Buffalo gunman pleads guilty in racist attack that left 10 dead
The gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist massacre at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May pleaded guilty to state charges against him in Erie County Court on Monday. The gunman, Payton Gendron, 19, was indicted by a grand jury in June on 25 counts, including murder and a single count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment without parole. As Judge Susan Eagan read each count to him in the packed courtroom, Gendron simply replied “guilty” or “yes.” After the hearing, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said in a news conference, “Justice has been done today.”
Trump plans limited role in Georgia Senate runoff
Donald Trump will not campaign with Herschel Walker during the final week of the Georgia Senate runoff election, after both camps decided the former president’s appearance carried more political risks than rewards, campaign officials for the two Republicans said Monday. Instead of holding a rally, Trump plans a call with supporters in Georgia and will continue sending online fundraising pleas for Walker, two people with knowledge of the planning said. The decision to keep Trump out of the spotlight was a response largely to the former president’s political style, which can energize core supporters but also motivate Democratic voters and turn off significant segments of moderate Republicans.
GOP-controlled county in Arizona holds up election results
Republican officials in an Arizona county voted Monday to hold up certification of local results in the midterm elections, reflecting an expansion of partisan battles into largely uncharted legal territory. The Cochise County board of supervisors refused to certify the results, although members cited no issues with the count or problems in the vote. In Mohave County, Republican supervisors delayed a vote to certify the election, but then backtracked and certified the vote Monday. The move is unlikely to significantly stall the final results of this year’s elections. But it represents a willingness by some Republican officeholders to officially dispute statewide election results they dislike.
Monkeypox has a new name: Mpox
The World Health Organization, responding to complaints that the word monkeypox conjures up racist tropes and stigmatizes patients, is recommending that the name of the disease be changed to mpox. Both names are to be used for a year until monkeypox is phased out. The recommendation, issued Monday, follows outbreaks that began about six months ago in Europe and the United States. The virus had quietly circulated in rural Central Africa and West Africa for decades, but in recent months most of those who contracted the disease were men who had sex with men on other continents, compounding the stigma of a community long burdened by its association with AIDS.
Favre asks to be dismissed from Mississippi welfare lawsuit
Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is asking to be removed from a civil lawsuit by the state of Mississippi that seeks to recover millions of dollars in misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. An attorney for Favre filed papers Monday saying the Mississippi Department of Human Services “groundlessly and irresponsibly seeks to blame Favre for its own grossly improper and unlawful handling of welfare funds and its own failure to properly monitor and audit” how organizations used the money. It was not immediately clear how soon a judge might consider the request.
Drying California lake to get $250M in US drought funding
The federal government says it will spend $250 million over four years on environmental cleanup and restoration work around a drying Southern California lake that’s fed by the depleted Colorado River. The agreement announced Monday on funding for the Salton Sea marks a key step in ongoing negotiations to conserve more of the river’s water amid drought. The lake was formed in 1905 when the river overflowed and it’s mostly fed by runoff from farms in California’s Imperial Valley. But as those farms reduce their water use, less flows into that sea. That’s caused water levels to shrink, exposing dry lake bed and dust that’s harmful to nearby communities.
Ukraine warns of more strikes on power plants, as Russians dig in
Amid Ukrainian warnings that Moscow is preparing a new wave of strikes on energy plants, Russian forces are fortifying their defensive lines in southern Ukraine after retreating from the city of Kherson. Since being ordered to pull out of Kherson earlier this month, Russian troops have been digging trenches and erecting barriers against the possibility of a new Ukrainian offensive east and south of the city, a gateway to the occupied Crimean Peninsula. But the Kremlin on Monday dismissed widespread speculation that its forces might soon relinquish another prize in Ukraine’s south, the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia that it seized soon after invading in February.
UN mission joins growing calls to label Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem and one of its most biodiverse, is under significant threat from climate change and should be placed on a list of world heritage sites in danger, a United Nations-backed mission has recommended. The mission’s report, released Monday, said current conservation efforts were not enough to protect the Great Barrier Reef, “in large part due to the sheer scale of the challenge” presented by climate change, development and deteriorating water quality. The sprawling Great Barrier Reef spans more than 1,400 miles along Australia’s northeast coast, counts some 2,500 individual reefs and can be viewed from space.
Nine civilians killed in militant siege at a Mogadishu hotel
A protracted assault by al-Shabab militants on a Mogadishu hotel frequented by government ministers ended with at least nine civilians dead, including one police officer, Somali police said Monday — the latest bloody attack by the militants in the center of the capital. The six attackers were also killed, but the 22-hour siege, which took place a few streets away from the president’s office in downtown Mogadishu, offered fresh evidence that the militants can strike Somalia’s political elite even in places where they are most closely guarded. The assault began Sunday evening when six fighters from al-Shabab stormed the Villa Rosa hotel after evening prayers.
‘Gaslighting’ is Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2022
Merriam-Webster has chosen “gaslighting” as its word of the year for 2022. Lookups for “gaslighting” on the dictionary company’s website increased this year by 1,740% over 2021. Merriam-Webster’s Peter Sokolowski tells The Associated Press exclusively ahead of Monday’s unveiling that lookups were pervasive all year long. Typically there’s a single event that drives searches. The word refers to a form of psychological coercion. Merriam-Webster, chooses its word of the year based solely on data. Sokolowski and his team weed out evergreen words most commonly looked up to gauge which word received a significant bump over the year before.
By wire sources
