[ad_1]
Fiona nears Dominican Republic after pounding Puerto Rico
HAVANA (AP) — Hurricane Fiona bore down on the Dominican Republic Monday after knocking out the power grid and unleashing floods and landslides in Puerto Rico, where the governor said the damage was “catastrophic.”
No deaths have been reported, but authorities in the U.S. territory said it was too early to estimate the damage from a storm that was still forecast to unleash torrential rain across Puerto Rico on Monday.
Up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) was forecast for Puerto Rico’s eastern and southern regions.
“It’s important people understand that this is not over,” said Ernesto Morales, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan.
He said flooding has reached “historic levels,” with authorities evacuating or rescuing hundreds of people across the island.
___
Bidens among thousands paying respects to Queen Elizabeth II
LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden paid his respects at Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin on Sunday as thousands of police, hundreds of British troops and an army of officials made final preparations for the queen’s state funeral — a spectacular display of national mourning that will also be the biggest gathering of world leaders for years.
People across Britain paused for a minute of silence at 8 p.m. in memory of the only monarch most have ever known. At Westminster Hall, where the queen is lying in state, the constant stream of mourners paused for 60 seconds as people observed the minute of reflection in deep silence.
In Windsor, where the queen will be laid to rest on Monday evening after her funeral at Westminster Abbey, rain began to fall as the crowd fell silent for the moment of reflection. Some have set up small camps and chairs outside Windsor Castle, with plans to spend the night there to reserve the best spots to view the queen’s coffin when it arrives.
“Well, it’s just one night and day of our lives. Elizabeth gave us – you know – 70 years. So the rest of it is not a lot to ask, is it?” said Fred Sweeney, 52, who kitted out his spot with two Union flags on large flag poles.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden were among thousands of mourners — from locals and tourists to royals and world leaders — to pay their respects. The president made the sign of the cross and put his hand to his heart as he stood quietly near the casket in the ornate 900-year-old hall with his wife and U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley.
___
Zelenskyy promises no ‘lull’ in taking back Ukrainian towns
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised his country there would be no letup in the counteroffensive that has reclaimed towns and cities from Russian troops, as shelling continued Sunday across a wide stretch of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy ran through a list of towns that Ukraine has taken back in its lightning push across the northeast.
“Maybe now it seems to some of you that after a series of victories we have a certain lull,” he said in his nightly video address. “But this is not a lull. This is preparation for the next series… Because Ukraine must be free — all of it.”
Ukraine’s military command said its forces secured the eastern bank of the Oskil River on Saturday. The river, which flows south from Russia into Ukraine, had been a natural break in the newly emerged front lines since Kyiv’s counteroffensive began.
As Russian shells hit towns and cities over the weekend, the British defense ministry warned that Moscow is likely to increase attacks on civilian targets as it suffers battlefield defeats.
___
Biden: Classified documents at Mar-a-Lago raise concerns
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the discovery of top-secret documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and called it “irresponsible.”
Biden, who rarely does interviews, spoke to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in a segment that aired Sunday. He said that when he heard about classified documents taken from the White House, he wondered how “anyone could be that irresponsible.”
Biden added: “And I thought, what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods?”
The president said he did not get a heads-up before the Trump estate was searched, and he has not asked for any specifics “because I don’t want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they could take.”
The FBI says it took about 11,000 documents, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office, while serving a court-authorized search warrant at the home on Aug. 8. Weeks after the search, Trump lawyers asked a judge to appoint a special master to conduct an independent review of the records.
___
Biden: US would defend Taiwan against Chinese invasion
BEIJING (AP) — President Joe Biden says U.S. forces would defend Taiwan if China tries to invade the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, adding to displays of official American support for the island democracy.
Biden said “yes” when asked during an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” program whether “U.S. forces, U.S. men and women, would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.”
CBS News reported the White House said after the interview U.S. policy hasn’t changed. That policy says Washington wants to see Taiwan’s status resolved peacefully but doesn’t say whether U.S. forces might be sent in response to a Chinese attack.
Tension is rising following efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government to intimidate Taiwan by firing missiles into the nearby sea and flying fighter jets nearby and visits to Taipei by political figures including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Monday expressed “sincere gratitude” to Biden for “affirming the U.S. government’s rock-solid promise of security to Taiwan.”
___
They ended wanted pregnancies. Post-Roe, they face new pain.
Ashley Lefebvre hugs her unborn daughter’s urn each night. Sarah Halsey treasures the tiny hat worn by her baby who lived just 38 minutes. Abi Frazier moved away from her home with a furnished nursery.
All ended wanted pregnancies because of grave fetal medical problems.
It’s a side of abortion seldom discussed in national debates — the termination of pregnancies because of fetal anomalies or other often-fatal medical problems. These terminations often happen in the second trimester, when women have already picked out names, bought baby clothes and felt kicking in their wombs. They’re far different from the most common abortions, performed earlier in pregnancies.
Women say these terminations for medical reasons don’t feel like a choice — instead they are forced upon them by the condition of the fetus they carry. And the constant drumbeat of new abortion bans, rulings and news since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade has reopened raw wounds. Such abortions were already shrouded in secrecy and guilt, the women say. They fear the path will be even tougher for those who follow.
There are no recent statistics on the frequency of terminations for fetal anomalies — including genetic or chromosomal abnormalities — in the U.S., but experts say it’s a small percentage of total procedures. They typically occur later than the 93% of abortions performed at or before 13 weeks of pregnancy.
___
In world beset by turbulence, nations’ leaders gather at UN
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Facing a complex set of challenges that try humanity as never before, world leaders convene at the United Nations this week under the shadow of Europe’s first major war since World War II — a conflict that has unleashed a global food crisis and divided major powers in a way not seen since the Cold War.
The many facets of the Ukraine war are expected to dominate the annual meeting, which convenes as many countries and peoples confront growing inequality, an escalating climate crisis, the threat of multiple famines and an internet-fueled tide of misinformation and hate speech — all atop a coronavirus pandemic that is halfway through its third year.
For the first time since the United Nations was founded atop the ashes of World War II, European nations are witnessing war in their midst waged by nuclear-armed neighboring Russia. Its Feb. 24 invasion not only threatens Ukraine’s survival as an independent democratic nation but has leaders in many countries worrying about trying to preserve regional and international peace and prevent a wider war.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the strategic divides — with the West on one side and Russia and increasingly China on the other — are “paralyzing the global response to the dramatic challenges we face.”
He pointed not only to the devastation in Ukraine from nearly seven months of fighting but the war’s impact on the global economy.
___
EXPLAINER: How the strong U.S. dollar can affect everyone
NEW YORK (AP) — The buck isn’t stopping.
The value of the U.S. dollar has been on a tear for more than a year against everything from the British pound across the Atlantic to the South Korean won across the Pacific.
After rising again Friday, the dollar is near its highest level in more than two decades against a key index measuring six major currencies, including the euro and Japanese yen. Many professional investors don’t expect it to ease off anytime soon.
The dollar’s rise affects nearly everyone, even those who will never leave the U.S. borders. Here’s a look at what’s driving the U.S. dollar higher and what it can mean for investors and households:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THE DOLLAR IS STRONGER?
___
First public global database of fossil fuels launches
A first-of-its-kind database for tracking the world’s fossil fuel production, reserves and emissions launches on Monday to coincide with climate talks taking place at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels includes data from over 50,000 oil, gas and coal fields in 89 countries. That covers 75% of global reserves, production and emissions, and is available for public use, a first for a collection of this size.
Until now there has been private data available for purchase, and analysis of the world’s fossil fuel usage and reserves. The International Energy Agency also maintains public data on oil, gas and coal, but it focuses on the demand for those fossil fuels, whereas this new database looks at what is yet to be burned.
The registry was developed by Carbon Tracker, a nonprofit think tank that researches the energy transition’s effect on financial markets, and the Global Energy Monitor, an organization that tracks a variety of energy projects around the globe.
Corporations, investors and scientists already have some level of access to private data on fossil fuels. Mark Campanale, founder of Carbon Tracker, said he hopes the registry will empower groups to hold governments accountable, for example, when they issue licenses for fossil fuel extraction.
___
5 years after Maria, reconstruction drags on in Puerto Rico
LOÍZA, Puerto Rico (AP) — Jetsabel Osorio Chévere looked up with a sad smile as she leaned against her battered home.
Nearly five years have gone by since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, and no one has offered her family a plastic tarp or zinc panels to replace the roof that the Category 4 storm ripped off the two-story home in an impoverished corner in the north coast town of Loiza.
“No one comes here to help,” the 19-year-old said.
It’s a familiar lament in a U.S. territory of 3.2 million people where thousands of homes, roads and recreational areas have yet to be fixed or rebuilt since Maria struck in September 2017. The government has completed only 21% of more than 5,500 official post-hurricane projects, and seven of the island’s 78 municipalities report that not a single project has begun. Only five municipalities report that half of the projects slated for their region have been completed, according to an Associated Press review of government data.
And with Hurricane Fiona forecast to hit Puerto Rico on Sunday with torrential rains, more than 3,600 homes still have a tattered blue tarp serving as a makeshift roof.
[ad_2]
Source link