An American researcher was “doing well” at a Turkish hospital, officials said Tuesday, after rescuers pulled him out of a cave where he fell seriously ill and became trapped 1,000 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below its entrance for over a week.

Rescuers from Turkey and across Europe cheered and clapped as Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver, emerged from Morca Cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains strapped to a stretcher at 12:37 a.m. local time Tuesday. He was whisked to the hospital in the nearby city of Mersin in a helicopter.

Dickey fell ill on Sept. 2 with stomach bleeding. What caused his condition remained unclear.

Lying on the stretcher surrounded by reporters shortly after his rescue, he described his nine-day ordeal as a “crazy, crazy adventure.”

“It is amazing to be above ground again,” he said. A well-known cave researcher and a cave rescuer who had participated in many international expeditions, Dickey thanked the international caving community, Turkish cavers and Hungarian Cave Rescue, among others.

Dickey, who is from Croton-on-Hudson, New York, was part of an expedition to map the Morca Cave, Turkey’s third deepest, when he became sick. As he was too frail to climb out himself, cave rescue teams from Europe scrambled to help save him, mounting a challenging operation that involved pulling him up the cave’s steep vertical sections and navigating through mud and water at low temperatures in the horizontal sections.

Rescuers had to widen some of the cave’s narrow passages, install ropes to pull him up vertical shafts on a stretcher and set up temporary camps along the way before the operation could begin.

“It was great to see him finally get out because it was very dire in the early days of this rescue,” Carl Heitmeyer of the New Jersey Initial Response Team and a friend of Dickey’s told NBC’s “Today” show.

Asked whether he believes Dickey would return to caving, Heitmeyer said: “I hope his mom’s not watching, but I would bet on it.”

Among those who rushed to the Taurus Mountains was Dr. Zsofia Zador, a caving enthusiast and medical rescuer from the Hungarian rescue team, who was among the first to treat Dickey inside the cave.

Zador, an anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist from Budapest, was on her way to the hospital to start her early morning shift on Sept. 2, when she got news of Dickey’s condition.

The 34-year-old quickly arranged for a colleague to take her shift and rushed to gather her caving gear and medical equipment, before taking a plane to Turkey to join the rescue mission, she told The Associated Press by telephone from the camp near the entrance of the cave.

“He was relieved, and he was hopeful,” she said when asked to describe Dickey’s reaction when he saw her in the cave. “He was quite happy. We are good friends.”

Zador said Dickey was hypovolemic — or was suffering from loss of fluid and blood — but said he was in a “stable condition” by the time she reached him because paramedics had “treated him quite well.”

“It was a tricky situation because sometimes he was quite stable and it felt like he could get out on his own, but he could (deteriorate) once again,” she said. “Luckily he didn’t lose any consciousness and he saw the situation through.”

Around 190 experts from Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Turkey took part in the rescue, including doctors, paramedics and experienced cavers. Teams comprised of a doctor and three to four other rescuers took turns staying by his side at all times.

Zador said she had been involved in cave rescues before but Dickey’s rescue was the “longest” she experienced.

Dickey said after his rescue that he had started to throw up large quantities of blood inside the cave.

“My consciousness started to get harder to hold on to, and I reached the point where I thought ‘I’m not going to live,'” he told reporters.

A statement from the Mersin governor’s office said Dickey’s “general health” condition was “good”, without providing further details.

The Italian National Alpine and Speleological Corps said the rescue operation took more than 100 rescuers from around 10 counties a total of 60 hours. “Mark Dickey was in the cave for roughly 500 hours,” it said.
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The giant pandas that have been living at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington for 23 years will return to China by the end of this year. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias takes a look at the diplomatic moves that brought them to the United States and how politics and new conservation strategies could impact the species’ future.
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Twenty-two years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., September 11 was again a date of mourning and reflection in the United States. Remembrance ceremonies were held for the nearly 3,000 people who died, with President Joe Biden promising to keep terrorism at bay. Here’s VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias with key moments from anniversary events across the United States.
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New details have emerged of an apparently imminent prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran, with the U.S. acknowledging for the first time that as part of the deal, it will free five Iranians whose names the Iranian government confirmed to VOA.

The U.S. acknowledgment of its agreement to free five Iranians came in a State Department statement sent to VOA late Monday. Hours earlier, Western news agencies reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had notified the U.S. Congress of the impending move.

The U.S. and Iran already had confirmed on August 10 that under the prisoner deal, Tehran also would release five American citizens whom Washington has said were wrongfully detained by Tehran.

“As we have said previously, the U.S. has agreed to allow the transfer of funds from South Korea to restricted accounts held in financial institutions in Qatar and the release of five Iranian nationals currently detained in the United States to facilitate the release of five U.S. citizens detained in Iran,” a State Department spokesperson wrote to VOA.

Iran’s U.N. mission in New York confirmed in a message to VOA the names of the five Iranians whose freedom it expects to secure in the prisoner swap. The names were first reported earlier Monday by the Al-Monitor news site.

The five Iranian nationals named by Iran include Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, Mehrdad Ansari, Amin Hasanzadeh, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani and Kambiz Attar Kashani. All five were among the 11 Iranians first identified by VOA in an August 24 report as potential candidates for inclusion in a U.S.-Iran exchange.

Asked by VOA to confirm whether the five individuals identified by Iran will be freed, the State Department spokesperson declined to address the issue. All were arrested on federal charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran or providing Tehran with other forms of illicit help.

There also was no confirmation from the U.S. on when or how the five Americans and five Iranians will be swapped.

The State Department spokesperson said the U.S. continues to work for the release of the five American citizens and to monitor their health and welfare closely with the help of its Swiss partners but added: “We have no update to share at this time.”

Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani as saying Monday that the exchange will happen “in the near future.”

Of the five individuals named by Iran, four are Iranians without U.S. citizenship: Afrasiabi, Ansari, Hasanzadeh and Kafrani. Afrasiabi and Hasanzadeh are permanent U.S. residents, while Kafrani has no legal status in the U.S. The fifth Iranian, Kashani, is an Iranian American dual national.

Three of the five are on supervised pre-trial release: Afrasiabi, Hasanzadeh and Kafrani. Their inclusion in a prisoner deal would mean that federal charges against them are dropped and they are freed from restrictions on their movements outside of their homes.

The other two, Ansari and Kashani, are serving sentences in federal prisons in Louisiana and Michigan, respectively. Their inclusion in the deal would mean being freed several months before concluding their prison terms, which end in December for Ansari and February for Kashani.

Speaking to VOA on Monday, Barry Rosen, a former U.S. hostage in Iran, said he expects most of the five Iranians to be freed by the U.S. will not return to Iran as they have significant ties to the U.S. He said an exchange of Iranian and American prisoners on an airport tarmac somewhere in the Middle East would provide Iran with a propaganda boost, but he doubted the U.S. would agree to choreograph the swap in such a way.

Critics of the Biden administration’s Iran policy told VOA that the agreement to free five Iranians would have negative consequences for the U.S.

“The Islamic republic will herald this as a significant win for its long-standing policy of seizing Western hostages in return for ransom and the freeing of duly-convicted Iranian nationals,” said Andrea Stricker of Washington-based research group Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Rather than facing U.S. penalties or repercussions, the regime will be emboldened to continue abducting innocent people,” she added.

The Biden administration has rejected critics’ characterizations of the unfreezing of $6 billion in funds in South Korean banks as a ransom payment. It has said Tehran will regain access to Iranian funds that had been frozen under U.S. sanctions and will be able to access them only via a third party for humanitarian purchases under U.S. supervision.

Jason Brodsky, policy director of U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said he believes the U.S. unfreezing of $6 billion should have been “more than enough” to secure the release of the Americans held by Iran. “The additional release of Iranians charged with U.S. crimes is an attempt by Tehran to create a false equivalence between the justice system in the United States and the injustice system in Iran,” Brodsky said.

Sina Toosi, a researcher at the Washington-based Center for International Policy and a supporter of the emerging U.S.-Iran deal, reacted positively to Monday’s developments in a post on the X social media platform.

“It is a welcome development that the U.S. and Iran are close to implementing an agreement that will bring some relief to the families of unjustly held prisoners, as well as to millions of Iranians suffering from an economic crisis caused by U.S. sanctions,” Toosi wrote.

In August, Iran confirmed that it had placed the five American prisoners under house arrest. The U.S. named three of them as Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz but declined to name the other two whose detentions had not previously been confirmed, citing their privacy.

Namazi, Shargi, Tahbaz and one of the other U.S. prisoners were moved from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison to house arrest at an undisclosed hotel where they would be held under guard by Iranian officials, human rights lawyer Jared Genser said in a statement August 10. He said the fifth American, a woman, already was under house arrest.
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The Biden administration is reportedly considering supplying Ukraine with longer-range missiles that are packed with cluster bombs and that could cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, according to four U.S. officials.

After seeing the success of cluster munitions delivered in 155 mm artillery rounds in recent months, the U.S. is considering shipping Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that can fly up to 306 kilometers and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles that have a 72-kilometer range and are packed with cluster bombs, according to Reuters news agency. The GMLRS rocket system would be able to disperse up to 404 cluster munitions. Ukraine has had a version of the GMLRS system in its arsenal for months.

The Biden administration has for months been mulling over the supply of ATACMS, fearing their shipment to Ukraine would be perceived as an overly aggressive move against Russia.

With Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces showing signs of progress, however, Washington is keen to boost the Ukrainian military at a vital moment, two sources told Reuters.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said Monday that Ukrainian forces had retaken control of several offshore gas and oil drilling platforms near Crimea.

It said on Telegram that the operation included Ukrainian special forces on boats who damaged a Russian Su-30 fighter jet and captured helicopter ammunition and radar equipment.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Russia had occupied the platforms since 2015 and had used them for military purposes.

More territory gained

Ukraine also said on Monday that its troops had regained more territory on the eastern and southern fronts in the past week of its counteroffensive against Russian forces. 

Washington continues to assess the progress Ukrainian forces are making on the ground, and Russia’s overall strategic goals have failed in Ukraine, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a press briefing Monday,

“Their goals were to take Kyiv, to take the majority, if not all of the country, to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine. In all of those things they have failed,” he said.

Miller noted that the Ukrainians have taken back around 50% of the country that Russia occupied at the height of its full-scale invasion.

The State Department spokesman said that one indication of Russia’s difficulties in sustaining its military effort is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin “traveling across his own country, hat in hand, to beg [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un for military assistance.”

The meeting between the two leaders is expected to take place as early as Tuesday in Vladivostok, Russia.

“We are going to monitor very closely the outcome of this meeting,” Miller said. “I would remind both countries that any transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia would be in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and we aggressively, of course, have enforced our sanctions against entities that fund Russia’s war effort. We will continue to enforce those sanctions and will not hesitate to enforce new sanctions if appropriate.”

German aid

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Monday that Berlin would not necessarily supply Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles simply because the U.S. might decide to send ATACMS long-range missiles to the war-torn country.

“There is no automatism in this war,” Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to Cologne, adding that Germany was not yet able to decide whether to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles.

Kyiv has been pushing Berlin to supply it with the missiles, which are launched by fighter jets and have a range of more than 500 kilometers.

During a Monday meeting with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced that he requested the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles from Germany as soon as possible.

“You will do it anyway — it’s just a matter of time — and I don’t understand why we are wasting time,” Kuleba said in response to a question at a joint press conference with Baerbock in Kyiv.

Kuleba noted that Ukraine, a major grain producer and exporter, needed more protection for its ports after Russia stepped up airstrikes on grain export infrastructure. 

The German foreign minister said that Germany would provide an additional $21.44 million in humanitarian aid, bringing Berlin’s additional aid to $408 million this year.

“Russia’s perfidious goal is to starve the people again this winter and to let them freeze to death,” she warned. 

Baerbock also expressed her country’s support for Ukraine’s entrance into the European Union but added that Kyiv has to do more to combat graft.

“Reform results in the areas of judicial reform and media legislation are already impressive. But there is still a long way to go in the implementation of the anti-oligarch law and the fight against corruption,” Baerbock said. 

Some information was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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A Ukrainian composer has been commissioned to write an opera about mothers from that country going into Russia to rescue their forcibly detained children.

The Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater said Monday that 42-year-old Maxim Kolomiiets will compose the work to a libretto by George Brant, whose “Grounded,” with composer Jeanine Tesori, premieres at the Washington National Opera on October 28 and travels to the Met in autumn 2024. Met general manager Peter Gelb hopes the company can present the new work by 2027 or ’28.

The story is fictional but based on events in Ukraine and The Hague. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on March 17 for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine.

“It will be a story of motherhood and childhood, about this strange, very difficult situation where mothers rescue their children and met with many difficulties,” Kolomiiets said in a telephone interview. “For people, for listeners, it will be a good understanding.”

He was living in Kyiv when the war started last year, then three months later moved to Leipzig, Germany, where he had a project and decided to stay.

Gelb said discussions began last fall with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska when she visited New York and Kolomiiets was picked from among 72 applications after vetting by Met dramaturge Paul Cremo, Gelb and the Met’s artistic staff.

A story framework has been created. A piano-vocal score and libretto will be written in the next year or two and a workshop prepared.

“I felt it was important to have an English-language librettist working with the composer so that story would have the broadest possible audience,” Gelb said.

Gelb has been an advocate of support for Ukraine, banning Russian star soprano Anna Netrebko from the opera house and assisting Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra tours led by his wife, Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson.

Works in the joint commissioning program can appear at either house.

“It’s my hope it will end up as a full-blown opera and hopefully on our stage,” Gelb said.
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A “cybersecurity issue” led to the shutdown of some casino and hotel computer systems at MGM Resorts International properties across the U.S., a company official reported Monday. 

The incident began Sunday and the extent of its effect on reservation systems and casino floors in Las Vegas and states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and Ohio was not immediately known, company spokesman Brian Ahern said. 

“MGM Resorts recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems,” the company said in a statement that pointed to an investigation involving external cybersecurity experts and notifications to law enforcement agencies. 

The nature of the issue was not described, but the statement said efforts to protect data included “shutting down certain systems.” It said the investigation was continuing. 

A post on the company website said the site was down. It listed telephone numbers to reach the reservation system and properties. 

A post on the company’s BetMGM website in Nevada acknowledged that some customers were unable to log on. 

The company has tens of thousands of hotel rooms in Las Vegas at properties including the MGM Grand, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Aria, New York-New York, Park MGM, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay and Delano. 

It also operates properties in China and Macau. 
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Public sentiment toward U.S. military bases on the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa appears to be changing, amid growing tensions with China and the shock of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has around 30,000 active troops in Okinawa deployed in numerous bases across the main island, including some in the middle of built-up residential areas. 

Washington has maintained a large military presence since the end of World War II, when U.S. forces captured the islands after three months of brutal fighting that killed a quarter of Okinawa’s population.  

Okinawa makes up just 1% of Japanese land mass but hosts 70% of all U.S. military bases in the country. They have long been a source of tension with local residents, explained Yoko Shima, editor of Okinawa’s Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper, which has campaigned for the closure of the military installations.

“People now in their 60s and 70s have memories of the Battle of Okinawa [in World War II] passed down to them from their parents and were involved in campaigns against the bases in the past. So, they feel strongly about the issue,” Shima told VOA.

Aircraft noise, road accidents and a perceived safety risk of the Osprey aircraft deployed in Okinawa have stirred local opposition to the bases. 

The rape of a 12-year-old girl in 1995 by three U.S. Marines prompted large protests calling for the bases to be closed. 

Changing attitudes

Polls show around 70% of residents believe Okinawa bears an unfair burden. There are frequent calls for the Japanese mainland to host more U.S. bases. 

However, sentiment appears to be slowly changing. Younger people tend to have a less negative view of the U.S. presence, Shima said.

“Although there is no overwhelming support for the U.S. military bases, young people feel that there is nothing we can do about the U.S. military bases, since they already exist, and that they are also necessary for the defense of Japan,” Shima said.

Taiwan tensions

Okinawa’s painful history is felt strongly among its people. Its geography puts it on the front line of rising geopolitical tensions.

Taiwan lies just a few hundred kilometers west of Okinawa. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Taiwanese coastline from Yonaguni, the most westerly of the Okinawan islands. 

China has ramped up military exercises around Taiwan over the past year, which Beijing sees as part of its territory. The drills have raised fears that China could launch an invasion, and Okinawans fear their islands could be drawn into any wider conflict, Shima said.

“There is a high possibility that Okinawa will become a target, because there are currently U.S. military bases here. So, it shouldn’t become a target. In other words, we should pursue the ideal of reducing the burden of military bases [in Okinawa], while promoting diplomatic efforts to bring the countries of East Asia closer together,” she said.

The United States and Japan agreed to relocate the Futenma air base, one of the most controversial installations north of the capital, to a remote area of coastline at Henoko on the east coast of Okinawa. A new runway is currently under construction in Henoko Bay.

However, the move has been repeatedly delayed amid legal challenges. Critics say the relocation will fail to relieve the burden on Okinawa and will destroy the fragile ecosystem of the coral reefs in the area.

Local support

Japan and Okinawa must be ready to deal with a more assertive China, and that means embracing the U.S. military presence, leaders in Okinawa say.

“The threat to security from China is becoming more concrete,” said Aiko Shimajiri, an Okinawan lawmaker in the Japanese Parliament. 

In December, China sailed its Liaoning aircraft carrier through the Miyako Strait, just south of Okinawa’s main island, cutting through the archipelago that stretches toward Taiwan. 

Shimajiri said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has reminded many Okinawans that invasion and large-scale warfare are still a possibility.

“I think there are many people in Okinawa who feel that since no one knows what may happen, it is necessary to prepare for that eventuality,” she told VOA.

Divided opinion

Okinawan residents who spoke to VOA gave differing views on the U.S. bases.

“If the peace of Japan is protected, I think that they are a good thing,” said Taro Kishimoto, a student in the Okinawan capital, Naha. “I don’t think my life will change much with or without the U.S. military bases, so I’m not too worried about it.” 

Ayako Yagi, who is in her sixties, wants the bases to close.

“After all, my grandparents experienced the Second World War. So, I would be happier without them,” she said.

Katsufumi Nishime, a retired former member of Japan’s self-defense forces, said the U.S. military is needed in Okinawa. 

“The self-defense forces cannot protect Japan, unless the U.S. military comes to support us. The Taiwan issue is a problem. When I see the news about the Ukraine war, I think that having the power of the U.S. military is absolutely necessary,” he said.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane Lee remains a major hurricane, and, while still far from land, is creating dangerous conditions in the northern Caribbean and will do the same for the U.S. east coast in the coming week.

In its latest report Monday, the hurricane center said Lee is about 545 kilometers north of the U.S. Virgin Islands and 1045 km south-southeast of Bermuda. Its maximum sustained winds are 195 km per hour, making it a Category 3 hurricane.

The storm reached Category 5 status with hours of its formation in the very warm waters of the south Atlantic last week.

The hurricane center expects Lee to strengthen over the next day or so, followed by gradual weakening. It reports that as the storm weakens, its tropical wind field will likely expand, affecting a wider area.

Forecasters say Lee will create dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents to the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, and Bermuda through much of the week.

The forecasters say Lee could also bring wind, rainfall, and high surf impacts to Bermuda.

They say it is too soon to know what impact, if any, Lee might have along the U.S. east coast and Atlantic Canada.
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The United States on Monday marks the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

President Joe Biden is due to deliver an address to members of the military, first responders and their families at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska.

Biden’s Alaska stop comes as he travels home from an overseas trip that included the G20 summit in India and meeting with leaders in Vietnam.

While Monday will be the rare September 11 anniversary without a president appearing at observances at crash sites in New York, Pennsylvania or the Pentagon, it is not without precedent.

President George W. Bush in 2005 held an observance on the White House lawn, while President Barack Obama in 2015 participated in a moment of silence at the White House before attending an event honoring the work of the military at nearby Fort Meade.

Vice President Kamala Harris is due to attend a ceremony Monday at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York.  Al-Qaida terrorists hijacked two commercial jets and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, causing both buildings to collapse.

Her husband, Doug Emhoff, is scheduled to visit Shanksville, Pennsylvania to lay a wreath at a memorial where another hijacked plane crashed into a field after passengers fought their attackers.

First lady Jill Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley are all due to participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.  Terrorists crashed a hijacked plane into the building, which serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Defense Department.

September 11 is a federally recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance in the United States, aiming to transform a day of tragedy into a day of doing good to honor the memories of victims and those who responded to the terror attacks.
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The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island began to erupt on Sunday afternoon, with flows currently confined to the surrounding crater floor, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Sunday.

Webcam images show fissures at the base of the volcano’s crater that are generating lava flows on the surface of the crater floor.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the eruption “does not pose a lava threat to communities” though volcanic particles and gases may create breathing problems for people exposed.

The eruption was preceded by a period of strong seismicity and “rapid uplift” of the summit, according to USGS.

The agency elevated Kilauea’s aviation color code from orange to red as it evaluates the eruption and its volcano alert from watch to warning.

Located in a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. In 2019, a string of earthquakes and major eruption at Kilauea led to the destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses.

The volcano erupted in January and June of this year.
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Novak Djokovic emerged from an exhilarating and exhausting U.S. Open final with a 24th Grand Slam title on Sunday night, using every ounce of his energy and some serve-and-volley guile to get past Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a match that was more closely contested than the straight-set score indicated.

Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, moved one major singles title in front of Serena Williams to become the first player to win 24 in the Open era, which began in 1968. Margaret Court also collected a total of 24, but 13 of those came before professionals were admitted to the Slam events.

“It obviously means the world to me,” said Djokovic, who will return to No. 1 in the rankings on Monday.

There were moments, particularly in the 1-hour, 44-minute second set that was as much about tenacity as talent, when Djokovic appeared to be faltering. After some of the most grueling points — and there were many — he would lean over with hands on knees or use his racket for support or pause to stretch his legs. After one, he dropped to his back on the court and stayed down for a bit as the crowd roared.

He allowed Medvedev to come within a single point of taking that set while returning at 6-5. Djokovic rushed the net behind his serve, and while Medvedev had an opening for a backhand passing shot he did not come through.

That was a key adjustment: When Djokovic was looking more bedraggled, he turned to serve-and-volleying, not his usual sort of tactic, to great success. He won 20 of 22 points he played that way, and 37 of 44 overall on the points when he went to the net.

This triumph against Medvedev, the opponent who beat him in the 2021 final at Flushing Meadows to stop a bid for the first men’s calendar-year Grand Slam in more than a half-century, made Djokovic the oldest male champion at the U.S. Open in the Open era.

“First of all, Novak, I want to ask: What are you still doing here? Come on,” Medvedev joked during the trophy presentation.

Djokovic’s fourth championship in New York, where he was unable to compete a year ago because he isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19, goes alongside his 10 trophies from the Australian Open, seven from Wimbledon and three from the French Open, extending his lead on the men’s Slam list. Rafael Nadal, who has been sidelined since January with a hip problem that required surgery, is next with 22; Roger Federer, who announced his retirement a year ago, finished with 20.

When it was over, Medvedev tapped Djokovic on the chest as they chatted at the net. Djokovic flung his racket away, put his arms up and then knelt on the court, with his head bowed. And then the celebration was on. First, he found his daughter for a hug. His son and wife came next, along with his team.

Soon, Djokovic was donning a shirt with “24” and “Mamba Forever” written on it as a tribute to the late NBA star Kobe Bryant, who wore that jersey number. And on top of that went a white jacket with the same significant number stamped on the chest.

As good as ever, Djokovic went 27-1 in the sport’s most prestigious events this season: The lone blemish was a loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Wimbledon in July. Djokovic will rise to No. 1 in the rankings on Monday, overtaking Alcaraz, who was the defending champion at Flushing Meadows but was eliminated by No. 3 Medvedev.

At the start Sunday, with the Arthur Ashe Stadium retractable roof shut because of rain in the forecast, Djokovic was comfortable as can be. No sign of the occasion weighing on him, no trace of the tension he acknowledged briefly arose late in his semifinal against unseeded American Ben Shelton.

His exemplary movement good as ever, every stroke just so, Djokovic came out as his best self. He grabbed 12 of the first 16 points — three via aces perfectly placed, and with pace, and four via exchanges that lasted 10 strokes or more — along the way to leads of 3-0 and 4-1.

Medvedev, in contrast, seemed tight, jittery, the looping swings of his white racket breaking down repeatedly, whether on a trio of double-faults in the opening set or during the lengthier points, other than on one 37-shot back-and-forth that ended when Djokovic blinked, stumbling as he flubbed a backhand.

Beyond that, though, Djokovic was as reliable as a metronome, anticipating nearly everything headed his way and scurrying this way and that to retrieve and respond, as is his wont.

And the fans sure were appropriately appreciative, which has not always been the case over Djokovic’s career. On this afternoon-into-evening, support came from thousands, not only the folks invoking his two-syllable nickname while chanting, “Let’s go, No-le, let’s go!” or those in his guest box, including Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey, one of many A-listers on hand.

When he got to set point in the first on a miscue by Medvedev, Djokovic showed his first real bit of emotion, raising a fist and turning to the corner where his entourage had jumped to their feet. When another Medvedev miss ended the set, Djokovic simply exhaled and strode to the sideline.

He relies on analytics and what a foe’s tendencies are. He leans on instinct and a masterful ability to read opposing serves and groundstrokes. On Sunday, his blue shoes carried him right where he needed to be, more often than not, and his flexibility — turning, bending, contorting, stretching, sliding, defending with his back to the net, even — allowed him to keep the ball in play, when required, and create flip-the-switch offense, too, if desired.

Medvedev plays a similar type of tennis, and their mirror images would elongate points for 25 shots, 35 shots, more.

Was Djokovic perfect? No. But, wow, he came close in sections, and he was absolutely good enough throughout to win, as he so often is.
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Last month, Canada imposed sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector. Targets included subsidiaries of Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation. The U.S. imposed similar sanctions in April. Yet the West continues to have ties with Rosatom, which dominates the nuclear fuel supply chain. Oleksii Kovalenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Kostiantyn Golubchyk.
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U.S. President Joe Biden has held his highest-level direct talks in months with the Chinese. The talks came during the recent summit of 20 of the world’s largest economies in New Delhi, India. During a historic visit to Vietnam after that, Biden also said a comprehensive strategic partnership between the U.S. and Vietnam is not about containing China. VOA’s State Department bureau chief Nike Ching has more.
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Like many horrors before it, bad reviews didn’t scare off moviegoers from buying tickets for ” The Nun II.” The sequel to the 2018 hit, released in 3,728 theaters by Warner Bros., topped the box office in its first weekend in North American theaters earning an estimated $32.6 million, the studio said Sunday.

AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote in his one-star review that it’s “a movie that seems destined to pound a nail into this franchise’s undead coffin” and audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore. But it hardly matters: Horror is perhaps the most reliably critic-proof genre, at least when it comes to opening weekend.

The Michael Graves-directed sequel starring Taissa Farmiga and Storm Reid fell far short of the debut for the first film ($53.8 million), but it’s still a solid launch. “The Nun” movies are part of the so-called Conjuring universe, which now has nine films, and $2.1 billion in box office, to its name. The sequel also played well internationally, picking up $52.7 million from 69 markets (Mexico being the strongest with $8.9 million) and boosting its global debut to $85.3 million.

“To have a horror universe is really powerful in terms of the revenue generating potential,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s a great bet that Warners made on the horror moviegoing experience never waning.”

And there are many more scary movies on the calendar through the fall including “A Death in Venice,” which opens next week, “Saw X” on Sept. 29 and “The Exorcist: Believer” on Oct. 6.

“The Nun II” bumped Denzel Washington’s ” Equalizer 3 ” to second place in its second weekend. The Columbia Pictures release added $12.1 million, bringing its domestic grosses to $61.9 million and its worldwide earnings to $107.7 million.

Third place went to another new movie: The third installment of Nia Vardalos’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” which arrives 21 years after the first film became a massive sleeper hit earning some $369 million against a $5 million production budget. Released by Focus Features in 3,650 theaters, the third film earned an estimated $10 million, overwhelmingly driven by female audiences (71%) who were 25 or older (83%).

Vardalos wrote, directed and stars in “Greek Wedding 3,” which brings back John Corbett and takes the gang to Greece. AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote in her review that the movie, which has gotten mostly poor marks, is “like a thrice-warmed piece of baklava.”

The Indian revenge thriller, “Jawan,” starring Shah Rukh Khan, opened in fourth place with $6.2 million from only 813 locations. It was released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Khan, a Bollywood superstar, also led another box office sensation this year, “Pathaan,” which has made $130 million worldwide.

“Barbie,” which comes to VOD on Tuesday, dropped to No. 5 after 8 triumphant weeks with $5.9 million from 3,281 locations. The Warner Bros. film has now made $620.5 million domestically.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Nun II,” $32.6 million.

2. “The Equalizer 3,” $12.1 million.

3. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” $10 million.

4. “Jawan,” $6.2 million.

5. “Barbie,” $5.9 million.

6. “Blue Beetle,” $3.8 million.

7. “Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story,” $3.4 million.

8. “Oppenheimer,” $3 million.

9. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” $2.6 million.
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U.S. President Joe Biden said Sunday he still intends to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a 10-month gap in communication, while saying that he had met with Xi’s deputy in New Delhi earlier in the day.

“My team, my staff, still meets with President Xi’s cabinet,” he said at a news conference in Hanoi in response to a question from VOA. “In fact, I met with his No. 2 person … in India today.”

“It’s not like there’s a crisis if I don’t personally speak” with Xi, who skipped the G-20 meeting of world leaders in India. “It would be better if I did. I hope to get to see him again soon.”

On the meeting with Premier Li Qiang, he added: “It wasn’t confrontational at all,” adding they talked about stability and making sure the developing world “had access to change.”

But Biden noted Xi “has his hands full right now. He has overwhelming unemployment with youths” and said a major sector of the Chinese economy, real estate, is faltering.

“I don’t want to contain” Chinese economic growth, Biden said. “I want to see China succeed economically, but I want to see them succeed by the rules” of international norms.

The U.S. leader said the Chinese economy, second in the world behind the United States, has struggled because of a lack of international growth, but didn’t see it as leading to armed conflict over Taiwan, the self-governed territory that China claims as part of Beijing’s domain.

“I don’t think this is going to cause China to invade Taiwan,” Biden said. “As a matter of fact, the opposite, probably doesn’t have the same capacity that it had before.”

Several Biden Cabinet members have traveled recently to Beijing to meet with their counterparts. But the two countries have lately had a contentious relationship over trade, naval patrols near Taiwan and a spy balloon that China sent over the United States earlier this year.

Biden ordered the balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean as it reached the U.S. eastern seaboard but not before it lingered over sensitive U.S. military installations as it crossed the entirety of the United States. In addition, China hacked the emails of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo before her recent trip to Beijing.
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A new lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from appearing on the 2024 Colorado primary ballot has revived a legal and political debate over an obscure provision of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, a progressive watchdog, filed the lawsuit on behalf of six Colorado voters on Wednesday. It claims that Trump is ineligible to run for the White House again because he supported an “insurrection” against the Constitution on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the Congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

The lawsuit cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 to prevent former Confederate officials and soldiers from regaining power after the 1861-65 American Civil War.

The provision, known as the “disqualification clause” and “insurrection clause,” says that no one who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution or “given aid or comfort” to its enemies can hold any federal or state office unless given a waiver by Congress.

“Because Trump took these actions after he swore an oath to support the Constitution, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits him from being president and from qualifying for the Colorado ballot for president in 2024,” the CREW lawsuit says.

The lawsuit raises several questions, including whether Trump’s actions in the lead-up to Jan. 6 constituted a rebellion or insurrection, whether Section 3 applies to the presidency, and whether state election officials have the power to enforce it without an act of Congress.

CREW is not the only group seeking Trump’s disqualification. Two other liberal groups — Free Speech for People, and Mia Familia Vota Education Fund — recently asked top election officials in more than 10 states to bar Trump and have vowed to take legal action.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed this week that “almost all legal scholars” agree that the 14th Amendment doesn’t apply to the 2024 presidential election.  He called the effort “election interference” and “just another ‘trick’ being used by the Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, to again steal an election.”

But it’s not just those on the left making the case. In recent weeks, a growing number of conservative legal scholars have joined the calls for Trump’s removal from the ballot.

Among them are J. Michael Luttig, a conservative former federal appellate judge, and Steven Calabresi, a co-founder of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization. They contend that Trump’s actions constitute an insurrection against the Constitution, and that disqualifies him from holding office again.

Here is what you need to know about the Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and the push to kick Trump off the 2024 presidential ballot:

What is Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and what does it say?

The 14th Amendment is one of three amendments to the U.S. Constitution that were enacted after the Civil War to extend civil and legal rights to formerly enslaved Black people.

The amendment is best known for its Section 1, which grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” and guarantees citizens the “equal protection of the laws.”

The amendment’s less-well-known Section 3 states that no one who took an “oath … to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution or gave “aid or comfort to [its] enemies” can serve as a senator, representative or presidential elector or hold any office — civil or military — unless approved by a supermajority vote of Congress.

How has the provision been used in the past?

In the years after the U.S. Civil War, a period known as the Reconstruction Era, the provision was used to prevent former Confederate officials from holding office.

But the measure remained largely dormant for more than 150 years until the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

Following that attack, liberal groups sought to use Section 3 to challenge the eligibility of several Congressional candidates who had opposed the 2020 election results. The effort failed to gain traction. The only successful application of Section 3 occurred last September, when a New Mexico judge removed from office a county commissioner who had been convicted in connection with Jan. 6.

Does the provision apply to the president?

Section 3 does not explicitly mention whether the president is subject to disqualification under the provision, leading some experts to argue that the presidency is exempt.

But that is a misreading of the text and history of the provision, said Gerard Magliocca, an Indiana University law professor who has written extensively about Section 3.

“This issue was raised in Congress when the proposal was under consideration,” Magliocca told VOA. “Someone said, does this apply to the presidency or the vice presidency? And the answer given was yes, it does.”

What is more, Magliocca said, the phrase “officer of the United States,” as used in Section 3, refers to the president, making him subject to the disqualification provision.

“Andrew Johnson, who was president at the time, repeatedly referred to himself as the chief executive officer of the United States in asserting his authority to pursue Reconstruction in the aftermath of the Civil War in 1865,” Magliocca said.

What are the legal arguments for and against applying Section 3 to Trump?

Though initially designed to punish rebellious Southerners, most legal scholars agree that Section 3 may apply to any act of rebellion or insurrection. The debate now is whether Jan. 6 qualifies as such an act.

Proponents of Trump’s disqualification say that it does and that the case against the former president is straightforward: Trump swore to uphold the Constitution as president but then broke that vow when he instigated the Jan. 6 “insurrection,” making him unfit for office under Section 3.

The provision doesn’t require a criminal conviction, said U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat and a staunch Trump critic.

“It just requires that you engage in these [insurrection] acts,” Schiff said recently on MSNBC. “It’s a disqualification from holding office again. And it fits Donald Trump to a T.”

Opponents disagree that Jan. 6 rises to the level of an insurrection. They note Section 3 was added in response to a real rebellion.

“But it is notable that Trump has not been charged even with incitement, let alone rebellion or insurrection,” said Jonathan Turley, a conservative law professor at The George Washington University, Wednesday on Fox News.

Derek Muller, a law professor and election law expert at University of Notre Dame, said the dispute in part hinges on what acts count as insurrection.

“If you’re making a comparison to the Civil War, what happened on January 6th was certainly not at that level, but are there lesser acts that could fit this?” Muller said.

Another question concerns the role of Congress in disqualifying individuals. Some scholars have argued that Section 3 is not “self-executing,” meaning it needs an act of Congress to be implemented.  But others say no such action is needed.

“I don’t have strong thoughts on those questions, but I think they’re the things that people are wondering about, whether or not it applies in the context of what happened today,” Muller said.

The courts will decide

The legal challenges to Trump’s candidacy are just beginning to make their way through the courts and eventually may end up before the Supreme Court.

Secretaries of state from Democratic-leaning states such as Colorado and Michigan say they’ll await court guidance before taking action. But the courts may not weigh in soon.

“I think a lot of state courts will be very reluctant to hear these claims early,” Muller said.

This is not the first time a major presidential candidate has faced legal challenges over his eligibility.

Barack Obama in 2008 and Ted Cruz in 2016 faced lawsuits over questions regarding whether they were “natural born citizens,” a requirement for presidency.

Obama was born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and American mother. Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father and American mother.

But the lawsuits didn’t reach the “merits” stage to address the key question — was the candidate a natural born citizen? — as they ground through procedural hurdles.

A similar fate may await the legal challenges to Trump’s candidacy, Muller said.

“Many of these cases will continue the same way, hitting all those barriers before they get to the heart of the question: Did you participate in an insurrection or rebellion?” Muller said. 
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Most of West Maui will officially reopen to travelers Oct. 8 under a new wildfire emergency proclamation signed on Friday by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

Nonessential travel to much of the island’s western coastline has been strongly discouraged since devastating wildfires killed at least 115 people in the historic town of Lahaina last month.

State tourism officials initially urged travelers to stay away from Maui so residents and agencies could focus on emergency response efforts and supporting those displaced by the fires. In mid-August, officials began encouraging tourists to return to other parts of Maui, avoiding the burn zone and spending money to help the region recover.

On Thursday, Green told a meeting of the state Council on Revenues that he expected authorities to reopen most of West Maui to travelers in October, with the exception of the fire-damaged neighborhoods. The area, which includes beach resorts in Kaanapali, north of historic Lahaina, has 11,000 hotel rooms. That’s half Maui’s total.

In the emergency proclamation signed Friday, the governor said the previous guidance that strongly discouraged nonessential travel to West Maui will be discontinued Oct. 8.

Tourism is a major economic driver in Hawaii, and the wildfire disaster prompted state officials to lower their 2023 economic growth prediction for the entire state to 1.1%, down from 1.8%.

The number of visitors arriving on Maui sank about 70% after the Aug. 8 fire, down to 2,000 a day, and only half of the available hotel rooms there are occupied, said Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association president Mufi Hannemann. Airlines have begun offering steep discounts on flights to Hawaii, and some resorts have slashed room rates by 20% or are offering a fifth night free.
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How hot is it in Phoenix? In what has been the hottest summer ever measured, the sizzling city in the Sonoran Desert broke yet another record Saturday when temperatures topped 43.3 Celsius.

It was the 54th day this year that the official reading at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport made the mark, eclipsing the previous record of 53 days set in 2020.

Matt Salerno, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the hot streak could reach 55 days.

“We do have one more day,” he said.

An extreme heat warning remained in effect, with temperatures forecast at 43.9 C on Sunday and 41.1 C on Monday.

Salerno said Phoenix experienced the hottest three months since record-keeping began in 1895, including the hottest July and the second-hottest August.

The daily average temperature of 36.1 C in June, July and August passed the previous record of 35.9 C set three years ago.

The average daily temperature was 39.3 C in July, Salerno said, and the daily average in August was 37.1 C.

In July, Phoenix also set a record with a 31-day streak of highs at or above 43.3 C. The previous record of 18 straight days was set in 1974.

The sweltering summer of 2023 has seen a historic heat wave stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert.

Worldwide, last month was the hottest August ever recorded, according to the World Meteorological Organization. It was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023. Scientists blame human-caused climate change with an extra push from a natural El Nino, which is a temporary warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather around the globe.

As of Saturday, Phoenix has tallied 104 days this year with temperatures over 37.7 C, Salerno said. That’s in line with the average of 111 days of 37.7 C  or higher every year between 1991 and 2020.

Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and the most populous county in Arizona, also appears headed toward an annual record for heat-associated deaths.

County public health officials have confirmed 194 heat-associated deaths this year as of Sept. 2. An additional 351 cases are under investigation.

Maricopa County confirmed 425 heat-related deaths in 2022.
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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque drew an immediate court challenge from a gun-rights group Saturday, as legal scholars and advocates said they expected.

The National Association for Gun Rights and Foster Haines, a member who lives in Albuquerque, filed documents in U.S. District Court in New Mexico suing Lujan Grisham and seeking an immediate block to the implementation of her order.

The challenge was expected, but even so, the governor’s action Friday was an attempt to “move the debate,” said Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount’s Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, after Lujan Grisham announced she was temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in her state’s largest city and surrounding Bernalillo County.

The governor, a Democrat, said the 30-day suspension, enacted as an emergency public health measure, would apply in most public places, from city sidewalks to parks.

She said state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil violations and carry a fine of up to $5,000.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, who once served as a Democratic Party leader and was appointed by Lujan Grisham, on Saturday joined Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Police Chief Harold Medina saying they wouldn’t enforce the order.

“As an officer of the court, I cannot and will not enforce something that is clearly unconstitutional,” said Bregman, the top prosecutor in the Albuquerque area. “This office will continue to focus on criminals of any age that use guns in the commission of a crime.”

Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he was uneasy about how gun owners might respond.

“I am wary of placing my deputies in positions that could lead to civil liability conflicts,” Allen said, “as well as the potential risks posed by prohibiting law-abiding citizens from their constitutional right to self-defense.”

Medina noted that Albuquerque police had arrested more than 200 suspects in killings in the last two years. Police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said enforcing the order also could put Albuquerque police in a difficult position with a U.S. Department of Justice police reform settlement.

Lujan Grisham said she was compelled to act after recent shootings including the death this week of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium and gunfire last month that killed a 5-year-old girl who was asleep in a motor home. The governor also cited the shooting death in August of a 13-year-old girl in Taos County.

“No person, other than a law enforcement officer or licensed security officer, shall possess a firearm … either openly or concealed,” the governor’s order states.

Levinson told The Associated Press in a phone call Friday that Lujan Grisham would draw a court fight, saying the governor was “bumping up against the Second Amendment, no doubt about it.”

“And we have a very conservative Supreme Court that is poised to expand Second Amendment rights,” Levinson added.

Dudley Brown, founder and president of the Colorado-based gun-rights group, called the governor’s action unconstitutional.

“She needs to be held accountable for stripping the God-given rights of millions away with the stroke of a pen,” he said in a statement announcing the lawsuit and request for a restraining order. A court hearing was not immediately set.

The top Republican in the New Mexico Senate, Greg Baca of Belen, also denounced Lujan Grisham’s order as an infringement on the gun rights of law-abiding citizens. Dan Lewis, who serves on the nonpartisan Albuquerque City Council, called the order an unconstitutional edict.

Lujan Grisham said gun owners still would be able to transport guns to private locations such as a gun range or gun store if the firearm is in a container or has a trigger lock or mechanism making it impossible to discharge.

The governor’s order calls for monthly inspections of firearms dealers statewide to ensure compliance with gun laws and for the state Department of Health to compile a report on gunshot victims at hospitals that includes age, race, gender and ethnicity, along with the brand and caliber of firearm involved.

Levinson said she was not aware of any other governor taking a step as restrictive as Lujan Grisham. But she pointed to a proposal by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, to amend the U.S. Constitution to harden federal gun laws.

“I don’t think it will be a political loss for (Lujan Grisham) to be overturned,” Levinson said. “She can say she did everything she could but was stopped by the courts.”

Jacob Charles, a law professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law who studies the Second Amendment, noted that the Supreme Court, in the June 2022 Bruen case, expanded the right of law-abiding Americans to carry guns in public for self-defense.

He said that ruling takes away the ability to take into account arguments about a compelling government interest, like the gun violence that Lujan Grisham said prompted her order. Now, judges must solely rely on whether any similar historical examples exist.

“They can’t assess whether or not this is going to reduce gun violence. They can’t assess whether or not there are other alternatives that government could have done,” Charles said. He later added, “What it means is that contemporary costs and benefits aren’t part of the analysis.” 
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Sept. 11, 2001, seems like yesterday for the small group that gathered Friday at the Pentagon Courtyard to mark the 22nd annual memorial for those who perished in the attack.

Those in attendance knew the 184 people who were killed at the Pentagon more than two decades ago.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaida terrorists launched the worst attack on American soil since Japan’s assault on Pearl Harbor in 1941. They hijacked four commercial airplanes and effectively turned the jetliners into explosive precision missiles for their suicide mission. The first plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Sixteen minutes later, a second plane hit the South Tower. New Yorkers abandoned their cars in rush-hour traffic and watched as the towers collapsed.

Yet another plane smashed into the Pentagon, headquarters of the Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia. The final hijacked plane was destined for the Capitol but went down in western Pennsylvania after passengers tried unsuccessfully to wrest control of the cockpit. Nearly 3,000 people from 93 countries died that day.

The Pentagon was ultimately repaired, and a new World Trade Center rose. But the attack’s scars, both literal and figurative, remain. Chaplain John Goodloe of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington gave the invocation. “Our land needs healing, Oh God,” he prayed, stressing the importance of diversity and interfaith tolerance.

After remarks from Deputy Defense Director Sajeel Ahmed and Admiral Christopher Grady, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks delivered a keynote address.

“As someone who remembers vividly the course of my own steps right here at the Pentagon that day,” she said, “I can tell you: sharing these personal reflections remains hard.”

Hicks highlighted her colleagues’ heroism, echoing Ahmed’s remarks. All of the speakers shared a common message: resilience.

Hicks called on adults to continue an intergenerational dialogue. Young Americans, she said, must be taught to appreciate how the events of September 11 have changed the world around them, even if “[t]hey were too young [to remember] or hadn’t yet been born.”

“You are not alone,” she told an audience of surviving family members, first responders, and coworkers who were spared. “We have not forgotten about you or those we’ve lost. And we never will. Thank you.”

President Joe Biden plans to pay his respects at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, en route from India’s G20 summit and a diplomatic meeting in Hanoi.
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Since China reopened its borders in January, thousands of Chinese have traveled to the United States. Some have asked for asylum. Mike O’Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, where recent migrants are adapting to life in a new country.
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The IRS announced on Friday that it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said that with a boost in federal funding and the help of artificial intelligence tools, the agency has new means of targeting wealthy people who have “cut corners” on their taxes.

“If you pay your taxes on time, it should be particularly frustrating when you see that wealthy filers are not,” Werfel told reporters in a call previewing the announcement. He said 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000 each in back taxes and 75 large business partnerships that have assets of roughly $10 billion on average are targeted for the new “compliance efforts.”

Werfel said a massive hiring effort and AI research tools developed by IRS employees and contractors are playing a big role in identifying wealthy tax dodgers. The agency is trying to showcase positive results from its burst of new funding under President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration as Republicans in Congress look to claw back some of that money.

“New tools are helping us see patterns and trends that we could not see before, and as a result, we have higher confidence on where to look and find where large partnerships are shielding income,” he said.

In July, IRS leadership said it collected $38 million in delinquent taxes from more than 175 high-income taxpayers in the span of a few months. Now, the agency will scale up that effort, Werfel said.

“The IRS will have dozens of revenue officers focused on these high-end collection cases in fiscal year 2024,” he said.

A team of academic economists and IRS researchers in 2021 found that the top 1% of U.S. income earners fail to report more than 20% of their earnings to the IRS.

The newly announced tax collection effort will begin as soon as October. “We have more hiring to do,” Werfel said. “It’s going to be a very busy fall for us.”

Conservatives warn of more audits

Grover Norquist, who heads the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, said the IRS’s plan to pursue high-wealth individuals does not preclude the IRS from eventually pursuing middle-income Americans for audits down the road.

“This power and these resources allow them to go after anyone they want,” he said. “The next step is to go after anyone they wish to target for political purposes.”

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said the IRS’s new plan is a “big deal” that “represents a fresh approach to taking on sophisticated tax cheats.”

“This action goes to the heart of Democrats’ effort to ensure the wealthiest are paying their fair share,” he said in a statement.

David Williams, of the right-leaning nonprofit Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said that “every business and every person should pay their taxes — full stop.” However, “I just hope this isn’t used as a justification to hire thousands of new agents” who would audit Americans en masse, he said.

Inflation Reduction Act funds effort

The federal tax collector gained the enhanced ability to identify tax delinquents with resources provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in August 2022. The agency was in line for an $80 billion infusion under the law, but that money is vulnerable to potential cutbacks by Congress.

House Republicans built a $1.4 billion reduction to the IRS into the debt ceiling and budget cuts package passed by Congress this summer. The White House said the debt deal also has a separate agreement to take $20 billion from the IRS over the next two years and divert that money to other nondefense programs.

With the threat of a government shutdown looming in a dispute over spending levels, there is the potential for additional cuts to the agency.
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that global divisions are growing, risking catastrophic fragmentation and confrontation.

He told reporters at the G20 summit in New Delhi that the gathering’s theme – One Earth, One Family, One Future – resonates today not just as an ideal but as an indictment of the times.

“Because if we are indeed one global family – we today resemble a rather dysfunctional one,” he said. “Divisions are growing, tensions are flaring up and trust is eroding – which together raise the specter of fragmentation, and ultimately, confrontation.”

He said such divisions are very concerning in the best of times, but in the present, “it spells catastrophe.”

Guterres noted a list of challenges facing the international community, including accelerating climate change, a multiplicity of wars and conflicts, growing poverty and hunger, and the risks from new technologies. He emphasized that the outdated multilateral institutions of the post-World War II era need to evolve to meet 21st-century challenges.

“We need effective international institutions rooted in 21st-century realities and based on the U.N. Charter and international law,” he said. “That is why I have been advocating for bold steps to make those global institutions truly universal and representative of today’s realities, and more responsive to the needs of developing economies.”

Later this month, Guterres will convene summits on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to address climate action, sustainable development, and pandemic prevention and preparedness.

He hopes to get leaders, particularly from G20 nations, which are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, to make bold commitments, including ending all licensing or funding of new fossil fuel projects and fulfilling financing pledges to help developing economies mitigate and adapt to climate change.

On the development front, the secretary-general is aiming for an ambitious stimulus of at least $500 billion a year toward the U.N.’s sustainable development goals. Many of the 17 goals that are focused on ending poverty are off-track to meet targets by 2030.

“All of this is within reach, but it will take all hands,” he said. “No nation, no region, no group – not even the G20 – can do it alone. We must act together as one family to save our one Earth and safeguard our one future.”
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