USA

CINCINNATI (AP) — At least 18 people were shot, including four killed, as gunfire erupted in several places around the city overnight, authorities said Sunday.

Officers responded just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday to the Avondale neighborhood and found 21-year-old Antonio Blair with gunshot wounds, police said in a statement. He was taken to University Hospital and died there, they said. Three other gunshot victims were also taken to the hospital.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A rare summer thunderstorm brought lightning that sparked several small blazes in Northern California on Sunday and stoked a huge wildfire that has forced hundreds of people from their homes north of Los Angeles.

More than 4,500 buildings remained threatened by the fire burning toward thick, dry brush in the Angeles National Forest. Firefighters already battling the blaze in steep, rugged terrain with scorching heat faced more hurdles when hundreds of lightning strikes and winds up to 15 mph (24 kph) pushed the flames uphill.

(AP) --- Three police officers were shot and a man remained barricaded inside a home with three of his family members in a suburb of Austin, Texas, authorities said.

Officers responded to a call about 3:10 p.m. at a home off Natalie Cove from a mother who said her son kicked in the door of the home, Interim Chief of Police Mike Harmon said during a news conference near the scene.

LOÍZA, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda Vázquez on Sunday acknowledged losing the primary of her pro-statehood party to Pedro Pierluisi, who briefly served as the U.S. territory’s governor last year amid political turmoil.

With more than 78% of electoral colleges reporting late Sunday, Pierluisi received more than 57% of the vote compared with more than 42% for Vázquez.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 (APP): UN human rights experts Friday called on Afghanistan to take early decisive action to prevent killings of human rights defenders, while calling attention to a recent spate of such deaths.

“The killing of one human rights defender is a tragedy for society; the death of nine defenders since the beginning of this year shows the emergence of a truly alarming trend,” Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said in a statement. “Already by August, Afghanistan has far exceeded last year’s figures.”

16 Aug 2020; MEMO: US President Donald Trump on Saturday all but dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a summit of world leaders to discuss Iran, saying he probably would not participate, reported Reuters.

Washington, Aug 16 (PTI) Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden asserted that if elected, his administration will stand with New Delhi in confronting the threats it faces and called for strengthening the "bond" between India and the US.

Presidential elections in the US will held on November 3 and the 77-year-old is challenging incumbent Republican President Donald Trump in the polls.

Washington, Aug 16 (PTI) Democratic vice-presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris, during her maiden address to the Indian-American community, reflected on her proud Indian heritage and recalled how her mother always wanted to instill in her a "love for good idli".

Harris, 55, who is the first black to be selected as a vice-presidential candidate of a major party, took a trip down the memory lane, mentioning her "long walks" in Madras (now Chennai) with her grandfather who would tell her about the "heroes" responsible for the birth of the world's largest democracy.

WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Israel-UAE agreement gives the United States a rare diplomatic success in the Middle East — but it is Iran which President Donald Trump has in his sights, with a strategy that has already hit roadblocks at the United Nations.

The White House has lavished praise on a foreign policy coup which was sorely needed by a president seeking re-election in November who has little to show on the diplomatic front.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he is considering a pardon for Edward Snowden, the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor - now living in Russia - whose spectacular leaks shook the U.S. intelligence community in 2013.