Republicans wanted a special counsel investigation of Hunter Biden. Now many oppose it.
Congressional Republicans have for months repeatedly written to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding he appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, the president’s son, over his business dealings. Some even demanded that a specific man be named to lead the inquiry: David Weiss, the Donald Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. attorney who has long investigated the case. But Friday, after Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel status, Republicans in Congress reacted not with triumph but outrage. “David Weiss can’t be trusted and this is just a new way to whitewash the Biden family’s corruption,” Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
As Hunter Biden saga endures, Democrats avert eyes and dismiss worries
For President Joe Biden and his party, the appointment of a special counsel in the investigation into Hunter Biden was hardly a welcome development. Yet many Democratic officials, operatives and pollsters were sanguine about a dark moment in a summer of cautiously bright news for their president. They said Hunter Biden’s legal problems were less worrisome than their other concerns about the president — his age, his low approval ratings and Americans’ lack of confidence in an improving economy — and noted swing voters weren’t attuned to the various controversies. And while the president’s son is under investigation, the GOP front-runner has been criminally indicted — three times.
Trump election interference case
to go to Grand Jury
in Georgia early
next week
Atlanta-area prosecutors have indicated they will go before a grand jury early next week to present the results of their investigation into election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies, raising the possibility that within days, Trump could face a fourth criminal indictment. On Saturday, two witnesses who have received subpoenas to testify before the grand jury — Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia, and George Chidi, an independent journalist — revealed they had received notices to appear before the grand jury Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Fulton County district attorney’s office could not be reached for comment Saturday.
At the Iowa state fair, DeSantis can’t seem to catch a break
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has been struggling to gain ground on former President Donald Trump, suffered a series of moments that would be enough for any candidate to question his place in the political universe. Before the Florida governor’s appearance with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at a “fair-side chat” at the Iowa State Fair, a plane flew overhead with a banner that read “Be likable, Ron!” Then, during the interview, a small group of liberal protesters with cowbells and whistles sought to interrupt the conversation before being removed. Later, as DeSantis finished flipping pork chops, Trump’s plane appeared overhead, circling the fairgrounds, prompting chants of “We love Trump.”
Inexpensive add-on spawns a new era
of machine guns
Caison Robinson, 14, had just met up with a younger neighbor when a gunman in a white car fired a torrent of bullets. By the time the assailant sped away, Caison lay on the pavement with five gunshot wounds. His friend, a 12-year-old girl, was struck once in the leg. Las Vegas police say the shooting in May was carried out with a pistol rigged with a small, illegal device known as a switch. These makeshift machine guns are helping fuel the national epidemic of gun violence, making shootings increasingly lethal, creating added risks for bystanders and leaving survivors more grievously wounded.
FEMA estimates it will take $5.5 billion to rebuild areas
of destruction in West Maui
As the death toll continues to climb in West Maui, residents were coming to terms with the scale of destruction that swept away not only lives and irreplaceable belongings, but also their homes, assets and other properties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that the cost to rebuild after the Lahaina fire will be around $5.52 billion. The agency estimated that at least 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed — nearly 1,500 of them residential — and more than 2,100 acres were burned. Most of the town of 12,000 people was destroyed.
K2 climbers criticized over continuing ascent after finding dying porter
A Norwegian climber defended her decision to continue a record-breaking series of climbs last month after encountering an injured porter who later died during her ascent of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world. Kristin Harila became one of the two fastest people — along with her guide, Tenjin Sherpa — to ascend all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter (about 26,000 feet) mountains. But two other climbers who were on the mountain that day, July 27, said that Harila, her team and other climbers ignored an injured man — Muhammad Hassan, 27, of Pakistan — because they wanted to reach the summit. Harila said that she and her team did everything they could to save Hassan.
Pakistan names caretaker prime minister, paving way for elections
Pakistan’s government named a caretaker prime minister Saturday, a move that kicks off preparations for the country’s next general elections. The close ties that the new leader, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, has to the country’s powerful military reinforces its dominance over Pakistan’s politics, sending a clear message: After a year of turmoil that challenged the authority of military leaders, they again have a firm hand on the wheel. The term of the outgoing government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, also close to the military, ended Thursday. Kakar’s appointment comes amid speculation that elections — once expected this fall — are likely to be delayed until next spring at the earliest.
Growing segregation by sex in Israel
raises fears for women’s rights
The trains from Tel Aviv were packed when Inbal Boxerman, 40, was blocked by men as she tried to board. One said women were not allowed on — the car was for men only. On Israel Railways public trains, segregated seating is illegal. But public transportation is the latest front of a culture war in Israel over the status of women in a society divided between a secular majority and politically powerful minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who frown on women and men mixing in public. And although the Supreme Court has ruled that it is against the law to force women to sit in separate sections, women customarily board transit systems through rear doors and sit in the back.
Ukraine makes ‘tactically significant’ progress in the counteroffensive
After months of inching through minefields, villages and open steppes in grueling combat, Ukrainian forces are making somewhat bigger advances along two major lines of attack, according to analysts, Ukrainian officials and Russian military bloggers. The amount of territory seized, 10 to 12 miles on both vectors of attack, while relatively small, is compelling Russia to divert forces from other parts of the front line, military analysts say. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, called the advances “tactically significant,” saying Moscow’s redeployment “will likely further weaken Russian defensive lines in aggregate,” creating “opportunities for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be potentially decisive.”
Biden describes China as a time bomb over economic problems
President Joe Biden warned last week that China’s struggles with high unemployment and an aging workforce make the country a “ticking time bomb” in the world economy. “When bad folks have problems, they do bad things,” he told donors at a fundraiser in Park City, Utah. Biden’s comments are the latest example of his willingness to criticize China even as his administration seeks to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Biden said he wants the United States to have a “rational relationship with China,” but he signaled caution. “I don’t want to hurt China, but I’m watching,” Biden said.
As a Taiwanese presidential contender visits U.S., he tries to walk a fine line
Vice President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan rose to prominence as an opponent of Beijing’s claims over the island. But now, as a leading candidate in Taiwan’s presidential race, he is likely to present a more muted persona when he visits the United States this weekend. Expect restraint, not rousing speeches, Taiwanese officials and scholars say. His stops in New York and San Francisco will be closely watched — in Taiwan, Beijing and Washington — for clues to how he might handle crucial relations with the United States and China as president. And his visit, however low-key, is likely to prompt an escalation of Chinese military and naval maneuvers near Taiwan, highlighting the risks of real conflict over its future.
By wire sources
