- WorldReuters
UPDATE 3-Turkish diplomat, one other shot dead in Kurdish capital
At least two people including a Turkish diplomat were shot dead on Wednesday in a rare attack in the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish region, local security officials and Turkey's foreign ministry said. A gunman opened fire at a restaurant in Erbil where Turkish diplomats were dining before fleeing in a car driven by an accomplice, two Kurdish security officials and a witness said. Turkey, Iraq's central government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Erbil condemned the attack, which took place weeks after Turkey launched a new military offensive against Kurdish separatist militants based in northern Iraq.
- WorldBloomberg
Iran Says Missing Tanker Had Problems and Was Towed for Repairs
A small oil tanker that had gone missing in the Persian Gulf had technical difficulties and was towed into Iranian waters for repairs, an Iranian foreign ministry official said, according to the ISNA news agency. Further details on the ship, the Panamanian-flagged Riah, will be announced later, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, according to the semi-offficial ISNA. Iran responded after a request for assistance from the tanker, the report said.
- NewsAssociated Press
Serial killer linked to Arkansas woman's 1994 slaying
Authorities are investigating whether possibly the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history is behind the death of an Arkansas woman in 1994. Police in Pine Bluff are reviewing the case of Jolanda Jones's death after Samuel Little confessed to her killing, which had been determined to be drug-related. According to a police memo, when Little was in custody in Dallas, Texas, in October 2018, he indicated that he killed Jones, the Pine Bluff Commercial reported .
- NewsTime
Woman Gets 1993 Postcard From Hong Kong Because Snail Mail Takes Time
A postcard mailed from Hong Kong to Springfield, Ill., in 1993, recently arrived at one woman's home — and the search party for its intended recipients has begun. Addressed to Leena and Muhammad Ali Kizilbash, according to CNN, the letter writer said he was having a nice time in “this extremely crowded place.” The kicker? Receiving the postcard, which apparently arrived exactly 26 years to the day after it was sent on July 8, was a surprise for Kim Draper, who has lived in the house for close to four years with her husband and son.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Investigators 'discover mysterious 200lb load' on board MH370 after take-off
Investigators looking into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have discovered a “mysterious 200lb load” added to the flight list after take-off, according to an engineer whose wife and two children were on board. Ghyslain Wattrelos said the cargo was revealed in a report on the passengers and baggage by French investigators. Mr Wattrelos, who believes the flight was deliberately downed, told Le Parisien newspaper: “It was also learned that a mysterious load of 89 kilos was added to the flight list after take-off.
- WorldThe National Interest
An Air Force Pilot Tells Us What Flying a B-2 Stealth Bomber Is Like
Kris Osborn Security, “The B-2 is one of the most game-changing aircraft ever built…and one of the most cost-effective. One B-2 can deliver the punch of an entire aircraft carrier air wing at several orders of magnitude less in operating cost and personnel,” Deptula said. Washington, D.C.) When B-2 stealth bombers attacked Serbia on the opening night of Operation Allied Force in 1999, destroyed Iraqi air defenses during 2003's “Shock and Awe” and eliminated the Libyan fighter force in 2011 -- the attacks were all guided by highly-specialized pilots trained in stealth attack tactics.
- NewsINSIDER
17 seemingly suspicious cases of tourists getting sick, assaulted, and dying in the Dominican Republic since June 2018
At least 13 US tourists have died while staying at all-inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic since June 2018, a State Department official confirmed to CNN. Several other US tourists have alleged they were poisoned at a Dominican Republic resort, and one woman alleged she was brutally attacked at a Punta Cana resort in January. In a non-suspicious incident, Portia Ravenelle and Orlando Moore, of New York, died in a car crash in March while driving to the airport.
WorldAFPAustralia calls on China to let Uighur mother and son leave
Australia's government on Wednesday called on China to allow an Australian child and his Uighur mother to leave the country, days after co-signing a letter denouncing Beijing's treatment of the Muslim minority. China has rounded up an estimated one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minorities into re-education camps in tightly controlled Xinjiang region, in the country's northwest. Sadam Abdusalam has campaigned for months for his Uighur wife, Nadila Wumaier, and their son Lutifeier, whom he has never met, to be allowed to come to Australia.
- U.S.Meredith Videos
Brazil Police Shut Down a Factory Making Fake Ferraris and 'Shamborghinis'
Brazilian police say they've shut down a clandestine factory that was producing fake Ferraris and sham Lamborghinis
- PoliticsYahoo News
Ocasio-Cortez on Trump's attack: 'There is no bottom to the barrel of vitriol'
As President Trump continued his attack against four Democratic congresswomen of color, the self-proclaimed “Squad” responded in a joint interview that aired on “CBS This Morning” on Wednesday, saying that they will not be distracted by him. “I think that America has always been a story, and America has always been about the triumph of people who fight for everyone versus those who want to preserve rights for just a select few,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told Gayle King. On Tuesday, the House voted to condemn Trump's tweets that suggested that Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., should “go back” to their “broken and crime infested” countries.
- WorldReuters
Iran says it came to help of disabled foreign oil tanker in the Gulf
Iranian navy vessels came to the assistance of a disabled foreign oil tanker in the Gulf that needed repairs, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying on Tuesday by the semi-official news agency ISNA. "(Spokesman) Abbas Mousavi said... that an international oil tanker was in trouble due to a technical fault in the Persian Gulf... After receiving a request for assistance, Iranian forces approached it and used a tugboat to pull it towards Iranian waters for the necessary repairs to be carried out," ISNA said. A CNN reporter tweeted earlier that U.S. intelligence increasingly believed that the UAE tanker MT Riah had been forced into Iranian waters by Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces.
- LifestyleDelish
Prosecco Grapes, Kiwi Pops, and More Easy Fruit Desserts
If there's fruit, it's healthy, right? From Delish
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Air Force Major Charged With Murder After Missing Wife’s Remains Found
A San Antonio Air Force Reserve major who reported his wife missing in March has been arrested and charged with murder, authorities said. Andre McDonald, 40, was charged with first-degree murder Sunday in the death of his wife, 29-year-old Andreen McDonald, on March 1. After three months of countless countywide searches, authorities found the businesswoman's body on a ranch east of Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis.
- NewsAssociated Press
Man arrested in slaying of 75-year-old community activist
The suspect in the slaying of a community leader who founded Baton Rouge's African American history museum was a tenant who owed her back rent, authorities said Tuesday. Ronn Jermaine Bell, 38, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of first-degree murder, city Police Chief Murphy J. Paul told news reporters. Bell is being held in the East Baton Rouge Parish jail.
- WorldBloomberg
Susan Rice Calls Chinese Diplomat a ‘Racist Disgrace’ on Twitter
Sign up for Next China, a weekly email on where the nation stands now and where it's going next. Former U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice sparred with a senior Chinese diplomat on Twitter in an unusual and heated dispute over race in Washington. In a series of Tweets apparently aimed at making a broader point about diplomatic divisions over the mass detention of Muslims in China's Xinjiang province, Lijian Zhao, a diplomat posted in Islamabad, said on Sunday that if “you're in Washington, D.C., you know the white never go” to the southeastern part of the U.S. capital.
- BusinessCar and Driver
How Kim Jong Un Got Mercedes-Benz Pullman Limos Home to North Korea
Researchers at a Washington, D.C., think tank, cited by the Wall Street Journal, have offered explanations as to how a pair of Mercedes-Benz limousines ended up in North Korean hands. Kim Jong Un must be used to convoluted means of getting at luxuries that the repressed populace he rules over cannot hope to touch. How else to explain why the North Korean dictator would pay a million dollars for a couple of 10-year-old Mercedes-Benz limousines?
- NewsThe National Interest
Afghanistan Isn't Worth Dying For
Daniel L. Davis Security, Middle East Rewarding broken promises, waste, and incompetence is offensive to the sacrifices of our troops. Army Sgt. Maj. James Sartor was killed in action in Afghanistan's Faryab Province on Saturday. He was “only” the twelfth soldier to die there this year.
- NewsUSA TODAY
At least 1 dead, 15 injured — including 3 firefighters — in California house explosion
One person was killed and 15 injured — including three firefighters — after a house exploded in Southern California on Monday, sending a wall of flames and heavy smoke into the air. The Southern California Gas Company posted on Twitter that crews responded to reports of a damaged natural gas line in Murrieta, a city of about 113,000 people in Riverside County, about 65 miles north of San Diego. The explosion happened around noon Monday, shortly after crews arrived, the company said.
- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Trump said 'I don't have a Racist bone in my body' as he slammed criticism of his racist tweets
On Twitter, the president said: "Those Tweets were NOT Racist. Trump has been condemned by Democrats, world leaders, and a small group of Republicans for his tweets from Sunday. The president's controversial tweets called on four women of color who are members of Congress and US citizens to "go back" to their countries of origin.
- WorldReuters
U.S. complains after Russia denies visas to embassy school teachers
The United States accused Russia on Wednesday of using children as pawns, after Moscow rejected visas for dozens of new teachers at an English-language school set up by the U.S., British and Canadian embassies in Moscow for the children of diplomats. U.S. ambassador Jon Huntsman said 30 teachers who had been due to arrive in Moscow next month had been denied visas, a move he said could force Moscow's Anglo American School to cut the number of children attending. "Children should not be used as pawns in diplomatic disputes," Huntsman said in comments shared by the U.S. embassy.
BusinessAFPFed's Powell doubles down on rate cut signal
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell added more weight to expectations the central bank will cut interest rates later this month, stressing Tuesday that the US inflation outlook is near historic lows. Economists and investors see it as a certainty that the Fed will lower the key borrowing rate at the policy meeting July 30-31, and Powell in recent statements has moved to solidify those predictions by pointing to some concerns about economic growth and persistent weak inflation. Central bankers have "raised concerns about a more prolonged shortfall in inflation below our 2 percent target," Powell said in a prepared speech at a Bank of France event.
- NewsThe Independent
‘I saw hate in his eyes’: White security guard pulls gun on black police officer
In a matter of seconds, what began with a routine errand at the IRS escalated into a frightening standoff between a white security guard and a black police officer, who said he heard hate in the guard's shouts and believed he would be shot. You don't expect to be ambushed by someone who you think is on the same team,” Mr Gaston told The Washington Post. I feel there was definitely some racial overtones involved.
- WorldAssociated Press
US fears Iran seized UAE-based tanker in Strait of Hormuz
A small oil tanker from the United Arab Emirates traveling through the Strait of Hormuz entered Iranian waters and turned off its tracker three days ago, leading the U.S. to suspect Iran seized the vessel amid heightened tensions in the region. Iranian state media quoted its Foreign Ministry spokesman early Wednesday as saying the Islamic Republic had aided a foreign oil tanker with a malfunction, but the report didn't explain further. Oil tankers previously have been targeted in the wider region amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.
- NewsBloomberg
Landlords Sue NYC Over New Rent Caps on a Million Apartments
The decades-old law that limits rent increases violates the U.S. Constitution by placing an unfair burden on property owners, particularly those who own pre-1974 buildings with six or more units, according to the suit, filed Monday in federal court in Brooklyn. The state legislature, now under full Democratic control, adopted sweeping tenant protections in June that further cap rent increases and restrict landlords' ability to evict residents. The massive rewrite of the rent rules, which cover about 2.4 million residents, aimed to preserve affordable housing by eliminating tools landlords used to remove units from regulation.
- NewsUSA TODAY Opinion
Teachers union has become an arm of the abortion-rights left. Conservatives should quit.
Remember when labor unions used to fight for higher wages and better working conditions? The latest in a series of leftward leaps by unions came last week with the National Education Association's full-throated endorsement of abortion. Delegates to the union's annual conference passed a business item stating that “the NEA vigorously opposes all attacks on the right to choose and stands on the fundamental right to abortion under Roe v. Wade." The union also adopted an official stance on “white fragility” and announced that the current vice president, described in her biography as a “social justice warrior,” will run for president of the union.
