North America

QUINCY, Calif. (AP) — The danger of new fires erupting across the West because of unstable weather conditions added to the burden already faced by overstretched crews battling blazes across the region.

Thunderstorms pushed flames in Northern California on Saturday closer to two towns not far from where the Dixie Fire last week destroyed much of the small town of Greenville, a gold rush-era community.

MIAMI (AP) — A young mother had just celebrated her first wedding anniversary and was one of six members of a Jacksonville church to die over a 10-day span.

Another Florida woman had just given birth to her first child, but was only able to hold the newborn girl for a few moments before dying.

A California man died a few weeks shy of his 53rd birthday while his wife was on a ventilator at the same hospital in Oakland, unaware of his passing on Aug. 4.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden authorized an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of U.S. troops to ensure what Biden called an “orderly and safe drawdown” of American and allied personnel.

U.S. troops will also help in the evacuation of Afghans who worked with the military during the nearly two-decade war.

LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake added to the misery in Haiti, killing at least 304 people, injuring a minimum of 1,800 others and destroying hundreds of homes. People in the Caribbean island nation rushed into the streets to seek safety and to help help rescue those trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes, hotels and other structures.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 14 (APP): Pakistan’s national flag was unfurled Friday in the United Nations (UN) compound by Ambassador Munir Akram to mark the country’s Independence Day, as a top UN official said that Munir Akramcan count on the world body.

“We count on Pakistan and all of you. And Pakistan can count on the United Nations,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told a large gathering of UN officials of Pakistani origin and officers and staff of the Pakistan Mission to the UN celebrating the 74th anniversary of the country’s establishment.

GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Guatemala has declared a new state of emergency and will impose an overnight curfew from Sunday to contain a surge in Covid infections due to the Delta variant, President Alejandro
Giammattei said.

   The 30-day state of emergency is being implemented due to a rebound in cases attributed to the “more aggressive” Delta variant, Giammattei said in a televised address on Friday.

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — July was the world’s hottest month ever recorded, a US federal scientific and regulatory agency has reported.

The data shows that the combined land and ocean-surface temperature was 0.93C (1.68F) above the 20th Century average of 15.8C (60.4F).

It is the highest temperature since record-keeping began 142 years ago. The previous record, set in July 2016, was equalled in 2019 and 2020.

Experts believe this is due to the long-term impact of climate change.

PORT-AU-PRINCE/HAVANA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - A major earthquake reduced buildings to rubble and caused at least several fatalities in southwestern Haiti on Saturday, sending shock waves across the Caribbean, where people fled their homes for fear they might collapse.

The 7.2-magnitude quake, which was followed by a series of aftershocks, struck 8 km (5 miles) from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150 km west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 km, the USGS said.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday authorized a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines for people with weakened immune systems.

"The country has entered yet another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the FDA is especially cognizant that immunocompromised people are particularly at risk for severe disease," Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Durham, the federal prosecutor tapped to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, has been presenting evidence before a grand jury as part of his probe, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

The development is a potential sign that Durham may be mulling additional criminal charges beyond the one he brought last year against a former FBI lawyer who admitted altering an email about a Trump campaign aide who’d been under FBI surveillance. Durham is also expected to complete a report at some point.