5 things you need to know Monday

Follow the eclipse with Paste BN

Monday’s long-awaited total solar eclipse will dazzle millions of viewers from coast to coast, and Paste BN will follow it every step of the way. The Paste BN Network will be broadcasting on Facebook Live across all of its 110 news sites, including Paste BN, with feeds from NASA, the Associated Press and local network properties. The Paste BN Network has also created a one-stop day-of experience page, solareclipse.usatoday.com, that will go live Monday with interactive content. 

• The procrastinator's guide to viewing the solar eclipse
• What time is the eclipse where I live?
• Weather forecast: Where clouds will mar your view of the sky spectacle

Trump to address troops on path forward in Afghanistan

President Trump will address military troops on Monday night to provide "an update" on path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia, the White House said in a statement Sunday. The meeting, which will take place at 9 p.m. ET at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va., comes as Trump weighs a new strategy for the conflict in Afghanistan that could involve sending a few thousand more U.S. troops.

James Mattis says the U.S. is 'not winning in Afghanistan'

The United States is not winning in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress on Tuesday, saying he was crafting a new war strategy to brief lawmakers about by mid-July that is widely expected to call for thousands more U.S. troops

Time

North Korea warns of nuclear war over U.S. military drills with South Korea

North Korea warned Sunday that the joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises slated to begin Monday will add "fuel to the fire" of already heightened tensions with the United States and its allies. A North Korean newspaper described the annual drill as "reckless behavior driving the situation into the uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war,” CNN reported. North Korea has long criticized such U.S. exercises with South Korea as a rehearsal for an invasion of the North. The exercise runs from Aug. 21-31 and aims to “improve the alliance’s ability to defend” South Korea, where 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

North Korea warns against US, South Korea drills

New threats are coming from Pyongyang as the US and South Korea prepare for joint military drills.

Big Ben in London is going silent for 4 years of repairs 

Big Ben, the giant bell on the clock at Britain's Houses of Parliament, will be silenced from next week to allow four years of repair work. The famous gongs that ring across the River Thames will stop at noon on Monday   and will only resume regular service in 2021. The bell will still ring for major events such as Remembrance Sunday and New Year's Eve.

Bug burgers? Switzerland says insects are what's for dinner

When you think of Swiss food, chocolate and cheese quickly come to mind. But now a novel food is creating a buzz in this Alpine nation. Burgers and meatballs made from insects will hit grocery shelves Monday at the Coop supermarket chain. It marks the first wide distribution of bug bites in Europe.  The sale of insect-based food was made possible by a new law passed here in May, which allows consumption of crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms — as long as they are bred under strict sanitary conditions.