The Guardian
Europe’s most severe drought in decades is hitting homes, factories, farmers and freight across the continent, as experts warn drier winters and searing summers fuelled by global heating mean water shortages will become “the new normal”.
The EU European Drought Observatory has calculated that 45% of the bloc’s territory was under drought warning by mid-July, with 15% already on red alert, prompting the European Commission to warn of a “critical” situationin multiple regions.
Conditions have deteriorated since as
repeated heatwaves roll across the continent. In
France, the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, last week activated a crisis unit to tackle a drought Météo-France described as the country’s worst since records began in 1958.
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C/Net
Goofing around in front of a camera while your parents offer encouraging words and smiles is something that pretty much all 21st century kids do. For most kids, this is just part of playtime. But for a small number of young influencers on Instagram or TikTok, this is work.
For these children, their entire lives actually become content – even the most intimate, least photogenic moments. It's become known as "commercial sharenting," said Leah Plunkett, author of the book Sharenthood and an assistant dean at Harvard Law School.
"The distinguishing factor around the paid influencer community is the attempt to monetize these private, in some cases very intimate experiences," she said in an interview last month.
BBC
Russian forces occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have turned the site into a military base to launch attacks against Ukrainian positions, the head of Ukraine's nuclear power company says.
Petro Kotin told the BBC the threat to the plant was "great", but that it remained safe.
The complex has been under Russian occupation since early March, although Ukrainian technicians still operate it.
Over the weekend, Ukraine accused Russian forces of attacking the Soviet-era site, saying two workers were taken to hospital with shrapnel injuries and that three radiation sensors had been damaged.
Mr Kotin, who heads Enerhoatom, said 500 Russian soldiers were at the plant, and that they had positioned rocket launchers in the area, claims that cannot be independently verified.
BBC
A Dutch man accused of harassing a Canadian girl who later took her own life has been found guilty of multiple charges by a court in British Columbia.
The charges against Aydin Coban, 44, included extortion, child luring, child pornography and harassment.
Amanda Todd, who was then 15, posted a video in 2012 in which she detailed how a man had tormented her online.
It was watched millions of times on YouTube and sparked a national debate about online bullying.
Ms Todd took her own life just five weeks after uploading the video and shortly after explicit photos were leaked online.
Coban was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Dutch court in 2017 for blackmailing and harassing dozens of young women on the internet, some as far away as Britain, Canada and the United States.
Deutsche Welle
The Ukrainian army said it successfully executed long-range strikes, hitting strategic bridges on the Dnieper River and Russian bases overnight.
Writing on Facebook, regional deputy Sergei Khlan said, "What a night for the occupiers in the Kherson region. Strikes in the area of the Antonovskiy bridge."
Natalia Gumeniuk, the southern army command spokesperson, confirmed the attack, telling Ukrainian television, "The firing system we have developed in recent days shows results."
She added, "The impact has been considerable for both the Antonovskiy and Kakhovskiy bridges."
Russian-backed forces also confirmed the strikes.
The Antonovskiy bridge provides the main land supply link between Russian-occupied Kherson and the south bank of the Dnieper River. On July 27, Ukraine partly destroyed the bridge, forcing Russia to rethink its supply lines.
By contrast, Kirill Stremusov, the deputy head of the Russian-backed Kherson regional administration, told Russian state-run RIA Novosti, "There was one strike, a construction booth and a cement mixer caught fire. There is damage to the bridge floor, which means we will continue restoring it."
Deutsche Welle
Diplomats involved in the negotiations in Vienna to revive the Iran nuclear deal returned to their capitals Monday with a draft for a new agreement.
The 2015 deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was struck between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US. It gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic program.
Iran has massively expanded its nuclear activities since the pact collapsed in 2018 following Washington's decision to pull out.
Negotiations to restore the deal have taken months. After the talks drew to a close on Monday, Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani was headed to Tehran for consultations, according to Iran's state media.
Al Jazeera
An official for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) says the armed group’s members will resume their fight against Israel following the latest bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip if their high-ranking officials are not released.
The comments on Monday underscored the divergent narratives put forth by PIJ and Israeli officials in the wake of a tenuous truce that began Sunday night and paused three days of Israeli bombardment of the coastal Palestinian enclave, which killed at least 45 Palestinians including 16 children.
PIJ has responded by firing rockets into southern Israel, including towards civilian areas, with no casualties reported.
Islamic Jihad spokesman Khaled About Hait told Al Jazeera the current ceasefire was based on a clear agreement that Israel would release two high-ranking members: Khalil Awawda within the day, and Sheikh Bassem al-Saadi within two weeks.
Al Jazeera
Gaza City – Amina Ashkinan’s grandchildren were playing in front of their house at Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday when an Israeli strike came from the sky.
Her granddaughter, 10-year-old Mayar, was hit by shrapnel in the abdomen. Her grandson, nine-year-old Ahmed, got injuries all over his body. Both children were rushed to Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, just two of the dozens of Palestinians to be transported to the main hospital in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s latest bombardment of the besieged enclave.
Mayar was immediately taken to the operation room. Her condition, along with that of her brother, has since stabilised but Ashkinan is still worried.
For days, Palestinian health officials had been issuing warnings of an imminent stop in the provision of medical services due to the lack of fuel needed to operate the electricity generators in hospitals and health facilities across Gaza. The Strip’s only power plant had shut down on Saturday, days after Israel stopped the planned transport of fuel into the territory.
The Guardian
Olivia Newton-John, the musical star who found enduring fame for her leading role in the film Grease, has died aged 73. The news was confirmed by her husband.
In a statement posted on social media, Olivia Newton-John’s widower John Easterling said: “Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.
“Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer.
The Guardian
Officials in Canada’s easternmost province have issued a state of emergency as crews battle the worst wildfires the region has experienced in more than half a century.
Sprawling blazes have consumed thousands of hectares of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last two weeks and remain out of control.
“Over the last 36 hours, things have changed,” Premier Andrew Furey told reporters on Sunday. “We were predicting that we could manage this. However with the wind change, we are afraid that there will be significant smoke impact … This is a dynamic, evolving situation as all fires are, but we can’t wait for the last minute – we have to act now.”
The Guardian
Joe Biden on Monday toured parts of eastern Kentucky devastated by the worst flooding in the state’s history and pledged to help recovery, while his spokesperson warned that the climate crisis was having an impact on such events there and across America.
At least 37 people have died in the flooding since a deluge late last month that dropped up to 10.5in of rain on Kentucky in only 48 hours.
The US president said the nation had an obligation to help all its people, declaring the federal government would provide support until residents were back on their feet.
Behind him as he spoke was a house that the storm had dislodged and dumped on the ground, tilted sideways.
NPR
David McCullough has died. He was a bravura historian and public intellectual whose biographies of Harry Truman and John Adams won Pulitzer Prizes, and whose best-selling stories of American accomplishment were complemented by his work as a public television host and narrator for popular movies and documentaries, including Ken Burns' The Civil War.
McCullough died Sunday at his home in Hingham, Mass., according to his publishers Simon and Schuster. He was 89 years old.
The subjects McCullough tackled were massive. The building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Panama Canal. The shaping of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He wrote about epic figures, from Theodore Roosevelt to the Wright Brothers. McCullough seemed undaunted by his topics; they were fun for him and he made the subjects enchanting for readers. Perhaps only a McCullough treatment of Truman could've topped the New York Times best-seller list for nearly a year; the biography was a publishing sensation in 1992.
NPR
For many Black Kentuckians and Tennesseans, the Eighth of August is a special day – a time for barbecue, reuniting with loved ones and marking their freedom from slavery. These annual celebrations are in the same spirit as Juneteenth, but their roots predate those of the now national holiday.
There’s an over 150-year history of Black communities – including those in Paducah, Hopkinsville and Russellville in Kentucky and Clarksville and Knoxville in Tennessee, among others – celebrating on the Eighth of August. Many take the late summer day to mark their freedom with homecomings, historical remembrances and usually a good party.
Marvin Nunn, the president of the W.C. Young Community Center in Paducah, is one of the lead organizers for Paducah’s Eighth of August celebration. He’s been celebrating the occasion for all of his life and he treasures his memories of the Eighth of August growing up.
Washington Post
The Senate passed a sweeping budget package Sunday intended to bring financial relief to Americans, but not before Republican senators voted to strip a proposal that would have capped the price of insulin at $35 per month for many patients.
A proposal that limits the monthly cost of insulin to $35 for
Medicare patients was left untouched. But using a parliamentary rule, GOP lawmakers were able to jettison the part of the proposal that would apply to privately insured patients.
Seven Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the broader price cap, but that wasn’t enough for passage. A number of Republican senators who voted for the proposal to be removed come from states with some of the highest mortality rates for diabetes, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Reuters
MOSCOW, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Russian airlines, including state-controlled Aeroflot (AFLT.MM), are stripping jetliners to secure spare parts they can no longer buy abroad because of Western sanctions, four industry sources told Reuters.
The steps are in line with advice Russia's government provided in June for airlines to use some aircraft for parts to ensure the remainder of foreign-built planes can continue flying at least through 2025.
Sanctions imposed on Russia after it sent its troops into Ukraine in late February have prevented its airlines from obtaining spare parts or undergoing maintenance in the West.
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