Nation & World Glance
Monsoon flooding death toll climbs to 164 in South Asia
GAUHATI, India — The death toll in monsoon flooding in South Asia has climbed past 160 as millions of people and animals continue to face the brunt in three countries, officials said Saturday.
At least 90 people have died in Nepal and 62 in northeastern India’s Assam state over the past week. A dozen have been killed in flooding in Bangladesh.
Shiv Kumar, a government official in Assam, said 10 rare one-horned rhinos have died in Kaziranga National Park since the Brahmaputra River burst its banks, flooding the reserve.
Some 4.8 million people spread over 3,700 villages across the state are still affected by the floods, though the frequency of rains has decreased in the past 24 hours, the Assam Disaster Response Authority said.
Portman is Thor, Ali is Blade, more from Marvel’s Phase 4
SAN DIEGO — “Avengers: Endgame” may have closed a chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the blockbuster factory is not slowing down and only expanding in scope and diversity.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige led a marathon presentation at San Diego Comic-Con Saturday night, announcing plans for the first two years of “Phase Four,” which will include Natalie Portman taking up the hammer as Thor, making Angelina Jolie an immortal for “The Eternals” and rebooting “Blade” with Mahershala Ali.
The stars assembled in the San Diego Convention Center’s Hall H as Feige ticked through the release calendar for 2020 and 2021 movie by movie, giving official cast lists, release dates, titles and logos for everything from “Black Widow,” the “Doctor Strange” sequel, “Thor 4” to “ShangChi” to “The Eternals.”
“I’m so excited to be here,” Jolie told the crowd.
She said she’s going to work “10 times harder” than she has on any of her other action roles because she knows what it means to “be part of the MCU” and “part of this family.”
Trump’s bail offer for rapper rings hollow in Sweden
BERLIN — U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke with Sweden’s prime minister Saturday about jailed rapper A$AP Rocky and “offered to personally vouch for his bail,” a hollow offer in a criminal justice system that doesn’t include bail.
Trump tweeted that during “a very good call” with Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, he also “assured him that A$AP was not a flight risk.” The platinumselling, Grammy-nominated artist has been in custody since early this month over an alleged fight.
While not an option in Sweden, bail is common in the United States. A defendant is allowed to post an amount of money set by the court to guarantee the defendant will appear for trial if he or she is freed pending those proceedings.