MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

REAL SLIME WITH MAHER: Abrasive comic rips Liam Neeson for battling horse-carriage ban

BREAKING Swimmer nearly drowns after early morning dip off Coney Island’s pier

A 29-year-old man clung to life Thursday after nearly drowning during a early-morning dip off Coney Island'a Steeplechase Pier, police said.

NO WAY! L.A. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw fires no-hitter against Colorado

Clayton Kershaw pitched his first no-hitter Wednesday night, striking out a career-high 15 and allowing his only baserunner on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 8-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Ohio bus driver lied about his Bible stopping bullets during ‘race-fueled gang attack’: police

Cops said Wednesday that Rickey Wagoner, 49, shot and stabbed himself, and made up the story about how two bullets were stopped by his copy of 'The Message', a contemporary take on the New Testament.

Philadelphia man, 89, charged for role as Nazi guard at Auschwitz death camp

Johann “Hans” Breyer, was arrested by U.S. authorities Tuesday night. He appeared frail during a detention hearing in federal court, wearing an olive green prison jumpsuit and carrying a cane.

Chappelle comes out smoking in raunchy Radio City show

Lupica: Dick Cheney, you're the one who got us into this Iraq mess

So here is an old war profiteer like Dick Cheney, one who received five deferments so as not to serve in Vietnam but couldn’t wait to send young Americans into a war in Iraq first chance he got, writing with his daughter Liz the other day in The Wall Street Journal.

Nine missing after second boat carrying 27 Indonesians sinks off Malaysia's coast

Maritime agency official Mohammad Zuhri said that the second boat capsized early Thursday off Sepang town on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. He said 18 people, including four women, were rescued by passing merchant ships but nine others are still missing.

Attorneys want Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's federal trial moved to Washington, D.C.

Attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev want the Boston Marathon bombing suspect’s federal trial moved to D.C. because potential jurors from the city are “most prejudiced,” a court filing Wednesday said.

Men who recorded ‘cannonball’ on endangered manatee and its calf in Florida ESCAPE jail time

Taylor Martin and Seth Stephenson, who filmed themselves jumping on endangered species last year, appeared in an Orlando federal court Wednesday where they were spared from up to a year in a prison.

Outlandish American Apparel founder Dov Charney ousted following probe

111-year-old Virginia woman gets high school diploma — 96 years after dropping out

Virginia schools shut down temporarily in 1918 during a flu pandemic, and Lela Burden chose to start working instead of finishing her degree. On Tuesday, the supercentenarian finally got her diploma.

NY bill outlaws tattoos and piercings on pets

State lawmakers have adopted legislation to outlaw the tattooing or piercing of pet animals. The measure heads to Gov. Cuomo, who is expected to sign it.

President Obama's poll numbers fall to 41% approval

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s poll numbers — and the public’s confidence in his foreign policy — are falling, an alarming sign for Obama and endangered Democrats in Congress.

Executions occur in Georgia, Missouri and Florida within 24 hours

Georgia and Missouri executed prisoners around an hour apart late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Florida gave a lethal injection to a prisoner Wednesday night.

Obama briefs congressional leaders on Iraq options as country asks for airstrikes

President Obama briefed leaders of Congress on options for quelling an Al Qaeda-inspired insurgency in Iraq as GOP lawmakers and administration officials clash over who's to blame for terrorists' lightning gains.

Radio vet Angie Martinez resigns from hip-hop station Hot 97

Suspected Benghazi attacker captured because he planned more attacks: U.S. official

The U.S. told the UN Security Council that a top suspect in the deadly assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, was captured because investigators determined that he planned more attacks against Americans.

NYPD Commish Bratton vows to protect rights of Muslims

The NYPD’s top cop Wednesday promised to protect the rights of the city’s Muslims during a pre-Ramadan conference at police headquarters in Manhattan.

Arizona art thief shamed online for snatching local work off restaurant wall

A sticky-fingered art thief has been social-media shamed after he plucked a painting off the wall from an Arizona restaurant.

Ex-NY news anchor arrested in 2013 for allegedly choking wife busted AGAIN after calling her 121 times over Memorial Day weekend

Rob Morrison (pictured with wife in inset), 46, of Stamford, Conn., was charged with criminal violation of a protective order and second-degree harassment after turning himself in on a warrant about 6 p.m.

Brooklyn rabbi refuses to accept apology from man who threw bleach in his face

Meilech Schnitzler said he was sorry Wednesday in Brooklyn Supreme Court to Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg before he was sentenced to five years' probation for the Dec. 2012 attack.

New York

Rep. Rangel profits from PepsiCo stock while representing diet-poor district

Rep. Charles Rangel’s latest federal financial filings show his stock investment in PepsiCo is making a pretty sweet profit.

Albany deal cracks down on state's heroin epidemic

Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders announced a deal Wednesday on a package of bills designed to crack down on the state’s growing heroin epidemic.

State Senate grants mute swans a two-year reprieve from death

State lawmakers are speaking up for mute swans.

Judge clears Prospect Park tower project

Workers could resume pouring concrete as soon as Thursday on a 23-story tower set for the edge of Prospect Park after a judge lifted a temporary restraining order.

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

DEADBEAT! Ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez refuses to pay $330G fine for sexually harassing staff members

Vito Lopez, the ex-Brooklyn Democratic powerbroker, hasn’t paid the $330,000 fine he was hit with last year for sexually harassing multiple female staff members — and now he’s about to hear from the AG’s office.

Ex-worker sues Midtown eatery over alleged mistreatment

A former employee of Midtown’s Betony is accusing the eatery’s general manager of being abusive - even trying to poison a waitress who’s allergic to seafood by slipping fish sauce into her sloppy joe.

State Senate Republicans may stop Mayor de Blasio’s bid to lower city speed limit

Mayor de Blasio's bid to lower the city's speed limit to 25 mph may be have hit a bump in the road.

Jillian Michaels, 40, shows off flawless bod in nude shoot

Gabby Giffords warns of gun danger in domestic abuse

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords spoke briefly Wednesday at an event highlighting ties between guns and domestic violence.

THE XXX CANDIDATE: Ex-porn star running for Florida school board after district snubs math tutoring business

David Benoit Mech, 38, of Boca Raton, has announced his bid for a seat on the Palm County Beach School Board in the August primary.

Iraq violence sends gas prices rising as militant attacks raise fears over OPEC oil production

Worries that a push by Sunni Muslim militants to take over OPEC’s second-largest exporter could cripple the nation’s oil production have sent oil prices jumping in the past week.

Kathie Lee & Hoda: Hey Giuliana! Avoid the 'pevage' craze

EDITORIAL The miserable pols of southeast Queens

Louis: This week’s mistrial in the case of state Sen. Malcolm Smith means the court proceedings won’t resume until after the fall elections, giving southeast Queens voters time to confront — and correct — a horrendous record of electing pols who end up in ethical hot water.

Iran's president says he's prepared to protect Shi'ite holy sites in Iraq as radical Sunni fighters continue to seize cities in country's north

Iraqi troops are holding off Sunni fighters outside Samarra north of Baghdad, site of one of the main Shi'ite shrines.

Relatives of hero Parks Department worker seek funeral funds

A beloved Parks Department worker who died from injuries while saving four children from a Brooklyn fire will be laid to rest Thursday, his family said.

Sports

Melo likes Phil's moves, but still tight-lipped on free-agency plans

Carmelo Anthony looked very much at home late Wednesday with the Empire State Building looming over his shoulder and the Freedom Tower off in the distance. The Knicks free agent-to-be politely declined to address his future

Kobe says he's '100 percent,' will be ready for season

The Lakers are a mess. They don’t have a coach, have only three players under contract and are coming off the worst season in franchise history.

Bondy: If England loses at World Cup, no harm done

Nobody seems to be scared of England anymore — not World Cup opponents, and not Brazilian police. As England and Uruguay prepared for their last-chance match, supporters carrying the St. George’s flag strolled without malice and without much hope.

Brewers pump up Lucroy, run anti-Cardinals All-Star ad

Jonathan Lucroy may have found the most moving argument for his All-Star bid: he's not a Cardinal.

Bondy: Decision to leave Donovan home may haunt Klinsmann's team

LATEST NEWS: Chile ousts defending WCup champ Spain with 2-0 win; Croatia storms back into WCup contention by thrashing Cameroon; Bondy: If England loses at World Cup, no harm done; Bondy's World Cup Diary: Steak to seltzer, it's a real soap opera; Cristiano Ronaldo limps off at another World Cup practice; View All

Taylor Lautner flaunts chiseled abs at the beach

OUCH! Passenger on Newark to Hong Kong flight gets finger stuck in trash can, spends hour trapped next to plane's toilet: cops

The Newark-to-Hong Kong flight was just an hour from landing when the 32-year-old passenger's middle finger got caught in a trash can. He had to spend the rest of the flight standing alone in the bathroom.

Hillary Clinton says she’s open to legalizing medical, recreational marijuana use

The Clintons don’t inhale it, but Hillary Clinton suggested she wasn't opposed to legalizing it in an interview Tuesday night.

'Bomb-making' doomsday prepper surrenders peacefully to FBI in Florida

Marty Winters, 55, had been on the run since agents tried to approach him in his car to serve a search warrant on Monday morning, according to a report.

Senators propose gas tax increase of 12 cents per gallon to fund highway trust

Two senators have unveiled a bipartisan plan to raise gas and diesel taxes for the first time in more than 20 years, pitching the plan as a solution to Congress' struggle to pay for highway and transit programs.

J-Hud shows off her curves in teensy yellow bikini

'I'm so excited': Teen at center of custody battle between Massachusetts state and family released to parents after 16 months

The Connecticut girl had been in Massachusetts state custody since February 2013, when doctors at a Boston hospital accused her parents of neglect and overmedication. Justina was released Wednesday.