WorldAFPEU leaders round on Trump over trade at G7
EU leaders rounded on US President Donald Trump over his trade threats on Saturday as they arrived in the chic French seaside resort of Biarritz for a G7 summit overshadowed by trans-Atlantic tensions and worries about the global economy. Already embroiled in a high-risk trade war with China, Trump warned late Friday he would impose punishing tariffs on French wine if France doesn't withdraw a new digital tax that will hit US tech giants. The European Union "will respond in kind," EU Council President Donald Tusk answered to Trump, who issued his threat on departing Washington for Biarritz.
- NewsINSIDER
Police are trying to arrest their way out of a mass shooting epidemic, and experts warn that law enforcement can't shoulder the entire burden
Since the El Paso and Dayton shootings left 31 people dead on August 3 and 4, at least 28 people across the US have been arrested and accused of plotting or threatening mass shootings. In the weeks since two gunmen in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, slaughtered 31 people within 24 hours, dozens of people across the US have been accused of threatening deadly shooting sprees. Among them are teenagers accused of posting violent threats on social media, grown men who authorities say possessed massive stockpiles of guns, and even a Florida mom who police say threatened to shoot up an elementary school because her children were being rezoned there.
- WorldAssociated Press
Russian doctor has trace of radiation after explosion
More than 100 Russian medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday. It was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, but the authorities insisted it didn't pose any danger. The Arkhangelsk regional administration said Friday that 110 medical workers have undergone checks that one man was found with a low amount of radioactive cesium-137 in his muscle tissue.
- 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
- 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.
- WorldThe Independent
Revered as a saint by online extremists, how Christchurch shooter inspired copycat terrorists around the world
The shooting was the first deadly attack linked to the massacres at two mosques in Christchurch – but not the last. On 3 August, a man who declared himself a “supporter of the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto” murdered 22 people in El Paso. And a week later, a gunman who hailed Tarrant as a “saint” launched a failed attack on a mosque in Norway.
- 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".
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.
- NewsBusiness 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.
WorldAFPSouth Korea begins annual war games to defend against Japan
South Korea Sunday began two days of war games to practise defending disputed islands off its east coast against an unlikely attack from Japan, further stoking tensions between the Asian neighbours. The annual drills come just days after Seoul terminated a military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo, with the countries at loggerheads over Japan's use of forced labour during World War II. The two-day exercise will involve warships and aircraft, the South Korean navy said in a text message without providing more detail.
- NewsINSIDER
A man with schizophrenia was found guilty of murdering a Saint Augustine's University student in 1979. 40 years later, a panel of judges decided he's innocent after all.
Police could not find a suspect until 1983 when they arrested James Blackmon based on information from a confidential informant. There was no physical evidence linking Blackmon to the murder, yet, he still confessed to it. In November, almost 40 years after the student's death, The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission announced they would re-evaluate the case.
PoliticsFOX News Videos2020 Democratic presidential field begins to shrink
Christian Hanley and Kristen Hawn weigh in on the field of 2020 Democratic hopefuls as candidates begin to drop out of the race.
- WorldAssociated Press
Chinese embassy says the US is trying to suppress Huawei
China's embassy in Canada said Friday the U.S. is trying to suppress a Chinese tech giant with unwarranted charges in what it calls "typical bullying behavior." An embassy statement to The Associated Press said the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities is "of course different" from China's detentions of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. He said the U.S. and Canada are guilty of arbitrary detention.
- 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.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Pelosi’s Go-Slow Impeachment Strategy Is Tested in Fight Over Trump’s Bank Records
Donald Trump's lawyers were in a New York courtroom Friday trying to block Democrats' access to financial records from Deutsche Bank AG and Capital One Financial Corp. and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has much at stake over the outcome. The president has been in a fight to keep his financial information private, especially since Democrats won control of the House in November.
- WorldReuters
Britain will withhold $37 billion from EU in no-deal Brexit: Mail on Sunday
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to tell European Union leaders he will withhold 30 billion pounds ($37 billion) from the Brexit divorce bill unless they agree to changes to the deal, the Mail on Sunday reported. If Britain leaves the bloc without a trade deal, lawyers have concluded the government's will only have to pay the EU 9 billion pounds, rather than 39 billion pounds, the newspaper reported. This is because there will not be any of the costs associated with any transition period, the newspaper said.
- NewsThe Independent
Gary Ray Bowles: Death row serial killer executed by lethal injection despite last-minute plea
A serial killer who admitted killing six gay men in just eight-months in the US east coast has been executed. Gary Ray Bowles was given a lethal injection in Florida late Thursday after more than 20 years on death row. The 57-year-old bludgeoned and suffocated his victims, who were spread from Maryland in the north to Florida in the south, during his grisly 1994 crime spree.
- NewsBusiness Insider
Democratic presidential candidates have a new approach for tackling gun violence: Treat it as a public-health crisis
Warren and Booker have outlined the need to fund public-health research to inform better policies to address gun violence, saying they will fund and use the tactics of community-based intervention. These programs use data to locate high-risk areas for gun violence. Community members then intervene to mediate and de-escalate violence and refer people to social services.
WorldAFPIsraeli jets hit targets in Syria to prevent Iranian drone attack: army
The Israeli air force struck in Syria to prevent an Iranian force from launching an attack on the Jewish state with drones armed with explosives, the army said Sunday. While Israel operates regularly in Syria, it rarely acknowledges its actions so swiftly, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning arch-foe Iran it had no immunity from his state's military. In a briefing to reporters, military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said that Saturday the Israeli air force "was able to thwart an Iranian attempt led by the Quds force from Syria to conduct an attack on Israeli targets in northern Israel using killer drones."
- NewsUSA TODAY
Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Prosecutors could still go after his inner circle if they helped him prey on young girls
Jeffrey Epstein's death in a jail suicide spared the wealthy financier from the possibility of decades in prison on a federal indictment that accused him of sexually trafficking girls as young as 14 in New York and Florida from 2002 to 2005. It also deprived federal prosecutors in New York and the women who allege that Epstein sexually abused or raped them of their chief target for criminal and civil lawsuits. Now the women, and possibly prosecutors, are examining potential court actions against other legal targets: the financier's ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell and several of his former associates.
- 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.
- 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.
- LifestyleThe Telegraph
Metal detectorist finds £10,000 gold ring in garage 40 years after discarding it as worthless
A metal detectorist who discarded a gold ring in his garage for 40 years after a museum told him it was worthless has discovered its real value is £10,000. Tom Clark, 81, dug up the buried treasure while scanning an area of farmland near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979, then put it inside a metal tin and forgot about it. But the retired leather craftsman came across the rare seal ring eight years ago while sorting through items from his mother's house after she passed away.
- NewsThe Guardian
Fast-moving wildfire erupts in California, forcing thousands to evacuate
A fast-moving wildfire that broke out on Thursday in northern California has forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 residents, racing across at least 600 acres within just a few hours, officials say. The Mountain fire, which erupted on the outskirts of a national forest in northern California, has threatened 1,110 homes and structures. Photos of the blaze posted on Twitter by the Shasta county sheriff's office showed thick black and gray smoke billowing into the area over a highway near the Shasta-Trinity national forest.
- LifestylePopular Mechanics
All the Best Le Creuset Deals During Williams Sonoma Warehouse Sale
The best cookware—for cheap. From Popular Mechanics
