Top News Stories –

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras quits and calls early polls –
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced he is resigning and has called an early election. Mr Tsipras, who was only elected in January, said he had a moral duty to go to the polls now a third bailout had been secured with European creditors. He had to agree to painful state sector cuts, including far-reaching pension reforms, in exchange for the bailout – and keeping Greece in the eurozone. Greece received the first €13bn ($14.5bn) tranche of the bailout on Thursday after it was approved by relevant European parliaments. It allowed Greece to repay a €3.2bn debt to the European Central Bank and avoid a messy default. The overall bailout package is worth about €86bn over three years. [BBC]
Alexis Tsipras

Voters back teenager Deez Nuts to be next US president –
Someone calling himself Deez Nuts is running for US president and is actually getting support from voters. In a North Carolina poll, almost one in 10 people said they’d vote for Nuts to run the most powerful nation on Earth. He’s up against businessman Donald Trump – who’s ahead in the polls – and former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Asked to chose between the three hopefuls, 9% of respondents backed Nuts. Though 12% of people didn’t know. The man behind Deez Nuts is actually a 15-year-old. He’s Brady Olson, who lives on a farm in the rural state of Iowa. Only thing is, candidates have to be at least 35-years-old to become president of the United States. Tough luck, Nuts. [BBC Newsbeat] See Top Twitter Trends

Stuffed wolf worth £32,000 stolen from Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts’ granddaughter –
A £32,000, six-foot-long stuffed wolf has been stolen from the home of Charlotte Watts, granddaughter of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Police are seeking three men in connection to the theft which happened after an evening spent socialising in London. Charlotte and a friend met the three men, believed to be in their early 20s, at a Soho club and invited them back to her Chelsea home at 4am,according to the Evening Standard. One hour later the men left the home and when the women woke up the next day they found the 45kg, three-foot-tall wolf gone. [Daily Telegraph]
Charlie Watts

Video of the Day –

Pizza Cat – Simon’s Cat

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Macedonia declares a state of emergency and deploys police units on its borders as immigrants from the Middle East, mainly from Syria and Iraq, block the railway line between Thessaloniki and Skopje. (The News Hub)
• August 2015 Egypt bombings
  • Large blasts occur in Cairo and Giza, Egypt, targeting the State Security agency with six police officers injured. (Al Jazeera English Online via Twitter) (Al Jazeera English Online), (Washington Post)
• North Korea–South Korea relations, Korean Demilitarized Zone
  • North and South Korea exchange artillery fire over the border at Yeoncheon, prompting South Korea to order evacuations of its citizens in the area. (Sky News) (BBC)
• Spillover of the Syrian Civil War, Israel–Syria relations
  • The Israeli Army has fired Spike missiles on Syrian Army positions in the Golan Heights‘ Quneitra area in response to several rockets fired from Syria which landed in villages in northern Israel about 20 km from the border. (BBC)

Arts and culture

• Archaeologists find the skull rack used by the Aztecs to display victims in the ruins of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City. (AP via ABC News America)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 7 people are killed in a mid-air collision between two aircraft near Bratislava, Slovakia. (The Independent)

International relations

• The President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro orders the border with Colombia at the town of San Antonio del Táchira closed for three days after three soldiers are attacked while looking for smugglers. (AP via ABC News America)

Law and crime

• A newspaper publisher is shot dead in Mindanao, Philippines. (ABC News)
• 2015 Bangkok bombing
  • Thai police say they suspect that at least ten people were involved in planning the attack on the Erawan Shrine but international terrorists were unlikely to have been involved. (BBC)
• Operation Car Wash
  • In Brazil, prosecutors lodge corruption charges against Speaker of the Lower House Eduardo Cunha and former President Fernando Collor de Mello, alleging illegal activities involving state-owned oil company, Petrobras. (Al Jazeera English Online) (BBC) (The Guardian, UK)

Politics and elections

• Pierre Nkurunziza is sworn for a third term as President of Burundi. (BBC)
• The Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, announces his resignation and calls a new election for September 20. (The Telegraph) (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)
• Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced that his liver cancer (melanoma) had spread to his brain. In addition to radiation, Carter will be treated with a new drug, Keytruda (pembrolizumab), that boosts the immune system without the debilitating side effects of older treatments. (Washington Post) (WRDW-TV GA) (OncLive)

Science

• The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that July was the hottest month globally since record keeping began in 1880. Global temperatures were 1.46°F (0.81°C) warmer than the 20th century average. NOAA scientists envisage 2015 will go down as the warmest year on record. (CBS News) (NOAA)

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