Large swaths of the Amazon rainforest have been ablaze for more three weeks, with the smoke visible from space and blotting out the sun for an hour on Monday in São Paulo, Brazil.
On Wednesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro lobbed the blame at environmental organizations, saying the fires "may have been initiated" by the groups, in an effort "to bring problems to Brazil," reports The Guardian. He made this statement while speaking to a steel industry congress in the capital of Brasilia. When pressed, Bolsonaro admitted that he had no evidence of his claim and was going off personal feeling.
Fires in the Amazon aren't unheard of, with July and August brings the onset of the dry season, but so far more than 73,000 fires have been reported this year, a record number. It's also an 84 percent increase from 2018 during this time period, according to satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
Illegal deforestation and diminishing regulations are a major problem in the Amazon, writes The Guardian, not aided by Bolsonaro's infamously pro-industry and anti-conservationist approach. Bolsonaro fired the head of the INPE only weeks ago, after disputing data on deforestation from the agency.
At this time, the primary source of the current fire remains unclear. Cyrena Touros
Not everyone thinks President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July was such a big deal.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has denied that Trump repeatedly pressured Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, over his ties to a Ukrainian natural gas firm that was being investigated for corruption. "I know what the conversation was about, and I think there was no pressure," Prystaiko said during an interview with Ukrainian television station Hromadske that aired Saturday. "There was talk, conversations are different, leaders have the right to discuss any problems that exist. This conversation was long, friendly, and it touched on many questions, sometimes requiring serious answers." Prystaiko added that Ukraine is an independent state with its "own secrets."
Still, others are more concerned about the affects the story could have on the country, The Washington Post reports. "It's a diplomatic disaster for our relations with the United States," said Alyona Getmanchuk, the director of the New Europe Center, a Kiev-based foreign policy think tank. A senior European diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Post that things "really couldn't get worse for Kiev," while a former Ukrainian policymaker, whom the Post described as "normally gregarious," declined to comment to avoid doing "even more harm to Ukraine." Read more at The Washington Post. Tim O'Donnell
There's something to be said for self-awareness — especially in the 2020 Democratic primaries.
Addisu Demissie, the campaign manager for Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), suggested in a memo Saturday that the Democratic presidential candidate will bow out of the race if he doesn't raise $1.7 million in 10 days. The memo noted that only four campaigns have the funds to compete seriously for the nomination and Booker's is not currently among them. "Without a fundraising surge to close out this quarter, we do not see a legitimate long-term path forward," Demissie said.
Later, in a call with reporters, Demissie was even more forthright, answering in the affirmative when asked if Booker would drop out if the team fails to reach its goal. That will likely be tough, but Booker did raise $1.4 million at the end of the first quarter, so it's not inconceivable.
Booker's biggest problem when it comes to fundraising has been an inability to bring in small donations — just 21 percent of his presidential fundraising comes from donors who gave $200 or less, The Wall Street Journal reports. He also spent more than he raised in the second fundraising quarter which ended in June.
Still, Booker was able to qualify for the most recent debate in September, and there are several other candidates who trail him in the polls that will likely keep their campaigns going for far longer than Booker (if he can't come up with the money, of course.) Perhaps, it's really about getting out with your head held high. Read more at The Wall Street Journal. Tim O'Donnell
Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) has entered the race.
Kennedy made the long-awaited announcement Saturday that he'll challenge Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for his seat in 2020. The 38-year-old grandson of the late Robert Kennedy said he plans to change Washington from the Senate. "Donald Trump has forced a reckoning without question," he said to a crowd in a community center in East Boston. "But to meet this moment it requires more than just beating him, it requires taking on a broken structure that allowed him to win in the first place."
Kennedy has an early lead on Markey in the polls, but Markey — who, like Kennedy, is considered a progressive — has a lot more institutional support, both at the state and national levels. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) all support the incumbent, for instance.
But Kennedy reportedly isn't too concerned about that. Instead, his campaign will likely focus more heavily on turning out new voters, especially immigrants and people of color — a strategy that worked well for Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) in 2018, Politico reports. His name, it turns out, doesn't seem to hurt, either. "People still care about the Kennedy name," said Scott Ferson, founder of Liberty Square Group, a strategic communications firm. "It's a very, very powerful legacy." Tim O'Donnell
Iran on Saturday sent veiled warnings to countries like the United States and Saudi Arabia, shortly after Washington announced Friday that President Trump had approved a decision to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia following last week's strikes on Saudi oil facilities. Both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia allege that Iran was behind the attacks, but Tehran denies the accusations.
While U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the "modest" deployment would be "defensive in nature," Iran is apparently preparing for alternative scenarios and they seemingly want any country to think twice before launching any sort of military operation. "Be careful and make no mistake," General Hossein Salami, the chief of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Saturday during a speech. He added that his forces are "ready for any scenario" and have carried out war exercises. "Our readiness to respond to any aggression is definitive," Salami said. "We will never allow a war to enter our land."
Salami went on to say that Iran "will pursue any aggressor" and "will continue until the full destruction of any aggressor." Salami was speaking generally, but there is little doubt the U.S. was the subject of his ire. Tim O'Donnell
The United States and El Salvador signed a "cooperative asylum agreement" Friday in what is seen as another attempt by the Trump administration to curb the flow of migrants from Central America coming into the U.S.
Few details about how the agreement will work or when it will go into effect were provided, but acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said the pact "is one significant step forward" and that it will build on what the U.S. has "accomplished already" with El Salvador's neighbor Guatemala, which is trying to implement a "safe third country" agreement with the U.S. signed earlier this summer. El Salvador's Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco told The Associated Press that the agreement could similarly lead to migrants from third countries obtaining refuge in El Salvador if they pass through on their way to the U.S., although most northern migration routes don't include the country.
Criticism was swift, with opponents arguing that El Salvador is not safe enough to serve as a refuge. "If this agreement goes into effect, the U.S. will be forcing the most vulnerable communities to seek safety in a country that is not equipped to protect its own citizens or provide economic opportunity," said Oscar Chacon, the executive director of Alianza Americas, a network of immigrant-led organizations. Read more at NPR and The Associated Press. Tim O'Donnell