New York

USA: Bear attacks 7-year-old boy in his suburban New York backyard

BEDFORD, N.Y. (AP) — A black bear attacked a 7-year-old boy outside his family’s home in suburban New York, sending the child to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, officials said.

The attack happened shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday outside a home in Bedford, about 45 miles northeast of New York City.

North Castle Police Chief Peter Simonsen told News 12 Westchester that the child was playing in his backyard with a sibling when the bear attacked. The boy’s parents quickly rescued their son, said Simonsen, who called the response “extremely brave.”

USA: Trump’s decision to back out of debate tests Fox News’ ability to pivot again

NEW YORK (AP) — If 2023 has taught anything to the people running Fox News, it’s the importance of being able to pivot.

The decision by former President Donald Trump to skip Wednesday’s first debate of the 2024 presidential primary season likely deprives Fox of a huge late-summer audience. Even worse for the network, Trump has talked of appearing in an online interview with former Fox star Tucker Carlson at the same time.

USA: How Trump’s attacks on prosecutors build on history of using racist language and stereotypes

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s aggressive response to his fourth criminal indictment in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists.

USA: Trump says he will surrender Thursday on Georgia charges tied to efforts to overturn 2020 election

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges in the case accusing him of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.

“Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” Trump wrote on his social media network Monday night, hours after his bond was set at $200,000.

UN: North Korea is increasing repression as people are reportedly starving in parts of the country

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens, the U.N. rights chief said Thursday.

Volker Türk told the first open meeting of the U.N. Security Council since 2017 on North Korean human rights that in the past its people have endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression, but “currently they appear to be suffering both.”

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez claims he’s qualified for GOP presidential debate, but RNC can’t confirm

NEW YORK (AP) — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez claimed on Friday that he has qualified for next week’s Republican presidential debate and would become the ninth White House hopeful to meet the fundraising and polling thresholds required to participate in the opening face-off of the 2024 campaign.

But senior advisers with the Republican National Committee who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions said later that Suarez had not yet officially met the criteria.

USA: Over 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall after fire reports. Here’s what you need to know

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall following reports of nearly two dozen fires, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The recall impacts 42 models of dehumidifiers sold under five brand names: Kenmore, GE, SoleusAir, Norpole and Seabreeze. These products, all manufactured by the Zhuhai, China-based Gree Electric Appliances, were sold from January 2011 to February 2014 at major retailers nationwide — including Walmart, Home Depot and Sam’s Club, among others.

USA: Violence prompts early departure from UN peacekeeping camp in Mali: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- UN peacekeepers are speeding their withdrawal from the Ber base near Timbuktu, Mali, because of a deteriorating security situation, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the peacekeepers from the mission known as MINUSMA notified the Malian authorities they were leaving a day early because of risks to the safety and security of UN personnel.

Covid Eris: What to know about new variant EG.5 dominating U.S. cases

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - COVID infections and hospitalizations are on the rise in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Health officials are pointing at the EG.5 "Eris" coronavirus, a subvariant of the Omicron lineage that originally emerged November of 2021.

WHAT IS THE NEW 'ERIS' VARIANT?

The World Health Organization (WHO) classified EG.5, which has been nicknamed by some as "Eris", as a "variant of interest," indicating that it should be more closely watched than others because of mutations that might make it more contagious or severe.

USA: For Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads, the real rival is still TikTok -- not the former Twitter

New York(AP) —Threads, the simple, bare-bones text-based social network created by Facebook owner Meta, burst onto the scene during a particularly bad week for the rival then still known as Twitter. It quickly amassed 100 million signups — a huge feat for a newcomer in the space — and was dubbed as a “Twitter killer.”

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