Trump to honor

Rudy Giuliani

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s awarding former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, announcing the honor two days after his longtime political ally was badly injured in a traffic accident.

Giuliani was once lauded for leading New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and later sanctioned by courts and disbarred for amplifying false claims about the 2020 election. Giuliani was also criminally charged in two states; he has denied wrongdoing.

Trump in a statement on social media called Giuliani the “greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot.”

Quake kills 800,

injures 2,500

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A strong earthquake in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least 800 people and injured over 2,500.

A Taliban government spokesman said most of the casualties are in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan. The 6.0-magnitude quake struck late Sunday, causing extensive damage and destroying entire villages.

Desperate residents are searching for missing loved ones in the rubble. Rescue operations are underway, with medical teams arriving from Kunar, Nangarhar province, and Kabul. Authorities have pledged to use all available resources to save lives. The quake has worsened communications in the mountainous region, making rescue efforts challenging.

Foreign travel

into US down

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A decline in foreign visitors traveling to the United States has stretched well into the summer. And tourism experts say the downward trend that emerged after President Donald Trump returned to the White House shows no immediate signs of reversing.

They say factors like Trump’s tariffs, strict immigration policies and rhetoric have made international tourists feel unwelcome. U.S. government data confirms an overall drop-off in international arrivals.

Figures from the National Travel and Tourism Office show more than 3 million fewer international arrivals in the first seven months of the year. The preliminary data doesn’t include travelers from Canada, where many residents have said they planned to stay away in protest.

Strikes on Gaza

kill at least 31

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has launched strikes across the Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials say at least 31 people have been killed as the Israeli military presses ahead with a major offensive in Gaza City.

Leading genocide scholars meanwhile have accused Israel of genocide. Those are allegations that the Israeli government vehemently rejects.

Airstrikes and artillery shelling have echoed through Gaza City since Israel declared the territory’s largest city a combat zone last week. Residents have observed explosive-laden robots demolishing buildings on the city’s outskirts and in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Gaza City residents now face the twin threats of combat and hunger.