International News
Life in Kashmir comes to a grinding halt amid India's clampdown
Al Jazeera
Editor's note: Al Jazeera has withheld the identity of the reporter(s) of this story out of safety concerns.
Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - For a third straight day, Indian-administered Kashmir has been under a strict lockdown imposed by the Indian security forces in wake of the abrogation of the special status of the Muslim-majority state.
The Himalayan region's booming tourism industry has come to a grinding halt, with business owners facing major losses.
Afghan violence: Taliban bomb kills many amid peace talks with US
BBC World News
A huge bomb outside a police station in the Afghan capital Kabul has killed at least 14 people and injured nearly 150.
The explosion sent a large plume of black smoke into the sky and left nearby buildings in ruins. Most of those wounded were civilians.
The Taliban say they carried out the attack.
It comes amid peace talks between the Taliban and the US, which aim to bring a nearly 18-year conflict to an end. Both sides say they have made progress.
Chernobyl vodka: First consumer product made in exclusion zone
BBC World News
The "artisan vodka", made with grain and water from the Chernobyl exclusion zone, is the first consumer product to come from the abandoned area around the damaged nuclear power plant.
They hope to use profits from selling it to help communities in Ukraine still affected by the economic impact of the disaster.
Trump’s Syria withdrawal has hurt fight against Isis, Pentagon says
The Independent
Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria has left US allies ill-equipped to deal with a resurgent Isis, according to a new Pentagon report.
Isis has been steadily rebuilding its capabilities since the defeat of its caliphate in March this year. In the time since, it has established “resurgent cells” in the country and carried out assassinations, suicide attacks, abductions and arson of crops, the report said.
US News
US arrests 680 workers in immigration sting before Trump visits El Paso
The Guardian
US immigration officials have raided numerous Mississippi food processing plants and arrested 680 people, mostly Latino workers, in the largest workplace sting in at least a decade.
The Wednesday raids took place just hours before Donald Trump was scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, the majority-Latino city rocked by the recent mass shooting that left 22 people dead. The suspected gunman was linked to an online screed about a “Hispanic invasion”, in language that echoed Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration.
Walmart shooting memorial: Arguments amid the mourning as Trump Visits El Paso
El Paso Times
Tensions spiked along with the heat Wednesday at the memorial site for the victims of Saturday's massacre, behind the Walmart store where the killing took place.
It was the day President Trump was to visit El Paso, and many El Pasoans who have spent time at the memorial this week said an eerie mood prevailed.
"The energy is different," Denise Dominguez, 20, said. "People want to express their opinion in a very negative way."
'People are afraid to be Hispanic': Trump visits an angry, grieving El Paso
The Guardian
“The first thing out of his mouth better be an apology,” said David Stout, the county commissioner of El Paso. “I doubt it will be.”
Standing under the sweltering sun, protesters held signs reading “Trump is a racist” and “Protect our kids, not the NRA”. Volunteers passed out water and registered people to vote.
Science/ Environment News
Giant Turbines Propel Boom in Wind Energy
Scientific American
The wind industry is growing, literally. American wind developers are installing increasingly large turbines, capable of generating twice as much power as their predecessors and opening up new areas of the country to wind development.
Ford teases all-electric F-150 pickup truck by pulling a million-pound train
The Verge
In 2017, Ford announced that it would sell an all-electric version of its best-selling F-150 pickup truck. It plans to start selling a hybrid version in 2020, and as a way to start priming the pump (or plug, as it were) for a vehicle that will no doubt be a very big deal, the company released a video Tuesday demonstrating the electric truck’s remarkable towing capacity