California wildfires: Rolling blackouts for first time in decade as temperature hits 112F and blazes threaten LA

An intense heatwave covering much of the western US and bone-dry conditions across California forced rolling blackouts for the first time in a decade and fuelled wildfires that threatened thousands of homes.Electrical demand surged on Friday as residents dialled up air-conditioning units and fans, prompting the California Independent System Operator, the body that manages the state's power grid, to declare a "stage 3 emergency" that evening, forcing utilities to cut power to hundreds of thousands of residents in the state.

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5 people wounded in shooting at flea market in San Antonio

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Kabul begins release of final 400 Taliban prisoners called for in US agreement

Afghanistan has released the first 80 of a final 400 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for negotiations between the warring sides in Afghanistan’s protracted conflict, the government said Friday.

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Student with COVID-19 knowingly attends first day of high school, Oklahoma officials say

A student at another high school in Moore also tested positive for the virus, officials say.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez given only 60 seconds to speak at Democrat Convention

Democrats have been plunged into a bitter row ahead of their national convention next week after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand left-wing congresswoman, was given just 60 seconds to speak. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 30, a lightning rod for proponents of policies like the Green New Deal and universal healthcare, will get less time than John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio, and Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire media mogul. Her remarks will also be pre-recorded. She responded by posting on Twitter lines from "God's Minute," a poem by the civil rights leader Dr Benjamin E. May. The New York congresswoman wrote: “I only have a minute. Sixty seconds in it. Forced upon me, I did not choose it, But I know that I must use it. "Give account if I abuse it. Suffer, if I lose it. Only a tiny little minute, But eternity is in it." Her extensive following on social media lambasted the decision as the party's "old guard" delivering a "slap to the progressive wing". The row exposed the divide that remains between moderate supporters of Joe Biden, and those of Bernie Sanders, his vanquished opponent for the presidential nomination. Ms Ocasio-Cortez fervently backed Mr Sanders. David Sirota, a former speechwriter for Mr Sanders, said: "Hey, at least AOC is getting a 60 second ad during the intermission at the Kasich Bloomberg Show." The event itself, which formally begins Monday, was supposed to take place in Milwaukee, in the key battleground state of Wisconsin. But, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it will be the first all-virtual party convention. There will be no single gathering place, no cheering audience, no balloons and ticker tape, and no backroom deals over the party's policy platform. Instead, for two hours each evening, speakers will deliver a series of online video addresses, half of them prerecorded like Ms Ocasio-Cortez's. Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton will be among the speakers. Kamala Harris, Mr Biden's running mate and the first woman of colour on a major US presidential ticket, will speak on Wednesday. The following night Mr Biden will formally accept the presidential nomination in a mostly empty ballroom in Delaware. Mr Trump accused Democrats of "ignoring Wisconsin" and said he would physically campaign there on Monday as their virtual convention opens. He called Ms Harris "sort of a mad woman" and "angry". The president also took aim at Ms Ocasio-Cortez. He said: "AOC was a poor student. This is not even a smart person, other than she's got a good line of stuff. I mean, she goes out and she yaps. These guys, they're all afraid of her." Ms Ocasio-Cortez responded: “Let’s make a deal, Mr President. You release your college transcript, I’ll release mine, and we’ll see who was the better student. Loser has to fund the Post Office." Her comments came as it emerged the US Postal Service had written to election officials in 46 states warning that millions of ballots cast by mail may not arrive in time to be counted. There is expected to be an explosion in mail-in voting due to the pandemic, but the post office has faced cuts recently. Mr Kasich stood for the Republican nomination in 2016, debating Mr Trump numerous times. In a large field he finished third in the popular vote with over four million. Asked why he was speaking at the Democrat convention, Mr Kasich said: "Conscience. There's almost hatred going on. This has to stop. I've had enough of this. I've known Joe [Biden] for 30 years. I know the kind of guy he is."

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Texas police say 3 officers shot, but in stable condition

Three police officers were shot Sunday and a person remained barricaded inside a home located in a suburb of Austin, Texas, authorities said. The Cedar Park Police Department said on Twitter that officers were responding to a call at a home off Natalie Cove when three were shot. The officers were in stable condition at a local hospital, Interim Police Chief Mike Harmon said on Twitter.

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U.N. defeats U.S. resolution to extend Iran arms embargo

"We will continue to work to ensure that the theocratic terror regime does not have the freedom to purchase and sell weapons," Pompeo said.

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Barack Obama reportedly said: 'Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f... things up'

Barack Obama reportedly expressed private doubts about Joe Biden becoming the Democrat presidential nominee in 2020. According to Politico the former president told one Democrat: "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f... things up." Mr Obama was also said to have spoken about his own understanding of the 2020 Democrat electorate in Iowa. "And you know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden," he reportedly said. There were said to have been lingering tensions between the two after Mr Obama supported Hillary Clinton for the nomination in 2016. Leon Panetta, Mr Obama’s defence secretary, told Politico: "He [Mr Biden] was loyal, I think, to Obama in every way in terms of defending and standing by him, even probably when he disagreed with what Obama was doing. "To some extent, [he] oftentimes felt that that loyalty was not being rewarded.” Some of Mr Obama's aides were said to have believed Mr Biden took discussions in the wrong direction when he was vice president. In his book Ben Rhodes, Mr Obama’s former deputy national security adviser, wrote that "in the Situation Room, Biden could be something of an unguided missile”. Mr Biden's aides were said to have believed his skills getting things achieved in Congress were under-appreciated. Since Mr Biden secured the Democrat nomination Mr Obama has enthusiastically backed him and will be a keynote speaker at the Democrat Convention next week.

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Rare 'fire tornado' springs from blazes spreading rapidly across Northern California

A rare "firenado" sprung from a California forest fire this weekend and lead the National Weather Service (NWS) to warn residents of "extremely dangerous fire behaviour".Since Friday, the Loyalton fire has burned more than 20,000 acres north of Lake Tahoe. As of Sunday morning, zero per cent of the forest fire has been contained, according to Tahoe National Forest.

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Japan’s Economy Contracts 7.8 Percent, Worst on Record

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State attorneys general plan to sue over recent changes at the Postal Service.

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The Week Old Hollywood Finally, Actually Died

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Rolling Blackouts in California Have Power Experts Stumped

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Los Angeles Schools Start Classes With Ambitious Virus Testing Program

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Poll: Biden remains ahead of Trump nationally before conventions begin

Sixty-one percent say U.S. coronavirus response has been unsuccessful; Kamala Harris holds net-positive rating.

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What is a fire tornado? 'Extreme fire activity' sparks rare weather warning at Loyalton Fire near Reno.

Fire tornadoes are formed similarly to tornadoes caused by severe thunderstorms, except extreme heat from a wildfire is the cause.

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Putin offered military assistance to Belarus, but analysts explain why he's unlikely to follow through

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to assist his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko militarily if necessary as the latter faces mounting anti-government protests, the Kremlin said Sunday. While the traditionally staunch allies are in a more precarious place than usual because of Lukashenko's recent aversion to deepening political and economic ties with Moscow, Putin reportedly is at least telling Lukashenko he's prepared to intervene on his behalf because he fears a revolution spilling over into Russia. Per BBC, Russian television broadcasts are drawing parallels between the Belarus demonstrations and Ukraine's Euromaidan protests in 2014, which preceded Russia's invasion of Crimea.But while some analysts have laid out possibilities for why Putin may follow through, others have pointed out that the situation in Belarus is not actually similar to Ukraine and Putin will most likely hold back. Indeed, even though Russian TV is backing Lukashenko publicly, news sites are reportedly criticizing the embattled Belarusian leader, who may be losing his grasp over the rest of the government.Back in 2014, Ukraine was choosing between East and West, and Russia was determined not to lose influence over the country. Russia also wants to keep Belarus in its orbit, but that's not really what these protests are about, BBC's Steve Rosenberg notes. While Lukashenko's ties to Russia have certainly played a role in his ability to maintain power for 26 years, the protests are specifically directed at Minsk, not Moscow, so Putin may decide he won't to risk an invasion for Lukashenko's sake. > 5\. The Belarusian opposition is against Lukashenko, not Russia. The Kremlin may be able to live with that. > 6\. Putin's regime is very able to infiltrate & manipulate, which costs much less than military intervention. Why be too blatant?> > -- Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) August 15, 2020More stories from theweek.com 5 achingly funny cartoons about Trump's post office upheaval Catholic voters' impossible choice Gretchen Whitmer is America's most incompetent politician

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Prince Harry faces prospect of hefty tax bill in California, expert warns

The Duke of Sussex faces a significant financial hit from the “zealous” US tax authorities, a royal financial expert has said, warning that the couple had not "thought through" the high cost of Californian life. The Duke and Duchess spent more than $14.6m on an impressive estate in Montecito, California, where they plan to live long-term and raise their son, Archie, in relative normality. But once Prince Harry has spent 183 days in the US over a three-year period, he will be considered a resident for tax purposes and liable for tax. David McClure, author of forthcoming book The Queen's True Worth, said: “California is a high tax state and he’s likely to get a hit. “I don’t think Harry and Meghan have totally thought through the financial consequences of their exit from the Royal Family. “The more their expenditure rises in California, the greater the pressure to generate their own income in more downmarket, commercial deals. That’s always been the worry of the palace.” Mr McClure said that the Duke would have to hand over much more detail about his personal finances and earnings than he would ever have had to do in the UK. “The US taxman is much more zealous than his UK counterpart and for that reason, Harry will have to watch his step on the income he generates,” he added.

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Black Portland reflects on role of white allies in movement

More than two months of intense protests in Portland, Oregon — one of America's whitest major cities — have captured the world's attention and put a place that's less than 6% Black at the heart of the conversation about police brutality and systemic racism. Since May, nightly demonstrations in Oregon’s largest city have featured overwhelmingly white crowds — from middle-aged mothers marching arm in arm to the mayor getting tear-gassed by federal agents to teenagers dressed in black smashing police precinct windows and tossing fireworks at authorities. The weeks of often-chaotic protests have transformed Portland into a microcosm of the national debate on race and police brutality.

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Donald Trump vows to push through 'snapback' sanctions on Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump said that he intended to push through a “snapback” of sanctions on Iran, a day after the UN Security Council rejected a U.S. effort to extend a UN arms embargo on Tehran. “We’ll be doing a snapback,” Trump said during a news conference at his New Jersey golf club on Saturday. “You’ll be watching it next week.” The U.S. president was apparently referring to the contentious argument that the U.S. remains a “participant” in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal - despite having withdrawn from it in 2018 - and can therefore unilaterally force a return to sanctions if Washington considers that Iran has violated the terms of the deal. The nuclear deal, which was signed in July 2015, has been under massive pressure since the U.S. withdrawal, although major signatories including the UK, France and Germany remain committed.

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Thousands of volunteers neck-deep in oil battle noxious fumes amid cleanup efforts

“It’s a people’s factory, a mobilization zone for Mauritians,” said environmental activist David Sauvage.

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Iran threatens 'dangerous future' for UAE after Israel deal

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard vowed Saturday there would be dangerous consequences for the United Arab Emirates after it announced a historic deal with Israel to open up diplomatic relations. The UAE is the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to establish normalized relations with Israel, Iran's regional archenemy.

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Potential Biden voters are becoming more committed to their choice, poll shows

As President Trump and his likely challenger and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, gear up to accept their party nominations in the next two weeks, polling has remained steady in favor of Biden.CBS News' Battleground Tracker, as of Sunday, shows 52 percent of Americans backing Biden compared to 42 who support Trump. That would give him 279 electoral college votes, slightly more than the 270 required to win, thanks to states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin flipping blue again after Trump won them in 2016. Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and Iowa, all appear to be in play for both candidates.What seems to be key for Biden, though, is a consistently increasing number of voters who say they're "very strong in their support" of the former vice president, despite less-than-universal enthusiasm for the candidate. At the end of June, Trump led Biden 78 percent to 72 percent in the category, indicating more people were on the fence about the latter, but the two are now even at 82 percent.> Ahead of @DNC convention, we estimate Biden leading in states worth 279 electoral votes> > Multiple paths for him to hit 270, w/ widespread shifts relative to 2016> > Doesn't mean he *will* win — this is now> > More @CBSNews/@YouGov Battleground Tracker results: https://t.co/Semy1vXlgO pic.twitter.com/ulOdOwkGut> > — Kabir K. (@kabir_here) August 16, 2020The CBS News survey was conducted in partnership with YouGov between Aug. 12-14 when 2,210 U.S. registered voters were interviewed. The margin of error is 2.4 percentage points. Read the full results here.More stories from theweek.com 5 achingly funny cartoons about Trump's post office upheaval Catholic voters' impossible choice Gretchen Whitmer is America's most incompetent politician

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