Two U.S. service members have been killed in action in Afghanistan in what appears to be an insider attack. The NATO-led Resolute Support Mission said Monday that two Americans are dead, withholding additional information pending notification of their families. A U.S. official later confirmed the deaths were the result of a so-called “green on blue” attack, during which an Afghan service member or an attacker wearing an Afghan uniform, fires on U.S. or allied forces.  The initial U.S. assessment followed claims by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter that the Americans died when an Afghan soldier turned his gun on them in a military camp in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. FILE – The Twitter page of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid is pictured on a computer monitor in the newsroom at Maiwand TV station in Kabul, Feb. 6, 2019. Taliban negotiators have insisted any peace deal include the withdrawal of U.S. forces, and those of U.S. allies, from Afghanistan. The Taliban have also refused to hold direct talks with the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, saying such talks can only take place once the U.S. leaves. For its part, Washington is seeking assurances from the Taliban that Afghanistan will never …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice for the next director of national intelligence is an ardent supporter of the president who was harshly critical of former special counsel Robert Mueller during his congressional hearing last week. John Ratcliffe, a third-term congressman from Texas, wrote on Twitter that he was “deeply grateful” to the president for the nomination to replace Dan Coats, adding, “President Trump’s call to serve in this role was not one I could ignore.”  I am deeply grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to lead our Nation’s intelligence community and work on behalf of all the public servants who are tirelessly devoted to defending the security and safety of the United States. — John Ratcliffe (@RepRatcliffe) Director of National Security James Clapper testifies before the House Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 2, 2012. James R. Clapper, an Obama pick, had previously directed two different U.S. intelligence agencies prior to his unanimous Senate confirmation in 2010. James McConnell, a Bush nomination, had already headed the National Security Agency, while John Negroponte, the first director, had 15 years as an ambassador and two as deputy National Security Adviser under his belt. Even Dan …

Scientists warn the most effective drug used to treat malaria is becoming ineffective in parts of Southeast Asia — and unless rapid action is taken, it could lead to a global health emergency. Writing in the Lancet journal, researchers from Thailand’s Mahidol University and Britain’s Oxford University say parasites that carry malaria are developing resistance to a key drug combination across multiple regions of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The report warns that the parasite Plasmodium falciparum — which causes the most lethal form of human malaria — is becoming resistant to the first-choice drug, DHA-piperaquine, in parts of Southeast Asia, with patients seeing a failure rate of 50 percent or more. The situation is so critical that scientists say the treatment should not be used in Cambodia, Vietnam and northeast Thailand, because it is ineffective and contributes to increased malaria transmission. New treatments must be considered, says Sterghios Moschos of the University of Northumbria. “It might be opportune at this point in time to explore whether or not we should bring together different new classes of medications so that when the problem starts becoming more substantial, there is a solution potentially that works at the multi-drug level,” said Moschos. The report …

Authorities in California are trying to figure out why a teenager killed three people, including two children, at a popular food festival south of San Francisco before being shot dead by police.  The shooter, identified as 19-year-old Santino William Legan, appeared to randomly target people with an “assault-type rifle” on the last day of the Gilroy Garlic festival Sunday, according to Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee. The dead included a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s. Twelve other festival-goers were wounded in the attack. Smithee told reporters Monday that police responded in less than a minute of the shooter opening fire.  “It could have gone so much worse so fast,” he said. People run as an active shooter was reported at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, south of San Jose, California. Authorities said they were searching Monday for a possible second suspect, following unconfirmed reports by eyewitnesses that Legan may have had an accomplice. The food festival, in the agricultural city of Gilroy about 170 kilometers (106 miles) southeast of San Francisco, had security that required people to go through screening with metal detectors and bag checks. Police say the shooter cut through a fence to …

The Russian-financed Sputnik language service in Turkey canceled a radio program after the show’s three Turkish journalists interviewed a prominent critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The July 19 interview with former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu covered his effort to launch a new party to challenge Erdogan’s AK Party, among other topics. Twice a week on Sputnik Turkish, journalists Yavuz Oghan, Akif Beki and Ismail Saymaz hosted a call-in program titled “Soylemesi Bizden.” They first pitched the interview for their show but didn’t get approval. Then, Oghan  posted it on his YouTube channel, and Sputnik Turkish canceled their contracts. “Good work never goes unpunished in Turkey,” Oghan later said on Twitter. Mahir Boztepe, chief editor of Sputnik Turkish, dismissed concerns about censorship. “We informed Yavuz Oghan that the interview could not be conducted under our broadcast guidelines, but they went ahead with the interview,” he said. “We, under our editorial policy, do not attach importance to a political figure like Davutoglu, and we don’t want to provide a platform for his views. We don’t believe that he is newsworthy,” Boztepe said. Purported bias Erdogan’s grip on the media has tightened in the wake of a failed 2016 coup attempt and …

The International Monetary Fund says the cumulative decline of the Venezuelan economy since 2013 will surpass 60% and is among the deepest five-year contractions the world has seen over the last half century. Alejandro Werner is director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. He describes the Venezuelan decline as a “historical case” because it is unprecedented in the hemisphere and also because it is the only one of the top global five-year contractions that is unrelated to armed conflicts or natural disasters.     The IMF on Monday also adjusted its 2019 forecast for the South American country to a contraction of 35% — up from the 25% decline expected back in April — due to a sharp fall in the oil production, which has already plunged to its lowest level in seven decades.  …

Syrian troops made advances on the ground in northern Syria on Monday, seizing a hilltop village and a nearby town from insurgents in the first breakthrough for President Bashar Assad’s forces following weeks of intensive air and artillery bombardment.   The area has been repeatedly targeted in recent days as Syria’s government looks to regain momentum in its stalled offensive against the last opposition-controlled stronghold in Syria. The rebel area encompasses Idlib province and the surrounding rural areas of Hama province. At least 450 civilians have been confirmed killed in the three-month offensive, including more than 100 in the last 10 days alone, according to the U.N. human rights chief. Over the last three years, the government has regained control of most of the territories that were initially seized by the opposition in the early days of the civil conflict _ now in its 9th year. Those military victories, supported by Russian airpower and Iranian-backed militias on the ground, followed intense military campaigns and tight sieges that forced rebels to surrender and move north. The Idlib region is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants and other jihadi groups, and is home to an estimated 3 million people, many of them displaced by …

A large crowd bid a final tearful farewell to an Italian police officer who was stabbed to death in Rome last Friday. Two American teenagers are in custody in connection with the killing. Relatives, friends, colleagues and top political leaders attended the service in the officer’s hometown of Somma Vesuviana, near Naples. The solemn service was held in the same church of Santa Croce where the 35-year-old officer was married a month-and-a-half ago. Those who did not make it inside the church for the service stood outside in the square. A minute of silence Monday preceded the funeral. Carabinieri officers carry the coffin of slain Carabinieri military police officer Mario Cerciello Rega during his funeral in his hometown Somma Vesuviana, Italy, July 29, 2019. Applause broke out when the coffin, wrapped in the Italian tricolor, arrived and was carried inside the church by his widow, Maria Rosaria, and six police officers. Atop the coffin were wedding pictures, Mario’s officer cap and a shirt of soccer club Naples, his favorite team. Top political leaders, including Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, and top Carabinieri officials, attended the ceremony. In his homily, Monsignor Santo Marciano said, “We would not have liked to be in …

U.S. President Donald Trump Monday signed a bipartisan bill to ensure that a Victim Compensation Fund related to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 never runs out of money. “Our nation owes each of you a profound debt that no words or deeds will ever repay. But we can and we will keep our nation’s promise to you,” the president said in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by first responders. The president called the first responders “true American warriors.” The $7.4 billion fund had been running low, with benefits slashed severely. The legislation signed Monday extends the fund through 2092, essentially providing for first responders for the rest of their lives. Comedian and former host of The Daily Show, John Stewart, had lobbied Congress for the bill’s passage, publicly feuding with Senator Rand Paul in the process. On Tuesday, the vote passed the Senate 97-2.  Paul and Senator Mike Lee from Utah voted against the bill. Since 9/11, more than 40,000 people have applied to the fund. …

The roughly 2,000 state and local governments suing the drug industry over the deadly opioid crisis have yet to see any verdicts or reach any big national settlements but are already tussling with each other over how to divide any money they collect. The reason: Some of them want to avoid what happened 20 years ago, when states agreed to a giant settlement with the tobacco industry and used most of the cash on projects that had little to do with smoking’s toll. “If we don’t use dollars recovered from these opioid lawsuits to end the opioid epidemic, shame on us,” Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear said. Overdoses from opioids, which include prescription painkillers and illegal drugs like heroin, have surpassed automobile crashes in recent years as the biggest cause of accidental deaths in the U.S., accounting for the loss of more than 400,000 lives since 2000. An Associated Press analysis found that by 2011 and 2012, the industry was shipping enough prescription opioids to give every man, woman and child in the U.S. nearly a 20-day supply each year. In their lawsuits, the governments contend the brand-name manufacturers fraudulently downplayed the addiction risks of the powerful painkillers while encouraging …

In new video released Monday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer is heard telling a British warship not to interfere or put their “life in danger” as the paramilitary force, using speedboats and a helicopter, seized a U.K.-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month. The video includes a shot apparently filmed on the day of the July 19 incident from above the British warship Foxtrot 236 that was in the vicinity of the U.K.-flagged Stena Impero, showing the British navy unable to prevent Iran’s seizure of the ship in the critical waterway.   It also offers additional audio to that released by maritime security risk firm Dryad Global, which last week made public a portion of the exchange between the Foxtrot and the Iranian Guard during the incident.   The seizure of the Stena Impero further heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman. The narrow waterway is of critical importance to the world’s energy supplies because one-fifth of all global crude exports passes through the strait.   Tensions there have soared following President Donald Trump’s decision last year to withdraw from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and impose sanctions on …

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed Britain closer to a no-deal exit from the European Union on Monday, insisting he will not hold Brexit talks with EU leaders unless the bloc lifts its refusal to reopen the existing divorce deal. Johnson is trying to pressure the EU to give ground by intensifying preparations for the U.K. to leave the bloc in three months without a deal. But the pound fell to a two-year low as business groups warned that neither Britain nor the bloc is ready for a no-deal Brexit, and that no amount of preparation can eliminate the economic damage if Britain crashes out of the 28-nation trading bloc without agreement on the terms.   Johnson became prime minister last week after winning a Conservative Party leadership contest by promising the strongly pro-Brexit party membership that the U.K. will leave the EU on the scheduled date of Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal. The EU struck a withdrawal agreement with Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, but it was rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament. Johnson is insisting the bloc make major changes to May’s spurned deal, including scrapping an insurance policy for the Irish border that has been rejected …

Germany on Monday extradited to Belgium a Bosnian man wanted in connection with the 2015 jihadist attacks in Paris, prosecutors said. The unnamed 39-year-old suspected of having procured weapons for the attackers “was extradited this morning,” Naumburg prosecution service spokesman Klaus Tewes told AFP. The synchronized shooting and suicide attacks by Islamic State gunmen in Paris on the Bataclan concert hall, national stadium and several cafes killed a total of 130 people. German authorities had last month announced the man’s arrest on the night of June 19-20 on a European arrest warrant issued by the Belgian authorities. He was accused “of abetting a terrorist organization linked to the terror attacks, including on the Bataclan concert hall, on November 13, 2015 in Paris”. The German authorities said then that he had been targeted in a separate investigation against two Bosnian citizens on suspicion of violating military weapons control laws. The Islamic State group, which then controlled vast territory across Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attacks in the French capital, which were allegedly coordinated from Brussels. IS also claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds of others in the Belgian capital in March 2016. …

Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushed Britain closer to a no-deal exit from the European Union on Monday, insisting he will not hold Brexit talks with EU leaders unless the bloc lifts its refusal to reopen the existing divorce deal. Johnson is trying to pressure the EU to give ground by intensifying preparations for the U.K. to leave the bloc in three months without a deal. But the pound fell to a two-year low as business groups warned that neither Britain nor the bloc is ready for a no-deal Brexit, and that no amount of preparation can eliminate the economic damage if Britain crashes out of the 28-nation trading bloc without agreement on the terms.   Johnson became prime minister last week after winning a Conservative Party leadership contest by promising the strongly pro-Brexit party membership that the U.K. will leave the EU on the scheduled date of Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal. The EU struck a withdrawal agreement with Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, but it was rejected three times by Britain’s Parliament. Johnson is insisting the bloc make major changes to May’s spurned deal, including scrapping an insurance policy for the Irish border that has been rejected …

China blamed Western forces and defended police conduct in remarks Monday about Hong Kong after the city endured another weekend of violent clashes between protesters and police. Yang Guang, spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said at a news briefing that some “irresponsible people” in the West have applied “strange logic” that prompted them to be sympathetic and tolerant to “violent crimes” while criticizing the police force’s “due diligence.” “At the end of the day, their intention is to create trouble in Hong Kong, make Hong Kong a problem to China, in order to contain China’s development,” Yang said, without mentioning any specific individuals or countries. He added that such attempts will come to nothing because Beijing will tolerate no outside interference in the affairs of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The protests in Hong Kong began in early June as a call to withdraw an extradition bill that would have allowed people in the former British colony to be sent to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. Since the government indefinitely suspended the legislation, demonstrators have broadened their scope to demand greater democracy and government accountability. Police …

Australia passed a legislation that sets down maritime boundaries with East Timor on Monday, providing a framework for the two countries to split revenue from the offshore Greater Sunrise natural gas field. Both sides signed the historic treaty in March 2018 to sort out a long-running dispute over the Timor Sea border, which had delayed the development of the Greater Sunrise, which was found in 1974 and holds around 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas. “With the passage of the treaty’s implementing legislation today, Australia is now ready to partner with Timor-Leste to jointly develop the Greater Sunrise gas fields for the benefit of both countries,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement. “Greater Sunrise will provide new opportunities for income, and commercial and industrial development in Timor-Leste, and is an important part of Timor-Leste’s economic future.” Under the deal, East Timor is entitled to 70% of the revenue if the gas is piped to the island or 80% if the gas is piped to Australia for processing. Australia had sought a boundary aligned with its continental shelf, but East Timor argued the border should lie half way between it and Australia – placing much of the Greater …

Iranians sending images to a U.S.-based activist over an anti-headscarf campaign could face up to 10 years in prison.    The activist, Masih Alinejad, founded the “White Wednesdays” campaign in Iran to encourage women to post photographs of themselves without headscarves online as a way of opposing the compulsory hijab.   The semi-official Fars news agency on Monday quoted the head of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, as saying that “those who film themselves or others while removing the hijab and send photos to this woman … will be sentenced to between one and 10 years in prison.”   The Islamic headscarf is mandatory in public for all women in Iran. Those who violate the rule are usually sentenced to two months in prison or less, and fined around $25. …

Syrian war observers say five people were killed in a government raid in Idlib province on Sunday, adding to the toll of more than a 100 killed in the past days. The government of President Bashar al-Assad has resumed its deadly campaign to retake control of the remaining rebel-held areas in Syria, not sparing schools or hospitals. The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet opined what she called the “international indifference” to the plight of Syrian civilians. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. …

Democratic Party presidential candidates will try to distance themselves from their rivals as they jockey for position in Democratic debates in Detroit this week.  Mike O’Sullivan reports that progressive standard-bearers Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will share the stage on Tuesday, and frontrunner Joe Biden will fend off attacks Wednesday as 10 of 20 candidates square off on each of the two nights. …

In the world of combat sports, only one emerges with a consensus thumbs-up vote.  This weekend in Britain, judges crowned the strongest digits in this year’s men’s, women’s and children’s World Thumb Wrestling Championships.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi points the way to victory. …

Poverty in the Philippines, a chronic development issue that makes the country an outlier in Asia, is declining because of economic strength followed by job creation. The archipelago’s official poverty rate dropped to 21% in the first half of last year from 27.6% in the first half of 2015, President Rodrigo Duterte said in his July 22 State of the Nation Address. Economic growth of 6% plus since 2012 has helped to create jobs, especially in Philippine cities such as the capital Manila, economists who follow the country say. “Twenty-seven percent is actually pretty high by kind of Asian standards, so I think that progress is attributable to the rapid economic growth that’s happened in the Philippines since 2012,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at the market research firm IHS Markit. Asian outlier Poverty around Asia had declined from 47.3% in 1990 to 16.1% in 2013, according to World Bank data. Factory jobs, often driven by domestic export manufacturing industries, have fueled much of the boom, especially in China. Poverty lingered in the Philippines largely for lack of rural jobs, economists believe. Rudimentary farming and fishing anchor the way of life on many of the country’s 7,100 islands. Foreign …

New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make his first official visit to Scotland on Monday in an attempt to bolster the union in the face of warnings over a no-deal Brexit.  Johnson will visit a military base to announce new funding for local communities, saying that Britain is a “global brand and together we are safer, stronger and more prosperous”, according to a statement released by his Downing Street Office. It will be the first stop on a tour of the countries that make up the United Kingdom, as he attempts to win support for his Brexit plans and head off talk of a break-up of the union. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last week that Scotland, which voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, needed an “alternative option” to Johnson’s Brexit strategy. He has promised that Britain will leave the EU on October 31, with or without a deal. Sturgeon, who leads the separatist Scottish National Party (SNP), told Johnson that the devolved Scottish Parliament would consider legislation in the coming months for another vote on seceding from the United Kingdom. Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has also said that a no-deal Brexit would …

U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators shift to Shanghai this week for their first in-person talks since a G20 truce last month, a change of scenery for two sides struggling to resolve deep differences on how to end a year-long trade war. Expectations for progress during the two-day Shanghai meeting are low, so officials and businesses are hoping Washington and Beijing can at least detail commitments for “goodwill” gestures and clear the path for future negotiations. These include Chinese purchases of U.S. farm commodities and the United States allowing firms to resume some sales to China’s tech giant Huawei Technologies. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he thinks China may not want to sign a trade deal until after the 2020 election in the hope that they could then negotiate more favorable terms with a different U.S. president. “I think probably China will say “Let’s wait,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Let’s wait and see if one of these people who gives the United States away, let’s see if one of them could get elected.” For more than a year, the world’s two largest economies have slapped billions of dollars of tariffs on each other’s imports, disrupting global …

Story updated on July 29, at 2:45 am. Authorities in the western U.S. state of California say a shooter killed at least three people Sunday afternoon at a garlic festival. The attack happened in the city of Gilroy, where police say the shooter was armed with a rifle.  Another 15 people were injured, but it was not clear whether they were shot. There were officers present at the festival, and Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said they quickly engaged the suspect and shot him dead. Smithee told reporters at a late night briefing that witnesses reported a potential second suspect, but that police did not know yet whether there was in fact a second person involved, and if so, how they were involved with the attack. People attending the festival were required to go through a security screening with metal detectors and bag checks. Smithee said the suspected shooter appears to have entered the festival grounds by cutting through a fence. Investigators were working through the night to figure out exactly what happened.  So far they do not have a motive for the shooting. Smithee said the festival relies on thousands of volunteers each year and raises money for various …