USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — No votes have been cast in the Democratic presidential nominating contest, but the winnowing has begun.

A distinct top tier of candidates is breaking away from the pack in early polling and fundraising, building distance between themselves and the rest of the bloated field. Although the first nominating contest in Iowa is still more than six months away, tighter qualifying standards for the fall debates and cash flow problems have prompted questions about how many campaigns will still be operational next year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a remarkable political repudiation, the Democratic-led U.S. House voted to condemn President Donald Trump’s “racist comments” against four congresswomen of color, despite protestations by Trump’s Republican congressional allies and his own insistence he hasn’t “a racist bone in my body.”

WASHINGTON, July 16. /TASS/: The United States plans to discuss a possibility of a new accord limiting nuclear arms that could eventually include China at Geneva consultations with Russia on July 17-18, senior US officials told Reuters on Monday.

US officials noted that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) will not be discussed at the talks and said that Washington does not expect any breakthrough at the consultations.

16 July 2019; AFP: As uncannily realistic "deep fake" videos proliferate online, including one recently retweeted by Donald Trump, journalism schools are scrambling to adapt to an era of misinformation -- or fake news.

Experts discussed how to train tomorrow's reporters for these new challenges at the World Journalism Education Congress in Paris last week.

The three-day event -- "Teaching Journalism During a Disruptive Age" -- was attended by 600 educators and researchers from 70 countries.

16 July 2019; DW: James Fields Jr. was convicted on state charges over the death of Heather Heyer and causing dozens of injuries. He had avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr., an American neo-Nazi and white supremacist, was given a second life sentence on Monday in connection with his 2017 attack against a group of activists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations has told the United States that it is concerned over the restrictive travel measures imposed on Iran's foreign minister, a UN spokesman said on Monday.

"The Secretariat is aware of the restrictive travel measures recently imposed by the host country on personnel of the permanent mission of Iran to the UN," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The White House formally nominated Mark Esper as the secretary of defense on Monday as it struggles to fill the top Pentagon post that has been vacant for over six months.

The letter of nomination was sent to the U.S. Senate on Monday afternoon, one day before Esper's scheduled confirmation hearing. Esper, who previously served as the acting defense secretary, will be relieved of the role until his confirmation as early as Thursday.

Richard Spencer, secretary of the Navy, will act as the top Pentagon official until Esper's confirmation.

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- World hunger is on the rise in absolute number and more than 820 million people were hungry in 2018, a UN report said Monday.

After decades of steady decline, the trend in world hunger, as measured by the prevalence of undernourishment, reverted in 2015, said "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019" report launched at the UN headquarters in New York.

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces on Monday called on the international community to support women's rights and empowerment.

In her remarks to a General Assembly meeting on gender equality and women's leadership for a sustainable world, Espinosa warned that women lag behind on virtually every Sustainable Development Goal.

NEW YORK (AP) — Government restrictions on religion have increased markedly in many places around the world, not only in authoritarian countries, but also in many of Europe’s democracies, according to a report surveying 198 countries that was released Monday.

The report released by the Pew Research Center, covering developments through 2017, also seeks to document the scope of religion-based harassment and violence. Regarding the world’s two largest religions, it said Christians were harassed in 143 countries and Muslims in 140.