Day: June 24, 2021

The rigors of protecting a president, a vice president and their families in an election year amid a pandemic placed a heavy burden on the Secret Service, with nearly 900 employees testing positive for the coronavirus, a watchdog group said this week.

The group, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, faulted former President Donald J. Trump for continuing to hold large campaign rallies, which it said had contributed to the infections.

It obtained the Secret Service data from the federal government as part of a public records request under the Freedom of Information Act. The cases were recorded

Former President Benigno S. Aquino III of the Philippines, scion of the country’s most prominent pro-democracy political family, died on Thursday in Manila. He was 61.

His sister Pinky Aquino-Abellada said the cause was “renal disease secondary to diabetes.”

During his presidency, from 2010 to 2016, Mr. Aquino stood up to China, oversaw economic growth and passed an important reproductive rights bill, but he later faced scandals that marred his legacy.

Mr. Aquino was, in effect, Philippine political royalty, the son of two political icons in a country where family ties are paramount. He was swept into office after the

Dozens of people were killed when a government airstrike slammed into a busy market in northern Ethiopia, medics and witnesses said, as fighting intensified in the restive Tigray region where federal forces are struggling to contain a broadening insurgency.

The airstrike appeared to be one of the deadliest single incidents of the eight-month civil war that has sullied the international reputation of Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize winning leader, Abiy Ahmed. The attack was on Tuesday in Togoga, 15 miles west of the Tigrayan regional capital, Mekelle.

A day later, on Wednesday, Tigrayan rebels struck back against the government when fighters