President Biden issues executive order with sanctions against Belarus officials
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko gestures while speaking during an annual press conference in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 9, 2021.
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Belarus
President Joe Biden has issued an executive order imposing economic sanctions targeting members of the Belarusian government involved in stifling opposition in the country. Biden released the order on the one-year anniversary of the Belarus’ election, widely condemned as fraudulent by much of the international community, and which led to widespread protests followed by a violent crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko. The executive order comes weeks after Biden met with opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya for talks at the White House. Included in the sanctions are Belaruskali OAO, one of Belarus’ largest state-owned enterprises and a source of wealth for the regime, and the Belarusian National Olympic Committee, which tried to force athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya onto a plane back home.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh has begun vaccinating Rohingya refugees in the country, with the help of aid agencies. A virus surge is raising health risks for the cramped and sprawling refugee camps that are home to more than 1 million people who fled violence in Myanmar. The highly transmissible delta variant is pushing the surge across the country, with around 20,000 infections and 200 deaths in Cox’s Bazar district, where 34 refugee camps are located. Around 48,000 people, aged 55 years and above, and who are registered with the UNHCR, will be inoculated in three days, according to Cox’s Bazar Civil Surgeon Dr. Mahbubur Rahman.
Burkina Faso
An armed group has ambushed and killed 30 people, including civilians, soldiers and pro-government militiamen in Burkina Faso, in a series of attacks near the border with Niger. The assailants, who remain unidentified, also stole cattle and set properties on fire. The attack comes amid growing violence in the country, that’s left thousands dead and displaced 1.3 million people.
From The World
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Double take
Over the weekend along Britain’s east coast, new murals and other art installations appeared ?, with all the hallmarks of the mysterious street artist Banksy. It’s been delightfully termed by the BBC as a “spraycation.”?️
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Listen: Fires continue to rage in Greece
Crews and locals on Evia island, and other parts of Greece, continue to battle blazes burning through thousands of acres of forested and residential areas. As other countries step in with support, many Greeks say they feel abandoned by their own government. And, a new UN report says the Earth will likely blow past the 1.5 Celsius mark by the 2030s, a goal set by the Paris agreement to minimize global warming. This will drastically escalate the negative impacts of climate change in the next few decades. Also, we hear from Daniel Sherrell, whose new book, “Warmth,” addresses how it truly feels to face the magnitude of the global climate emergency.
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