Amna Nawaz:
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg said the department has received hundreds of complaints and that Delta must inform passengers that they are entitled to refunds if they cancel their trip.
Delta Air Lines said it was offering alternative flights and travel vouchers, but the bad news isn’t over yet: delays and cancellations are expected to continue for the next few days.
Also today, federal aviation regulators are investigating Southwest Airlines after a series of safety-related incidents, most recently one in which a jetliner was found flying just 150 feet above the water a few miles from its destination at Tampa Bay Airport.
“The FAA has increased its oversight of Southwest Airlines to ensure the airline is complying with federal safety regulations,” the agency said in a statement. Southwest said today it is cooperating with the FAA’s investigation.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will resign from his seat on Aug. 20. The 70-year-old Democrat had been facing growing pressure to step down after he was convicted on all 16 criminal counts in federal court in New York last week.
Mr Menendez remained defiant after the verdict, telling reporters he would appeal but avoiding a question about whether he would resign. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, is set to select someone to fill the remainder of Mr Menendez’s term, which ends in January.
Thousands of people have evacuated Canada’s Jasper National Park to escape wildfires threatening the region. Flames are burning on both sides of the town of Jasper in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Authorities have given residents and park visitors five hours to evacuate overnight. Evacuees say they fled west through smoke and ash, sometimes getting stuck in traffic.
During the day, eyewitness video showed flames consuming trees and smoke rising into the sky.
Local authorities in Ethiopia said today that at least 229 people have been killed in landslides triggered by recent heavy rains, including children and pregnant women in remote areas of the south of the country. Many of the victims died on Monday morning while trying to rescue survivors of a landslide the previous day.
At least five people were rescued alive. Landslides are common during the country’s rainy season, which is expected to continue until mid-September.
Palestinian leaders Hamas and Fatah have agreed to work together to form a government. The groups issued a joint statement at a meeting in Beijing but gave no details on how or when a government would be formed. Hamas and Fatah have been bitter enemies since the bloody civil war in the Gaza Strip ended in 2007. Previous agreements between the two groups have failed.
Israel opposes the post-war government, which includes Hamas, and was quick to denounce the agreement, as was the United States.
