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On 2 August, Kansans will vote on whether to alter the language of the state constitution, the first state to vote on such an amendment since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, abolishing the constitutional right for a woman to have an abortion. If it passes, members of the Republican-controlled state legislature can write laws that make it much harder, if not impossible, for a woman in Kansas to get an abortion. The ballot is written so that a "yes" vote affirms that "there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion". Voting against the amendment would keep the constitution as-is, meaning that women in the state do have a right to an abortion. At the Catholic church, located in Overland Park, a police officer stood guard. A few days earlier, someone h...

The 79-year-old first contracted the virus on 21 July, when he was revealed to be experiencing mild symptoms. On Saturday Mr Biden said he was not experiencing symptoms but would isolate "for the safety of everyone around me". The president had tested negative for the virus four times between Tuesday and Friday last week. In a letter describing the situation, Mr Biden's physician Dr Kevin O'Connor said there was no need to resume treatment but the president would remain under "close observation". Mr Biden has been taking Paxlovid, an antiviral medicine which Dr O'Connor said had led to a "small percentage" of Covid patients experiencing a "rebound" test.

With the 247 migrants arriving on Friday, more than 1,000 people have made the crossing in the last week. This month, 3,683 people have crossed from France, bringing the total so far this year to 16,399. A recent report found Border Force may have made the small-boat crisis worse. The report, commissioned by Home Secretary Priti Patel, said the resources required to prevent illegal entry to the UK by small boats crossing the English Channel were "not sustainable". Author Alex Downer, former leader of Australia's Liberal Party, criticised "a cycle of crisis management". Ms Patel welcomed the report's "constructive recommendations". In April, the government announced plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda as part of a f...

Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, and his wife Raisa died when a missile hit their home overnight, local officials said. Mr Vadatursky owned Nibulon, a company involved in grain exports. He had also received the "Hero of Ukraine" award. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky described Mr Vadatursky's death as a great loss. Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said it was probably the heaviest Russian bombardment of the city so far. There was damage to a hotel, a sports complex, two schools and a service station, as well as homes. Mykolaiv is on the main route to Odesa, Ukraine's biggest port on the Black Sea, and has been hit repeatedly since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February. IMAGE SOURCE,MYKOLAIV REGIONAL PROSECUTOR'S ...

In the village of Vybuty, a large crowd has gathered outside a church. People are queuing up to kiss the icon of a saint. An Orthodox priest in a gold embroidered vestment chants a prayer for Russia: "For our blessed country, its rulers and its army." In the congregation are Russian servicemen. They cross themselves with three fingers according to the Orthodox tradition. Ukraine isn't mentioned in the mass. But it's on people's minds. "In our family, we have a lot of young men who are serving there," one of the worshippers, Ludmila, tells me. "God won't abandon them. They will definitely return home." Many Russian soldiers haven't. Image caption, Russia gives no details of the numbers killed in Ukraine referring onl...

The rules were due to come into force at midnight on Monday. But on Sunday ethnic Serbs in the north barricaded roads and armed men fired shots in protest. The rules' implementation has been delayed for a month following consultations with the US and EU. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, after years of strained relations between its Serb and mainly Albanian inhabitants. It has been recognised by the United States and major European Union countries, but Serbia, backed by its ally Russia, refuses to do so, as do most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo. Some 50,000 people living in majority Serb areas of the north use licence plates issued by Serbian authorities and refuse to recognise Kosovo institutio...