While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Aug 31
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A vehicle drives along a flooded street in New Port Richey, Florida, after the passing of Hurricane Idalia.
PHOTO: AFP
Hurricane Idalia grinds into Georgia after slamming Florida
Hurricane Idalia brought torrential rain and threats of flash flooding on Wednesday afternoon to south-east Georgia after slamming into Florida, where authorities feared a powerful storm surge may have inundated communities in the Big Bend region.
Authorities in Florida were still trying to carry out damage assessments in the hardest-hit areas as water rescues of trapped residents were under way in southern Georgia.
Video footage and photographs from the region showed ocean waters washing over highways and neighbourhoods swamped by extensive flooding at midday.
Drawing strength from the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters, Idalia unleashed destructive winds and torrential downpours that were forecast to cause flooding up to 5m deep along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
US Senator Mitch McConnell freezes up for second time
Top US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell froze up for more than 30 seconds on Wednesday during a public appearance before he was escorted away, the second such incident in little more than a month, a clip from an NBC News affiliate showed.
Mr McConnell, 81, was responding to questions from reporters after an event with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in Covington when he froze up, staring into space and not responding to reporters and others nearby.
The incident raised fresh questions among Republican and Democratic members of Congress about some of their ageing colleagues.
Ukraine says gains on southern front pave way to Crimea
NYT
Ukraine said on Wednesday that recapturing the village of Robotyne this week was a strategic victory paving the way for its forces to push deeper into Russian positions in the south towards Crimea.
The foreign minister’s comments came as Kyiv announced two people had been killed in the “most powerful” aerial attack on the capital in weeks, and Russia reported a drone strike on military aircraft in its north-west.
Kyiv launched a counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western-supplied weapons and building up assault battalions.
Teenage attacker shot dead after Jerusalem stabbing
PHOTO: AFP
An Israeli police officer shot dead a Palestinian teenager who stabbed and wounded a civilian at a light rail station in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, Israeli police and medics said.
It is the latest incident among surging violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“A suspect armed with a knife committed a terrorist attack near Shivtei Israel light rail station in Jerusalem,” Israeli police said in a statement. “The suspect was neutralised on the spot,” it said.
‘Not good enough’: Early exit from US Open for Tsitsipas
EPA-EFE
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas said his recent form was simply “not good enough” as his poor run continued with yet another early exit from Flushing Meadows on Wednesday when Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker stunned the seventh seed in the US Open second round in a five-set thriller.
Tsitsipas reached the Australian Open final this year but has never made it past the third round in six main draw appearances in New York and he struggled against Stricker’s massive serve and booming forehand before bowing out 7-5 6-7(2) 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-3.
He won in Los Cabos earlier this month but his form dipped in the run-up to the US Open, suffering early exits from Toronto and Cincinnati.
