US President Joe Biden ordered a fighter jet to shoot down an unidentified “high-altitude object” off Alaska. Spokesman John Kirby said the unmanned object was “the size of a small car” and posed a “reasonable threat” to civilian aviation. The object’s purpose and origin was unclear. Mr Kirby said the debris field of the object shot down on Friday was “much, much smaller” than the balloon shot down last Saturday off the coast of South Carolina.
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Puerto Rico holds historic general election
Puerto Rico is holding elections that will be historic regardless of which of the top two gubernatorial candidates wins. Jessika Padilla, the commission’s alternate president, said in a press conference that some 40% of those votes had been counted as of Monday.
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Owners of a coal mine Criticized For Violating Safety Rules After Deadly Fire in Central Kazakhstan
Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smaiylov on August 19 blamed the owners of a coal mine for a deadly fire that took the lives of four miners this week in Shakhtinsk, a city about 60 kilometers from Temirtau, central Kazakhstan. Smaiylov said the company’s noncompliance with the rules of the industry was the main cause of the fire.
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The Plight of the Pamiri Ismaili Community in the Mountains of Gorno-Badakhshan
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlighted severe restrictions imposed by the Tajikistani government on religious freedom during a virtual hearing on July 20, 2023. The commission expressed grave concern over the intensified persecution targeting the Pamiri Ismaili Muslim population of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).
