China's worst heat wave on record is crippling power supplies.

 

Cracked paddy field amid a severe drought in Neijiang, Sichuan province.

A power shortage brought on by a record heat wave and related drought has been causing chaos in Sichuan, a province in southwest China home to 80 million people, for weeks.

It has dimmed skyscrapers, shut factories, darkened subways, and plunged homes and offices into rolling blackouts, forcing air conditioning to be unplugged, and killed thousands of poultry and fish at farms hit by electricity cuts.

From the nearby megacity of Chongqing and the eastern provinces along the Yangtze River to the financial center of Shanghai, where the iconic skyline fell dark this week to conserve electricity, the effects have been felt far and wide.

The severe power shortage has surprised the populace, who have become accustomed to better living conditions and infrastructure in recent decades in a nation that takes pride in economic prosperity and stability.

Novak Djokovic withdraws from the US Open

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic, who has won 21 grand slam titles, revealed on Thursday that he would not be competing in the next US Open.

Despite the fact that current US regulations require that all non-US citizens be fully immunized against the virus in order to acquire a visa and visit the country, Djokovic has stayed unvaccinated against Covid-19 throughout the outbreak.

The 35-year-old Serbian wrote: "Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open. Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support.”

"Good luck to my fellow players! I'll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon tennis world!"

Stacy Allaster, the tournament director of the US Open, said in a statement: "Novak is a great champion and it is very unfortunate that he will be unable to compete at the 2022 US Open, as he is unable to enter the country due to the federal government's vaccination policy for non-US citizens.

"We look forward to welcoming Novak back at the 2023 US Open."

A "lucky loser" will be included in the draw as a result of Djokovic's withdrawal occurring after the start of the qualifiers, according to the US Open statement.

Djokovic's reluctance to acquire the Covid-19 vaccine resulted in his deportation from Australia in January, which prevented him from competing in the Australian Open.

Djokovic won tennis' most recent major at Wimbledon in July. Due to the same US travel restrictions, he was unable to participate at Indian Wells or the Miami Open in March.

On Thursday at 12:00, the draw will be made for the current US Open. The competition will place between August 29 and September 11.

Car bomb kills daughter of 'spiritual guide' to Putin's Ukraine invasion - Russian media reports

 

The daughter of well-known, ultra-nationalist scholar Alexander Dugin was killed by a vehicle bomb on the outskirts of Moscow, according to Russian authorities, who said Sunday that they had launched a murder probe.

Based on the information previously gathered from the blast, the Russian Investigative Committee stated that it thought someone planned and ordered the automobile explosion that killed Darya Dugina. The investigative committee released a statement on Sunday that stated,  "Taking into account the data already obtained, the investigation believes that the crime was pre-planned and was of an ordered nature,"

According to the press office of the Russian Investigative Committee, as reported by the Russian state news agency TASS, Dugina passed away at the scene after "an explosive device, presumably installed in the Toyota Land Cruiser, went off on a public road and the car caught fire" at around 9.00 p.m. local time on Saturday, close to the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy.

Author and ideologist Dugina's father is credited as having planned or served as the "spiritual guide" of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He was dubbed "Putin's Brain" by Foreign Affairs magazine and is rumored to be a major influence on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The United States has imposed sanctions on both Dugin and his daughter. In July, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on Dugina for spreading false information about Ukraine and the Russian invasion of that country on different online platforms, according to a statement.

Videos of the explosion showed a burning car at the side of the road and shattered auto pieces all over the vicinity. Dugin may be seen in an unconfirmed video taken at the scene.

As the car belonged to Alexander, a friend of Dugina informed TASS that he thought Dugina's father, or possibly both of them, were the real targets of the explosion.