News

The Washington Post reports: Alan Duffy was confused. On Thursday, the astronomer’s phone was suddenly flooded with calls from reporters wanting to know about a large asteroid that had just whizzed past Earth, and he couldn’t figure out “why everyone was so alarmed.” “I thought everyone was getting worried about something we knew was coming,” Duffy, who is lead scientist …

CNBC reports: Shares of Southwest Airlines tumbled Thursday after the low-cost carrier said it doesn’t plan to fly the grounded Boeing 737 Max until next year, warned about higher-than-expected costs and announced it’s pulling out of Newark Liberty International Airport. The airline removed the Max from its schedules until Jan. 5, the latest of any U.S. airline and a sign …

NBC New York reports: Jeffrey Epstein, the millionaire financier who is being held on federal sex trafficking charges, was found injured and in a fetal position in his cell at a New York City jail, sources close to the investigation told NBC News on Wednesday night. Epstein, 66, was found semi-conscious with marks on his neck in his cell at …

CNN reports: Robert Mueller arrives on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for the most highly anticipated hearings so far of this presidency, with the potential to reset the narrative about his two-year investigation into President Donald Trump. After weeks of negotiations, twists and turns over Mueller’s appearance and a pair of subpoenas, the former special counsel will testify publicly at 8:30 …

The Associated Press reports: Waving flags, chanting and banging pots and pans, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans jammed a highway Monday to demand the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló in a crisis triggered by a leak of offensive, obscenity-laden chat messages between him and his advisers. The demonstration appeared to be the biggest protest on the island in nearly …

The Democrat & Chronicle reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Monday banning the declawing of cats, making New York the first state in the nation to prohibit the procedure decried by animal-rights advocates as inhumane. State lawmakers approved the measure in June despite opposition from some veterinary groups who feared it could lead to more house cats being euthanized. …

The Hill reports: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) blasted the electricity company responsible for a massive power outage over the weekend, saying Con Edison should have been better prepared. “We’ve been through this situation w ConEd time & again & they should have been better prepared—period,” Cuomo tweeted Sunday night. Many New York City residents were reportedly still without …

USA Today reports:  Credit-reporting company Equifax will pick up the tab in a deal with the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 50 states and territories to settle allegations that it did not implement sufficient security measures to protect its network. The deal calls for Equifax to pay at least $575 million, including $300 million for free credit …

Politico reports: U.K. Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt warned there would be “serious consequences” after Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf. “We are absolutely clear that if this situation is not resolved quickly there will be serious consequences,” he told the BBC Friday evening. “We are not looking at military options. We are looking at a diplomatic way …

The Christian Post reports: The famed Crystal Cathedral in California, which was touted as the largest all-glass structure in the world when it was officially opened in 1980, was rededicated Wednesday by the Diocese of Orange after a $77 million makeover and the blessing of Bishop Kevin Vann and Pope Francis. Originally commissioned by late televangelist Rev. Robert H. Schuller, …

AccuWeather reports: Heat and humidity began building across a wide swath of the nation on Friday as dozens of cities declared heat emergencies and excessive heat warnings and advisories were posted by the National Weather Service. However, the most extreme days in the heat wave are likely to be on Saturday and Sunday for many areas. Power companies have braced …

The BBC reports: A British-flagged oil tanker has been seized in the Gulf by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Iran media say. The owners of the Stena Impero, which was bound for Saudi Arabia, say they have been unable to contact the vessel and it is “heading north towards Iran”. The company says there are 23 personnel on board and it …

Religion News Service reports: A popular Christian bookseller is changing its name after a deluge of requests for cannabis-related products. For years, Peabody, Massachusetts-based Christian Book Distributors has been known by the initials CBD. The bookseller announced last month it will now go by “Christianbook” to avoid confusion with cannabidiol, an increasingly popular cannabis-derived product that shares its initials. “The …

AdWeek reports: We live in a time when it’s hard to find anything that can truly bring people together. There were those first, glorious few weeks of Pokémon Go, and of course the universal joy of mocking that coffee cup sitting on the table in Game of Thrones. But now something entirely different has united the internet. Something so unnerving …

Raw Story reports: Trump-defending attorney Alan Dershowitz has written an op-ed for right-wing publication Newsmax that reveals the New Yorker is working on an expose about him and women who have accused him of having sex with them when they were under 18 years old. In the op-ed, Dershowitz accuses New Yorker editor David Remnick of commissioning “a hit piece …

CNN reports: A passenger whose “extremely disruptive behavior” caused a flight to be diverted with a military escort has been sent a bill for £85,000 ($105,000) and permanently banned from the airline. Chloe Haines has been accused by British operator Jet2 of a “catalog of aggressive, abusive and dangerous behavior,” including “attempting to open the aircraft doors,” during a flight …

From a survey released today by YouGuv: Michelle Obama has supplanted Angelina Jolie as the world’s most admired woman, according to YouGov’s annual study of which public figures the people of our planet look up to. In fact, the American actress, filmmaker and humanitarian has fallen from first place last year to third place this year, with US talk show …

The Associated Press report: A man screaming “You die!” burst into an animation production studio in Kyoto, Japan, and set it on fire Thursday, authorities said, leaving 33 people confirmed or presumed dead, shocking anime fans in and outside Japan. Most of the dead and the 36 injured were workers at Kyoto Animation, known for mega-hit stories featuring high school …

The Palm Beach Post reports: The city of West Palm Beach has launched a music offensive, playing torturous sound loops all night long of the children’s song “Baby Shark” to keep the homeless from lying about the patio of the city’s Lake Pavilion. The pavilion, a glass-walled events venue that overlooks the waterfront and downtown’s Great Lawn, hosted 164 events …

The Boston Herald reports: The criminal case against “American Beauty” actor Kevin Spacey has been dropped the Cape and Islands District Attorney announced today citing “the unavailability of the complaining witness.” An 18-year-old man, the son of former WCVB anchor Heather Unruh, accused the former “House of Cards” star of groping him at a Nantucket bar. During a July 8 …