MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

GUN IN MY FACE: News photog handcuffed, detained while on the ground with demonstrators in Ferguson, Mo.

Daily News multimedia journalist Pearl Gabel's first-person account: I was walking toward the police with my hands in the air, when suddenly an officer pointed a rifle at my face.

Florida couple forced girl, 12, to take antidepressants, shaved her head and locked her in closet: police

Sean Pearson, 33, and Jessica Rowland, 21, have been arrested on egregious child abuse charges stemming from a 911 call that alleged they forced a 12-year-old girl to take pills and shaved her head.

Minivan explodes in Miami after bumbling thief tries to siphon gas: report

The man was using an illegal pump system to siphon gas into his minivan on Friday at a Miami-Dade gas station when something went wrong and the van exploded, sending people running for their lives, authorities said.

CRAZY, STUPID LOVE: Texas woman steals $3.99 bottle of wine so she would get busted and see her boyfriend in jail, cops say

Alicia Walicke nicked a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 from a Shell gas station, then sat in the parking area drinking it, according to a warrant obtained by the Austin American-Statesman.

Rihanna, Eminem depict dark side of love in ‘Monster’ show

Lupica: Time for the Mets ace Matt Harvey to grow up and just be a pitcher, not a prima donna

One of these days, Matt Harvey needs to remember — and that probably means before he hurts his arm again — that his job is to be a star young baseball pitcher, not some sort of needy celebrity.

Pregnant mom gives birth while enrolling 4-year-old at Houston area preschool

A 4-year-old boy got a real-life lesson in the birds and the bees when his mom had a baby while registering him for preschool.

Marijuana ‘grove’ — worth $5 million — discovered in California park

That’s a lot of weed. Park rangers in Southern California discovered a marijuana “grove” worth about $5 million in illegal crops, authorities said.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Prankster tries out YouTube rocket fuel recipe in mom's kitchen — and burns self badly

A dim-witted prankster who tried to make rocket fuel in his mom's kitchen ended up with serious burns to his body.

Bethenny ready to catch waves off Long Island shore

SINGLED OUT EVEN IN DEATH: FDA rejects Iowa teen's eye donation after suicide because he was gay

Sheryl Moore said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wouldn't approve her son's eyes for donations even though it transplanted his heart, liver, kidneys and lungs after his 2013 suicide.

Naked burglar masturbates on woman’s porch in Florida: cops

When he couldn’t get in, he decided to get off. A 21-year-old Florida man is accused of masturbating on a woman’s front porch after he failed as a naked burglar, authorities said.

Three injured in stabbing at Grand Central Terminal by drunk man on an uptown 6 train: cops

One man was stabbed in the chest, another was slashed in the arm and a third victim was slashed across the stomach during the melee, authorities say.

Gene Simmons' verbal gaffe gets Kiss banned from station

'It’s like the end of the world': Washington state man crawls out of exploding house screaming in pain

When an exploding house blasted a Washington state neighborhood with debris, witnesses saw a screaming man crawl out of the rubble without a shirt.

Naked Illinois robber caught getting dressed in bank bathroom: police

This is a stick up. A robbery suspect took off all his clothes before demanding cash from a Rockford, Ill. on Friday morning.

Phony Ebola cures spread online as two Nigerians die from drinking salt water to ward off virus, UN says

The UN and the FDA warned consumers about any product that claims to fight the disease and reminded the public that there is no cure for Ebola.

Cop who shot Michael Brown did not know he was suspect in strong-arm robbery caught on tape

Officer Darren Wilson had no idea when he stopped Michael Brown that the 18-year-old was a suspect in an armed robbery, said Ferguson, Mo., police chief Thomas Jackson.

Hamill: Gunned down teen Michael Brown is famous for all the wrong reasons

But the cop who shot Michael Brown dead didn't even know he was a potential suspect in a robbery. Somehow that simple pedestrian traffic stop ended a fusillade of police bullets.

Rev. Al Sharpton accuses Ferguson police chief of 'smear campaign' against slain unarmed teen Michael Brown

They’re trying to do to Michael Brown what they did to Eric Garner — “smear” his name, says Sharpton.

THE OTHER DARREN WILSON: St. Louis police sergeant mistaken on social media for cop who shot teen

Moments after police identified Officer Darren Wilson as the cop who shot Michael Brown, 18, a longtime St. Louis city police sergeant, who shares the same name, was mistaken as the shooter.

New York

Man slashed with box cutter in attempted robbery on59th Street station on No. 6 train

A Upper East Side straphanger was slashed in the face Saturday afternoon during an apparent robbery attempt, authorities and witnesses said.

Long Island Rail Road unions ratify tentative contract reached with MTA

The Long Island Rail Road unions that threatened to strike earlier this summer overwhelmingly ratified a tentative contract reached previously with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, officials announced Friday.

Family of 9-year-old girl raped in Brooklyn plans to sue city, wants to block lawyers from grilling victim

The family of a 9-year-old girl who was raped by a 14-year-old boy on the roof of a Brooklyn homeless shelter intends to sue the city — but is trying to block city lawyers from grilling the emotionally vulnerable victim.

LATEST FROM AROUND NEW YORK

Cops allegedly placed mother's sex toys in child's room during search: lawsuit

Cops trashed a Queens couple’s home, took cash and deliberately placed the wife's sex toys in their child's bedroom during a search for evidence, a lawsuit charges.

Sikh Coalition blasts NYPD for turban bias against would-be cops

A group representing the Sikh community accused the NYPD of religious discrimination Thursday.

‘Downton Abbey’ cast responds to water bottle blunder

Pope Francis makes strong, silent statement on abortion while visiting center for disabled in South Korea

Pope Francis has generally avoided hot-button "culture war" issues like abortion, arguing that the church's doctrine on the sanctity of life is well-known and that he'd rather emphasize other aspects of church teaching.

Up to 35 undocumented immigrants discovered in shipping container

One man has died and another 19 people have been taking to hospital after being found inside a shipping container.

Heavy rains in Nepal flood entire districts as death toll rises past 50

Flooding and landslides in western Nepal have killed at least 54 people and left 142 missing amid continuous rainfall over the past three days, officials said Saturday.

The end may be coming! (And Bruce Willis can't save us)

Airstrikes target militant-held dam in Iraq, as Islamic State massacres some 80 Yazidi men: residents

Airstrikes pounded the area around Iraq's largest dam on Saturday in an effort to drive out militants who captured it earlier this month, as reports emerged of the massacre of some 80 members of the Yazidi religious minority by Islamic extremists.

Tiny kitten miraculously survives after being tossed from speeding car

The one-pound kitten is only five weeks old. It suffered a broken leg and eye injuries, but vets expect a full recovery.

Most of the 100 captured by Boko Haram this month freed, many terrorists killed: Nigerian official

Nigeria’s Boko Haram militant group kidnapped 100 people earlier this month but most were freed — and most were young men, not women — officials said Friday.

Bill Murray crashes Montana outfitters to try on bolo ties

Church volunteer beaten by homeless man will keep serving needy

Mexican mayor accused of hiring cartel hitman to kill a friend

Skateboarding legend Jay Adams dies at 53

Two die during Chess Olympiad in Norway — one in middle of match

Alabama student, 16, sent home for dying her hair red

Sports

Geno rises above as Rex rips defensive backs in Jets' win over Bengals

Perhaps Geno Smith is taking a page out of Michael Vick’s playbook. The second-year quarterback, who has always been mobile, had been reluctant to run in the past. In Saturday’s 25-17 preseason win over the Bengals, it looked like that could be changing — for the better. Smith’s legs were his best weapon in the one half he played, as he totaled 20 yards on four carries, including a touchdown and a third-down conversion in the red zone.

Harper: Striking a deal with Cubs, A's needs to be on Mets' short list

So what’s it going to take for the Mets and Cubs to make a trade this winter? Many baseball people speculate that it’s practically inevitable, considering the Cubs are loaded with shortstops and the Mets clearly need one, no matter how much they try to wish Wilmer Flores into being the answer there.

Offensive showing leaves Giants feeling incomplete in win over Colts

At least Eli Manning completed a pass this time. This is what it’s come down to for the Giants’ offense. Three weeks into the preseason, the bright spot for the first team came when two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning found Jerrel Jernigan for a six-yard completion on a drive that went nowhere.