a type 45 frigate, sailed from Britain on August 12, alongside HMS Kent, which was also heading to the Gulf to replace the HMS Duncan.
WorldAFPRegime forces mass in northwest Syria: monitor
Regime forces massed Saturday in northwest Syria, a monitor said, in an apparent bid to press an offensive against jihadists and allied rebels that has heightened tensions with neighbouring Turkey. After eight years of civil war, the jihadist-run region of Idlib on the Turkish border is one of the last to escape the Damascus government's control. Backed by Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have chipped away at the south of the stronghold in recent weeks after months of deadly bombardment.
- HealthUSA TODAY
Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella strain confirmed as 'superbugs' continue to worry experts
A strain of Salmonella Newport in some beef in the United States and in some soft cheeses in Mexico has been found to be resistant to antibiotic treatment, according to a release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Friday. The CDC reported the results of a study conducted on Salmonella Newport that was not responding to two oral agents that are frequently recommended to treat Salmonella infections. Resistance to antibiotics is rare in human cases of Salmonella, though most Salmonella patients don't actually need antibiotics at all.
- PoliticsThe 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.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Serial killer who preyed on gay men executed
A serial killer who preyed on older gay men during a rampage 25 years ago around the U.S. East Coast has been put to death. The office of Gov. Ron DeSantis says 57-year-old Gary Ray Bowles was pronounced dead at 10:58 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. Hinton was Bowles' sixth victim in the killing spree that began in Daytona Beach with the slaying of John Hardy Roberts.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Want an assault weapons ban? Don't couple it with a mandatory gun buyback.
Now some of the Democratic presidential hopefuls are playing right into the NRA's hands by advocating mandatory buybacks of assault-style rifles already in circulation. Somewhere between confiscating every gun, which is impossible under the Supreme Court's current interpretation of the Second Amendment, and allowing the United States to drown in an ocean of firearms — estimated at 393 million — are commonsense gun laws. One example is universal background checks.
- 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.
