We definitely do not have quiet days anymore in American politics.

Our podcast will help you cut through all the noise.

Make sense of what's happening in the US, with new podcast episodes arriving throughout the week.

AmeriCast. Listen on BBC Sounds.

This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Jackie Leonard and at 13 hours GMT on Wednesday the 30th of July, these are our main stories.

Sunami warnings have now been downgraded in Hawaii and Japan after a huge earthquake in

eastern Russia triggered waves that crossed the Pacific Ocean.

And health officials in Gaza say seven more people have starved to death in the last 24 hours.

Also in this podcast, Greece seeks to justify its decision to detain all migrants arriving on small boats from North Africa.

We have said clearly that for the next three months we will not accept asylum.

So anyone who enters Greek territory knows that they are violating Greek law.

The earthquake that struck off Russia's far eastern coast at about 1125 a.m. local time on Wednesday

was a massive 8.8 magnitude and is one of the most powerful recorded in modern times.

It prompted tsunami warnings in countries across the Pacific

and led to millions of evacuations.

Our Asia-Pacific editor, Mickey Bristow, has compiled this report,

which begins on the coast of Russia's Far East.

The earthquake was one of the most powerful ever measured.

It struck off the coast of the sparsely populated Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far east

just before midday local time.

It was terrifying for those who experienced it.

...