UNITED NATIONS
NK vote set for tomorrow
The US has formally requested a UN Security Council vote tomorrow on tough new sanctions against North Korea, despite resistance from China and Russia, as Pyongyang’s state media called for a nuclear arms buildup. Washington has presented a draft UN resolution calling for an oil embargo on North Korea, an assets freeze on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a ban on textile exports and an end to payments of North Korean guest workers. Diplomatic sources said Russia and China opposed the measures as a whole, except for the ban on textiles, during a meeting on Friday of experts from the 15 Security Council members.
UNITED STATES
US, Russian officials to meet
Senior US and Russian envoys are to meet soon in Finland in a bid to calm escalating diplomatic tensions that have sparked a return to Cold War-era animosity. US officials said US Department of State Undersecretary for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon is to meet with Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov tomorrow and Tuesday. The officials said the pair would hold several rounds of talks on multiple issues in Helsinki. Topics would include strategic relations, arms control and resolving irritants in relations, they said.
UNITED STATES
Fox News fires Eric Bolling
US cable news network Fox News on Friday announced its decision to “part ways” with former host Eric Bolling, who was suspended amid allegations he had texted unsolicited lewd images to female co-workers. “Eric Bolling and Fox have agreed to part ways amicably,” a spokesperson said, adding that Fox was canceling the program he had hosted. Bolling was suspended last month pending an investigation into the accusations. Asked about the probe, the spokesperson said “outside counsel undertook a privileged review of the allegations.” The suspension followed a HuffPost report that Bolling sent an image of male genitalia to two colleagues at Fox Business and one at Fox News.
UNITED STATES
Obama surprises students
Former president Barack Obama on Friday shocked students at a Washington school by popping in to give them encouragement at the beginning of the new school year. “I do believe that most of the problems we have are going to be solved by you,” Obama told a group of students from McKinley Technology High School, according to an Instagram video posted on his account after his unannounced visit. In the video, a small group of students can be seen gasping in surprise as Obama walks into a room with a cheery “How’s it going, everybody?” Obama has made few public appearances since leaving the White House in January.
CANADA
Montreal to host climate talks
Canadian, Chinese and EU environment ministers are to co-host a meeting in Montreal later this month to move forward with the implementation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The ministerial meeting will include representatives from about 30 countries, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna said. “This meeting brings together major economies and key climate actors to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement and demonstrate continued commitment to global action on climate change,” she said in a statement. The meeting follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement in June that the US would abandon the global pact.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other