By Humeyra Pamuk
GARDEN CITY, New York, Aug 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday urged Americans to accept slightly higher ‌gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining ‌a nuclear weapon and said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S territory.
The comments underscore the growing political risk for Trump as higher fuel prices collide with his campaign promise to lower energy costs, with Democrats already seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran ‌war an issue heading into ⁠the November midterm elections.
In a speech in Garden City, Trump said Americans who had to "pay a tiny little ⁠bit more for your gasoline" should remember that this was the cost of ensuring "a very evil country" could not have a nuclear weapon.
"What we're doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves ... ‌and we're really doing a great job," said Trump, adding he would never apologize for attacking Iran.

#higher #cost

By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Two Democratic senators are demanding answers from two Belgian firms about an 18-carat gold ring encrusted with 321 diamonds that was ‌given to U.S. President Donald Trump weeks before the U.S. exempted Europe's diamond industry ‌from new tariffs.
Here are some details:
• In an August 10 letter to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre and David Gotlib Luxury Cufflinks, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut warned that the gift raised serious legal questions under U.S. federal bribery law and could result in criminal penalties for the companies.
• "At best, your (gift to) ... President Trump amidst high-stakes tariff decisions creates the glaring appearance of impropriety. ‌At worst, it reinforces that foreign ⁠corporate special interests can … buy lucrative tariff exemptions simply by showering President Trump with shiny gifts," they wrote in the letter.

#diamond

Health officials in Louisiana are urging beachgoers to take precautions during a summertime surge in infections from a flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.
Louisiana has confirmed nine cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, the state's health department said last week in a news release. All were hospitalized, and five died. During the same period over the previous decade, Louisiana reported an average of seven cases and one death.
"Seek medical care immediately if a wound exposed to brackish or salt water becomes red, swollen, painful, warm or discolored," officials said in the release. "Tell the health care provider about the water exposure."
Vibrio bacteria thrive in seawater and in the brackish mix of fresh and saltwater found in estuaries and lagoons. Most infections are reported from May to October, and most happen in states along the Gulf Coast. Doctors say the Gulf is an ideal environment with the right amounts of salt and heat to let this organism proliferate.
The mostly deadly type is Vibrio vulnificus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as one in five of those infections are fatal, a much higher rate than other types of Vibrio bacteria.

#vibrio #bacteria #found

Newly released body camera and surveillance footage shows a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy being stabbed within seconds of arriving at a call about an armed man before deputies opened fire, fatally shooting the suspect.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Tuesday released body camera and surveillance video from the June 20 incident in a Lancaster parking lot that left a deputy wounded and 23-year-old Robert Castro shot. Castro died after the shooting.
The incident began with a 911 caller reporting a man wielding multiple knives in public.
Wisconsin Protester Brands Madison As 'Corrupt City' During Anti-police Tirade Following Deadly Shooting
"Hey, I just want to make a report of a guy with some knives ... swinging them in public," the caller told a dispatcher.

#angeles #camera