Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was arrested Friday, his party said, a day ahead of a planned rally in the city that has been banned by the police.
"Our secretary-general @joshuawongcf was just arrested this morning at roughly 7:30," Demosisto tweeted. "He was forcefully pushed into a private minivan on the street in broad daylight. Our lawyers following the case now.

Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong arrested: Party

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Uber, Lyft and DoorDash threatened Thursday to spend $90 million on a California ballot measure if they can't reach a deal with unions and lawmakers on legislation that would change the rights of their drivers and other so-called gig workers.
"We remain focused on reaching a deal, and are confident about bringing this issue to the voters if necessary," Adrian Durbin, senior director of communications at Lyft, said in a statement.
The companies' team-up comes as California lawmakers debate a bill that would make it harder to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees. As employees, workers are entitled to more wage protections and benefits.
But the ridesharing and on-demand delivery companies say labeling workers as such would upend their business model built around driver flexibility.
The California Labor Federation, which sponsored the bill, quickly vowed to fight a ballot measure.
"We will meet the gig companies' absurd political spending with a vigorous ...

Rideshare, delivery apps pledge $90M California ballot fight

Law enforcement officials in Virginia said Thursday that they've taken down a multi-state drug ring and seized enough cheap fentanyl from China to kill 14 million people.
The bust was announced in the wake of growing efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl from Chinese labs to the United States.
The synthetic opioid often comes through the mail or across the Mexico border. It can be stronger and more lethal than heroin and is responsible for tens of thousands of American drug deaths each year.
The 30 kilograms (about 66 pounds) of fentanyl that were seized in this bust were intended for an area in southeastern Virginia known was the Peninsula, which includes the cities of Hampton and Newport News.
One of the 39 people charged is accused of ordering fentanyl from a vendor in Shanghai. The person then "had it mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to a neighborhood in Newport News," G. Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said at a news conference in 

US drug ring had enough cheap fentanyl to kill 14 million: Officials

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that he fears Libya will end up in a "full civil war" unless moves are soon made to end the conflict.
"Unless action is taken in the near term, it is highly likely that the current conflict will escalate into full civil war," Guterres said in the report.
He acknowledged the need for the support of the international community in finding a political solution for the country, where forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to take the capital Tripoli from the UN-recognized Government of National Accord in early April.
"I urge all parties to stop using explosive weapons, including by aerial bombardment or shelling, in populated areas because of their likely indiscriminate effects," the secretary general wrote.
Fighting on the outskirts of Tripoli has left 1,000 people dead and displaced 120,000 since the start of Haftar's offensive.
"A political solution to the Libyan conflict requires the full and united support of .

UN chief fears 'full civil war' in Libya

Britain, France and Germany will hold talks Friday on how to preserve the beleaguered Iran nuclear deal and protect shipping in the Gulf.
Tensions have spiked recently in the strategic shipping lane where Iran has seized Western tankers as Tehran and Washington have locked horns over the 2015 deal.
US President Donald Trump last year unilaterally pulled out of the accord that handed Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its atomic programme.
The move alarmed European powers, which see the deal as the best way to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, and infuriated the Islamic republic.
The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany -- the three European parties to the deal -- will be joined by EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini for talks on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Helsinki All have repeatedly said they are committed to saving the deal, but efforts to shield Iran's economy from the reimposition of US sanctions have so far borne little fruit.
The G7 summit 

Britain, France, Germany to hold Iran talks

Jean moves deftly through the tangle of roots and branches before waiting for the rainforest to give him a clue.
In the heart of the Dzanga-Sangha wildlife reserve in western Central African Republic, the Pygmy hunter is looking for the tracks of a large female elephant he has been following for the last three hours.
The elephant is not Jean's prey, but rather the opposite.
He is part of a force of local hunters who have trained to become rangers. Their mission: to protect the park's precious animals from ruthless poachers.
Lying on the flanks of the Sangha River, the 4,000-square-kilometre park, created in 1990, is the CAR's last haven for elephants and Central African gorillas.
Luis Arranz of the environment group WWF, which runs the park in partnership with the CAR government, is worried that this precious refuge will also fall one day.
"It won't last," he predicts sadly.
He points to the potential booty for poachers from ivory tusks, giraffe skins, pangolin scales and gorilla ...

Hunters turn gamekeepers to help C Africa's threatened wildlife

In middle school, Dan Scoglietti rode his bike through Chicago, picking up old beer cans with his twin brother, Ed. It was an odd hobby for a pre-teen in the 1970s that turned into a lifetime pursuit.
"We'd go to junior high and trade beer cans," says Scoglietti, now 57. "Today, I do it all the time." On Thursday, the twin brothers welcomed hundreds of other beer can collectors in Albuquerque to "CANvention," an annual gathering sponsored by the Fenton, Missouri-based Brewery Collectibles Club of America. For 49 years, the group, and its predecessor the Beer Can Collectors of America, have organized conventions celebrating vintage beer cans from brewers around the world.
Collectors came to trade, buy and sell beer cans dating as far back as the post-Prohibition era. They examined special-edition cans dedicated to NFL teams selling for only USD 5 to those from the 1930s going for up to USD 3,000.
Some collectors traded beer cans connected to the thousands of craft brewers who used ...

Brew the years: Beer fans 'CANvention' opens in US

The UN Security Council on Thursday voted to renew its long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for a year, warning of a "new conflict" with neighboring Israel.
The draft resolution, written by France and approved unanimously, would allow for the approximately 10,000 members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) -- which was created in March 1978 -- to stay in place.
According to the draft text, the Security Council warned that "violations of the cessation of hostilities could lead to a new conflict that none of the parties or the region can afford." It "condemns all violations of the Blue Line" between Lebanon and Israel, "both by air and ground, and strongly calls upon all parties to respect the cessation of hostilities." The Lebanese army fired on an Israeli drone in the southern part of the country Wednesday.
That incident came just days after Shiite movement Hezbollah blamed an armed drone attack in its south Beirut stronghold on Israel -- an incident that ..

UN renews peacekeeping mission amid Israel-Lebanon tensions

The owner of Timberland, Vans and several other shoe and clothing brands said Thursday that it has stopped buying leather from Brazil as fires continue to destroy the Amazon rainforest in that country.
VF Corp. said it won't purchase leather and hide from Brazilian suppliers until it's assured that the materials "do not contribute to environmental harm in the country." The current fires in the Amazon were set by those who are clearing the forest for cattle ranching and crops. About 60 per cent of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil.
VF, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, said 5 per cent of the leather it purchases for its products comes from Brazil.
"We do uphold our values and our commitment to the planet and its people no matter how small the volume is from a region or supplier," the company said in a statement.
Besides Timberland boots and Vans sneakers, VF also makes The North Face jackets, Eastpak backpacks and Dickies clothing.

Timberland owner stops buying leather from Brazil

Authorities on Thursday sedated and euthanized four small whales after 10 of the animals were stranded alive on a beach on the Hawaii island of Maui. Two others were also likely to be euthanized.
Veterinarians determined the four melon-headed whales were in grave condition and nothing more could be done to save them, Jeffrey Walters, the wildlife management and conservation branch chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement.
The animals were made comfortable with a sedative and then humanely euthanized to relieve their suffering, he said.
The remaining six whales were refloated to the ocean, but two of them soon stranded again. Walters says the prognosis for these two wasn't good and they would likely be euthanized.
Walters said NOAA and University of Hawaii scientists will examine the whales to determine what caused the stranding on Sugar Beach in the town of Kihei.
Kealoha Pisciotta, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, said the whales are .

4 out of 10 whales stranded alive on US beach euthanized

The wife of a U.S. Army sergeant from Michigan who was convicted of plotting to kill her husband has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Twenty-two-year-old Kemia Hassel learned her punishment Thursday. A Berrien County jury found her guilty of murder last month in the death of Sgt. Tyrone Hassel III. The 23-year-old was fatally shot in an ambush on New Year's Eve while visiting family in St. Joseph Township.
Kemia Hassel chose not to speak at the sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors argued at trial that she planned her husband's death so she could continue a romantic relationship with 24-year-old Jeremy Cuellar. All three were soldiers stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.
Cuellar has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and faces a minimum sentence of 65 years in prison.

US woman gets life in ambush slaying of soldier husband

Police in New Jersey say a possible carjacker apparently removed a sleeping 80-year-old woman from her parked car before stealing the vehicle and leaving her in the driveway.
Hamilton police say the woman told them she'd fallen asleep in her parked car in a driveway around 9 p.m. Wednesday, but woke to find the vehicle missing at around 4 a.m. on Thursday.
Police say the woman didn't remember what happened and had a bruise and abrasion on her face.
Authorities found the empty vehicle Thursday afternoon in Trenton.
No arrest had been made as of midday Thursday.

US woman fell asleep in her parked car, woke to find it missing

A judge formally ended the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, but not without a final tribute to the women who spoke out against the financier.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman took the procedural step of adding his initials to an order dismissing the indictment that charged the 66-year-old Epstein with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking of minors in the early 2000s in Florida and New York.
In requesting the action 10 days earlier, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, who is not related to the judge, noted that the law required the dismissal after Epstein killed himself in jail Aug. 10 while he was awaiting trial.
Though anticipated, Berman's action included a reference to a Tuesday court hearing where 16 women spoke about their claims against Epstein of sexual abuse, some committed when they were under the age of consent. Statements by several other women were read by their lawyers.
The judge said he was incorporating by reference the 

Judge ends case against Epstein, with a nod to the accusers

Britain's Brexit negotiators are to meet their EU counterparts twice a week throughout September, London said Thursday, in a bid to strike a new divorce deal.
Britain is due to leave the European Union on October 31 without a withdrawal agreement, unless one can be struck and then approved by parliament.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's predecessor Theresa May struck a deal with Brussels but parliament rejected it three times.
Johnson wants the so-called backstop, its fallback provisions regarding the Irish border, pulled out completely -- the only thing MPs indicated they were willing to support.
"We are ready to work in an energetic and determined way to get a deal done," Johnson said.
"While I have been encouraged with my discussions with EU leaders over recent weeks that there is a willingness to talk about alternatives to the anti-democratic backstop, it is now time for both sides to step up the tempo.
"The increase in meetings and discussions is necessary if we are to have a ...

UK, EU Brexit teams to meet twice-weekly in September

Apple is loosening its grip on how its products are repaired to give customers more options for fixing cracked screens and other defects on their older iPhones.
Under the new policy announced Thursday, Apple will begin selling its tools and parts to more independent phone-repair shops in the U.S. Apple will expand that to other countries later. Repairs at these shops, though, will be limited to iPhones already out of warranty.
IPhones still under warranty must still be taken to an Apple store or one of more than 5,000 service providers that the company already has authorized worldwide. That includes all Best Buy stores in the U.S. Those who have other devices, such as the Apple Watch and Mac computer, or an iPhone requiring more complicated repairs will also have to go there.
Although many unofficial repair shops have been offering basic fixes such as screen replacements, they aren't necessarily using Apple parts or qualified technicians. Now, thousands more shops will be able to buy .

Cracked iPhone screen? You'll have more places to fix it

North Korea accused the United Kingdom, France and Germany on Thursday of meddling in its "self-defensive measures for arms modernisation," saying the West will make "no greater mistake" than thinking Pyongyang will give up its right to have weapons that it says are needed to ensure peace.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency circulated a statement from Kim Son Gyong, an adviser at the Korea-Europe Association, in response to a joint statement Tuesday from the three important U.S. allies condemning Pyongyang's "repeated provocative launches" of ballistic missiles.
The Europeans accused North Korea of violating U.N. sanctions and urged leader Kim Jong Un to engage with the United States and make progress on denuclearization, which they said is "the only way to guarantee security and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the region."
The North Korean statement said defending national security has become more important after seeing countries "whose destinies were hacked to .

North Korea says it won't give up arms modernisation

East Timor on Friday marks 20 years since a UN-backed vote ended a bloody, decades-long occupation by Indonesian forces and paved the way for it to become an independent nation.
On August 30, 1999, nearly 80 percent of East Timorese voted to split from neighbouring Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, starting a brutal 24-year military occupation.
But joy over independence quickly turned to terror as Indonesian security forces and proxy militias went on a scorched-earth rampage, destroying infrastructure and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee to other parts of Indonesia. Around 1,400 people were killed.
On Friday formal events and 20th anniversary celebrations are scheduled with foreign dignitaries including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is to mark a maritime border treaty that could unlock billions in offshore oil and gas revenue seen as key to the impoverished, half-island nation's future.
The treaty was ratified by Australia's parliament 

East Timor marks 20 years since historic independence vote

President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled his planned weekend trip to Poland as Hurricane Dorian barrels toward Florida.
Trump, announcing the last-minute change of plans at a Rose Garden signing ceremony, said it was "very important" for him to be in Washington to deal with the storm, which the National Hurricane Center predicts will make landfall on Labor Day as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds.
"Our highest priority is the safety and security of the American people in the path of the hurricane," Trump said.
Trump had been scheduled to depart for Warsaw Saturday for a visit to commemorate the 80th anniversary of World War II. He said he'll be sending Vice President Mike Pence in his place.
It's the second time Trump has canceled a trip in recent weeks. Trump had originally been scheduled to fly from Poland to Copenhagen for his first official trip to Denmark, but canceled after leaders there mocked his desire to purchase Greenland.
Trump said he delivered the news to Polish ..

Trump cancels Poland trip as hurricane heads to Florida

Declaring space crucial to the nation's defense, President Donald Trump said Thursday the Pentagon has established U.S. Space Command as part of a broader effort to preserve U.S. dominance in orbit.
"This is a landmark day," Trump said in a Rose Garden ceremony, "one that recognizes the centrality of space to America's national security and defense." He said Space Command, headed by a four-star Air Force general, will "ensure that America's dominance in space is never questioned and never threatened." But there's still no Space Force.
Space Force, which has become a reliable applause line for Trump at his campaign rallies, has yet to win final approval by Congress.
The renewed focus on space as a military domain reflects concern about the vulnerability of U.S. satellites, both military and commercial, that are critical to U.S. interests and are potentially susceptible to disruption by Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weapons.
The role of the new Space Command is to conduct ...

Trump declares new Space Command key to American defense

Abhishek Verma won the gold medal and  Saurabh Chaudhary the bronze, in a dominant display by Indian shooters in the men's 10m air pistol event of the World Cup here.
Verma shot 244.2 in the eight-man finals, while Chaudhary's 221.9 was good enough to get him the bronze.
The silver medal went to Turkey's Ismail Keles, who aggregated 243.1 in the season's fourth ISSF World Cup for rifle and pistol shooters.
India have already exhausted the maximum Olympic quotas available per country in this event, with both Verma and Chaudhary securing the quotas in the previous qualifying events.
In the qualifications, Saurabh Chaudhary was fourth with 584 points and Verma entered the finals in fifth position with 582 points, while Gaurav Rana was 44th with 571.
India were placed at the top of the medals tally with two gold, one silver and a bronze.
The young Elavenil Valarivan opened India's account with a gold in the women's 10m air rifle event on the opening day.
Sanjeev Rajput then claimed a ...

Verma wins gold, bronze for Chaudhary

Florida residents picked the shelves clean of bottled water and lined up at gas stations Thursday as an increasingly menacing-looking Hurricane Dorian threatened to broadside the state over Labor Day weekend.
Leaving mercifully little damage in its wake in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the second hurricane of the 2019 season swirled toward the U.S., with forecasters warning it will draw energy from the warm, open waters as it closes in.
The National Hurricane Center said the Category 1 storm is expected to strengthen into a potentially catastrophic Cat 4 with winds of 130 mph (209 kph) and slam into the U.S. on Monday somewhere between the Florida Keys and southern Georgia  a 500-mile stretch that reflected the high degree of uncertainty this far out.
"If it makes landfall as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, that's a big deal," said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. "A lot of people are going to be affected. A lot of insurance claims." President Donald Trump ...

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