U.S. to invoke Iran deal "snapback" on Thursday: Israeli officials

The Trump administration has notified Israel that it plans to submit a formal request at the UN Security Council on Thursday to initiate "snapback" sanctions on Iran, Israeli officials tell me.

Why it matters: This move could create a diplomatic and legal crisis unlike any seen before at the Security Council. It comes days after the U.S. failed to mobilize support at the council to extend an international arms embargo on Iran.

The big picture: Despite having withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. is invoking its terms in an attempt to force sanctions lifted under the pact to snap back into place.

The deal says any of the signatories — the U.S., Russia, China, France, Germany and the U.K. — can demand sanctions be reimposed automatically if they believe Iran has committed substantial violations. No country can veto such a move.

Russia and China contend that the U.S. gave up its right to reimpose the sanctions when it withdrew from the deal. That view is shared by others on the council, and even by John Bolton, the hawkish former national security adviser.

The U.S., on the other hand, claims it has the right to initiate the snapback mechanism because it is a party to the Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal and included the snapback mechanism.

The European signatories, who have tried desperately to save the nuclear deal, also oppose the U.S. move.

How it works: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to arrive in New York on Thursday and present formal letters to the UN secretary-general and the UN ambassador from Indonesia, who holds the Security Council's rotating presidency.

The letter will then be circulated to other members, beginning a 30-day consultation period.

What to watch: Israeli officials and Western diplomats both say they expect a major diplomatic crisis over those 30 days.

If any member of the Security Council submits a resolution to stop the snapback move, the U.S. will be able to veto it.

U.S. officials believe that the renewal of international sanctions will lead Iran to withdraw from the nuclear deal — and likely make it impossible for Democratic nominee Joe Biden to put the deal back together if he wins in November.

Israeli officials were notified on Monday that the Trump administration intended to submit the official complaint on Thursday.

https://www.axios.com/snapback-sanctions-iran-un-security-council-bbbc0729-1997-49f1-be59-99b0c47614df.html

Parade of Atlantic weather disturbances could become tropical storms in coming days

A trio of disturbances are lined up one after the other in the Atlantic Ocean, and at least two of them will probably develop in the coming days and become named tropical storms.

While there is a large amount of uncertainty in the ultimate fate of all three disturbances, each of them has some potential to affect land areas from the Lesser Antilles to North America, depending on their exact tracks and whether they hold together and strengthen.

The parade of storms marks a sudden reawakening of the Atlantic basin that could kick hurricane season into overdrive in the coming weeks. The active stretch looks to carry into September, with multiple named storms probable through then.

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season already has featured a typical season’s worth of named storms, with 11 having formed through mid-August, although none were overly intense. The factory-like storm production included the earliest C, E, F, G, H, I, J and K storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, part of a season that has been nearly twice as active as average.

NOAA’s new hurricane outlook shows so many storms, we may have to turn to the Greek alphabet

Tropical Storms Kyle and Josephine, both short-lived, dissipated over the weekend, but Laura and Marco are up next and could be assigned to either of the two more robust tropical waves as they continue to churn west. The National Hurricane Center says both waves, labeled 97L and 98L, have 80 and 90 percent likelihoods, respectively, of becoming a tropical depression or storm over the next several days.

The active bout stems from a broad area of rising motion set to overspread the Atlantic and enhance tropical cyclone development. The same weather system brought a flurry of activity to the Pacific, transforming Genevieve, now just south of the Baja Peninsula, from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in less than 24 hours.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/19/atlantic-tropical-storms/

Facebook adds new tool to help users find local Black-owned businesses

Facebook is enabling users to discover Black-owned businesses through a new feature on the platform.

The social networking giant is rolling out a self-designation tool for Pages that lets entrepreneurs and admins identify businesses as Black-owned. The companies will then appear under a "Black-Owned Businesses" header on the website's Nearby Businesses front.

The idea is to drive more eyes and foot traffic to Black and minority-owned firms in the wake of civil unrest across the country, according to Maxine Williams, Facebook's global chief diversity officer.

"The visualization of what Black people have been going through forever has caused more people to become aware and interested in doing something," Williams said. "You have people saying 'I want to help, but I don't know how to help.'"

Page admins will receive a notification to find out more about the feature, which is launching along with a new Black-owned business grant program.

Diversity:Pinterest names Black executive to its board following discrimination charges

The Mark Zuckerberg-led app is far from the first platform to enhance discovery offerings for Black-owned stores and restaurants following the death of George Floyd.

Yelp and Uber Eats launched Black-owned tools in June that let people find Black-owned firms to support as race-related protests gripped the nation. Both companies reported a sharp rise in searches for those types of businesses.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/08/19/facebooks-latest-tool-helps-users-discover-black-owned-businesses/5601255002/

–Virginia Sen. L. Louise Lucas served with arrest warrant over Confederate statue protest as some decry charges

Washington Post

15m–

need someone to verify…can't open article

Operation Legend's federal charges by the numbers

Kansas City, Mo.

• Twenty defendants have been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm

• Seventeen defendants have been charged with drug trafficking

• Four defendants have been charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm

• Six defendants have been charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking

• Four defendants have been charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of violent crime

• One defendant has been charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition

• Three defendants have been charged with armed robbery

• One defendant has been charged with carjacking

• One defendant has been charged with arson

• One defendant has been charged with possession of machine gun

• One defendant has been charged with illegally dealing firearms without a license

• One defendant has been charged with the illegal sale of a firearm to a prohibited person

• One defendant has been charged with bank fraud

Albuquerque, N.M.

• Six defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances

• Four defendants have been charged with distribution of controlled substances

• Six defendants have been charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance

• Four defendants have been charged with being in possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking

• Eight defendants have been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm

• One defendant has been charged with being in possession of a stolen firearm

• Two defendants have been charged with Hobbs Act violations

• One defendant has been charged with carjacking

• One defendant has been charged with re-entry of a removed alien

list goes on..

https://www.foxnews.com/us/operation-legend-federal-charges-cities

>>10342881

can you post the sauce from that article? I reached my limit of views I guess

Destructive Bay Area fires fueled by rare mix of intense dry lightning and extreme heat

Coronavirus updates: Pope warns against the rich getting vaccine first; bargoer at Sturgis rally had COVID-19; world cases top 22M

CDC: Salmonella outbreak linked to onions expands

The LA Times logoDestructive Bay Area fires fueled by rare mix of intense dry lightning and extreme heat

a bridge over a body of water: Lightning crackles over Mitchell's Cove in Santa Cruz early Sunday. (Shmuel Thaler / Santa Cruz Sentinel)© (Shmuel Thaler / Santa Cruz Sentinel) Lightning crackles over Mitchell's Cove in Santa Cruz early Sunday. (Shmuel Thaler / Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Many of the fires burning unchecked across the Bay Area and Northern California have been caused by lightning strikes and fueled by extremely hot weather.

By Wednesday, the rare weather events had caused thousands to flee as homes burned north of Vacaville. Fires were reported from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the wine country and beyond. Here is what we know about the causes:

Three events combine for unusual, extreme weather

experts told The Times earlier this week:

1) The heat wave broiling the West — longer and harsher than is typical for August — was the first to arrive. It is a high-pressure system rotating clockwise over California, Nevada and Arizona that steered hot, dry desert air over the Golden State, breaking heat records across the Central Valley.

2) Then Tropical Storm Elida off the coast of Mexico began feeding the heat wave moisture, which created instability in the atmosphere. This moisture is why so many of the wildfires burning in California recently have created towering pyrocumulus clouds, said UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.

3) A thunderstorm some 1,100 miles south of the Bay Area in Sonora, Mexico, sent an invisible rippling wave of uplifting pressure north through the atmosphere, where it mixed with the heat and moisture to produce hundreds of lightning strikes across hundreds of miles of the Bay Area on Saturday and Sunday. That created dozens of fires, while farther inland a tornado formed.

Lightning, then fire

Northern and Central California began experiencing

Most of the thunderstorms seemed mostly to be dry. And that, in combination with the high winds, makes these lightning storms especially dangerous, Swain tweeted Sunday. Peak gusts of up to 74 mph were reported in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and up to 70 mph in Marin County on Sunday morning.

At least 100 new fires began on Monday due to lightning, on top of others that began from the 1,500 or so lightning strikes that were spread across the Bay Area over the weekend, said Lucas Spelman, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Some of those lightning strikes may have created smoldering piles of timber and brush that are just waiting for enough sunlight and heat to turn into an active fire. without warning. An Angeles National Forest crew sent to Australia earlier this year had a similar fire spring back to life just recently.

“The brush is primed to burn; we know that there is huge potential there,” Spelman said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/destructive-bay-area-fires-fueled-by-rare-mix-of-intense-dry-lightning-and-extreme-heat/ar-BB189LT3

A perfectstormof destruction

Portland protesters set fire to county government building

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Protesters in Portland broke out the windows of a county government building, sprayed lighter fluid inside and set a fire in a demonstration that started Tuesday night and ended Wednesday morning with clashes with police, officials said.

The fire at the Multnomah Building damaged the county government's office of community involvement, where Oregon's first gay marriage took place and where protective gear has been distributed to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, said Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury.

“This is the heart of our County, where people in our community come to get married, get their passports, and celebrate their cultural traditions and diversity,” she said in a statement.

The fire damaged the lobby where Oregon's first gay marriage happened in 2004, Kafoury said.

https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Police-declare-riot-in-Portland-amid-ongoing-15494359.php

burning down their own historical places..kek

Grizzly Creek Fire Grows To 28,00+ Acres In Glenwood Canyon

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – The Grizzly Creek Fire burning in Glenwood Canyon continues to grow. It was estimated at 28,030 acres on Wednesday morning.

More than 820 firefighters are assigned to the Grizzly Creek Fire. The hope is to have it contained by Sept. 1.

There is no timeline for when it might be safe enough to re-open Interstate 70.

The Grizzly Creek Fire started on Aug. 10 believed to be human-caused by sparks from a popping tire, dragging chains or a rim along I-70.

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/08/19/grizzly-creek-fire-glenwood-canyon-interstate-70-i-70-closure/

Kayleigh McEnany holds press briefing | 8/19/20

In other news

Walkies could become the law for German dog owners

Taking your dog for walks twice a day for at least an hour in total could soon become the law in Germany.

There could also be a ban on keeping dogs chained for long periods.

Rules are also being devised to crack down on "puppy farms" by banning breeders from looking after more than three litters at any one time.

"Pets are not cuddly toys, their needs have to be taken into account," Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner said about the planned changes.

'No knock on the door'

Under the planned rules, dog owners:

will have to take their dogs for walks twice a day for a minimum of one hour in total

will not be allowed to keep their dogs chained for long periods of time

will not be allowed to leave dogs alone the whole day

Breeders will be restricted to looking after a maximum of three litters and and puppies will have to spend a minimum of four hours a day in human company to ensure they get socialised.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53839286

Boeing scores year's first 737 MAX order with Polish airline Enter Air

(Reuters) - Boeing Co <BA.Nwon its first order for its grounded 737 MAX aircraft this year, after Poland's Enter Air SA <ENTP.WA> agreed to buy up to four variants of the jet, the U.S. planemaker said on Wednesday.

The jet's recertification is still hanging in the balance more than a year after its worldwide grounding due to two fatal crashes.

Boeing customers have canceled more than 400 orders for the U.S. planemaker's grounded 737 MAX jets this year, the company said last week. Based on a tighter accounting standard, the 737 MAX order cancellations and conversions to other aircraft models now stand at 864.

The planemaker said on Wednesday that Enter Air placed a new order for two 737-8 aircraft with options for two more jets. When the purchase agreement is fully exercised, Enter Air's 737 MAX fleet will rise to 10 aircraft, Boeing said.

"Following the rigorous checks that the 737 MAX is undergoing, I am convinced it will be the best aircraft in the world for many years to come," said Grzegorz Polaniecki, board member of Enter Air.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-scores-years-first-737-170418778.html

>>10343187

Newsfag outGodspeed anons