Deforestation in Brazil’s rainforest has jumped around 67% in the first seven months of the year, according to preliminary data from Brazil’s space research agency, which the government has attacked as misleading and harmful to the national interest. The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) monitoring system registered destruction of 4,699 square kilometers (1,814 square miles) this year compared to 2,810 square kilometers in the previous period monitored, data on the agency’s website showed. In July alone, 2,255 square kilometers of Amazon forest were lost, more than triple July 2018’s 597 square kilometers, according to INPE. That is the largest monthly deforestation registered by the agency in years and nearly the land mass of Luxembourg. The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, a bulwark against global warming often called the “lungs of the earth” because of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide it soaks up and recycles into oxygen. Brazil contains roughly 60% of the rainforest. Environmentalists and researchers blame President Jair Bolsonaro’s rhetoric in favor of economic development in the Amazon for emboldening loggers, ranchers and informal miners since he assumed office in January. Bolsonaro has vehemently criticized the data from INPE and fired the head of the …

Emily Seymour contributed to this report.  Many young people reacting to the most recent mass shootings in the U.S. are rejecting the idea that violent video games motivate shooters. And research backs them up. One Twitter user, Scott@Serptentine_Back described his interests as well as the fact he’d been bullied in school, but ended with “NEVER HAVE I ONCE THOUGHT OF SHOOTING INNOCENT PEOPLE.” Dear Pro-Gun people, I’m a white male. I listen to heavy metal music. Play video gamesWear black clothing.Religion is a joke.Plenty of LGBT friends.Bullied in school.Rejected by girls. NEVER HAVE I ONCE THOUGHT OF SHOOTING INNOCENT PEOPLE FILE – A contestant competes during the Fortnite World Cup Duos Finals in the Queens borough of New York, July 27, 2019. “I’ve always felt that it’s a problem for future generations and others,” Representative Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News. “We’ve watched from studies, shown before, what it does to individuals, and you look at these photos of how it took place, you can see the actions within video games and others.” Authors of a new study funded by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, say four factors motivate shooters:  * Early …

A Florida amateur body builder who admitted sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday by a judge who concluded the bombs purposely were not designed to explode. Cesar Sayoc, 57, wept and crossed himself, appearing relieved, when U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff announced the sentence. Prosecutors had urged a life prison term for Sayoc, who pleaded guilty earlier this year after mailing 16 pipe bombs days before the midterm elections last fall. “He hated his victims, he wished them no good, but he was not so lost as to wish them dead, at least not by his own hand,” the judge said. The one-time stripper and pizza delivery man from Aventura, Florida, apologized to his victims, saying he was “so very sorry for what I did.” His targets included Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Joe Biden, several members of Congress, former President Barack Obama and actor Robert De Niro. Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta. Assistant Federal Defender Marcus Amelkin said Sayoc was obsessed with President Donald Trump and grew to believe Democrats were to blame for damage to his van, which was plastered …

Brazil’s Agriculture Minister said on Monday that the South American country should remain neutral in the U.S.-China trade war while pushing Brazilian farm products in as many markets as possible. Tereza Cristina Dias told a news conference that while the world’s two largest economies work out their differences, Brazil will seek to keep good relations and trade flows with both. “I say Brazil, though I am not the foreign minister, needs to stay out of this fight,” she said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter. “The U.S. is a competitor selling agricultural products to China. China is a great trade partner. Brazil has products that can be sold to both markets,” Dias said. The minister called the United States and China “tough negotiators” and declined to predict an outcome of their talks. She also said Brazil would not be able to replace the United States entirely as a provider of foodstuffs to China. “It is early to make projections,” she said in relation to potential shifts in demand stemming for the trade war. Brazil is monitoring the talks to assess how the outcome can affect Brazil on the global agribusiness stage, Dias said. Brazil’s excess food production …

Wall Street’s major indexes posted their biggest percentage drop of the year on Monday as a fall in the yuan following U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods sparked fears of further escalation of the U.S.-China trade war. While stocks pared losses in the last hour of trading to finish off their session lows, the benchmark S&P 500 fell about 3% to notch its biggest one-day percentage decline since Dec. 4. The decline amounted to a $766 billion paper loss for the index, according to Refinitiv data. The S&P 500 has fallen for six consecutive sessions and is now about 6% below its record closing high on July 26. The yuan weakened past the seven-per-dollar level, its lowest in 11 years, after the People’s Bank of China, with the blessing of policymakers, set its daily midpoint at the weakest level in eight months. On Twitter, Trump called the action a “major violation” and “currency manipulation.” Several investors viewed the move in the yuan as a direct response to Trump’s announcement of 10% tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports. “It’s the escalation of the trade war,” said Steven DeSanctis, equity strategist at Jefferies …

Uganda has started its largest Ebola vaccine trial to date, health authorities announced Monday, in an apparent effort to prevent the disease from spreading.  An epidemic across the border in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo has killed over 1,800 people, making this outbreak the second-deadliest to date, with fatality rates nearing 70%. The experimental Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be administered to health care professionals, as well as ambulance drivers, burial teams and cleaners. The trial is expected to last two years and cover 800 people in the Mbarara district in southwest Uganda. FILE – A father holds his 5-year-old daughter as she gets the Ebola trial vaccine in Kasese district Uganda, June 16, 2019. (H. Athumani for VOA) Vaccinations have already begun, according to Uganda’s Medical Research Council. There are no licensed treatments for Ebola, but one vaccine, manufactured by Merck, was used effectively at the end of the 2013-2016 outbreak in the DRC and has been used during the current epidemic. Over 180,000 people have received this vaccine. But the supply is sporadic, and vaccine administrators are typically 1,000 doses short of what they need, according to Doctors Without Borders as reported by Bloomberg News. Health professionals have …

In a cacophonous sentencing hearing filled with profanity and nudity, a Ugandan court has found activist Stella Nyanzi guilty of “cyber harassment” for posting a poem on Facebook that harshly criticized President Yoweri Museveni. Nyanzi was sentenced Friday to 18 months in Luzira Women’s Prison, in suburban Kampala. She has already served nine months while awaiting trial. Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu said she opted for a prison sentence rather than a fine because Nyanzi showed no remorse, and because incidents of cyber harassment are on the rise. During the heated hearing Friday, Nyanzi, who appeared in the courtroom via a video feed from the maximum-security prison where she’s been held, repeatedly shouted profanities and flashed her breasts, with prison guards standing behind. Supporters in the courtroom responded to her ongoing acts of defiance with applause. Nyanzi said she gladly accepted the punishment, adding that she was “born for this moment.”  Supporters of jailed activist Stella Nyanzi gesture during her court proceedings near a screen showing her via video link, after she was charged guilty of cyber harassment against Uganda’s president, in Kampala courtroom, Aug. 2, 2019. Controversy and support Nyanzi has become an international celebrity, and her case has become a …

The Greek Orthodox Church says it has filed a new lawsuit against a Jewish settler group in a bid to overturn an Israeli Supreme Court decision upholding the sale of three properties in predominantly Palestinian parts of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Patriarchate claimed in a statement Monday that it had “clear proof” of corruption in the long-disputed 2004 sale of Old City properties, including two Palestinian-run hotels. In June, the court ruled in favor of the Israeli organization, which seeks to increase the Jewish presence in Palestinian areas of the contested holy city. Most Orthodox Christians in Jerusalem are Palestinian, and the sale of the properties to Israelis sparked outrage. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and Palestinians seek it as capital of a future state.   …

The United States might seem more divided than ever, but that could be because Americans have a distorted impression of people with opposing political views. “Democrats and Republicans overestimate the proportion of people on the other side of the political aisle who hold extreme views by a factor of about two,” says Daniel Yudkin, associate director of research at More in Common. “So, another way of saying that is that there are about half as many people with extreme views on the other side than Democrats and Republicans think.”  For example, 87% of Republicans say “properly controlled immigration can be good for America.” But Democrats believe only about half of Republicans would agree with that statement. And while Republicans think almost half of Democrats believe “most police are bad people,” the reality is that far fewer Democrats, 15%, agree with that supposition. A recent More in Common report finds that this perception gap is created by extremists in both parties who tend to have the loudest voices, in part because they are extremely active on social and traditional media. “So, when people are learning and hearing the voices of the people they think are on the other side, they’re actually …

China’s decision last week to stop issuing permits for independent tourists to Taiwan applies new economic pressure to their already strained relations, and analysts see three underlying reasons behind Beijing’s move.   Beijing’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism cited the “current mainland China-Taiwan relations” as cause to stop permitting indie travelers after about a decade. China regards self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory rather than a state, but Taiwan prefers at least today’s level autonomy over the Chinese goal of unification. That schism has caused the two sides to chafe for 70 years. Here are three reasons China cut off travel permits: Taiwan’s president opposes China despite earlier pressure to get along Suspending the travel permits lets China remind Taiwan of its economic clout, some analysts say. The permit shutdown ends a process that generated on average more than 82,000 arrivals per month last year, which boosted the island’s service economy. Since 2016, China has flown military aircraft near Taiwan and persuaded five Taiwanese diplomatic allies to switch their allegiance from Taipei to Beijing. The Communist leadership hopes to pressure Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s government to bargain with China as her predecessor did — on the condition that acknowledges …

Colombia will grant citizenship to at least 24,000 children born to Venezuelan parents and at risk of statelessness. President Ivan Duque announced Monday that in a gesture of solidarity his government will begin recognizing those born in Colombia as citizens. Colombian law does not offer birthright citizenship to children whose parents are not legal migrants. Many of the 1.4 million Venezuelans now in Colombia entered illegally, meaning their children born in the neighboring Andean country didn’t qualify. Children born to Venezuelan parents abroad are entitled to Venezuelan citizenship but many have been unable to access that right because of severed diplomatic ties with Colombia. Colombia has received more Venezuelan migrants than any other nation form an unprecedented exodus.   The new measure is expected to remain in place for two years.   …

Downcast and sitting in a wheelchair as his historic trial began Monday in Argentina, the Rev. Nicola Corradi didn’t look like the man former students at an institute for the deaf say was the force behind years of “indescribable” torment through alleged sexual abuse. The 83-year-old Italian priest, along with the Rev. Horacio Corbacho, 59, and Armando Gomez, 63, are being tried for 28 cases of alleged abuse against ex-students at the Antonio Provolo Institute for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children in Mendoza province. They face prison sentences of up to 20 years in some cases, up to 50 years in others. The alleged abuse took place between 2004 and 2016, and the case gained world attention when it emerged that Corradi had faced similar accusations at the Antonio Provolo institute in Verona, Italy, and Pope Francis had been notified the Italian priest was running a similar center in Argentina. Corradi has pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charges, while Corbacho and Gomez — both Argentines — have not entered pleas. The trial is expected to last more than a month. As the three accused — Corbacho and Gomez in handcuffs — were led down a long corridor in …

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country will not deploy short- or medium-range nuclear weapons unless in response to U.S. deployments. His comments Monday come after a meeting with his security council concerning Washington’s withdrawal Friday from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Putin says “our actions will be exclusively reciprocal and mirrored” relating to “the development, production and deployment” of missiles once banned by INF. Earlier Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters Washington’s withdrawal from the treaty raised the risk of a new nuclear arms race. The U.S. announced its intention of withdrawing from the treaty last year, after accusing Russia for years of violating the treaty with a new ground-launched missile. …

Turkish and American military officials met Monday for negotiations about establishing a safe zone in northeastern Syria to address Ankara’s concerns about U.S-allied Syrian Kurdish-led forces in that region. The Turkish defense ministry tweeted that the meetings were taking place in Ankara. Turkey wants to control — in coordination with the U.S. — a 30-40 kilometers-deep (19-25 mile) zone within Syria, east of the Euphrates River, and wants no Syrian Kurdish forces there. Turkey sees the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists aligned with a Kurdish insurgency within Turkey. American troops are stationed in northeastern Syria, along with the Kurdish forces, and have fought the Islamic State group together. In recent weeks, Turkish-U.S. negotiations on the safe zone stalled, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened a new military operation. On Sunday, Erdogan renewed that threat. For their part, the Syrian Kurds say Ankara’s statements mask a grab of territory inside Syria that the Kurdish forces had liberated from IS militants. The Syrian Democratic Council issued a statement on Monday saying that its military wing — the U.S-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces — is a “force to defend” Syria’s ethnic and cultural pluralism. The council added that Ankara “is …

U.S. President Donald Trump called Monday for stronger background checks on gun buyers in the immediate aftermath of horrific mayhem in which gunmen killed 29 people in two incidents that occurred in a 13-hour period. Trump often has suggested the need for more mental health programs for troubled individuals who threaten gun violence. But on Twitter, ahead of a White House address on the weekend carnage, he appeared willing to embrace demands from political opponents that anyone purchasing a weapon be required to undergo a thorough background check. FILE – Handguns are displayed at the Smith & Wesson booth at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 19, 2016. “We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for those so seriously wounded,” Trump tweeted. “We can never forget them, and those many who came before them. Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!”  We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for …

A United Nations fact-finding mission called Monday for an embargo on arms sales to Myanmar and for targeted sanctions on businesses with connections to the military after finding they are funding human rights abuses. The mission released a report detailing how businesses run by Myanmar’s army, also known as the Tatmadaw, are engaged in such violations and provide financial support for military operations such as efforts to force Muslim Rohingya out of Rakhine state.   The report focused mainly on the activities of two military-dominated conglomerates Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp. It said nearly 60 foreign companies have dealings with at least 120 businesses controlled by the two companies in industries ranging from jade and ruby mining to tourism and pharmaceuticals. “The revenue that these military businesses generate strengthens the Tatmadaw’s autonomy from elected civilian oversight and provides financial support for the Tatmadaw’s operations with their wide array of international human rights and humanitarian law abuses,” Marzuki Darusman, the Indonesian human rights lawyer who chairs the fact-finding mission, said in a statement.   The mission was established in March 2017 by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council in reaction to increasing repression of the Rohingya. The violence increased …

Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. on Monday showed a “flying car,” a large drone-like machine with four propellers that hovered steadily for about a minute. The test flight reaching 3 meters (10 feet) high was held in a gigantic cage, as a safety precaution, at an NEC facility in a Tokyo suburb. The preparations such as the repeated checks on the machine and warnings to reporters to wear helmets took up more time than the two brief demonstrations.     The Japanese government is behind flying cars, with the goal of having people zipping around in them by the 2030s. Among the government-backed endeavors is a huge test course for flying cars that’s built in an area devastated by the 2011 tsunami, quake and nuclear disasters in Fukushima in northeastern Japan. Mie, a prefecture in central Japan that’s frequently used as a resort area by Hollywood celebrities, also hopes to use flying cars to connect its various islands.         Similar projects are popping up around world, such as Uber Air of the U.S. A flying car by Japanese startup Cartivator crashed quickly in a 2017 demonstration. Cartivator Chief Executive Tomohiro Fukuzawa, who was at Monday’s demonstration, said their machines were also …

South Korea and the United States are preparing to hold their annual joint military exercises despite warnings from North Korea that the drills could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy, Seoul’s military said Monday.   Choi Hyun-soo, spokeswoman of Seoul’s Defense Ministry, said the exercises will be focused on verifying Seoul’s capabilities for its planned retaking of wartime operational control of its troops from Washington. She did not confirm or deny reports that the drills, which are expected to be computer simulated and not involve actual combat troops and equipment, began on Monday.   North Korea recently has been ramping up its weapons tests, including two test firings of what it described as a new rocket artillery system last week, while expressing frustration over the continuance of U.S.-South Korea drills it sees as an invasion rehearsal and also the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with the United States.   North Korea had said it will wait to see if the August exercises actually take place to decide on the fate of its diplomacy with the United States and also whether to continue its unilateral suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests, which leader Kim Jong Un announced last year amid a diplomatic …

Nigerian technologist Chinenye Udeh wants to ensure schoolgirls learn Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for summer. Udeh says she is trying to boost gender parity in technology in Africa’s most populous nation, where less than 20 percent of women are involved in the industry. Girls between the ages of five and 17 chatter at a tech-based facility in the city center, where they converge to learn skills that include coding, animation and robotics for one month this summer. The program, known as the Smart Girls Tech Camp, was conceived by Nigerian female technologist Chinenye Udeh. She says she’s tackling gender inequality in Nigeria’s tech sector with this project. “What we’re trying to do is, how can we get these girls abreast? How can we let them know that it’s important that they get involved in technology, no matter how little? The knowledge is very important in their daily lives, businesses and careers, moving forward,” Udeh said. Nigeria’s bureau of statistics says women occupy only about 20 percent of the technology sector. The smart girls tech program hopes to improve that. The program targets 1,000 young girls every year and prepares them for a future in technology. Tech expert and instructor …

In a far-reaching move, India’s Hindu nationalist government has scrapped the special autonomous status given to Kashmir for decades, sparking fears of a backlash in its only Muslim-majority region.  Hours after a massive security clampdown in the state, Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament Monday that the president had signed a decree abolishing Article 370 that allowed the state to make its own laws and have independence over all matters except foreign affairs, defense and communications.  The provision also barred Indians from outside the state from permanently settling, buying land and holding local government jobs.   His announcement was met with massive protests from opposition parties, who slammed the move as “unconstitutional.” The new measures would effectively put New Delhi in charge of the violence scarred region, which since 1989 has witnessed a separatist uprising that has left tens of thousands dead.  More troops were airlifted to the state, where 10,000 additional paramilitary forces were deployed last week as speculation and uncertainty had mounted over an impending announcement on Kashmir’ special status.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has long asserted that special provisions for Kashmir should be scrapped so that the region can be integrated with the …

A multiple-car crash on a Cairo street in front of Egypt’s main cancer hospital set off an explosion that triggered a fire outside the building, killing a total of 19 people, authorities said Monday.  The crash and the explosion also injured 30 others, the health ministry said, but it wasn’t immediately clear if any of the casualties were inside the hospital.  The Interior Ministry said a vehicle driving against the traffic – for reasons that were not specified – had collided with up to three others late on Sunday, causing the explosion on the Nile-side street, the city’s famous Corniche. At least 54 patients were evacuated to other hospitals while the fire was later brought under control.  The blast damaged the hospital’s main gate and several patient rooms and wards, according to a statement from the Cairo University. Its Medical School uses the institute as an educational facility. Television stations on Monday morning broadcast footage of shattered windows and doors. The health ministry did not say if hospital patients or staff were among the casualties. There was no immediate explanation as to why the crash had caused such a large explosion and officials could not be reached for questions about …

The United States is unable to build a naval coalition to escort tankers in the Gulf because its allies are too “ashamed” to join it, Iran’s foreign minister said Monday. “Today the United States in alone in the world and cannot create a coalition. Countries that are its friends are too ashamed of being in a coalition with them,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told a news conference in Tehran. “They brought this situation upon themselves, with lawbreaking, by creating tensions and crises.” Iran and the United States have been locked in a battle of nerves since May 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 deal placing limits on Iran’s nuclear program and began reimposing sanctions. Tensions soared after the Trump administration stepped up a US campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran, with drones downed and tankers mysteriously attacked in Gulf waters. In response, the United States has been seeking to form a coalition whose mission — dubbed Operation Sentinel — it says is to guarantee freedom of navigation in the strategic Gulf waters. However, it has been struggling to build such a coalition, with European countries reticent and believed to be concerned about being dragged into …

Three top politicians in Indian Kashmir have been placed under house arrest and strict security measures have been ordered in the region where tensions have sparked after the government ordered visitors to evacuate and deployed more troops.  In a late night order Sunday, restrictions were placed on public movements in Kashmir, internet services suspended and educational institutions shut. The order said that indefinite security restrictions will be applicable in the main district of Kashmir’s capital, Srinagar. The latest measures come as thousands of pilgrims and tourists have been leaving Kashmir since Friday when authorities said that militants backed by Pakistan were planning an attack on an annual Hindu pilgrimage. In an unprecedented step, the pilgrimage was halted.  Just days ago, about 10,000 additional paramilitary troops were deployed in major towns across the region.  The series of measures in Kashmir have sparked speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to revoke special privileges in the region, including one that prevents people from outside the state from buying property there. The politicians under house arrest, who head regional political parties, have warned the government that any attempt to revoke these privileges could spark a backlash in India’s only Muslim majority region.  …

A pair of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio over the Saturday and Sunday have dragged two of the most divisive issues in American politics — the rise of violent white supremacism and gun control — to the forefront of public conversation as politicians across the ideological spectrum are preparing for what is expected to be an extremely contentious 2020 election campaign. The two shootings, which left 29 people dead and at least 53 more wounded, combine to create a clear political crisis for the Trump administration and its allies in Congress. The first shooting, in El Paso, Texas, occurred early Saturday and was carried out by a 21-year-old white man who is believed to have published an explicitly racist manifesto that echoed U.S. President Donald Trump’s frequent charge that Hispanic immigrants from Mexico and Central America constitute an “invasion” of the United States. After he surrendered, he told police that he had set out to kill as many “Mexicans” as he could. He murdered 20 people and wounded another 27. The second, in Dayton, Ohio, was committed after 1 a.m. Sunday by a 24-year-old white man toting a legally-purchased military-style semi-automatic rifle equipped with two 100-round drum magazines that …