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Pontoon bridges are temporary structures that militaries often build to maintain critical supply lines when permanent structures are damaged or destroyed. NBC News was not able to verify whether the video shows the destruction of a pontoon bridge or when it was shot. Another video shared Thursday by the country’s air force chief, Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, claimed to show Ukraine’s use of guided aerial bombs to destroy two “bridge crossings” in Kursk this week. Ukraine claimed responsibility for hitting the depot, which its army’s general staff said stored oil products used to supply the Russian army. Satellite images captured on Monday, the day after the alleged attack, show flames and thick clouds of black smoke billowing from the depot.

Persons: Mykola Oleshchuk, “, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vasily Golubev Organizations: NBC News, NBC, Kyiv, Kremlin, Regional Gov Locations: Kursk, Glushkovo, Russia, Proletarsk, Russia’s, Rostov, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russian

☆ It’s never been harder to be Mister Softee
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Once, there were more than 2,000 Mister Softee trucks in 38 states during the company’s peak in the 1960s. Now, there are only around 630 Mister Softee trucks looping around neighborhoods and parks in 21 states. A Mister Softee truck during a spring training baseball game in Goodyear, Arizona, in 2013. A freshly made cup of Mister Softee ice cream is displayed during a bicycle safety event held in Evesham Township, New Jersey, in 2024. As goes the nation, so goes Mister SofteeThe Mister Softee business is a window into changes in neighborhoods, family sizes and children’s habits.

Persons: New York CNN — It’s, Softee, ” Mike Conway, Mister Softee, Mister, James, William Conway, John Sleezer, ” William Conway, Carlos Vazquez, Alexi Rosenfeld, Vazquez, ”, “, Chris Lachall, Graeme Pitkethly, Conway, They’re, ” Carlos Vazquez Organizations: New, New York CNN, Mister, CNN, Kansas City Star, Tribune, Service, Getty, USA, Unilever, Census Bureau Locations: New York, Runnemede , New Jersey, Philadelphia, United States, Goodyear , Arizona, New York City, Van Leeuwen, Maine, California, Evesham Township , New Jersey, Europe

☆ For Young Cambodians, a Mobile History Lesson From a Dark Time
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Anton L. Delgado | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The brand-new bus gleamed as it weaved through rush-hour traffic in Cambodia’s capital. About two-thirds of Cambodia’s population is under 30, born a generation or more after the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s. Many of those young people have only a general awareness of its atrocities, which left at least 1.7 million Cambodians dead. That horrific history has been thoroughly documented, in court documents and at places like the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the killing field in Choeung Ek. But both of these are in the capital, Phnom Penh, and most Cambodians live in the countryside.

Locations: Khmer Rouge, Choeung, Phnom Penh

PHOENIX — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign told a Pennsylvania court that he will be endorsing former President Donald Trump, ahead of his own Friday afternoon announcement putting to rest a tumultuous independent presidential campaign. The filing came shortly before Kennedy took the stage at an Arizona press conference where he announced the end his presidential campaign. The Kennedy campaign spent more than $8 million on campaign consulting from Accelevate 2020 LLC, a group that also does ballot-access work. Overall, the campaign effectively raised what it spent — it amassed $57.6 million and spent almost $54 million through July. Federal campaign finance records show Kennedy’s campaign spent more than $3 million on security services provided by Gavin de Becker, a prominent security consultant protecting celebrities who is also a Kennedy supporter and friend.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Trump, Kamala Harris, Biden's, Harris, Vladimir Putin, —, they’d, “, ”, Nicole Shanahan, Walz, ” Shanahan, Shanahan, I’m, Gavin de Becker, Katherine Koretski, Ben Kamisar Organizations: PHOENIX, Democratic Party, Trump, Democratic, Democrat, NBC News, Accelevate, Trump Republican Locations: Pennsylvania, United States, Arizona, Glendale, Trump, New, New York, Kamala, Phoenix, Washington ,

The agency also said that it was under the initiative of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, who issued a directive saying that all social networking sites should be treated equally. Oli became the prime minister last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government. The previous government had imposed the ban on TikTok in November last year, saying it was necessary to regulate the use of the social media platform because it was disrupting social harmony and goodwill and diffusing indecent materials. The government has also asked social media platforms companies to register in Nepal, open a liaison office, pay taxes and abide by the country’s laws and regulations. There were several exchanges of communication between the government and TikTok officials in the months leading to the lifting of the ban.

Persons: Prithvi Subba Gurung, Khadga Prasad Oli, Oli, China’s ByteDance, TikTok Organizations: National, Agency Locations: KATHMANDU, Nepal, Beijing, United States, Britain, New Zealand

☆ France’s Political Truce for the Olympics Is Over. Now What?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The first thing Lucie Castets intends to do as France’s next prime minister is to peel back the age of retirement to 62. To pay for at least some of that, she will introduce a tax on the country’s ultrarich. Ms. Castets, the candidate of choice of the left-wing coalition that won the most seats in France’s snap legislative elections that ended in July, has not been tapped for the job. “We are in a somewhat Kafkaesque, surreal situation, where a candidate for the post of prime minister is campaigning for a job that she cannot exercise,” Rémi Lefebvre, a professor of political science at the University of Lille, said. Almost seven weeks since those elections ended in deadlock, with neither left, right nor center winning a majority, France remains intractably stuck.

Persons: Lucie Castets, Castets, Emmanuel Macron, ” Rémi Lefebvre, intractably Organizations: University of Lille Locations: France

“They are using food as a weapon,” a senior aid official told CNN. “No official travel authorization has been granted to humanitarian partners to implement activities outside of Sittwe township since November 2023,” a senior aid official told CNN. The UN aid officials made clear in their meetings, which have not been previously reported, that the status quo is unacceptable, the sources said. A World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Maungdaw was looted and burned in June, depriving that community of urgently needed food aid. A senior UN aid official in Myanmar blamed the funding shortfall in part on international apathy.

Persons: CNN — Khin Mar Cho, Soldiers, Byine Phyu, Khin Mar Cho, ” Khin Mar Cho, “, —, ”, Myint Kyaw, Sen, Min Aung, Mohammed, ” Mohammed, Shayna Bauchner, we’ve, OCHA, Sai Aung, Rakhine —, Ejaz, Jamila, Bangladesh Azim Khan Ronnie, Buthidaung, drenching, ” Jamila, ULA, ” Sajjad Mohammad Sajid Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Arakan Army, AA, UN, Myanmar’s Ministry of Information, AFP, Getty, Partners Relief, Development, Human Rights, ” Aid, SAC, Administration Council, Food, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN Security Council, European Union, Aid, Human Rights Watch, Solent, Myanmar, Development Coordination, United League of, Programme, Junta Locations: Myanmar, Byine, Rakhine, Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar’s, Yangon, “, Sai, AFP, China, Buthidaung, Bangladesh, Cox’s Bazar, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh Tanbirul Miraj Ripon, Kutupalong, Tanbirul Miraj Ripon, Arakan, Maungdaw, ULA, Gaza, Ukraine

☆ Ukraine Steps Up Strikes Into Russia as Moscow Pushes Ahead in the East
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Ukrainian forces fight to isolate a large group of Russian soldiers caught between a river in Russia’s Kursk Province and the Ukrainian border, Kyiv has launched a series of strikes at airfields, ports and oil depots in Russia aimed at degrading the Kremlin’s war effort. A Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian port of Kavkaz hit a large cargo ferry laden with fuel on Thursday, triggering a towering blaze at the facility, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials as well as video posted to social media channels. Kavkaz is one of the country’s largest passenger ports and the main ferry terminal connecting Russia with Crimea. “This ferry is one of the key links in the Russian military logistics chain, primarily for supplying the occupying forces with fuel and lubricants, but it also transported weapons,” a Ukrainian Navy spokesman, Dmytro Pletenchuk, said in a statement. The attack on the transit hubs came after strikes on the only bridge linking Crimea to Russia over the Kerch Strait left it damaged, forcing Moscow to increasingly rely on large ferries capable of carrying rail cars to support its occupation forces on the peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

Persons: ”, Dmytro Pletenchuk Organizations: Ukrainian Navy Locations: Russia’s Kursk Province, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Russia, Crimea, “, Kerch, Moscow

☆ Drugmakers at fault over toxic cough syrup, Indonesia court finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters —An Indonesian court ordered two local companies to pay up to 60 million rupiah ($3,850) to each family whose children died of an acute kidney injury or were seriously injured after consuming toxic cough syrup. In late 2022, more than 20 families launched a civil suit against the agency, the health ministry, and several companies. The health ministry and the BPOM were cleared of wrongdoing. Last year, a criminal court found East Java-based drugmaker Afi Farma guilty of negligence and jailed officials for not testing the ingredients sent by its supplier. Reuters could not immediately contact CV Samudera Chemical, an Indonesian soapmaker, whose toxic ingredient made its way to Afi Farma, according to the court document of the Afi Farma criminal case in 2023.

Persons: Afi Farma, Parents, Siti Habiba, ”, Reza Wendra Prayogo Organizations: Indonesia Reuters —, Central, Afi, country’s Statistics Bureau, Reuters, EG, World Health Organization Locations: Jakarta, Indonesia, Central Jakarta, East Java, Indonesian, Gambia, Uzbekistan

☆ Harris Wants America to See Itself in Her
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Lisa Lerer | Erica L. Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With her acceptance of the Democratic nomination for president, Kamala Harris simultaneously made American history and invited the nation to help her craft the next chapter of it. In the most consequential speech of her career, Ms. Harris asked Americans to see her as the embodiment of the country’s traditional values, rather than a rejection of them. It was a message intended to reassure voters that, as much as her background and identity represent change, Ms. Harris also represents a through line to the nation’s founding ideals. And they offered an explicit counterargument against an opponent who is promising Americans a return to an idealized and insular past dominated by a white Christian male majority. While she didn’t mention her race and gender, Ms. Harris offered an implicit understanding that some Americans may be uncomfortable with being led by a Black woman.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Harris, Hillary Clinton Organizations: Democratic

☆ Menendez’s Senate Replacement Has Been a Democrat for Just 5 Months
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Tracey Tully | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When George Helmy is sworn in next month as Robert Menendez’s temporary replacement in the Senate, he will be joining a chamber where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority, outnumbering Republicans by a single seat, 50 to 49. Mr. Helmy was selected last week by Gov. Mr. Helmy, however, is new to the Democratic Party. Mr. Helmy will serve in Washington only through November. His appointment will return the Democratic majority to 51 members, as it was before Mr. Menendez resigned on Tuesday.

Persons: George Helmy, Robert Menendez’s, Helmy, Philip D, Murphy, Menendez, Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s, Chuck Schumer, Biden Organizations: Senate, Gov, Democrat, Democratic Party, Democratic Senate, New, Democratic, Democrats Locations: Murphy of New Jersey, Morris County, N.J, Washington, New York

☆ Nepal Asks China to Wipe Away a Loan It Can’t Afford to Pay Back
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Bhadra Sharma | Daisuke Wakabayashi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Thursday, Nepal’s one-month-old government, led by the country’s largest communist party, which has close ties to Beijing, formally asked China to convert a $216 million loan for the airport into a grant, wiping away the debt. It made the request during a visit by a Chinese delegation including Sun Weidong, China’s vice foreign minister. A few weeks after it opened in January 2023, a domestic flight headed for the city crashed into a river gorge, killing 72 people. The airport has not attracted any regular international flights, dimming the financial outlook for the project. Over the last year, Nepal’s anti-corruption agency and a parliamentary committee started investigations into the airport’s construction.

Persons: Nepal’s, Sun Weidong Locations: China, Pokhara, Beijing

☆ Biden’s National Security Adviser Will Visit China Next Week
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Michael D. Shear | More About Michael D. Shear | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser at the White House, will travel to China next week to meet with Wang Yi, the country’s foreign minister, in their latest high-level meeting aimed at defusing tensions. “These meetings are consistent with efforts to maintain this strategic channel of communication to responsibly manage the relationship,” said Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council. Mr. Sullivan’s visit will be his fifth face-to-face meeting with Mr. Wang but his only trip to Beijing since the start of the Biden administration. It will also be the first by a U.S. national security adviser since Susan Rice traveled to China on behalf of President Barack Obama in 2016. A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment on diplomatic discussions, said Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Wang would discuss potential issues of cooperation, such as efforts to limit the spread of fentanyl, as well as areas where the two countries are locked in disputes, including the future of Taiwan.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Wang Yi, ”, Sean Savett, Sullivan’s, Wang, Biden, Susan Rice, Barack Obama, Sullivan Organizations: White, National Security, U.S Locations: China, Beijing, Taiwan

☆ Peace Talks at Swiss Resort Beckoned. Sudan’s Divided Generals Wouldn’t Go.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Declan Walsh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

American-led talks to halt Sudan’s war, convened at an exclusive Swiss ski resort, ended after 10 days on Friday with agreements to deliver food and medicine to millions of starving Sudanese in the country’s most famine-stricken areas. But the mediators failed to broker a cease-fire, or even to get both sides around the table, after Sudan’s military refused to show up. Frustrated American and Arab diplomats said the breakdown exposed the disarray and internal divisions in Sudan’s weakened military, which are a major obstacle to ending Africa’s biggest war. The United States hoped the talks in Villars-sur-Ollon, a picturesque village 80 miles by road from Geneva, could break an eight-month diplomatic deadlock. Since then, war has spread, bringing a widespread humanitarian crisis that this month led to a rare declaration of famine.

Organizations: United, Rapid Support Forces Locations: Swiss, Sudan’s, United States, Villars, Geneva

According to state-owned All India Radio, federal forensic experts and medical officers were expected to visit the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where authorities found the body of the 31-year-old resident doctor in a seminar hall on Friday. The case also highlights India’s long struggle to tackle violence against women, despite some of the world’s most stringent laws. Medical associations across the country joined the action, calling for a federal investigation and overhaul of security measures at hospitals. Videos from Kolkata showed doctors wearing white coats and stethoscopes chanting and raising banners reading “we want justice.”Similar protests continued in other cities across India.

Persons: —, Dibyangshu Sarkar, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Doctors “, Nadda Organizations: India Radio, Kar Medical College and Hospital, . Police, Indian Medical Association, Getty, of Resident, Association, Central Healthcare Protection, Federation of All India Medical Association, Lohia, IMA, National Medical Commission, Crime Records Locations: India, Kolkata, West Bengal, AFP, New Delhi, India’s

☆ Former Bangladesh leader calls for inquiry into killings during unrest that led to her ouster
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Ap-Live-Blog-Byline-Image.Png | The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Some of the violence pitted student activists against pro-government student and youth groups and police, and many of those who died were among the student activists. However, Hasina’s statement underlined that police officers, members of her Awami League political party, bystanders and others also were victims of what she described as “terrorist aggression.” She previously has blamed opposition parties for stoking the unrest. Hasina’s statement came as the country’s interim government on Tuesday canceled a public holiday that she had declared for Thursday to mark the death of her father, Bangladesh’s independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The cancellation came at the request of at least seven political parties, including the main previous opposition group, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. An interim government is now running the country, with Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, sworn in as interim leader.

Persons: Bangladesh —, Sheikh Hasina, Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Hasina’s, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, S.M, Amir Hamza, Abu Sayeed, Rajesh Chowdhury, Hamza, Sayeed, Asaduzzaman Khan, Obaidul Quader, Rajib, Anisul Huq, Salman F, Rahman, Mainul Hasan, Muhammad Yunus Organizations: Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Home, Awami League party’s, Mohammadpur, Police Locations: DHAKA, Bangladesh, India, Dhaka, Rajib Dhar, U.S

☆ Taliban celebrates three years in power as Afghans suffer hunger and repression
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Ap-Live-Blog-Byline-Image.Png | The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Decades of conflict and instability have left millions of Afghans on the brink of hunger and starvation. The Taliban celebrates the third anniversary of its takeover of Afghanistan, at Bagram Air Base, in Bagram, Parwan province. Ahmad Sahel Arman / AFP - Getty ImagesThe Bagram parade was the Taliban’s grandest and most defiant since regaining control of the country in August 2021. The audience of some 10,000 men included senior Taliban officials like Acting Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob and Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. They say that Afghans, particularly women and girls, will suffer if there isn’t more diplomatic engagement with the Taliban.

Persons: —, ”, Maulvi Abdul Kabir, “, Ahmad Sahel Arman, Mullah Yaqoob, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Hibatullah Akhundzada, Ebrahim Noroozi Organizations: Taliban, Bagram, Islamic, Bagram Air Base, Getty, Acting, NATO Locations: U.S, Afghanistan, Bagram, Parwan province, Ahmad Sahel

☆ Netanyahu added conditions that complicated Gaza negotiations, officials say
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Abigail-Williams-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Abigail Williams | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced new conditions that complicated negotiations aimed at freeing hostages and suspending fighting in the Gaza Strip in May, according to U.S. and foreign officials. The cease-fire talks, with Israel represented by the head of its intelligence service and other officials, had advanced close to an agreement. The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was sparked by Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians. About 40,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel launched its retaliatory military operation in the enclave, according to local health officials. In a statement Sunday, Hamas said Israel had added new conditions to an earlier proposal that revealed its intention to continue its “aggression” in Gaza and sabotage a possible cease-fire agreement.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, “ Netanyahu, Israel, ”, Iran’s, Ismail Haniyeh, Fazil Abd Erahim, “ It’s, there’s, Haniyeh Organizations: The New York Times, NBC News, Sky News, State Department, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Israel Defense Forces, Biden Locations: Gaza, Israel, U.S, Qatar, Egypt, Jerusalem, Lebanon, British, Tehran, Algiers, Algeria, Iran

☆ Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin removed from office in shock court ruling
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Helen Regan | Kocha Olarn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Bangkok, Thailand CNN —Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has been removed from office after a court ruled he had violated the constitution, in a shock decision that plunges the kingdom into further political uncertainty. But Wednesday’s ruling shocked political analysts who believed the court would side with the prime minister. Pheu Thai and the establishmentPopulist Pheu Thai is the latest incarnation of parties aligned with divisive former leader Thaksin, who was ousted by the military in a 2005 coup. His dramatic return from a 15-year self-imposed exile last year coincided with the Senate’s vote to appoint Srettha as the country’s 30th prime minister. With Srettha now out of office, political negotiations will restart, with coalition partners jostling for Cabinet positions and the top job.

Persons: Thailand CNN —, Srettha Thavisin, Srettha, Pichit, Thaksin Shinawatra, Thaksin, Wednesday’s, jostling, Pheu, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s Organizations: Thailand CNN, Thailand CNN — Thailand’s, Party, Populist, Manchester City Football Club, Pheu Thai Locations: Bangkok, Thailand

☆ Bangladesh court orders murder probe into ousted former leader Sheikh Hasina
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Lex Harvey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The murder complaint, filed Tuesday in the Dhaka Metropolitan Court, is the first legal case to be filed against Hasina following her deadly crackdown on huge protests against government employment quotas, that erupted across Bangladesh last month. The murder case also names Hasina’s former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, the general secretary of her party, and four former top police officers. In her first public remarks since leaving Bangladesh, Hasina on Tuesday called for an investigation into the “heinous killings and acts of sabotage” during the protests. Anti-government protestors storm ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka, Bangladesh on August 5, 2024. When the protests escalated, Hasina blamed the opposition for the violence and imposed internet blocks and an indefinite curfew across the country.

Persons: CNN —, Sheikh Hasina’s, Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan, ”, ” Hasina, Sheikh Hasina's, Parvez Ahmad Rony, jubilation, Muhammad Yunus Organizations: CNN, Bangladesh Sangbad, Dhaka Metropolitan Court, United Nations ’, Getty Locations: Bangladesh, Dhaka, AFP, India

☆ Sudan conflict: North Sudan’s remaining hospital risks closure as deadly civil war intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Caitlin Danaher | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The last operating public hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur state is at risk of closure, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Wednesday, amid fierce fighting between the country’s rival military factions that have left more than 18,000 people dead and 33,000 injured. Civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April last year and has intensified in El Fasher, the North Darfur capital, since May when the paramilitary RSF group encircled the city. The MSF-supported Saudi Hospital in El Fasher has suffered extensive damage following the continued bombardment of the city over the last week, leaving it barely functional, MSF said. “Sunday’s attack on Saudi Hospital – which is the largest hospital in North Darfur state – makes it crystal clear that the warring parties are making no efforts to protect health facilities or the civilians inside them. “This month’s determination of famine in one part of Sudan risks spreading and leading to a catastrophic loss of children’s lives,” the spokesman said.

Persons: “, ” Michel Olivier Lacharité, El Fasher, James Elder, ” Elder, Elder Organizations: CNN, Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, Rapid Support Forces, MSF, Saudi Hospital, Saudi, UNICEF Locations: Sudan’s North Darfur, El Fasher, North Darfur, Sudan

CNN —The Russian border region of Belgorod declared an emergency on Wednesday after new attacks by Ukrainian forces, with Kyiv claiming control of hundreds of square miles of Russian territory after its rare cross-border incursion. “The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Belgorod Gov. The declaration came after Belgorod began evacuations on Monday as a result of Ukrainian advances, following Kyiv’s surprise incursion into the neighboring Kursk region last week. It was a notable change in tactics for Ukraine and marked the first time foreign troops had entered Russian territory since World War II. Two locations in Belgorod, the city of Shebekino and the village of Ustinka, had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, he added.

Persons: Vyacheslav Gladkov, Gladkov, Aleksandr Gusev, Volodymyr Zelensky, “, Vladimir Putin, Russia –, Joe Biden, Putin, ” Organizations: CNN, Belgorod Gov, Kyiv, Kremlin Locations: Belgorod, Ukrainian, Kursk, Ukraine, Russian, Shebekino, Ustinka, Voronezh, Moscow, Bryansk, Russia

☆ The Writing Is on the Wall for Thailand’s Royalist Old Guard - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Pavin Chachavalpongpun | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the surface, Thailand appears to be stuck in a never-ending cycle. Elections are held in which voters voice increasingly clear demands for change, only for those to be denied by the royalist old guard that has dominated my country for generations. Each of the past several elections, going back to 2005, have resulted in the winning party either being denied its right to form a government, overthrown in a military coup or otherwise removed from office. So when Thailand’s Constitutional Court last week ordered the dissolution of the country’s most popular political party — the pro-reform Move Forward Party, which won last year’s national election on a platform of curbing royal prerogatives — it seemed like déjà vu, the latest chapter in a normalized process of political stagnation. The court decision is not a sign of the strength of the conservative establishment, but of its weakness; a last-gasp attempt by the old guard to cling to an outdated status quo despite demands for change by millions of politically literate young Thais.

Persons: —, Thais Organizations: Party Locations: Thailand, Southeast Asia

☆ The United States and Europe need China for clean energy. They will pay a price to break free
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

London CNN —The United States and Europe are racing to narrow China’s commanding lead in clean energy technologies, throwing subsidies at local manufacturers and hiking tariffs on Chinese imports in a strikingly protectionist turn. Without China’s electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries, reducing planet-heating pollution could take longer and ultimately increase costs for businesses and consumers. Beijing’s virtual monopoly on the processing of some critical minerals comes with particular risks for the global green transition. Zhu Haipeng/VCG/APAny delay in switching to clean energy will exact a heavy toll on the planet. Birol at the IEA also advocates for trade policies that diversify supply chains while reducing the risk of delays to the clean energy transition.

Persons: “, Margrethe Vestager, ”, ” Fatih Birol, David G, Victor, Michael R, Davidson, ” Victor, Pierre, Olivier Gourinchas, Zhu Haipeng, Victor of, Birol, don’t Organizations: London CNN, Russia, Getty, ”, International Energy Agency, Global, University of California, CNN, Monetary Fund, McKinsey Global Institute, Victor of University of California, IEA Locations: United States, Europe, China, Lianyungang, Washington, Netherlands, Japan, Beijing, of Taicang, Suzhou, Brookings, University of California San Diego, Fuzhou, Victor of University of California San Diego

Former Trump administration officials argue that more foreign students are involved in the campus protests and accuse the Biden administration and universities of withholding such information. He contended that it would be unconstitutional for authorities to try to deport them based solely on their expressing support for Hamas at protests. About 40,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, according to local health officials. Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images fileBiden’s approachBiden administration officials told NBC News that Trump’s threats don’t match the realities of the country’s overburdened immigration system. It argued that the Education Department is purposely protecting “pro-Hamas foreign extremists on American college campuses” and failing to provide records on foreign students, or pro-Hamas activities, at schools.

Persons: Donald Trump, Biden, Trump, Ben Wizner, ” Wizner, ” Reed Rubinstein, Stephen Miller, aren’t, “, ”, Rubinstein, ‘, you’re, Seth, ” Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Kena Betancur, Jon Feere, isn’t, Feere, Kenneth Marcus, George W, Bush, Marcus, Louis D, ” Marcus, Vanessa Harmoush, Nerdeen Kiswani, hasn’t, Kiswani, ” Kiswani, Stephanie Keith, Daniel Richman, Richman, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, that’s, ” Mitchell, it’s Organizations: GOP, Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention, NBC News, Trump, Israel, Harvard, Emory, University of Pennsylvania, Hamas, American Civil, Technology, America, Justice, “, Fountain, Washington , D.C, Seth Herald, Republicans, Congress, NBC, D.C, Israeli, Brooklyn Museum, Times, U.S, Popular Front, Liberation, Palestine, Columbia University, Getty, Biden, United States, State Department, Immigration, Customs Services, ICE, Center of Immigration Studies, Education Department, Justice Department, Department’s, Civil Rights, Brandeis Center for Human, Department of Education, IDF, Israel Defense Forces, Columbia Law, Islamic, CAIR wouldn’t, CAIR, don’t Locations: Israel, U.S, Chicago, Gaza, Columbia, Columbus, Washington ,, New Jersey, Palestinian, Washington, New York City, Brooklyn, Vandals, New York, Germany, AFP, United States, Palestine

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