USA

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Russian envoy on Tuesday told the United Nations (UN) Security Council that some states are trying to monopolize the international order or impose their own values on the rest of humanity.

"What is even more regretful is the attempts to present the ideology elaborated by separate groups of states as a 'guiding light' for the entire humanity," Anna Evstigneeva, deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UN, said at the Security Council Briefing on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Wildfires have burned more than 8,000 square km in the western U.S. state of California so far this year, as multiple massive wildfires are continuing to grow, authorities said Tuesday.

"To date, 2,033,916 acres (around 8,231 square km) have burned across California," tweeted the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), adding that more than 15,500 firefighters are battling 14 active large wildfires statewide.

A total of 3,193 structures in the state have been damaged or destroyed to date, according to Cal Fire.

NEW YORK (AP) — There will be something missing at two Whole Foods stores opening next year: the rows of cashiers.

Amazon, which owns the grocery chain, said Wednesday that it will bring its cashier-less technology to two Whole Foods stores for the first time, letting shoppers grab what they need and leave without having to open their wallets. Cameras and sensors track what’s taken off shelves. Items are charged to an Amazon account after customers leave the store with them.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Crews are set to remove one of the country’s largest remaining monuments to the Confederacy, a towering statute of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia.

The 21-foot-tall (6.4-meter) bronze likeness of Lee on a horse will be hoisted off its 40-foot (12- meter) pedestal Wednesday, 131 years after it was erected in the former capital of the Confederacy as a tribute to the Civil War leader.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has been beset by public health, military and climate crises in the past month. Not much time has been left for a potential political disaster brewing for his party in California.

With a week to spare, the White House is diving into the California gubernatorial recall election, coming to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s aid with visits from Vice President Kamala Harris and then Biden himself to try to alleviate lingering concerns about Democratic turnout in the unusual September vote.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden declared climate change has become “everybody’s crisis” on Tuesday as he toured neighborhoods flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, warning it’s time for America to get serious about the “code red” danger or face ever worse loss of life and property.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 07 (APP): Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN, Munir Akram, Tuesday called for confronting the fascist ideology of Hindutva, led by the RSS, the parent organization of India’s ruling BJP, that “most pervasively” purveys Xenophobia, violent nationalism and Islamophobia.

He was speaking in a High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, convened by the President of U.N. General Assembly, on the subject: “Transformative Role of the Culture of Peace: Promoting Resilience and Inclusion in Post-Covid Recovery.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. COVID-19 cases surpassed 40 million on Monday, driven by a continued surge in infections due to the unchecked spread of the Delta variant.

PANDEMIC-POUNDED NATION

As of Monday, the country's caseload was 40,016,654 with a death toll of 649,426, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

To date, 13 U.S. states have each confirmed at least 1 million COVID-19 cases, showed the tally.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A towering statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, is set to come down on Wednesday, more than 130 years after it was built as a tribute to a Civil War hero who is now widely seen as a symbol of racial injustice, state officials said Monday.

“Virginia’s largest monument to the Confederate insurrection will come down this week,” Gov. Ralph Northam said in news release on Monday. “This is an important step in showing who we are and what we value as a commonwealth.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden is going back to her whiteboard.

After months of teaching writing and English to community college students in boxes on a computer screen, the first lady resumes teaching in person Tuesday from a classroom at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has worked since 2009.

She is the first first lady to leave the White House and log hours at a full-time job.

“There are some things you just can’t replace, and I can’t wait to get back in the classroom,” she recently told Good Housekeeping magazine.