Here are the stories making headlines today.
Rattled or frustrated, Trump is lashing out all over
President Donald Trump is lashing out in all directions as the fallout from his summit with Vladimir Putin becomes ever more toxic, the Russia investigation grinds on with no end in sight, and his frustration boils over on a lack of progress on North Korea.
Japan: Deadly heat wave continues as temperatures hit record 41.4C near Tokyo
Dozens of people have died across Japan as the country continues to swelter under scorching summer temperatures.
Stelter: Trump’s ‘hoax’ tweet means the press has even more questions to ask
Trump’s odd behavior with Russian president Vladimir Putin got people talking last Monday, when the two men met in Helsinki, and the criticism continued all week long, evincing deep concern about the relationship between two of the world’s most powerful men.
North Korea wants US to make ‘bold move’ towards peace before denuclearization, source says
Continued negotiations between the United States and North Korea hinge on Washington’s willingness to make a “bold move” and agree to a peace treaty with Pyongyang, according to an official with close knowledge of North Korea’s position on the matter.
Indonesian teenager raped by brother jailed for abortion
A 15-year-old girl has been imprisoned for six months for having an abortion after her brother repeatedly raped her, according to an Indonesian court official.
German footballer Mesut Ozil quits national team, citing racism
Mesut Ozil has effectively closed the door on international football, citing criticism from the media and the German football federation president that struck him as racist.
HPV: The gender-neutral killer in need of prevention among men
Like many men, Phil Rech wasn’t aware of a group of viruses that were a threat to him — human papillomavirus — until he was diagnosed with throat cancer caused by the infection.
Uber driver streamed hidden camera videos
An Uber and Lyft driver who broadcast videos of his passengers online has been suspended from both car-sharing services. Jason Gargac live-streamed passengers’ journeys on video-sharing site Twitch, where viewers would comment on their behaviour and appearance. Local newspaper the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said passengers were seen kissing, vomiting and gossiping about relatives and work colleagues.
Mesut Ozil: German FA rejects the Arsenal midfielder’s racism claim
Germany’s football association (DFB) has “emphatically rejected” allegations of racism from Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil but says it could have done more to protect him from abuse. Ozil, 29, announced his retirement from international football, citing “racism and disrespect” within German football. The midfielder says he received hate mail and threats and was blamed for Germany’s disappointing World Cup.
Angry Trump Iran threat becomes meme
Social media users have responded to President Trump’s angry Twitter threat towards Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani by aping his words to air their own grievances. Trump – making liberal use of the caps lock key – warned Iran’s president of “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” in response to Rouhani’s earlier declaration that war with Iran would be “the mother of all wars”.
Aboriginal anger as Noah joke resurfaces
Comedian Trevor Noah has responded to criticism of a racist joke he told in 2013 about Aboriginal Australian women, saying that he had “vowed never to make a joke like that again”. Noah, now host of The Daily Show in the US, faced a backlash after video of the joke was freshly circulated online.
Trump and Rouhani trade angry threats
US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have traded hostile warnings, amid rising tensions between the two countries. Mr Trump tweeted that Iran “will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” if it threatened the US.
French beating scandal reveals Macron’s feet of clay
For an event so small to become an affaire d’état suggests one of two things. Either the opposition and the media are so starved of material with which to beat the president that they are gleefully pushing the “Benalla affair” to the limit – at risk of overplaying their hand.
Smartphones with 48-megapixel cameras are coming
Smartphone cameras are about to get pretty insane. Sony, the company that struggles selling its own smartphones but is very good at building camera sensors for other companies’ phones, has announced its new IMX586 CMOS image sensor for smartphones.
Trump’s ALL CAPS Iran tweet is now a glorious meme
It’s 2018 so of course Twitter would take something as terrifying as the United States president writing an all-caps threat to another world leader, leaving us ( yet again) standing on the precipice of international conflict, and make it into a meme. What a time to be alive.
Snapchat shuts down peer-to-peer payment service Snapcash
The days of Snapchat’s peer-to-peer payment service Snapcash are numbered. Snapchat will officially end its mobile payment service on Aug. 30, according to buried code within the Android app uncovered by TechCrunch. It’s been four years since Snapchat launched Snapcash.
Maisie Williams is getting the perfect ‘Game of Thrones’ tattoo
The final season of Game of Thrones may still be a long way off for us mere mortals, but the show’s actors are already saying goodbye to it. As well as some emotional farewell posts on Instagram, some of the cast have decided to commemorate their time on Thrones with a bit of ink.
Another effort in the fight against fake news: WhatsApp tries to stop messages from going viral
WhatsApp is taking its most dramatic step yet to cut down on fake news. The app is testing a new feature that places limits on how many times a single message can be forwarded, WhatsApp announced Thursday. The update comes as Facebook scrambles to fight the messaging app’s fake news epidemic, which has lead to a number of violent incidents in India.
