Aug 17 Indian authorities begin easing clampdown in Kashmir By Ashok Sharma, Associated Press Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir began restoring landline phone services on Saturday after a nearly two-week security crackdown and news blackout following a decision by India's government to downgrade the Muslim-majority region's autonomy. Continue reading
Aug 17 Italy’s Salvini agrees to let 27 minors off migrant ship By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Italy's hard-line interior minister buckled under pressure Saturday and agreed to let 27 unaccompanied minors leave a migrant ship after two weeks at sea, temporarily easing a political standoff that has threatened the viability of the populist government. Continue reading
Aug 17 Iranian tanker to leave Gibraltar soon despite US pressure By Aritz Parra, Hernan Muñoz, Associated Press The shipping agent for an Iranian supertanker caught in a diplomatic standoff says the vessel is ready to depart Gibraltar on Sunday or Monday, as the U.S. made a last-minute effort to seize it again. Continue reading
Aug 17 Sudanese protesters sign final power-sharing deal with army By Samy Magdy, Associated Press Sudan's pro-democracy movement signed a final power-sharing agreement with the ruling military council on Saturday at a ceremony in the capital, Khartoum. Continue reading
Aug 17 New York City subway scare suspect taken into police custody By Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press A man suspected of placing two devices that looked like pressure cookers in a New York City subway station, causing an evacuation and roiling Friday's morning commute, has been apprehended, police said. Continue reading
Aug 17 Hong Kong’s divide: Protests for democracy, rally for China By Yanan Wang, Kelvin Chan, Associated Press Pro-democracy protesters marched on one side of Hong Kong’s famous harbor on Saturday to demand the government heed their demands. Across the water, a pro-government rally called for an end to the often violent protests. Continue reading
Aug 16 Peter Fonda dead at 79 By Lindsey Bahr, Andrew Dalton, Associated Press The son of a Hollywood legend who became a movie star in his own right after both writing and starring in the counter-culture classic "Easy Rider" died Friday morning at his home in Los Angeles. Continue reading
Aug 16 Kim Jong Un expresses ‘great satisfaction’ over recent weapons tests By Kim Tong-Hyung, Associated Press North Korea on Saturday said leader Kim Jong Un supervised another test-firing of an unspecified new weapon that extended a streak of weapons demonstrations seen as an attempt to pressure Washington and Seoul over slow nuclear negotiations and their joint… Continue reading
Aug 16 Trump appoints student loan industry executive to be top loan watchdog By Ken Sweet, Associated Press It's a job designed to protect student loan borrowers from poor practices in the student loan industry and one of the few positions explicitly named in the Dodd-Frank Act, the law passed after the 2008 financial crisis that created the… Continue reading
Aug 16 Medical examiner rules Epstein death a suicide by hanging By Michael Balsamo, Larry Neumeister, Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press Jeffrey Epstein's prison death has been ruled a suicide by hanging, the medical examiner's office said Friday. Continue reading