Nation & World Watch
vWashington: Afghan attack kills 2 Americans
Two Americans — one U.S. servicemember and one civilian — died Wednesday after an attack near a coalition base in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to the U.S. military.
The incident occurred at Camp Morehead, an ammunition supply point outside Kabul. U.S. personnel were visiting the site as part of their advisory mission, said a U.S. defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident. The gunman opened fire at an entry point and was killed. The Pentagon has not released the names of the victims, pending next-of-kin notification.
vRaleigh, N.C.: Court rejects longer early voting
A federal appeals court in North Carolina on Wednesday rejected a request to expand early voting opportunities in five counties.
The emergency request from lawyers for the League of Women Voters claimed the state failed to fully comply with a July federal court ruling that struck down voting restrictions passed in 2013. That court ruling led to the expansion of the early voting period that begins Thursday, although hours and dates for early voting differ slightly by county.
The league’s lawyers claimed the hours and dates in Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Nash and New Hanover counties — home to some of the state’s largest cities, including Charlotte and Winston-Salem — were insufficient. The league sought expanded hours, Sunday voting and other changes.
vSan Francisco: 2 quake faults found to be linked
The most dangerous earthquake fault in the San Francisco Bay Area is connected to another, which means both could rupture simultaneously and unleash major devastation, a new study finds.
The Hayward Fault has long been considered a threat because it runs under densely populated neighborhoods east of San Francisco. The new work found that beneath San Pablo Bay, it joins with a second, less active underground fracture to the north.
If the Hayward and Rodgers Creek faults broke simultaneously along their combined 118 miles, they could produce a magnitude-7.4 quake, said scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey.
vPhilippines: Super typhoon hammers coast
Super Typhoon Haima slammed into the northeastern Philippine coast late Wednesday with ferocious winds and rain that rekindled fears and memories from the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Haima, which has sustained winds of 140 miles per hour and gusts of up to 195 mph, made landfall at Penablanca town in Cagayan province shortly before midnight, weather officials said.
vRussia: Plutonium deal with US suspended
The lower house of the Russian parliament unanimously approved Wednesday President Vladimir Putin’s move to suspend a deal with the United States on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium.
Amid growing strains between Moscow and Washington, most recently over the conflict in Syria, Putin has cited the “emerging threat to strategic stability as a result of U.S. unfriendly actions” for his decision. He has also noted a failure by the U.S. to meet its end of the deal.
Under the agreement, which was first signed in 2000, Russia and the U.S. were set to dispose of 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium, which is enough material for about 17,000 nuclear warheads. Putin said the deal could be restored if the U.S. pulls back forces deployed near Russia’s borders and revokes anti-Russia sanctions.