WorldAFPUS offers $7 mn to find Hezbollah agent as Pompeo visits Argentina
The United States on Friday offered a $7 million reward to find a Hezbollah operative accused of masterminding a deadly 1994 attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to unite Latin American nations against the militants. Pompeo visited to mark the 25th anniversary of Argentina's deadliest attack, lighting a candle at the site of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association where a plaque lists the names of the 85 dead. "They were killed by members of a terrorist group, Hezbollah, and had help that day from Iran," Pompeo told a remembrance ceremony, saying that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards provided "logistical support and funding."
- WorldReuters
Gibraltar extends detention of Iranian tanker for a month
Gibraltar was granted the power on Friday to detain Iran's Grace 1 oil tanker for another month, keeping the vessel at the center of a big-power quarrel between Iran and the United States and its allies. Gibraltar said the Iranian vessel, seized by marines in a daring landing in darkness off the coast of the British territory on July 4, was suspected of smuggling oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. Iran has repeatedly called for the ship's release, denies the allegation that the tanker was taking oil to Syria in violation of sanctions and says Gibraltar and Britain seized the vessel on the orders of Washington.
- WorldAssociated Press
Navy warship sunk by German sub in WWII finally located
A private dive team has located the last U.S. Navy warship to be sunk by a German submarine in World War II, just a few miles (kilometers) off the coast of Maine. The sinking of the USS Eagle PE-56 on April 23, 1945, was originally blamed on a boiler explosion. But the Navy determined in 2001 that it had been sunk by a German submarine.
- LifestyleUSA TODAY
Texas teen arrested for spitting in tea bottle and putting it back, police say
The police officer said the teen repeatedly told him that he took a drink of the tea, then put it back, because it was "gross." has seen a number of Texans gain viral fame for doing weird and often disturbing things with food and drinks, including licking ice cream and drinking wine from a Pringles can. Woman licks tub of Blue Bell ice cream, then puts it back in the store freezer A video posted in June of a woman appearing to lick a tub of Blue Bell ice cream before putting it back in a grocery store freezer attracted the attention of millions, including Blue Bell Creameries.
- TechnologyThe National Interest
The Navy's 6th Generation Fighter Could Put the F-35 in a Museum
New much-longer range sensors and weapons, incorporating emerging iterations of AI, are expected to make warfare more disaggregated, and much less of a linear force on force type of engagement. The Navy is currently analyzing air frames, targeting systems, AI-enabled sensors, new weapons and engine technologies to engineer a new 6th-Generation fighter to fly alongside the F-35 and ultimately replace the F/A-18. The Navy program, called Next-Generation Air Dominance, has moved beyond a purely conceptual phase and begun exploration of prototype systems and airframes as it pursues a new, carrier-launched 6th-Gen fighter to emerge in 2030 and beyond, service officials explained.
- NewsYahoo News
California city set to ban gendered words like 'manhole' and 'manpower'
The City Council in Berkeley, Calif., voted this week to ban gender-specific words in the liberal city's municipal code, clearing the way for the changes to become official. As a result of the vote on the proposed ordinance, the word “manhole” would be changed to “maintenance hole” in city documents, the news site Berkeleyside reported. “Amending the municipal code to include gender-neutral pronouns by eliminating any gender preference language within the municipal code will promote equality,” according to text explaining the rationale.
- WorldBloomberg
Hong Kong Protesters Who Stormed Legco Seek Asylum in Taiwan: Report
About 30 protesters have already landed in Taiwan, while as many as 30 others -- and possibly more -- are planning to try soon, the Hong Kong newspaper said, citing unidentified people who assisted them. The people who assisted the protesters told the paper they had been in contact with Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which handles the island's relations with Beijing, to seek help. The council hasn't received any formal asylum applications from Taiwan's National Immigration Agency, its deputy minister Chiu Chui-cheng said in a text message.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Journalist reporting on immigration released from ‘inhumane’ US migrant detention centre after 15 months
Those are just some of the conditions Manuel Duran described after he was released from a US immigration detention centre. As a journalist in Memphis, Tennessee, Mr Duran had been reporting on immigration enforcement officials and sordid conditions for more than a decade by the time they took him into custody last year. Now, he says he's experienced the neglect himself.
- WorldThe Daily Beast
How Nicaragua’s Sandinista Revolution Was Resurrected—and Betrayed
White Pine Pictures is a Canadian documentary film production company whose members in 1986 produced The World Is Watching, about the coverage of the Contra War in Nicaragua by Western media. I was one of the featured journalists. In 2002, some 16 years later, White Pine contacted me to ask whether I would be willing to return to Nicaragua to film a sequel.
WorldAFPRamush Haradinaj, Kosovo's 'Rambo' ex-PM and Serbian antagonist
Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned as Kosovo's prime minister on Friday, is hailed as a hero at home -- where he is nicknamed "Rambo" -- but considered a war criminal by Belgrade, which has long sought to see him behind bars. The controversial 51-year-old, who was a wartime commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), stepped down after being summoned as a suspect by a war crimes court in the Hague. It is the second time he has resigned after being called before a war crimes court over crimes allegedly committed by the ethnic Albanian KLA separatists during the 1998-99 war.
PoliticsFOX News VideosRep. Omar: Nothing President Trump says should be taken to heart
After the president intensifies his attacks against progressive congresswomen, Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar says, 'This is our country and we are where we belong.
- TechnologyCar and Driver
View Photos of the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO
View Photos of the 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO From Car and Driver
- WorldAssociated Press
Ukraine's president says he backs prisoner swap with Russia
Ukraine's president on Friday outlined the details of an impending prisoner swap with Russia, saying that Kiev is willing to release a jailed Russian journalist in exchange for a Ukrainian film director. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's statement comes at the end of the week of shuttle diplomacy, with the Russian and Ukrainian human rights ombudswomen holding talks both in Moscow and in Kiev. The flurry of activity around imprisoned Russians and Ukrainians follows last week's first telephone call between Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- NewsUSA TODAY
A prisoner was 'likely innocent' for 25 years, and prosecutors knew the whole time
A Philadelphia man more than 25 years into a life sentence has been freed after prosecutors admitted they had evidence at the time that showed the man was "likely innocent" for a murder. Chester Hollman III, 48, was freed Monday from a state prison in Luzerne County. “I don't think it's really hit me yet still," Hollman told KYW-TV in Philadelphia.
- PoliticsThe National Interest
Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif: We Can't "Discount" Possibility of War
Jacob Heilbrunn Iran, World Zarif warns about mounting tensions, but also says that "nobody wants war." On Thursday, National Interest Editor Jacob Heilbrunn interviewed Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in New York at the Ambassador's residence on the current state of U.S.-Iran relations. The transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
- PoliticsThe Guardian
Here's Trump hating on America. Is it time for him to leave?
Referring to Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib as “hate-filled extremists”, he continued his tirade to the delight of his supporters. If they don't love it, tell 'em to leave it,” Trump said to the crowd, who soon erupted into a chant of “send her back”. A longtime critic of Obama, Trump has said he came upon his famed slogan the day his predecessor was elected to his second term.
- BusinessReuters
Lockheed awarded $1.48 billion Saudi missile defense contract: Pentagon
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.48 billion contract to build the THAAD missile defense system for Saudi Arabia, bringing the total value of the deal to $5.36 billion, the Pentagon said on Friday. The new contract was a modification to a previously awarded agreement to produce the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor for Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said. In November 2018, Saudi and U.S. officials signed letters of offer and acceptance formalizing terms for Saudi Arabia's purchase of 44 THAAD launchers, missiles and related equipment.
- WorldBloomberg
China Is Drafting Urgent Plan to Resolve Hong Kong Chaos, SCMP Says
Chinese officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs are working on an urgent strategy to solve the city's political chaos and have ruled out the use of military force, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussions. They will soon present top leaders in Beijing with both an immediate plan to handle the mass protests and a longer-term strategy that could result in China overhauling its management of the former British colony, the newspaper said, without elaborating on a date. Beijing maintains that the crisis is best left for Hong Kong authorities to resolve and doesn't want to get directly involved, according to the report.
WorldAFPGreat Barrier Reef agency breaks with Australia gvt in climate warning
The agency that manages the Great Barrier Reef broke ranks with Australia's conservative government to call for the "strongest and fastest possible action" against climate change to save the world heritage marine wonder. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, a government body, said in a study released this week that an urgent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, both nationally and globally, was needed to protect the future of the reef. Rising sea temperatures linked to climate change have killed off large areas of coral in the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef, a UN-listed World Heritage site, that suffered back-to-back coral bleaching in 2016 and 2017.
- PoliticsThe Daily Beast
Jon Stewart Eviscerates Rand Paul for Blocking 9/11 Victim Funding: ‘It’s an Abomination’
Stewart went on to condemn Paul for supporting President Trump's $1.5 trillion tax cut that “added hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit” and now trying to “balance the budget on the backs of the 9/11 first responder community. Bret, this is about what kind of society we have,” a clearly furious Stewart continued. At some point, we have to stand up for the people who have always stood up for us, and at this moment in time maybe cannot stand up for themselves due to their illnesses and their injuries.
- PoliticsThe Independent
AOC confronts Trump administration official over 'images of my violent rape' on Facebook
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has powerfully confronted a Trump administration official over a secret Facebook group for border agents, that contained twisted jokes about migrant children and showed computer generated images of her being raped and sexually assaulted. The existence of the group, consisting of current and former members of the nation's border patrol agency often referred to as CBP, was revealed earlier this month by an investigative journalism site. This week, the New York congresswoman, who recently visited migrant detention facilities overseen by the US authorities and spoke of her horror at what she saw, questioned the acting head of the department of homeland security about the Facebook group and its contents.
- PoliticsAssociated Press
Turkey calls on US to reverse decision on F-35 exclusion
The U.S. decision to exclude Turkey from an American-led fighter jet program goes against the "spirit of alliance," the Turkish government said Thursday, and called on its NATO ally to reverse the decision. In a major break with a longtime ally, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday said Turkey is being kicked out of the F-35 program because it is buying the Russian S-400 air defense system. Washington says the S-400 would compromise the F-35 program and aid Russian intelligence.
- NewsUSA TODAY
California father drowns in Oregon river after trying to help his daughter
Emergency officials responded around 2 p.m. to North Fork Park along the Little North Fork of the river after getting reports that a swimmer went underwater and didn't resurface, according to Sgt. Jeremy Landers, a spokesperson with the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses at the river were able to take the man out of the water before first responders arrived.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Cyprus detains 12 Israeli men over allegations of gang rape of British teenager
Twelve Israeli tourists were remanded in custody for eight days by a court in Cyprus for the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old British woman at a popular holiday resort on the island. The Israelis were arrested on Wednesday after the British teenager told police that she had been raped at the hotel where she was staying in the beach resort of Ayia Napa. Doctors who treated the woman said they found bruises and scratches on her body.
- WorldThe National Interest
In a War, Iran Could Go After a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier and Win
Iran would likely want to pull an American carrier battle group as close to the Iran coastline as possible. Recent events, particularly the downing of a U.S. Navy MQ-4 Triton by Iranian military forces, again raise the possibility of war between the United States and Iran. The on again, off again standoff between Washington and Tehran, now in its fourth decade is periodically instigated by both sides, and each time Iran grows stronger.
