- NewsINSIDER
The police officer who fatally choked Eric Garner has been fired. The guy who filmed it is still in prison.
Activists used the #FreeRamsey hashtag on Twitter on Monday to demand the release of Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the deadly 2014 encounter between a New York City police officer and Eric Garner. Orta has been locked up for years on various drug and gun charges, which he and his supporters believe are retaliation for filming the viral video of Garner's death. NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo was fired on Monday for placing Garner in a chokehold that led to his death.
- WorldAssociated Press
Iranian tanker sought by US heading toward Greece
An Iranian supertanker with $130 million worth of light crude oil that the U.S. suspects is tied to a sanctioned organization left Gibraltar and was heading east into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday, with its next destination reported to be Greece. The Iran-flagged Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, set course for Kalamata, Greece, with an estimated arrival on Aug. 25, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic. It wasn't immediately clear why the tanker would be heading there or whether the destination could change.
- NewsSacramento Bee
Mexican man facing voter fraud trial in Sacramento. He’s a Trump supporter
For years, President Trump has claimed that millions of noncitizens voted in the 2016 presidential election, unfairly skewing his vote as Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College. On Monday in federal court in Sacramento, a man accused of coming to the United States from Mexico and voting illegally in elections for the past 20 years went on trial on charges of aggravated identity theft, voting by an alien and making a false statement on a passport application. Gustavo Araujo Lerma is an avowed Trump supporter, and evidence expected to be introduced in his trial includes letters of thanks from Trump, former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and current RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.
- 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.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'Storm Area 51' event pushes rural Nevada county to declare emergency
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Commissioners in Nevada's rural Lincoln County have voted to pre-sign an emergency declaration ahead of the "Storm Area 51" raid event that's so far drawn more than 2 million RSVPs on Facebook. "We passed this with the caveat that this may or may not happen," said District D Commissioner Kevin Phillips. "We're just trying to do the best we can to prepare for something we know not of. California resident Matty Roberts created the event – called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" – in June after listening to an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
- NewsThe Telegraph
Tourists who stole sand from beach in Sardinia could face up to six years in prison
A pair of tourists face up to six years in prison after allegedly stealing a large quantity of sand from the pristine beaches of Sardinia. The French couple were found to have nearly 40kg (90lb) of fine white sand in the boot of their car. The vehicle was stopped during a routine check by border police as the tourists were preparing to board a ferry in Porto Torres, on the north coast of the island, bound for Toulon in France.
WorldAFPRescued migrants disembark as Italy justice probes Salvini
Eighty-three migrants rescued at sea by the Open Arms disembarked early Wednesday from the charity rescue vessel in Italy's Lampedusa island, television images showed, after Italian justice ordered they be brought ashore. The boat had spent six days anchored off Lampedusa before a local prosecutor ordered their disembarkment amid a probe of far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for forbidding their entry to port. Salvini, who may be out of a job on Wednesday after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned in protest at the League leader's bid to bring the government down, has forbidden all NGO rescue boats from entering Italian ports.
- SciencePopular Mechanics
A Neutron Star Might Have Just Collided with a Black Hole
Scientists at the Hawaii-based Keck Observatory believe they might have an exciting find on their hands, something like a galactic playoff game: nebula star vs. black hole. The black hole wins, but capturing the act of destruction, as they believe they have, would be a type of collision never seen before. The event has been named S190814bv and was detected by the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and Virgo interferometers on August 14.
- LifestyleDelish
Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
For those 'not turning on the oven today' moods. From Delish
- 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.
- WorldThe Independent
China could ‘render US military bases useless’ within hours of conflict in Asia, report says
China's military could use missiles to overwhelm American military bases in Asia within hours, a think tank has warned. The US defence strategy in the Indo-Pacific is “in the throes of an unprecedented crisis”, according to a report from the United States Studies Center, at the University of Sydney in Australia. The report said China has deployed a “formidable array of precision missiles and other counter-intervention systems to undercut America's military primacy” in the region.
- NewsAssociated Press
The Latest: Philadelphia police commissioner resigning
The Latest on the resignation of the Philadelphia Police commissioner (all times local): 6:40 p.m. A Philadelphia official says the resignation of Police Commissioner Richard Ross is related to allegations made by a corporal and a patrol officer against several department employees. Deana Gamble is a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney.
- 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.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Guns are a huge part of American society; taking them away won't help: Today's talker
Multiple Democratic president candidates have come out in support of a federal gun buyback program in response to the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and elsewhere. As usual with so many of these killers, there was nothing too outstanding about them (though as of late they do seem motivated by some horrendous white nationalist beliefs — sadly, protected by the First Amendment).
- NewsUSA TODAY
Phoenix police must now report whenever they point a gun at someone
PHOENIX - It's been four months since Phoenix police pledged to make changes following a record year for police shootings. The months since have been plagued with controversy, including a viral video of a police stop and reports of officers' racist Facebook posts. But city and police officials say they are still delivering on their commitment to implement the National Police Foundation's recommendations.
- U.S.WLS – Chicago
Mother of missing Indiana teen found in Arkansas accuses stalker of kidnapping, dyeing her hair
Madison Eddlemon was found safe in Arkansas Sunday after she was reported missing from Crown Point, Indiana. Police confirmed the 16-year-old's accused stalker is in custody.
- NewsAFP
US court convicts far-right members over clashes with leftists
Two members of a far-right group were convicted Monday of brawling with anti-fascist demonstrators in New York, as tensions between white supremacists and leftists simmer in the United States. Maxwell Hare, 27, and John Kinsman, 39, members of the Proud Boys group, were found guilty of several counts of attempted assault and rioting by a Manhattan court. A jury decided the pair assaulted four members of Antifa, an anti-fascist group, who were protesting outside an event that Hare and Kinsman had attended on October 12 last year.
- NewsSacramento Bee
I am Mexican American with no hyphen and no apologies – and am haunted by a history of hate.
But more than anything, I've been angry because the cultural hatred that made El Paso possible, and our obsession with using Mexico and Mexicans as convenient scapegoats for our societal ills, have been specters in my life. They existed long before I was born in California to Mexican parents in 1962. As recently as a decade ago, I hoped we would move beyond our long-held hostility toward Mexico and Mexicans.
- NewsMiami Herald
Man pees in sink behind Starbucks counter and douses merchandise, Penn. cops say
Pennsylvania police are looking for a man suspected of peeing in a Starbucks sink and onto merchandise in the store. Police asked anyone with information on the man's identity to contact the Manheim Township Police Department. Target isn't the only superstore to be hit with a bodily function crime this summer: A woman was caught peeing on potatoes in a West Virginia Walmart earlier this year, and soon after that a teen in Texas was seen peeing on a shelf of wine, McClatchy news group reported.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Assad troops force Syrian rebels to retreat from key town
Bashar al-Assad has vowed to recapture all of Syria as his forces made significant battlefield gains and drove rebel fighters out of a strategic town he once attacked with chemical weapons. Syrian regime troops pushed rebel forces from Khan Sheikhoun, a town where Assad's jets once dropped chemical weapons and killed nearly 100 people, prompting Donald Trump to launch retaliatory airstrikes in 2017. The town has been under rebel control since 2014 and its fall marks a victory for Assad as his troops attempt to conquer Idlib, the last opposition-held province in the northwest of Syria.
- NewsAssociated Press
4 last wolves in Washington pack killed by state hunters
The last four members of a wolf pack that preyed on cattle in a rural Washington state area bordering Canada have been killed by state hunters, prompting protests from environmental groups. The four wolves were part of a pack that originally had seven members and attacked cows, killing or wounding them 29 times since 2018 and nine times over the last month, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement last Friday. Agency director Kelly Susewind authorized the killings of the remaining pack members on July 31.
- WorldReuters
Germany takes back four Islamic State children from Syria
Germany has for the first time allowed children whose parents were suspected members of Islamic State to return to Germany from northern Syria and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said it will push for more such children to come to the country. Like other western countries, Germany faces a tricky decision on how to deal with citizens who went to the Middle East to join groups like Islamic State, which was driven out of its last territorial enclave in March by U.S.-backed forces. Three of the four repatriated German children are orphans, according to German media, but no further details were available.
PoliticsFOX News VideosReps. Omar, Tlaib call for an end to Israel's 'occupation' of Palestinian territories
Progressive 'Squad' members Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib hold news conference following canceled congressional trip to Israel.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
I've treated suicidal prisoners — Jeffrey Epstein's death is a medical, security disgrace
As a physician who has worked with prisoners as well as suicidal patients, I was shocked by the strange circumstances surrounding sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein's death by apparent hanging in his cell. Earlier in my career, I worked on both a psychiatric ward and a prison ward. For someone who, like Epstein, had apparently made a suicide attempt less than three weeks before, it is almost inconceivable to me that he could possibly be without diligent, frequent observation and without surveillance cameras constantly monitoring him.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
Chevy Baits Ford Mustang Owners with Special Camaro Discount
Current Ford Mustang owners can get $2500 off a new 2019 Chevrolet Camaro this month, assuming they would make such a switch. The Mustang continues to lead the Camaro in total sales through June. On one side, there are those who call the Camaro's current face fugly and believe the Mustang is just a superior car.
