World
Associated PressNortheastern farmers face new challenges with severe drought
Vermont farmer Brian Kemp is used to seeing the pastures at Mountain Meadows Farm grow slower in the hot, late summer, but this year the grass is at a standstill. “I don’t think there is any normal anymore," Kemp said. The impacts of climate change have been felt throughout the Northeastern U.S. with rising sea levels, heavy precipitation and storm surges causing flooding and coastal erosion.
Associated PressCheney and Murkowski: Trump critics facing divergent futures
They hail from their states' most prominent Republican families. Cheney faces daunting prospects in her effort to fend off the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, increasingly looking at a life beyond Capitol Hill that could include a possible presidential campaign. Murkowski, however, is expected to advance from her primary and is already planning to compete in the November general election.
Associated PressNew Zealand river's personhood status offers hope to Māori
The Whanganui River is surging into the ocean, fattened from days of winter rain and yellowed from the earth and clay that has collapsed into its sides. Sixty-one-year-old Tahi Nepia is calmly paddling his outrigger canoe, called a waka ama in his Indigenous Māori language, as it is buffeted from side to side. In 2017, New Zealand passed a groundbreaking law granting personhood status to the Whanganui River.
Associated PressS Korea offers North economic benefits for denuclearization
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday offered “audacious” economic assistance to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons program while avoiding harsh criticism of the North days after it threatened “deadly” retaliation over the COVID-19 outbreak it blames on the South. In a speech celebrating the end of Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula, Yoon also called for better ties with Japan, calling the two countries partners in navigating challenges to freedom and saying their shared values will help them overcome historical grievances linked to Japan’s brutal colonial rule before the end of World War II.
- Associated Press
China cuts interest rate to shore up sagging economy
China’s central bank trimmed a key interest rate Monday to shore up sagging economic growth at a politically sensitive time when President Xi Jinping is believed to be trying to extend his hold on power. The ruling Communist Party effectively acknowledged last month it can’t hit this year’s official 5.5% growth target after anti-virus curbs disrupted trade, manufacturing and consumer spending. The People's Bank of China cut its rate on a one-year loan to 2.75% from 2.85% and injected an extra 400 billion yuan ($60 billion) in lending markets after government data showed July factory output and retail sales weakened.
Associated PressUS Congress members meet Taiwan leader amid China anger
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen met Monday with a delegation of U.S. Congress members in a further sign of support among American lawmakers for the self-governing island that China claims as its own territory. It comes less than two weeks after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, which prompted days of threatening military exercises by China, including the firing of missiles over the island and into the Taiwan Strait. China has also sent warplanes and navy ships across the waterway's median, which has long been a buffer between the sides that separated amid civil war in 1949.
Fox NewsPutin tells Kim Jong-un that they will expand 'constructive bilateral relations,' North Korea says
North Korean state media said on Monday that Putin sent a letter to Kim Jong-un promising to expand "comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations."
BBCEgypt fire: Dozens dead in Giza Coptic church
The blaze broke out at a Coptic Christian church in the city of Giza causing a stampede.
- Fox News
Blinken condemns Iran for inciting attack on Salman Rushdie: 'This is despicable'
Iran's threats against Salman Rushdie are "despicable," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the famed author was stabbed ahead of a lecture in New York.
- Associated Press
Syria says Israeli strikes kill 3 soldiers, wounds others
Israel launched a missile attack on western and central Syria Sunday night, killing three soldiers and wounding three others, the Syrian military said in a statement. The Syrian army said Israel’s military targeted several positions in the coastal province of Tartus and suburbs of the capital Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the Israeli strike targeted a Syrian army air defense base in the area of Abu Afsa.
Ukrayinska PravdaArmed Forces of Ukraine hit Wagner HQ in Popasna, the photo of which was exposed by Russian war reporter Russian channels
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO - SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST, 21:04 Russian Telegram channels report on the attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the headquarters of the Wagner PMC [a network of mercenaries who serve as the de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin] in the occupied Popasna, Luhansk Oblast, a photo of which was recently published by the Russian military correspondent.
Fox NewsBiden admin continues negotiating with Iran despite plans to kill high-level American politicians
Critics are questioning the Biden administration's continued nuclear talks with Iran amid the regime being behind recent assassination plots targeting Americans.
AFPIran's top automaker sets sights on Russian market
Iran's leading automaker is seeking to prioritise exports to Russia, its CEO said Sunday, as both countries reel under Western economic sanctions.
LA TimesShip carrying grain for hungry Ethiopia leaves Ukraine
A United Nations-chartered ship loaded with 23,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain destined for Ethiopia has set sail from a Black Sea port.
BBCKenya elections 2022: Raila Odinga and William Ruto in tight presidential race
Raila Odinga and William Ruto are running neck and neck with almost half of the results confirmed.
Associated PressSchool shooter's brain exams to be subject of court hearing
A defense mental health expert in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz can pinpoint when he realized the 23-year-old mass murderer still has “irrational thoughts” — the two were making small talk when Cruz began describing plans for an eventual life outside prison. Wesley Center, a Texas counselor, said that happened last year at the Broward County jail as he fitted Cruz's scalp with probes for a scan to map his brain. The defense at hearings this week will try to convince Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that Center and other experts should be allowed to testify at Cruz's ongoing trial about what their tests showed, something the prosecution wants barred.
Associated PressNew York restricts families from sending packages to inmates
As part of an effort to keep illegal drugs and other contraband out of state prisons, New York is taking away one of the few pleasures of life behind bars: It will no longer let people send inmates care packages from home. Under the new policy, which the state began phasing in last month, friends and family aren't allowed to deliver packages in person during prison visits. While the rule won't stop prisoners from getting items that can be ordered online, like a Snickers bar or a bag of Doritos, they will lose access to foods like home-cooked meals or grandma's cookies.
Associated PressEXPLAINER: Tension between Nicaragua and the Catholic Church
Earlier this month Nicaragua shuttered seven radio stations belonging to the Catholic Church and launched an investigation into the bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, accusing him of inciting violent actors “to carry out acts of hate against the population.” This is not the first time President Daniel Ortega has moved aggressively to silence critics of his administration. In 2018 the government raided the headquarters of the newspaper Confidencial, led by journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, who is considered one of the most prominent critics of Ortega.
Associated PressMajor wildfire in Spain forces the evacuation of 1,500
A large wildfire in northeast Spain grew rapidly overnight and was burning out of control Sunday, forcing the evacuation of eight villages and 1,500 people in Zaragoza province, firefighters said. The head of the local Aragon government, Javier Lamban, said Sunday that the situation was critical in the town of Añon de Moncayo and the priority for the 300 firefighters fighting the blaze was to protect human lives and villages. The wildfire, which began Saturday, developed a 50-kilometer (31-mile) perimeter in less than 24 hours, the local forest chief said.
Associated PressMore US lawmakers visit Taiwan 12 days after Pelosi trip
A delegation of American lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, just 12 days after a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that prompted China to launch days of threatening military drills around the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its control. The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials, as well as members of the private sector, to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and investments in semiconductors. A Taiwanese broadcaster showed video of a U.S. government plane landing about 7 p.m. Sunday at Songshan Airport in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital.
Associated PressIraqi judiciary says it has no powers to dissolve parliament
Iraq’s top judicial body said Sunday it doesn't have the authority to dissolve the country’s parliament, days after an influential Shiite cleric gave it one week to dismiss the legislature so that new elections can be held. The decision by the Supreme Judicial Council is likely to increase tensions between followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and members of Iran-backed groups as Iraq sinks deeper into its political impasse, now in its 10th month. The Supreme Judicial Council said in a statement after a meeting Sunday that political groups in the country should not get the judiciary involved in their “rivalries and political competition.”
Associated PressIn Ukraine, rebuilding starts with neighbors' help
As battles raged around Kyiv, one Russian advance was stopped in front of Maria Metla’s home. The salvaged material is reused to help rebuild homes destroyed along the perimeter of Russia’s failed attempt during the initial stages of the war to surround and capture Ukraine's capital. The village of Novoselivka, 140 kilometers (nearly 90 miles) north of Kyiv, was a scene of intense fighting during the 36-day attack on the capital.
BBCLessons in heartbreak: I coach women to get over their ex
A shocking moment in a divorce court prompted Aronke Omame to switch careers and become a break-up coach.
The New Voice of UkraineTime to question Russia’s imperial innocence
President Vladimir Putin has successfully mobilized a sense of militant patriotism in the Russian public to wage war in Ukraine.
Associated PressBrief scuffles slow tallying in Kenya's close election
Kenya’s peaceful presidential election saw a brief disruption late Saturday when riot police responded to scuffles at the national tallying center amid tensions over the close results. An agent for longtime opposition leader and candidate Raila Odinga announced from the lectern that the tallying center was the “scene of a crime” before calm was restored. The agent, Saitabao Ole Kanchory, offered no evidence in the latest example of the unverified claims that both top campaigns have made as Kenya waits for official results.
“The media has anointed men who have sex with men as the biggest threat to our survival from monkeypox.”
“Rich countries have ignored endemic monkeypox in West and Central Africa for far too long, despite having effective vaccines.”
“The biggest worry for Americans is not the disease: It’s that our response to it shows how little we have learned from COVID-19.”
“Monkeypox should be a relatively easier virus to control, but only if the United States takes the needed steps now.”
“Global health officials must advocate for and enact a unified, coherent approach to fighting the monkeypox pandemic.”