NEWS BRIEFS
North Korea’s Kim vows full support for Russia at summit with Putin at a Far East spaceport
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un vowed “full and unconditional support” for Russia’s Vladimir Putin as the two leaders isolated by the West held a summit that the U.S. warns could lead to a deal to supply ammunition for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The meeting, which lasted over four hours at Russia’s spaceport in the Far East, underscores how their interests are aligning: Putin is believed to be seeking something that impoverished North Korea has in abundance -– stockpiles of aging ammunition and rockets. Such a request would mark a reversal of roles from the 1950-53 Korean War, when Moscow gave weapons to support Pyongyang’s invasion of South Korea, and in the decades of Soviet sponsorship that followed.
The flood death toll in eastern Libya’s city of Derna has surpassed 5,100, a health official says
DERNA, Libya (AP) — A local health official in eastern Libya says the flood death toll in the city of Derna has risen to more than 5,100.Ossama Ali, a spokesman for the Ambulance and Emergency Center in the eastern Libya, said the toll for entire region is at least 5,202.Ali told The Associated Press by phone on Wednesday that more than 7,000 people were injured in Derna and most of them received treatment at field hospitals that authorities and aid agencies set up there.He says the number of deaths is likely to increase in the coastal city since search and rescue teams are still collecting bodies from the streets, buildings and the sea.
Speaker McCarthy directs the House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he’s directing the House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The Republican leader faces mounting pressure from his right flank to take action as the House returns Tuesday for a disruptive fall agenda. McCarthy plans to convene lawmakers behind closed doors multiple times this week, including for a meeting to discuss the Biden impeachment. McCarthy also is struggling to pass legislation needed to avoid a federal government shutdown. It’s a familiar political bind for the California congressman, who’s juggling the impeachment inquiry and the government shutdown threat with no clear end game. The White House dismisses the impeachment push as politically motivated.
International crews in Morocco to recover bodies days after deadly 6.8 quake earthquake struck
IMI N’TALA, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan rescue crews have been joined by international crews from Spain, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, who sent emergency responders into the mountains where bodies remain buried under dust and rubble. In mountain villages like Imi N’Tala, food and water have arrived but efforts remain underway to dig people’s family and neighbors out. Moroccan authorities reported 2,901 deaths as of Tuesday. Morocco has limited the amount of aid allowed into the country in response to the earthquake and green-lit crews from only four countries — Spain, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to avoid being “counterproductive.” The United Nations has estimated that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake.
A Crimea shipyard is on fire after a Ukrainian attack that damaged 2 ships and injured 24 people
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities say a Ukrainian attack on a strategic shipyard in Crimea wounded 24 people, damaged two ships undergoing repairs and caused a fire at the facility. The attack early Wednesday was in the port city of Sevastopol, which serves as the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It took place as Moscow launched drones against southern Ukraine’s Odesa region. The region’s governor says the pre-dawn onslaught damaged port and civilian infrastructure in the Izmail district and wounded seven people, three seriously. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. It has has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 18 months ago.
Former leaders of Israel’s security services are speaking out against Netanyahu’s policies
HERZLIYA, Israel (AP) — They have contended with bloody uprisings, destabilizing wars and even the assassination of a prime minister. But for many of Israel’s top former security chiefs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s policies are the biggest threat yet to the country’s future. In unprecedented opposition, more than 180 former senior officials from the Mossad, the Shin Bet domestic security agency, the military and the police have united. They are banding together against steps they say will shatter Israel’s resilience in the face of mounting threats from the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran. They’re united against the government’s intentions, hoping their widely respected voices will bolster their case.
AP Sources: UAW may strike at small number of factories if it can’t reach deals with automakers
DETROIT (AP) — Leaders of the United Auto Workers union are considering targeted strikes at a small number of factories run by each of Detroit’s three automakers if they can’t reach contract agreements by a Thursday night deadline. The union’s leadership discussed smaller-scale strikes at a meeting on Friday, and local union leaders were told about the strategy on Tuesday afternoon, two people with knowledge of the moves said. The people didn’t want to be identified because they weren’t authorized to disclose details until President Shawn Fain updates workers Wednesday afternoon in a Facebook Live appearance. At the Tuesday meeting, Fain didn’t say whether the union would target vehicle assembly plants or component factories, one of the people said. The UAW wouldn’t comment Tuesday on its strategy.
Tech titans will give senators advice on artificial intelligence in a closed-door forum
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been talking for months about accomplishing a potentially impossible task: passing bipartisan legislation within the next year that encourages the rapid development of artificial intelligence and mitigates its biggest risks. On Wednesday, the New York Democrat is convening a meeting of some of the country’s most prominent technology executives to ask them how Congress should do it. The closed-door forum on Capitol Hill will include some of the industry’s biggest names: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and X and Tesla’s Elon Musk as well as former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. All 100 senators are invited, but the public is not.
Special mosquitoes are being bred to fight dengue. How the old enemies are now becoming allies
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Preventing dengue fever has long meant teaching people to fear mosquitoes and avoid their bites. Now scientists are promoting a potentially more effective way to control the disease with the help of mosquitoes. These aren’t just any insects: Mosquitoes are bred in laboratories to carry bacteria that halt the spread of dengue. This strategy pioneered by the World Mosquito Program over the past decade recently launched its latest project in Honduras. Over the next six months, close to 9 million of the specially bred mosquitoes will be released in Tegucigalpa, where residents are learning to trust the counterintuitive strategy.
The iPhone 12 emits too much radiation and Apple must take it off the market, a French agency says
PARIS (AP) — A government watchdog agency in France has ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high. The National Frequency Agency on Tuesday called on Apple to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used. It says it will monitor corrective updates to the iPhone 12 and that Apple will have to recall phones that were already sold if they don’t work. Apple disputed the findings and said the device complies with all regulations governing radiation. The French agency said it recently checked 141 cellphones for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body.
