MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow judge has formally arrested and detained one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on suspicion of being involved with an “undesirable” organization, his lawyer said Friday.

The case against Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia’s leading election watchdog Golos, is the latest in the monthslong crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after sending troops into Ukraine.

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian air defense forces have shot down a drone that attempted to fly over Russia's capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel.

The debris fell in the area of the Expocentre, causing partial damage to one of its pavilions, he said.

There were no casualties and the city's emergency services were working at the scene.

17 August 2023; MEMO: Lebanon’s Minister of Works Ali Hamieh yesterday announced the arrival of an oil and gas exploration vessel in Block 9.

This came about ten months after Israel and Lebanon reached a US-brokered agreement to demarcate their maritime borders. The two sides discussed – through mediators – the issue of gas exploration in the Mediterranean.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military academies must improve their leadership, stop toxic practices such as hazing and shift behavior training into the classrooms, according to a Pentagon study aimed at addressing an alarming spike in sexual assaults and misconduct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top White House lawyer will leave next month after a nearly three-year run helping President Joe Biden weigh legal considerations as he implemented his pandemic response, battled Republican investigations and crafted major legislation.

Stuart Delery joined Biden’s transition legal team after the Democrat defeated then-President Donald Trump in November 2020. Delery served as deputy counsel before he was elevated to the top job last summer after Biden’s first counsel, Dana Remus, left the White House.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Just a few days after the first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 cycle, two of the contenders will be hitting the same stage in front of the largest annual gathering of Republicans in early-voting South Carolina.

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — California residents driven from their homes by one of the deadliest wildfires in recent history had one request before they would rebuild in the small mountain town of Paradise: warning sirens to bolster town emergency systems that failed some people before the fast-moving inferno that killed 85.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall following reports of nearly two dozen fires, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall impacts 42 models of dehumidifiers sold under five brand names: Kenmore, GE, SoleusAir, Norpole and Seabreeze. These products, all manufactured by the Zhuhai, China-based Gree Electric Appliances, were sold from January 2011 to February 2014 at major retailers nationwide — including Walmart, Home Depot and Sam’s Club, among others.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has devoted the past several weeks to promoting the positive impacts of his policies — but his efforts have yet to meaningfully register with the public.

Only 36% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, slightly lower than the 42% who approve of his overall performance, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat in the mountains of Maryland, has been a backdrop for signal moments in U.S. foreign policy, perhaps none more notable than the peace accord President Jimmy Carter brokered between Egypt and Israel in 1978.

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx employee who was making a delivery.

Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by D’Monterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson, now 25, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Jackson.

17 August 2023; MEMO: Hackers have threatened to release sensitive medical information about senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Times of Israel has reported. The hackers said that the information they got from a Haredi hospital is related to politicians and rabbis and they want millions of dollars not to release it.