The move may hit some legal and political roadblocks in the USA, but it is an audacious step just four months before the Paris Climate Talks. ““In the strongest action ever taken in the United States to combat climate change, President Obama will unveil on Monday a set of environmental regulations devised to sharply cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s power plants and ultimately transform America’s electricity industry. The rules are the final, tougher versions of proposed regulations that the Environmental Protection Agency announced in 2012 and 2014. If they withstand the expected legal challenges, the regulations will set in motion sweeping policy changes that could shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants, freeze construction of new coal plants and create a boom in the production of wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1DlkfPy)
Top Burundi General Assassinated…A top Burundian general and right-hand man to President Pierre Nkurunziza was killed in a rocket attack on his car on Sunday, prompting fears of further instability in the crisis-hit country. Adolphe Nshimirimana was widely seen as the central African nation’s de facto internal security chief and even considered the regime’s number-two. Police and witnesses said General Nshimirimana’s pick-up was hit by two rockets and sprayed with automatic gunfire in the capital Bujumbura on Sunday morning…The assassination came just over a week after Nkurunziza was declared the outright winner of a controversial presidential election, securing a third consecutive term despite opposition protests and international condemnation. Nkurunziza’s candidacy was condemned as unconstitutional by the opposition and provoked months of protests that left at least 100 people dead in a fierce government crackdown, as well as an attempted coup in mid-May. Nshimirimana was seen as the mastermind behind the crackdown on the protests as well as a key player in foiling the coup attempt.” (AFP http://bit.ly/1DlsUS5 )
An Ignoble Anniversary….Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary in which 200,000 Yazidis were driven from their homes and faced a genocidal onslaught by ISIS. (UN Mission in Iraq http://bit.ly/1UgLEGI)
Africa
Nigeria’s army said late on Sunday that it rescued 178 people held by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria’s Borno state, the heartland of the insurgency. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1IyIaa5)
Burundian journalist and AFP correspondent Esdras Ndikumana said he was arrested by government security forces and badly beaten on Sunday at the scene of the assassination of a top general. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1KKDapN)
Boko Haram fighters killed 13 people in an attack on Malari village in northeast Nigeria’s restive Borno state early Sunday, witnesses said. (AFP http://bit.ly/1UgLYoQ)
At least one soldier with the U.N. peackeeping mission in Central African Republic was killed on Sunday during clashes with armed assailants in a northern neighbourhood of the capital Bangui, a spokesman for the mission said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1MGrq86)
Thousands of civilians in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state face starvation after the government blocked aid groups from using the Nile River to deliver relief food, aid agencies said Friday. (VOA http://bit.ly/1IyIGVC)
Corruption in Kenya is sliding out of control, veteran anti-corruption activist and whistle-blower John Githongo has warned in an interview following a scathing audit of government finances. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1IyIh5v)
Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi announced he will send 800 troops to join a new multinational force tasked with fighting Boko Haram militants after meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari Saturday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1KKD8OA)
With the U.N. Climate Change conference later this year in Paris fast approaching, Zimbabwe’s climate change commitments face the slow progress on an issue that continues to stalk other developing countries – climate finance. (IPS http://bit.ly/1E3NgKG)
MENA
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants killed two soldiers and wounded 31 in a suicide attack overnight in eastern Turkey, the army said on Sunday, as violence escalated following Ankara’s air bombardment targeting Kurdish militants. (CBC http://bit.ly/1DlmLoP
Five people were killed and 12 wounded during clashes in eastern Libya between forces loyal to its internationally recognised government and Islamist groups, medics said on Sunday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1OYnqy5)
An Egyptian court on Sunday postponed delivering its verdict in the retrial of three Al Jazeera TV journalists, a decision a defense lawyer said was to avoid bad publicity during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and other dignitaries. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1KKD8y7)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Qatar talks with Arab officials whose countries are wary of the nuclear deal world powers have struck with Iran. (WaPo http://wapo.st/1DlmW3F )
Italy’s coast guard said about 1,800 migrants were rescued from seven overcrowded vessels on Saturday, while five corpses were found on a large rubber boat carrying 212 others. (TRF http://tmsnrt.rs/1UgM5ka)
Asia
India’s Home Ministry says heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 90 people in the past week and forced tens of thousands of people to take shelter in state-run relief camps. (FoxNews http://fxn.ws/1DlniXV)
The toll from flash floods and landslides in Myanmar caused by days of torrential rain is likely to rise, the UN warned Sunday, as monsoon downpours heaped misery on thousands across the region. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1KKDbdh)
Iran said Sunday it will stop giving cash handouts to another million of its wealthiest citizens in order to ease a budget crisis caused in part by plunging oil prices and sanctions linked to its disputed nuclear program. (AP http://yhoo.it/1IyIc1S)
The Americas
The International Olympic Committee said Sunday it will order testing for disease-causing viruses in the sewage-polluted waters where athletes will compete in next year’s Rio de Janeiro Games. (AP http://yhoo.it/1KKDbKm)
Colombia aims to buy land from private owners and redistribute it among the poor after its 50-year-old war ends, the government said Sunday, addressing the root cause of the conflict. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1IyIiX9)
A photographer for an investigative magazine who fled his home state after being harassed has been found dead in Mexico City along with other people. (VOA http://bit.ly/1VVNCxT)
…and the rest
Immigrants living in Britain illegally will face abrupt eviction from rental properties under new laws designed to make Britain a tougher place to live in, the government will announce as it redoubles its response to the Calais migrant crisis. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1E3Nbq6)
The United Nations 193-member states agreed on Sunday on an agenda for the world’s sustainable development over the next 15 years that pledges to leave no-one behind and is now due to be formally adopted by world leaders at a summit in September. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1KKDchj)
Opinion/Blogs
Why the SDGs will break your heart (Dev Policy http://bit.ly/1IyJoCf)
In South Africa Childhood Hunger and Obesity Live Side By Side (The Conversation http://bit.ly/1IyIS7h)
Rivers Run Through This Exhibit Of Colombia Art (Goats and Soda http://n.pr/1LZjOMj)
Why Obama blundered by speaking out on LGBTQ rights in Kenya (Africa is a Country http://bit.ly/1LZjsW3)
Justice, But Only For Some: The Trial of Hissène Habré (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/1IyJfP9)
Trevor Noah reminds Britain of its colonial past… (Development Truths http://bit.ly/1LZjUU5)
Researcher Who Studied Cecil Talks About Impact of Lion’s Death (AP http://bit.ly/1KKDuEW)
What changes to expect from Obama’s final Clean Power Plan (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1DlL4mA)
How Sierra Leone’s Most Famous Journalist Helped NPR Get The Ebola Story (Goats and Soda http://n.pr/1IyK6j0)