1 At least 80 dead in Maui wildfire as search for survivors continues The death toll from the devastating wildfire in Maui, Hawaii, reached 80 on Friday, officials said, as rescue workers continued to search for survivors in the decimated town of Lahaina. Police were restricting access throughout the island, and access to Lahaina remained heavily…
A Niger general who runs the country’s presidential guard declared himself the country’s new leader on Friday, two days after he led his soldiers in a coup d’etat that overthrew the nation’s president. General Abdourahmane Tchiani made the announcement during a speech on Niger’s state television, calling himself president and saying the coup was necessary “to preserve our…
Peace of a sort may be at hand between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Wall Street Journal reported the two longtime antagonists are preparing to normalize relations, with Saudi Arabia finally giving formal recognition to Israel in return for “concessions to the Palestinians, U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear help.” There are still “long odds,”…
1 Congress breaks for August recess without path to avoid shutdown Lawmakers left Congress for their August recess at the end of this week without a clear path forward to avoid a looming government shutdown. Both the House and Senate had entered recess by Saturday, and are not due back in the nation’s Capitol until…
Protests have reached a boiling point in Israel after the government passed a bill to overhaul the country’s judiciary, limiting the ability of the Israeli Supreme Court to conduct oversight. These controversies have proven greatly unpopular, and at the center of the furor is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has continually pressed forward with the…
Israel stands at a precipice after lawmakers from right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling parliamentary coalition on Monday passed a contentious law that radically limits the Supreme Court’s legislative oversight in what’s been called “the most significant shakeup” to Israel’s judiciary since the nation’s founding in 1948. With tens of thousands of protesters massed outside Israel’s Knesset…
Israel’s far-right government is on track to pass on Monday the first bill in a controversial package of measures to overhaul the judiciary to weaken the Supreme Court. The effort has bitterly split Israeli society, sparking 29 straight weeks of protest by hundreds of thousands of citizens. Adding to the tumult, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,…
There was no clear winner in Spain’s election on Sunday, with both the governing Socialists and opposition center-right Popular Party failing to win the 176 seats needed to form a government. With 100% of the votes counted, the Popular Party won 136 seats and the Socialists won 122 seats. The Socialists fared better at the…
Spain headed to the polls Sunday in a national election that could result in seismic changes for both Spanish citizens and the greater European Union. The conservative Popular Party (PP), led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, appears likely to oust Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) from power. Up-to-date polling shows the PP leading over…
1 Shelling kills at least 3 across Ukraine during overnight airstrikes Overnight shelling throughout Ukraine killed at least three people on Sunday, officials said. Two of these people were killed and four more injured following a Russian airstrike in the Kharkiv region. One of the attacks, via a Russian-led guided bomb, had landed on a…