Eight hatchlings from one of the world’s rarest crocodile species are found in the Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in eastern Cambodia, raising hopes for the continuing survival of the species in the wild. Conservationists found the baby Siamese crocodiles in a river earlier this month, according to a statement from Cambodia’s Environment Ministry and the World Wildlife Fund. (9 News) 

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021 

King Salman of Saudi Arabia insists on the “importance of keeping the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction … and support international efforts aiming at preventing Iran from having nuclear weapons”. Salman also accused Yemen’s Houthis of launching attacks against the kingdom despite proposed ceasefires by Saudi Arabia. (Reuters) 

French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Joe Biden agree to meet in Europe soon to repair the strained relations following the security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. France also agrees to send back its ambassador to the United States. (Al Jazeera) 

Two more energy companies have entered bankruptcy and ceased trading, bringing the total since the gas crisis began to seven with dozens more still at risk. More than one million customers have now been affected by the collapse of energy companies in the United Kingdom this month. (BBC) 

Houthi forces capture the Bayhan District in Yemen’s Shabwah Governorate where oil fields are located and continue their advance into neighboring Usaylan District. (Xinhua via The Manila Times) 

Authorities in Germany link a belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and far-right extremism as motives behind the killing of a cashier in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, four days ago. The 20-year-old was murdered at the shop where he worked by a man who refused to wear a mask. Far-right extremists praised the killing and made denigratory comments against the victim. (BBC) 

Gunmen open fire against a vehicle carrying Serhiy Shefir, one of the officials closest to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, near the village of Lisnyky, outside of Kyiv, wounding the driver of the car. The attack is deemed an assassination attempt against Shefir. (Al Jazeera) 

Chinese property giant Evergrande announces that it has agreed on a method of payment for a 4 billion yuan ($620 million) bond denominated in Chinese yuan. Sources for the payment were unclear as it was “settled in negotiations outside the market.” (DW) 

A Russian An-26 transport aircraft, believed to have six people on board, disappears while flying at an ultralow altitude of 600 meters. The plane went off radar some 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Khabarovsk airport in southeastern Russia. (DW) 

Singapore reports a record 1,457 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, surpassing the previous record of 1,426 cases set in April 2020, and thereby bringing the nationwide total of confirmed cases to 81,356. (Yahoo! News) 

The U.S. FDA announces the approval of a booster dose of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older. (CNET) 

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune orders the prohibition of all Moroccan-registered aircraft on Algerian airspace after the two countries broke off diplomatic ties on August 24. (AFP via The Times of Israel) 

The Derbyshire Constabulary charges a 31-year-old man with four counts of murder following a suspected mass murder in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, England, on Sunday. (BBC) 

Protesters return to the Melbourne CBD for the third day straight, albeit in lesser numbers than yesterday. The protests end with a three hour stand-off with riot police firing non-lethal rounds and teargas at the Shrine of Remembrance. Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemns the protests. (The Guardian) 

President Kais Saied declares that he will rule by decree. (AFP via Radio France Internationale) 

After Germany’s uncontested nomination of current World Health Organization chief, Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom, he poses for a second term as the head of the United Nations body. Tedros refused to comment when questioned about his undisputed reelection amid accusations by the government of Ethiopia that he has lobbied for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in the ongoing Tigray War. (France24) 

The United States will require athletes to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. (Axios) 

Biden promises U.N. a ‘new era’ of diplomacy President Biden told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the United States was “opening a new era of relentless diplomacy,” determined to work closely with other world powers to address global threats following the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden, in his first address to the U.N. since taking office, said his administration would dedicate its resources to ending the pandemic, fighting terrorism, and adjusting to shifting global power dynamics to better collaborate with other nations on matters of common concern, such as trade and cyber threats. “Our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected, in my view, as never before,” Biden said. “And so, I believe we must work together as never before.” POLITICO 

J&J says its booster significantly increased COVID protection Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that a second dose of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine significantly increased protection against COVID-19 in a clinical trial. Researchers found that the booster showed 94 percent efficacy against mild to severe COVID-19 in U.S. trial participants, up from 74 percent efficacy from the first shot. The two doses were 100 percent effective at preventing severe COVID cases, although that figure came with a wide range of statistical uncertainty. Johnson & Johnson said in a news release that it had submitted the data to the Food and Drug Administration. An FDA advisory committee on Friday recommended authorizing the Pfizer-BioNTech booster to recipients of the Pfizer vaccine who are at least 65 years old or highly vulnerable to COVID. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

House passes stopgap bill aiming to prevent shutdown The House on Tuesday passed legislation seeking to raise the debt limit and avert a potential government shutdown by funding the government through Dec. 3. No Republicans joined the Democratic majority in the 220-211 vote. Senate Democrats need at least 10 Republican votes to beat a GOP filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said Republicans wouldn’t help Democrats raise the debt ceiling. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the debt limit was a “phony issue,” because it merely lets the federal government pay bills Congress has approved. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said allowing a government shutdown would be “catastrophic” for American families. House Republicans said the bill would provide a blank check for “socialist” programs. NBC NEWS 

Lava flow forces more evacuations in Canary Islands Lava blasted out of a new vent that opened in a volcano on the island of La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands on Tuesday. Rivers of lava, in some areas nearly 20 feet high, rolled down hillsides toward the tourist haven’s more densely populated coastal areas, burning everything along the way. The lava flows have destroyed 190 houses and forced 6,000 people to evacuate. The island is home to about 85,000 people. The lava’s speed slowed to about 400 feet an hour, and was expected to reach the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, according to the head of the Canary Island Volcanic Emergency Plan, Miguel Ángel Morcuende. When the lava, heated to more than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, hits water, it could set off explosions and release toxic gas.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

European court finds Russia responsible for killing of Kremlin critic The European Court of Human Rights said Tuesday that Russia was responsible for killing Kremlin critic and former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London by polonium poisoning in 2006. Litvinenko died in London weeks after drinking tea later determined to have been laced with the deadly radioactive compound. In its ruling, the court said it “cannot but conclude” that two Russian intelligence agents, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, committed the assassination “acting as agents” of Russia. A 2016 British inquiry said Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably approved” the killing. Litvinenko said from his death bed he was certain Putin was responsible. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.  CNN 

Trump sues niece, NYT over tax story Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against his niece, Mary Trump, and The New York Times over a 2018 story based on tax records and other financial documents. The article said Trump “participated in dubious tax schemes … including instances of outright fraud.” The article said tax dodging helped Trump make $413 million from his father’s real estate empire. Trump’s lawsuit, filed in a Dutchess County, New York, argued that his niece, the Times, and three of the newspaper’s reporters “engaged in an insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records.” The Times reporters won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their work detailing the Trump family’s tax history. Trump has declined to release his returns, unlike other major party presidential nominees. THE DAILY BEAST 

Tuesday,  September 21st, 2021 

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid says that girls will return to school soon, adding that “We are finalizing things … it will happen as soon as possible”. The announcement came as the Taliban banned girls from grades six to 12 from attending school, to which Mujahid said that this was only “temporary” and that new announcements would be made soon. (Deutsche Welle) 

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, South Korean president Moon Jae-in asks for a formal end to the decades-long conflict between the two Koreas. (Reuters) 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announces that Michigan will build an electrified road to charge wireless vehicles, becoming the first U.S. state to do so. (USA Today) 

The number of adult population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Malaysia surpasses 80%. (The Straits Times) 

Singapore reports 1,178 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single-day total of new cases since April 2020. (Business Times) 

The government announces that public servants will soon be a target of the “no jab, no job” policy and that they will have to either resign or receive half-pay if they refuse to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. (RNZ) 

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces that the San Francisco International Airport will mandate COVID-19 vaccines, making it the first U.S. airport to do so. (Los Angeles Times) 

Haiti reports the first outbreak of the African swine fever in 37 years when an operation in Anse-à-Pitre near border with the Dominican Republic suffered an outbreak that began on August 26. (Reuters) 

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen suspends negotiations for a free trade agreement with Australia over Australia’s recent cancellation of a submarine contract with France, demanding that Australia must apologise to France before the agreement can continue. (The Guardian) 

Argentine President Alberto Fernández asks Iran to “cooperate with the Argentine justice” regarding an investigation into the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires and demands that countries where the Iranian officials wanted by Argentina are currently residing are welcome to comply with the red notices that Argentina issued through Interpol. (Infobae) 

In a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests representation at the seventy-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Emirate’s Foreign Minister Ameer Khan Muttaqi also requests that Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations Ghulam Isaczai be replaced by Mohammad Suhail Shasheen. The Taliban also note that former President Ashraf Ghani had been “ousted and [countries across the world] no longer recognize him as president.” (CNN) 

A coroner in Teton County, Wyoming, confirms that the remains found on September 19 were that of Petito, who disappeared from Grand Teton National Park on August 27, and rules her death a homicide. (AFP via Today) 

The Court of Justice of the European Union imposes a daily fine of €500,000 (2.31M zł) on Poland for its refusal to close the Turów Coal Mine, which was declared illegal by a temporary injunction from the court in May. (WIAT-TV) 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces a two-week suspension of construction work in the state after yesterday’s riot at the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) office. Rioters claimed that they were construction workers, although CFMEU officials and others claim that there were only a few construction workers present. (ABC News Australia) 

FIFA sanctions the Hungarian Football Federation with a US$216,000 fine and orders the Hungarian national team to play their next two World Cup qualification home matches behind closed doors, following incidents of racist behavior among their fans during a match against England on September 2. (CNN) 

Sudanese forces thwart a coup d’état attempt against the ruling civilian-military government from loyalists of former president Omar al-Bashir that began overnight. Interrogations of instigators were to begin today, sources close to the government say. (Reuters) 

Harbin bans visits at retirement homes, closes spas, cinemas and mahjong salons, reducing the tourist attraction capacity to 50%, and suspending religious activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in poorly ventilated spaces after one community transmitted case was found. (Al-Arabiya English) 

The government announces in the week that public servants will soon be target of the “no jab, no job” policy and that they will have to step down or receive half-pay if they refuse to get their COVID-19 vaccine. (RNZ) 

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen stalls a free trade agreement with Australia over the latter’s recent cancellation of a submarine contract with France, demanding Australia must apologise to France before the agreement can continue. (The Guardian) 

The European Court of Human Rights rules that agents acting on behalf of the Russian state were responsible for the fatal poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. (BBC) 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces a two-week halt to construction work after yesterday’s riot at the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union office. Rioters claimed they were construction workers, although CFMEU officials and others have doubted that the majority were. (ABC News Australia) 

Protesters return to the Melbourne CBD for the second day straight, assaulting journalists and blocking the West Gate Freeway. Riot police respond with rubber bullet rounds. (New Zealand Herald) 

Pfizer, BioNTech say their vaccine is safe, effective for children Pfizer and BioNTech said Monday that a low dose of their coronavirus vaccine proved safe and effective in children aged 5 to 11 years. Children account for more than 20 percent of new infections, and more of them have wound up in hospitals and intensive care units in recent weeks due to the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. The Pfizer-BioNTech trial results raised hopes among many parents, teachers, and doctors that younger children soon will be able to get vaccinated, reducing the chances of infections in schools. “We’ve been waiting for these kids to be protected,” said Dr. Kristin Oliver, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. CNN 

United Nations General Assembly starts amid deep divisions World leaders return to the United Nations on Tuesday for the first time in two years for the General Assembly as tensions rise between the U.S. and China, and concerns mount over Afghanistan’s future following the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban’s return to power. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres “will pull no punches in expressing his concern about the state of the world, and he will lay out a vision to bridge the numerous divides,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. President Biden is scheduled to address the assembly on Tuesday. Biden will “drive home the message that ending the war in Afghanistan closed a chapter focused on war and opened a chapter focused on purposeful, effective, intensive American diplomacy,” a senior U.S. official said Monday. THE WASHINGTON POST 

U.S. coronavirus death toll equals that of 1918 Spanish flu The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has now reached more than 675,000 people, surpassing that of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic to become the deadliest disease event in American history, based on raw numbers. Proportionally, the Spanish flu death toll remains considerably greater because the U.S. population is now more than three times what it was in 1918. The grim milestone comes as the country struggles to contain a new surge of infections driven by the highly infectious Delta variant, with the daily death toll now back to about 2,000 per day. Some hospitals are having to ration care because they have been overwhelmed with coronavirus cases. CNN 

DHS investigates use of agents on horseback to drive out migrants The Department of Homeland Security on Monday announced an investigation after video surfaced showing Border Patrol agents on horseback using what appeared to be whips to drive away Haitian migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the images “horrific.” She said she didn’t know the full context of the videos, but couldn’t “imagine what context would make that appropriate.” In one video, mounted agents charged migrants shouting, “Let’s go! Get out now! Back to Mexico!” About 14,000 migrants, most of them from Haiti, have crossed the border and waited under the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas, to apply for asylum. The U.S. already has sent several planeloads of migrants to Haiti. USA TODAY 

U.S. stocks dive in S&P 500’s biggest drop since May U.S. stocks fell sharply on Monday in Wall Street’s worst day in months. The S&P 500 fell by 1.7 percent, its biggest drop since May. At one point the benchmark index was down by 2.9 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down by 1.8 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.2 percent. The losses came after Hong Kong’s main index plunged on concerns about weakness among property stocks. U.S. investors also are increasingly worried about signs of economic damage from the Delta-variant-fueled surge in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. “What’s happened here is that the list of risks has finally become too big to ignore,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. Futures for the three major indexes rose by about 0.7 percent early Tuesday. CNBC 

Trudeau holds onto power as Liberals win snap election Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held onto power on Monday as his Liberal Party won a snap election. Trudeau, his popularity up due to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, called the vote, hoping his party would take back the majority in Parliament. The Liberals appeared to have won only a few more seats than before, signaling a status quo Parliament and leaving Trudeau open to renewed criticism from Canadians who opposed making people vote as the highly infectious Delta variant spread. As of early Tuesday, the Liberals led in or had won 155 seats, the Conservatives had 121, the Bloc Québécois had 33, and the NDP had 27. Trudeau said the vote provided “a clear mandate” as the government leads the country through the pandemic. THE GLOBE AND MAIL 

2 GOP operatives charged with funneling Russian’s money to Trump campaign Federal prosecutors have charged two longtime Republican operatives with helping a Russian national illegally contribute $25,000 to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, keeping another $75,000 for themselves, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The two men, Jesse Benton, 43, and Doug Wead, 75, pleaded not guilty to six felony counts in a remote hearing. The indictment “alleges that Benton and Wead worked together to accept $100,000 from an unidentified Russian national in order to get the foreigner a meeting with then-candidate Trump at a fundraiser in Philadelphia on Sept. 22, 2016,” Politico reported. There was no indication that Trump or his campaign aides knew the money came from the Russian donor.  POLITICO 

Biden hikes refugee cap to 125,000 President Biden intends to raise the number of refugees the United States will accept to 125,000 in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, the State Department announced Monday. Biden promised during his 2020 campaign to increase the refugee cap from the historically low level of 15,000 set by former President Donald Trump. In May, Biden raised the number for the current fiscal year to 62,500, vowing to double it in his first full fiscal year as president. Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said Biden had sent Congress a report detailing his plan to raise the cap to “address needs generated by humanitarian crises around the globe.” The increase is not expected to affect people fleeing the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, or the thousands of Haitians seeking asylum in a makeshift camp on the U.S.-Mexico border. THE NEW YORK TIMES 

FBI searches Brian Laundrie’s home in Gabby Petito investigation  The FBI on Monday searched the Florida home of the parents of Brian Laundrie, a day after search crews in Wyoming found human remains believed to be those of his fiancée, Gabby Petito. The remains were found at a campsite in Bridger-Teton National Forest on the eastern edge of Grand Teton National Park. Laundrie’s parents were escorted away from their North Port, Florida, home during the search, then brought back in for questioning. Laundrie had returned home alone from a cross-country trip he and Petito made in her small van, then disappeared after declining to talk to police. Petito went missing days after a witness reported seeing Laundrie slapping her outside a Wyoming restaurant. CNN 

 

Monday,  September 20th, 2021 

A court in Rwanda finds Paul Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film about the genocide, guilty of terrorism-related charges. Rusesabagina, who remained handcuffed in court, denounced president Paul Kagame and said that he was abducted from exile in Dubai in order to stand trial in Rwanda. (Reuters) 

Volkswagen submits an offer of €2.5 billion for French car rental firm Europcar. The deal, which would give Volkswagen 66% of Europcar’s shares, has been accepted by the board but still needs to be accepted by regulators in France. Volkswagen previously owned Europcar and sold it to French investment firm Eurazeo for €3.3 billion in 2006. (RTE) 

Twitter agrees to pay $809.5 million to settle a shareholder class action lawsuit that accused the social media company of painting an overly rosy picture of its future. (Bloomberg) 

More than 100 homes on the island of La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands are destroyed by lava flows, and 5,000 people are evacuated. Several schools on the island suspend classes. (El Mundo)  

England and Scotland begin the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for children between the ages of 12 and 15 as part of an expansion of their vaccination programme in order to protect more people from COVID-19 during the winter. (BBC) 

The Austrian government announces that it will require protective face masks and COVID-19 passes for users of ski lifts this winter in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the country will allow foreign skiers for the first time in two years. (Reuters) 

Switzerland begins to implement a mandatory negative COVID-19 test result for travellers who have not been vaccinated or who have not recovered from COVID-19 upon entering the country in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (Schengen Visa Info) 

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announces that COVID-19 vaccines will be required for all teachers and students in the district by November 1. (The Washington Post) 

The CDC releases a study which finds that 99.4% of all current cases of COVID-19 in the United States are of the highly transmittable Delta variant. (The New York Times) 

The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. surpasses the total number of deaths from the Spanish flu in the U.S. in 1918-1919. (ABC News) 

Pfizer says that their vaccine candidate is effective for children between the ages of 5 and 11 years. (CBS News) 

Six people are killed and around 20 more are wounded in a mass shooting at Perm State University in Perm, Perm Krai, Russia. The gunman, an 18-year-old student at the university, has been arrested. (BBC) 

Poland accuses Russia and Belarus of “orchestrating a wave of illegal immigration” after four people were found dead yesterday at the Polish–Belarusian border. (Al Jazeera) 

Three former U.S. intelligence operatives, who worked as senior managers at a United Arab Emirates–based company, have been ordered by the Department of Justice to pay $1,685,000 in fines for “leveraging zero-click exploits to illegally obtain and use access credentials for online accounts issued by U.S. companies, and to obtain unauthorized access to computers globally, including in the United States”. (Fox Business News) 

Voters in Canada go to the polls to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament, with pollsters predicting a tight race between Justin Trudeau’s incumbent Liberal Party and Erin O’Toole’s opposition Conservative Party. (CTV News) 

The parliament of Lebanon approves the government formed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati. (AFP via France 24) 

Members of Melbourne’s far-right violate lockdown laws and riot at the office of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, damaging windows and assaulting state secretary John Setka before being dispersed by police. The rioters were dressed in the high-visibility clothing associated with the construction industry and presented themselves as Union rank-and-file protesting a bureaucracy which they claimed was working to impose mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. Setka said that the Union opposes mandatory vaccinations and blamed the riots on “outside extremists”, stating that only a minority of those in attendance were Union members. (The Guardian) 

The End Tuesday 

The CDC releases a study which finds that 99.4% of all current cases of COVID-19 in the United States are of the highly transmittable Delta variant. (The New York Times) 

Six people are killed and about 20 more wounded in a mass shooting at Perm State University in Perm, Perm Krai, Russia. The gunman, an 18-year-old student at the university, has been arrested. (BBC) 

Three former U.S. intelligence operatives, who worked as senior managers at a United Arab Emirates–based company, have been sentenced by the Department of Justice to pay $1,685,000 in fines for “leveraging zero-click exploits to illegally obtain and use access credentials for online accounts issued by U.S. companies, and to obtain unauthorized access to computers, like mobile phones, around the world, including in the United States”. (Fox Business News) 

Anti-vaxxers riot at the offices of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union in Melbourne before being dispersed by police. CFMEU state secretary John Setka says the Union opposes mandatory vaccination and blames misinformation spread by “outside extremists” for the riot. (The Guardian) 

U.S. starts sending home Haitian refugees who crossed from Mexico The United States on Sunday stepped up its effort to clear out a massive makeshift camp housing about 14,000 Haitian refugees who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico to get to the Texas border town of Del Rio. U.S. officials blocked the Mexican border there, and sent three flights of Haitians back to their impoverished Caribbean homeland. The government plans to increase the pace to six planeloads per day soon, one U.S. official said. Many of the migrants have been in Brazil and other Latin American countries for years, but recently headed through Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. Haiti, already struggling to respond to an earthquake and presidential assassination, protested the forced return, saying it wasn’t prepared to handle so many deportees. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Senate parliamentarian rules against immigration measure in budget bill  Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled on Sunday that it is “not appropriate” for Democrats to include a pathway to citizenship for 8 million people in their budget reconciliation bill, which only needs a simple majority to pass the Senate. Democrats argued the policy would help the economy. The Senate parliamentarian is nonpartisan and rules on technical issues, and MacDonough wrote that such a “tremendous and enduring policy change … dwarfs its budgetary impact.” MacDonough said the move would “set a precedent” that could be used to defend rescinding people’s immigration status, too. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats were “deeply disappointed,” and would consider alternate proposals to “provide lawful status for immigrants in budget reconciliation.” THE WASHINGTON POST 

Democrats say they might have to cut back $3.5 trillion spending bill Congressional Democrats said Sunday that they probably would have to reduce the size of President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion social spending bill. They can’t afford to lose a single Democratic vote in the evenly divided Senate, and West Virginia moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin has said he would not vote for the bill unless it is scaled down considerably. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) might have to push passage of a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill beyond a Sept. 27 deadline so it can be passed alongside the bigger spending bill, House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth said on Fox News Sunday. Both bills are critical parts of Biden’s agenda, but face reluctance from some moderate Democrats and staunch opposition from Republicans. REUTERS 

Russian opposition parties allege fraud in parliamentary elections Russian opposition parties and independent observers on Sunday reported widespread ballot fraud on the third and final day of parliamentary elections. President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party was expected to win the official count but with weakened control in the State Duma — the lower house of the Russian Parliament. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny remained in jail after Moscow declared his network an extremist organization in June, effectively banning it from participating in the campaign. Navalny’s organization appealed to Russians to go out to vote against United Russia. “Today is the day your vote really matters,” the network said under Navalny’s name via his Instagram account. “Because today is the day that each of us can be especially efficient in convincing the doubters.”  CNN 

Biggest post-U.S.-withdrawal evacuation flight yet leaves Kabul A chartered Qatar Airways flight carrying more than 230 passengers, including Afghan and American citizens, took off from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Sunday, Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Al-Khater announced. The plane’s trip to Doha was the largest such evacuation flight since the U.S. military withdrawal from the country was completed on Aug. 31 after 20 years of war. The flight came as concerns continued about the Taliban’s willingness to allow the departures of Afghans and foreigners desperate to leave Afghanistan rather than stay under the Islamist group’s control. A Qatari official told Reuters the country “will continue its collaboration with international partners on efforts that ensure freedom of movement in Afghanistan.” CBS NEWS 

Searchers find body believed to be Gabby Petito Search crews in northern Wyoming on Sunday found human remains matching the description of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old who went missing during a cross-country trip in a van with her boyfriend, the FBI in Denver announced. The body was found by law enforcement agents who looked for Petito at camp sites on the eastern border of Grand Teton National Park. The North Port Police in Florida, where Petito lived, issued the following statement saying they were “saddened and heartbroken to learn that Gabby has been found deceased.” Investigators have identified the boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, as a person of interest in the case. Laundrie, 23, returned to his family’s home in Florida but disappeared on Tuesday after declining to talk to investigators. Police are continuing to search for him. DESERET NEWS 

Chinese version of TikTok places limits on kids’ use TikTok parent company ByteDance plans to limit children’s access to Douyin, the Chinese version of the short-video app, to 40 minutes a day. Douyin said in a blog post over the weekend that its “youth mode” would restrict use by people under age 14 to between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Douyin introduced some limits as an optional feature in 2018, but made them mandatory to protect young users from harmful content. The company also said that its youngest users would get educational content, including science experiments and history lessons. Douyin appealed to parents to help with enforcement by making sure their kids were registered with their real ages. The changes followed a crackdown by the Chinese government on social media firms over alleged problems regarding data-security, labor, and competition. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 

Thousands evacuated after volcano erupts in Canary Islands A volcano on one of Spain’s Canary Islands off Africa’s western coast erupted on Sunday, forcing about 5,000 people to flee as lava flows destroyed 20 homes and threatened more. The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma island (pop. 85,000) came after a weeklong buildup of seismic activity as molten lava built up inside. The strongest of the several earthquakes felt before the eruption measured 4.2 on the Richter Scale. The volcano last erupted in 1971. “We call on people to exercise extreme caution and to stay away from the eruption area in order to avoid unnecessary risks,” the local government tweeted on Sunday. “Likewise, it is very important to keep roads clear so that they can be used by our land operatives.” CNN 

Fauci: FDA should get Moderna, J&J booster data within weeks Federal regulators should receive the test data they need on Moderna’s and Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine boosters within weeks, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s top medical adviser, said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Friday recommended Pfizer’s booster be given to people aged 65 and up or at high risk of severe COVID-19, but stopped short of advising that it be administered more broadly. Fauci urged fully vaccinated Americans to wait to seek an additional shot until the FDA recommends it for a group they fall into. Fauci noted that the FDA panel’s decision is not binding, so the agency might take other factors into consideration to determine whether to offer boosters more broadly. “This is not the end of the story,” Fauci said on CNN’s State of the Union. REUTERS 

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