Britain denounces ship seizure
GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Saturday denounced Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf as a “hostile act” and rejected Tehran’s explanation that it seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards posted a video online showing speedboats pulling alongside the Stena Impero tanker, its name clearly visible. Troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelled to its deck from a helicopter, the same tactics used by British Royal Marines to seize an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar two weeks ago. Friday’s action in the global oil trade’s most important waterway has been viewed in the West as a major escalation after three months of confrontation that has already taken Iran and the United States to the brink of war. It follows threats from Tehran to retaliate for Britain’s July 4 seizure of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, accused of violating sanctions on Syria. British Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt called the incident a “hostile act.” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had expressed “extreme disappointment” by phone to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Britain also summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in London. A spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif, said Tehran had seized the ship in the Strait of Hormuz despite the “resistance and interference” of a British warship which had been escorting it. No British warship was visible in the video posted by the Guards. Iran’s Fars news agency said the Guards had taken control of the Stena Impero on Friday after it collided with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored.
US celebrates 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon landing
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – A moonstruck nation celebrated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s “giant leap” by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin at parties, races, ball games, and concerts Saturday, toasting with Tang and gobbling MoonPies. At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Kennedy Space Center, Aldrin showed Vice President Mike Pence the launch pad where he flew to the moon in 1969. At the same time halfway around the world, an American and two other astronauts blasted into space on a Russian rocket. And in Armstrong’s hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio, nearly 2,000 runners competed in “Run to the Moon” races. “Apollo 11 is the only event in the 20th century that stands a chance of being widely remembered in the 30th century,” the Vice President said. Wapakoneta 10K runner Robert Rocco, 54, a retired Air Force officer from Centerville, Ohio, called the moon landing by Armstrong and Aldrin “perhaps the most historic event in my lifetime, maybe in anybody’s lifetime.” At the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Gilda Warden sat on a bench and gazed in awe at the Apollo 11 command module, Columbia, on display. “It’s like entering the Sistine Chapel and seeing the ceiling. You want to just sit there and take it in,” said Warden, 63, a psychiatric nurse from Tacoma, Washington. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin undocked from Columbia in lunar orbit and then descended in the lunar module Eagle to the Sea of Tranquility. The Eagle landed with just 17 seconds of fuel to spare. Six hours later, Armstrong was the first to step onto the lunar surface, proclaiming for the ages: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was humanity’s first footsteps on another world.
Nearly 150 M people sweltering through deadly US heat wave
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States was sweating through a weekend of dangerously hot weather, with major cities, including New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, experiencing temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). An oppressive heat wave stretching from the Midwestern plains to the Atlantic coast had nearly 150 million people struggling to stay cool amid scorching temperatures. Heat index values – combining the effect of heat and humidity – could reach 110 to 115 degrees, particularly in the east, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. It warned that “dangerously high temperatures and humidity could quickly cause heat stress or heat stroke if precautions are not taken.” The heat was expected to continue through late Sunday as a high-pressure system off the Atlantic coast ushered in steamy, subtropical air. People were being urged to stay hydrated, watch out for the sick and the elderly, stay inside as much as possible, and not leave children or animals in cars. The heat wave already claimed at least three lives, including two earlier in the week in the eastern state of Maryland. In Arkansas, former NFL player Mitch Petrus died Thursday after working outside his family’s shop. The 32-year-old died of heat stroke, the Pulaski County coroner was quoted as saying in US media. Heat warnings have also been issued for parts of eastern Canada. In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a heat emergency.
