- WorldAssociated Press
Greece says it won't assist Iranian tanker sought by US
Greece said on Wednesday it won't endanger its relations with the United States by aiding an Iranian supertanker sought by the U.S. but released by Gibraltar that's currently in the Mediterranean Sea, believed heading for a Greek port. Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said Athens is under pressure from U.S. authorities, which claim the Iran-flagged Adrian Darya 1 is tied to a sanctioned organization. He told private Antenna TV that the 330-meter (1,000-foot) tanker is too big anyway to enter any Greek port and can't legally unload its $130 million worth of light crude at EU refineries.
- NewsNational Review
CNN Pundit’s Bodyguard Charged with Assault after Removing Reporter Covering Her Speech
CNN pundit April Ryan's security guard has been charged with assault after he forcibly removed a local New Jersey reporter from an event at which Ryan was delivering a speech. Charlie Kravotil, editor of New Brunswick Today, claims that Ryan's bodyguard, 30-year-old Joel Morris, approached him during Ryan's speech at The Heldrich Hotel on August 3 and stole his camera after he refused to stop filming. A video of the incident shows Kravotil, who secured press credentials for the event, following Morris into the lobby of the hotel to retrieve his camera.
- 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.
PoliticsFOX News VideosJoe Biden gets defensive about crowd size in Iowa
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden rejects comparisons to rivals' campaign events, claims he is drawing crowds 'bigger than anybody' in Iowa.
- BusinessCar and Driver
The 10 Least Expensive Compact SUVs to Own
Follow this simple cost guide to home in on the small SUV that best fits your budget. From Car and Driver
- NewsINSIDER
A shark attacked a woman in Hawaii, and authorities are warning it's 'still in the area'
On Tuesday, a 27-year-old woman was attacked by a shark while swimming at Napoopoo Beach Park in Kealakekua Bay. "The shark is still in the area, so we're trying to get people out of the water at this time," Hawaii Fire Department Battalion Chief William Bergin told the Associated Press.
- 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.
- NewsThe Independent
US mental health staff warned not to contradict Trump after mass shootings
When Donald Trump targeted mental illness as the cause of the mass shootings that killed 31 people in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, federal health officials made sure no government experts might contradict him. A Health and Human Services (HHS) directive on 5 August warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval. That alarmed some government mental health experts who said they felt muzzled at a moment many Americans were searching for answers to the US epidemic of mass shootings, said three agency employees.
NewsAFPAlbania bulldozes restaurant after owner attacks tourists
Albanian officials on Wednesday razed a beachfront restaurant whose owner was captured on camera attacking a car rented by Spanish tourists, as the country scrambles to clean up its reputation as a burgeoning holiday destination. The incident, filmed by the victims' tour guide from inside their vehicle, took place at the weekend in Porto-Palermo on the Ionian coast in southern Albania, a popular tourist spot. The restaurant owner, 51-year-old Mihal Kokedhima, was arrested and faces trial for "verbally assaulting a group of Spanish tourists for futile reasons", damaging their car and causing minor injuries, police said.
- WorldAssociated Press
Hong Kong police in standoff with protesters after sit-in
Hong Kong riot police faced off briefly with protesters occupying a suburban train station Wednesday evening following a commemoration of a violent attack there by masked assailants against supporters of the anti-government movement. Near the end of the event, the police began what they called a "dispersal operation, using minimum force" after some protesters blocked roads and flashed laser pointers at officers. Police with riot shields faced off at the station entrance against a group of remaining protesters, who sprayed a firehose and spread soap on the floor to slow a police approach, while piling up trash bins, a wheelchair and umbrellas in a makeshift blockade.
- TechnologyBusiness Insider
Bernie Sanders wants to completely ban cops using facial recognition tech from firms like Amazon
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made facial recognition part of his campaign platform. As part of a sweeping set of promises on criminal justice reform, Sanders says he will ban the use of facial recognition by police. Facial recognition tech, including Amazon's Rekognition software, is already being trialled by police forces, and has been the subject of fierce opposition from civil rights groups, AI experts, and Amazon's own employees.
- 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.
- PoliticsNational Review
Why Kamala Harris Is Fading in the Democratic Primary
Anew national CNN poll of the 2020 Democratic primary has some pretty brutal numbers for Kamala Harris. When CNN last polled the presidential race shortly after the first Democratic debate in June, Harris was on Joe Biden's heels, trailing just 17 percent to 22 percent. But according to the latest survey by CNN, conducted August 15 to 18, Biden has rebounded to 29 percent, while Harris has dropped all the way down to 5 percent, tied for fourth place with South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg.
- BusinessCar and Driver
Ford's "Mustang-Inspired" Mach E Electric SUV Steps Out in Prototype Form
These spy photos give us our first look at the upcoming Ford Mach E electric crossover in the flesh. While we can't see much through the heavy camouflage, we can see glimpses at the Mustang-inspired front end. The Mach E will debut sometime in 2020, likely as a 2021 model.
- NewsINSIDER
Drivers in Idaho keep harassing busloads of immigrants' children on their way to pre-school
Idaho motorists have reportedly been harassing buses carrying children under the age of five. The buses drive low-income children of migrants or agricultural workers to federally funded educational programs during the day. Idaho drivers have reportedly been harassing busloads of young kids, prompting a local nonprofit to remove signs from the buses that identify the riders as children of migrant workers.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Former Massachusetts police union president used dues as 'personal piggy bank,' feds say
BOSTON – The former president of the Massachusetts state police union and the organization's top lobbyist were arrested Wednesday in an alleged kickback and bribery scheme involving the misuse of thousands of dollars in union dues. Dana Pullman, ex-president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, is accused of using the union's debit card to pay for personal expenses. Feds said Pullman used the union's bank account like his "own personal piggy bank," embezzling funds to pay for romantic gifts and a trip to Miami with an unnamed woman with whom he was allegedly having an affair.
- NewsThe Daily Beast
Flight Logs Reportedly Link Prince Andrew to Alleged Jeffrey Epstein Victim Virginia Roberts
Flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein's private jet reportedly suggest that Prince Andrew was in the same part of the world as Virginia Roberts Giuffre on at least three occasions. Giuffre alleges she was “given” to Andrew by Epstein three times. The flight logs for Epstein's luxury black Gulfstream jet are private, but the Daily Mail has obtained entries for March and April 2001, which show that Giuffre was flown around the world by Epstein, while Andrew was touring the globe himself, touching down in similar locations.
ScienceAFPIndia's Moon probe enters lunar orbit
India's Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft entered lunar orbit on Tuesday, executing one of the trickiest manoeuvres on its historic mission to the Moon. After four weeks in space, the craft completed its Lunar Orbit Insertion as planned, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement. India is seeking to become just the fourth nation after Russia, the United States and China to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
- PoliticsThe Independent
Trump’s White House guest list favours smaller European countries over traditional allies
When Klaus Iohannis smiled for cameras alongside Donald Trump on Tuesday, the Romanian president became the 10th European leader to visit the president at the White House this year. Instead, Mr Trump has courted and been courted by Central and Eastern European leaders. For Mr Trump, the region offers the potential for new trade, energy and military arrangements that can sometimes circumvent Western Europe and tweak traditional leaders, such as Angela Merkel.
- ScienceBusiness Insider
The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space.
The link between fires and climate change Individual wildfires and heat waves can't be directly linked to climate change, but accelerated warming increases their likelihood, size, and frequency. July was the hottest month ever recorded, period. The month prior, meanwhile, was the hottest June ever in Earth's history, with temperatures nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
- LifestyleDelish
Boycott the Oven With These Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
For those 'not turning on the oven today' moods. From Delish
- BusinessReuters
Farmer's threat prompts U.S. Agriculture Department to pull staff from crop tour
CORALVILLE, Iowa/CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and three sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer. Lance Honig, crops chief at the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, was among the USDA staffers who had to leave the privately-run Pro Farmer tour, three sources with knowledge of the situation said. A local police officer was present at an event in Coralville, Iowa, on Wednesday evening, a Reuters witness said.
- 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.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Carrie Symonds 'barred from entering the US over Somaliland trip'
The situation could prove embarrassing for the Prime Minister, who is expected to meet US President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in France which begins on Saturday. The problem with Ms Symonds' travel plans could be linked to a trip to Somaliland last year. The US does not recognise Somaliland as an independent country, instead viewing it as part of Somalia.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'Ticking time bomb': Violence surges amid guard shortage, lockdown at Mississippi prison
Jeffery Wilemon clutched his gut, throbbing in pain as he lay on his bed inside the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in April. Hours earlier, inmates had slugged the 54-year-old and declared he needed to “follow the rules” their gang had set for prison life, he later wrote in a handwritten pleading filed in Itawamba County Circuit Court. In an interview with the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, Wilemon, who was serving time for possessing a firearm as a felon and possession of a controlled substance in a correctional facility, said he knew the gang was vicious, and that it controlled many aspects of prison life.
