NATION/WORLD
BRIEFING
Perdue confirmed as ag secretary
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Monday confirmed former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be agriculture secretary in President Donald Trump’s administration as the farming industry looks to Washington for help amid a downturn in the market.
Perdue won confirmation on a strong bipartisan vote of 87-11, as several Democrats backed a Trump nominee after razor-thin outcomes for his choices earlier this year. Perdue’s cousin, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), voted “present” but presided over the vote and announced the final tally.
Venezuelans stage sit-in on roads
CARACAS, Venezuela - Protesters sprawled in lawn chairs, worked on math homework and played cards on main roads around Venezuela’s cities Monday, joining in sit-ins to disrupt traffic as the latest slap at the socialist government.
Thousands shut down the main highway in Caracas to express their anger with the increasingly embattled administration of President Nicolas Maduro.
Macron campaign allegedly hacked
PARIS - Researchers with the Japanese anti-virus firm Trend Micro say the campaign of French presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron has been targeted by Russia-linked hackers, adding a little more detail to previous suggestions that the centrist politician was being singled out for electronic eavesdropping by the Kremlin.
The campaign’s digital chief, Mounir Mahjoubi, confirmed the attempted intrusions in a telephone interview late Monday but said they had all been thwarted.
China urges restraint over North Korea
WASHINGTON - As the world braces for a possible North Korean nuclear test, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged restraint in a call to President Donald Trump. America’s U.N. envoy warned of a strike if Pyongyang attacks a U.S. military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Xi’s phone call with Trump came amid signs Pyongyang could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test explosion since 2006, or the latest in a rapid series of missile tests, further advancing its ambitions of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.
In Washington, the Trump administration invited the entire Senate for a briefing Wednesday on the escalating crisis.
Cancer cited in death of ‘Happy Days’ star
CORYDON, Ind. - Authorities say former “Happy Days” star Erin Moran likely died from cancer at her southern Indiana home.
A statement released Monday by the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department says an autopsy revealed the 56-year-old actress had stage-four cancer, but doesn’t specify what type.
Moran died Saturday in the rural community of New Salisbury.