AP-AS-GOLD-PRICE
Uncertainty pushes gold price to record $1,926 per ounce
BEIJING (AP) — The price of gold has surged to a record as investors moved money into an asset seen as a safe haven in uncertain times. The price urged more than $30 to over $1,926 per ounce. It added 1.5% percent after breaking its 2011 record high price on Friday. Prices of gold and silver have jumped as rising infection numbers and job losses in the United States and some other economies fuel concern the recovery from the virus and the worst global downturn since the 1930s might be faltering. Precious metals, along with bonds, often are seen as stores of value when financial markets decline.
NABE-SURVEY-OF-ECONOMISTS
Survey: Business economists sketch a more hopeful outlook
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic outlook of U.S. business economists has improved over the past three months, though their sunnier view could be jeopardized by the resurgence of the coronavirus. A survey released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics finds a “significant snap-back in expectations from the depths reached across nearly all categories in April,’’ according to Megan Greene, who leads the NABE’s survey of business conditions. The results of the survey of 104 NABE members showed that expectations for growth had brightened considerably, with two-thirds of them forecasting that the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, will grow between this year’s second quarter and next year’s second quarter.
PERSIAN GULF-TENSIONS
Iran moves mock aircraft carrier to sea amid US tensions
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has moved a mock aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the United States. A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows an Iranian fast boat speeding toward the carrier, sending waves up in its wake, after a tugboat pulled her out into the strait from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. Iranian state media and officials have yet to acknowledge bringing the replica out to the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes. However, its appearance there suggests Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is preparing an encore of a similar mock-sinking it conducted in 2015.
AP-AS-CHINA-US
Chinese authorities take control of US consulate in Chengdu
CHENGDU, China (AP) — Chinese authorities have taken control of the former U.S. consulate in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu after it was ordered closed amid rising tensions between the global powers. China ordered the mission to be shut in retaliation for a U.S. order to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The tit-for-tat closings marked a significant escalation in the multiple disputes between the countries over a range of issues, including trade, technology, national security and human rights. A State Department statement expressed disappointment in the closure.
AP-US-TRUMP-
Trump to discuss energy, tour oil rig, raise money in Texas
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump will shift his focus to American energy dominance when he stops in Texas later this week on a visit that will include his first tour of an oil rig. Trump is visiting Double Eagle Energy in Midland, Texas, on Wednesday. The White House says the president will discuss how the U.S. is achieving energy dominance by cutting regulations, simplifying the permitting process and encouraging private investment in energy infrastructure. Trump will also raise money for the Republican Party and his reelection campaign at a fundraising luncheon Wednesday in nearby Odessa, Texas.
AP-AS-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA
Asia Today: Australian outbreak attributed to sick workers
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state has posted another daily record 532 new COVID-19 cases. The state government leader warned that a lockdown in the city of Melbourne would continue while infected people continued to go to work. Melbourne is almost half way through a six-week lockdown aimed at curbing community spread of coronavirus. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the biggest driver of the new infections was people continuing to go to work after showing symptoms. He said the lockdown would not end until people stop going to work and instead get tested.
BC-US-HAWAII-HURRICANE
Hurricane Douglas within ‘razor thin’ distance of Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) — Hurricane Douglas is coming within “razor thin” distance of the Hawaiian Islands. But the storm spared Hawaii the worst of the strong winds, storm surge and flooding that officials had warned about. Meteorologists cautioned the hurricane’s path could shift slightly and Douglas could still unload its destructive power on the islands of Oahu and Kauai. They’re calling on residents to remain vigilant. Heavy rain and wind gusts battered Maui during the morning, downing a small tree on the Hana Highway. Sand and debris washed ashore on a two-lane coastal road on Oahu. Despite the dangers, surfers rode waves and residents took selfies at a lookout point next to the ocean.
AP-TROPICAL-WEATHER
Flooding threat continues as Hanna drops rain on borderland
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Hanna’s charge across the borderland of South Texas and northeastern Mexico is continuing with drenching rains even as strong winds slow. Hanna passed over the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday downgraded to a tropical storm, with winds near 50 mph, hitting a region already reeling from a surge in cases of the coronavirus. When the storm roared onto the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, it destroyed boats, flooded streets and knocked out power. Rain remains Hanna’s biggest threat. It has unloaded more than 12 inches of rain in some places, and some spots could see 18 inches.
AP-US-JOHN-LEWIS-REMEMBERED-
Body of civil rights icon John Lewis crosses Selma bridge
SELMA, Ala. (AP) — The late U.S. Rep. John Lewis has crossed Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge for the final time as remembrances continue for the civil rights icon. A processional with Lewis’ casket was carried across the bridge Sunday where he and other civil rights marchers were beaten 55 years ago on “Bloody Sunday,” a key event in the fight for voting rights for African Americans. Lewis died July 17 at the age of 80, months after he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.
AP-ML-SUDAN
UN says over 60 killed in renewed violence in Sudan’s Darfur
CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations says a new bout of violence in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region left more than 60 people dead. It says around 500 armed men attacked the village of Masteri in West Darfur province earlier Saturday and the clashes lasted till late Monday. More than 60 others were wounded, according to official media. That was the latest in a series of clashes that threatens to derail the fragile transition to democracy. Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April last year. A military-civilian government now rules the country.
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