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 Angela Merkel young activists, press case for climate action. Young activists, including Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, held talks Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to press their demands for tougher action on curbing climate change and to get their cause back on the political agenda. Thunberg, 17, Luisa Neubauer, 24, of Germany and Belgians Anuna de Wever van der Heyden, 19, and Adélaïde Charlier, 19, were accompanied by a handful of climate protesters as they arrived at the chancellery in Berlin, the first talks the youth activists have held with a head of government since the start of the pandemic. ADVERTISEMENT “We are here, we are loud, because our future's being stolen,” the protesters chanted as photographers mobbed Thunberg. The 17-year-old shot to fame after starting her solo protests outside the Swedish parliament exactly two years ago. Students around the world soon began following her lead, staging regular large protests, and Thunberg was invited to ...

 DNC final night,  What to watch on the fourth night of the Democratic convention. Former Vice President Joe Biden will officially accept his party’s nomination on the final night of the  Democratic National Convention  and tell voters why they should chose him over four more years of President  Donald Trump . Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris,  accepted the vice presidential nomination Wednesday in an evening that also included impassioned speeches  from former President Barack Obama and former Rep. Gabby Giffords.  (Here are the highlights from the  first ,  second  and  third  nights of the DNC.)  Speakers for the fourth and final night of the convention, which is being held virtually  due to the coronavirus pandemic , are set to begin Thursday at  9 p.m. ET . Among them are former Democratic primary candidates who have coalesced around Biden: Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and Mike ...

 Sweden most deaths 150 years, Sweden's COVID-19 outbreak leads to highest death. Sweden has recorded its highest death toll in 150 years in the first half of 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the country’s official statistics office. The Scandinavian nation, which refused to implement a COVID-19 lockdown, tallied 51,405 deaths between January and June — the highest number of fatalities in the first half of a year since 1869,  according to CNN . That figure is roughly 6,500, or 15 percent, more than the same time period last year. During the first half of 1869, 55,431 people died when Sweden was hit by widespread starvation due to poor harvests. The severe famine caused many desperate citizens to emigrate to the US. As the coronavirus spread across Europe earlier this year, Sweden was among the few nations that refused to implement an official lockdown — instead stressing personal responsibility to fight the pandemic and opting to strive for herd immunity. ...

 Mikele Colasurdo heart condition, Georgia State QB Mikele Colasurdo Out for 2020. Georgia State quarterback Mikele Colasurdo  announced Thursday  he will not play in 2020 due to a heart condition as a result of contracting COVID-19.  Colasurdo is an incoming freshman at Georgia State in 2020. The three-star recruit has been on the Panthers' campus since the spring.  "Today I was diagnosed with a heart condition as a result of my COVID-19 infection,"  Colasurdo tweeted  on Thursday. "Unfortunately, this means that I will not be able to play this football season. ...I am incredibly thankful for coach Elliott and trainer Bob for providing a safe environment for us to train and practice." Colasurdo added he expects to be on the field for the 2021 season. Georgia State is in the Sun Belt conference, which has opted to continue playing in 2020 despite the COVID-19 crisis. Sun Belt member Appalachian State suspended all football activities on Aug. 18 after 1...

Space Station air leak, NASA Says There's a Small Leak. NASA  is working to isolate a small air leak in the U.S. segment of the International Space Station. Astronaut Chris Cassidy will join cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin in the Russian Zvezda service module from Friday night into Monday morning, the space agency said, in a  statement  on its website. "Since September of 2019, specialists have been tracking a very slow decrease in the International Space Station stack pressure, and are trying to identify the source," a NASA spokesman told Fox News, via email. "The leak rate has increased slightly from measurements taken in September, 2019, but still is within overall specifications and presents no immediate danger to the crew or space station." NASA and its international partners can carefully monitor the air pressure in each module, the spokesman added. “All the space station hatches will be closed this weekend so mission controllers can...

 Australia gold nuggets found, Treasure hunting family dig up two huge gold nuggets. Gold diggers in southern  Australia  have found two huge nuggets worth $350,000 AUD ($250,000 USD) in historic goldfields. The pair of nuggets weigh in at a combined 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) and were found on the same day near Tarnagulla in  Victoria state , as shown on Thursday's episode of "Aussie Gold Hunters" on the Discovery Channel. Prospectors Brent Shannon and his brother-in-law Ethan West found the nuggets in a matter of hours with the help of West's father Paul West, according to a Discovery Channel press release. The nuggets could fetch up to 30% more than their estimated value by weight if they are sold to a collector, according to the release. "I reckoned we were in for a chance," Shannon told Australian breakfast chat show Sunrise. "It was in a bit of virgin ground, which means it's untouched and hasn't been mined." The pair had been wa...

 Las Cruces chokehold settlement, New Mexico city to pay $6.5M. Las Cruces, N.M., will pay $6.5 million to the family of Mexican American man who was choked to death by a police officer,  reports the Associated Press.  A settlement agreement made public this week calls for the city to pay the family of Antonio Valenzuela within 30 days and promises that officials will institute various police reforms. Under the settlement, Las Cruces police agreed to ban all chokeholds and fire any officer who violates the new policy. The city also must try to adopt a warning system involving officers who use excessive force and require officers to undergo yearly mental health exams. Any police reforms must be approved by the city council. Valenzuela, 40, was being sought for a parole violation and fought with officers who tried to detain him after he fled from a traffic stop in February. After a chase, then-Las Cruces Officer Christopher Smelser applied the chokehold. Smelser, ...

 Cal Ripken Jr cancer, free after surgery in March. Orioles legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. revealed Thursday that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February and is “cancer free” after surgery in March. “The surgery couldn’t have gone better,” Ripken said. “The outcome couldn’t have gone better, and I’ve resumed doing everything I did before. It’s a pretty miraculous few months.” Baseball’s Ironman, who is preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record of 2,131 on Sept. 6, referred to the diagnosis as “a moment in your life that you don’t want to hear. “We all know people that have had different cancers and you kind of wonder, how would you feel if it happened to you?” said Ripken, whose father, Cal Ripken Sr., died of lung cancer in 1999. “I know what that feels like now.” Ripken said he had “no symptoms whatsoever” with a normal-sized prostate for someone his age. He turns 60 on Monday. Levels on his ...

 FBI Zion tweet, FBI refuses to delete 'reckless' tweet link to the anti-Semitic. An official FBI Twitter account drew criticism for tweeting a link to a 139-page selection of the bureau’s files on “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the infamously antisemitic early 20th century text that accuses Jews of world domination. The tweet was followed by an apology explaining that the document was published "via an automated process."  The  FBI Records Vault  sent the tweet on Wednesday afternoon without context, and some Twitter users took it as a promotion of the message in the “ Protocols .” However, the Twitter account regularly tweets declassified archival FBI documents. Protocols of Learned Elders of Zion:  https://t.co/BpI5Tc8oKc — FBI Records Vault (@FBIRecordsVault)  August 19, 2020 "Earlier today FOIA materials were posted to the FBI’s Vault and FOIA Twitter account via an automated process without further outlining the context of the d...

Kamala Harris chittis, 'Harris will fight for us' (Details). The stakes could not have been higher for Kamala Harris as she made history to formally accept the Democratic vice-presidential nomination. How did she do? Only three women have been on the top ticket for a major party before, and none has made it to the White House. The California senator, who spoke in an almost empty auditorium in Delaware, is also the first African American and Asian American to be nominated. We asked voters and experts to assess her performance. A single mother to three boys, Ms Reese was "thrilled" by the news last week that Kamala Harris would serve as Joe Biden's running mate. "Kamala has been a superpower in our government, not only showing the world what strong ambitious women of colour can do for our communities, but also speaking up for the voiceless within the justice system and in service." For 37-year-old Reese - an author, healthcare worker, and a black woma...

 Drunk History canceled After 6 Booze-Soaked Seasons. You might want to sit down and pour yourself a drink before you read this. After 6 seasons of alcohol infused history lessons,  Drunk History  is no more. Per  Variety , the recently aired 6th season of the Comedy Central show will be the series last. Before the global pandemic,  Drunk History  was in pre-production,   having been renewed for a 7th season last year. According to  Variety , Comedy Central has chosen to cancel the beloved series as it makes a concerted effort “to move away from live-actions scripted shows in favor of adult animation.” Now that  Drunk History  has been cancelled and  The Other Two  and  South Side  have moved to HBO Max , there are two remaining scripted live-action shows on Comedy Central: “Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens” and “Corporate,” which began airing its third and final season in July. Over the course of its run  Drunk His...