The Federal Open Market Committee unanimously increased its target for the federal funds rate to 3.75%-4%. The quarter-point increase and related implementation measures take effect September 17. The committee said inflation remained elevated even as economic growth stayed solid.
France’s national health agency estimated at least 817 excess deaths during exceptionally hot weather from July 27 through August 20. That brought recorded excess mortality since June and the start of successive heatwaves to nearly 8,000. Most of the excess deaths were among people 75 and older. The estimates cover deaths from all causes and are based on death certificates, rather than counting only deaths directly attributed to heat.
Reuters via Internazionale [1]
Rescuers had recovered 82 bodies from collapsed, interconnected shafts at the informal al-Zara gold mine in West Kordofan, local officials and activists said. Dozens of people remained unaccounted for. Accounts differed on whether the collapse began Sunday or Tuesday evening. Limited equipment was hampering rescue work.
Associated Press [1]
Syria’s parliament voted to abolish the Counter-Terrorism Court created under Bashar Assad and nullify the legal effects of its rulings, state television reported. The vote formalized steps already taken by the country’s post-Assad authorities. The court, established in 2012, prosecuted thousands of Syrians. United Nations bodies had criticized its lack of judicial safeguards and links to arbitrary detention and torture.
Reuters via Internazionale [1]
The EU-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison after convicting him of war crimes from the 1998-99 conflict. The court found him guilty of crimes including murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary or illegal detention. Thaci denied the charges, and either side may appeal.