USA

Jul 26, 2019; Democracy Now: Three white students at the University of Mississippi face possible federal civil rights charges after a photograph emerged showing the fraternity brothers posing with guns next to a bullet-riddled sign honoring Emmett Till, the 14-year-old African-American boy whose killing 64 years ago remains one of the most horrific examples of racial terror in the Jim Crow South.

26 July 2019; Democracy Now: A 46-year-old graphic designer and registered Republican has been identified as the creator of an altered presidential seal mocking Donald Trump that briefly appeared behind the president at an event in Washington, D.C., this week.

26 July 2019; MEMO: US lawmakers say they are unhappy about Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile defence system but are unsure what President Donald Trump – or Congress – should do next, suggesting efforts to impose sanctions were on the back burner for now, Reuters reports.

UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (APP): The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the economic arm of the United Nations, unanimously elected Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN, Maleeha Lodhi, as one of its four vice presidents at an election held on Thursday.

Ambassador Lodhi’s election was by acclamation after her candidature was endorsed by the 54-member body.

She will now assume the Asia Pacific seat in the Bureau of ECOSOC, a principal organ of the UN mandated to deliberate on socio-economic and development agenda of the world body.

NEW YORK, July 26. /TASS/: The US SpaceX carrier rocket Falcon 9 with Dragon resupply spacecraft blasted off on Thursday from Cape Canaveral (the US state of Florida) to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch was broadcast live on SpaceX’s website.

The spacecraft was launched at 18:01 local time Thursday (1:01 Moscow time Friday) and is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Saturday. The Dragon resupply ship is carrying about 2.5 tonnes of cargo to the orbital station, including food and equipment for carrying out scientific experiments.

NEW YORK, July 26. /TASS/: Iran has test fired a medium-range ballistic missile on Friday, Fox News television channel reported citing an unnamed senior official in the US administration.

According to Fox News, Shahab-3 ballistic missile was launched in the early hours on July 25 from the southern part of Iran and, after covering a distance of about 960 kilometers (600 miles) to the north of Iran, it landed in a desert not far from Tehran.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Mueller warned that Russian interference is still happening “as we sit here.”

State election officials are anxious and underfunded, some running systems with outdated software and scrounging for replacement parts off e-Bay.

And on Thursday a report from the Senate Intelligence committee concluded all 50 states were targeted in 2016 and ahead of the 2018 election “top election vulnerabilities remained.”

But there’s no help coming from Congress.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats on Thursday pivoted away from questions of impeachment by saying they are going to “own” the upcoming August recess on issues like health care and prescription drug costs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on a bipartisan budget and debt deal in Congress (all times local):

5:12 p.m.

A hard-won, bipartisan budget and debt compromise between President Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has easily passed the Democratic-controlled House.

The bill would head off another government shutdown, permit the Treasury to borrow freely to pay the government’s bills, and lock in place recent budget gains for the Pentagon and domestic agencies.

It’s a must-do measure that represents a relatively rare moment of detente in Trump’s Washington.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — An investigation into Marines accused of helping smuggle migrants into the United States led to the arrest Thursday of 16 of their fellow Marines at California’s Camp Pendleton, just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a dramatic move aimed at sending a message, authorities made the arrests as the Marines gathered in formation with their battalion.

None of the 16 Marines were involved in helping enforce border security, the Marine Corps said in a news release. They are accused of crimes ranging from migrant smuggling to drug-related offenses.