COVID continues to rise, but
experts remain optimistic
First lady Jill Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced that the state will send high-quality masks and rapid tests to school districts that request them. Already, schools in Kentucky and Texas have closed, citing widespread respiratory illness among students and staff. The coronavirus is in the air again. Literally. A steady uptick in cases since July and reports of worrisome new variants have fueled concern that the virus is poised to make a comeback this fall and winter. But in interviews, experts offered reassurances that the country will not see a return to the nightmarish scenarios of previous years.
Georgia prosecutor sharply rebukes
House Republican investigating her
The district attorney leading a criminal case against Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia accused Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, of trying to obstruct her prosecution of the case in a sharply worded letter she sent Thursday. Soon after the district attorney, Fani Willis, a Democrat, announced last month that she was bringing a racketeering case against Trump and 18 other defendants for their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said he was going to investigate Willis over whether her prosecution of Trump was politically motivated.
Navarro convicted of contempt
of congress over Jan. 6 subpoena
Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser to President Donald Trump, was convicted Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The verdict, coming after nearly four hours of deliberation in U.S. District Court in Washington, made Navarro the second top adviser of Trump’s to be found guilty in connection to the committee’s inquiry. Steve Bannon, a former Trump strategist convicted of the same offense last summer, faces four months in prison and remains free on appeal.
Danny Masterson is sentenced to 30 years to life in prison
for two rapes
Actor Danny Masterson, best known for his role in the sitcom “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced Thursday to 30 years to life in prison for the rapes of two women when he was at the height of his career more than 20 years ago. Judge Charlaine Olmedo of Los Angeles Superior Court handed the sentence down after hearing statements from the women. “The body is a relentless witness,” one accuser, identified as N. Trout, said in a statement read aloud. “When you raped me, you stole from me. That is what rape is, a theft of the spirit.”
China is flooding the
world with cars
At a time when many of China’s exports are faltering and its consumers are spending less at home, the country is flooding the world with cars. Overseas demand for inexpensive vehicles made in China, mostly gasoline-powered models that Chinese consumers now shun in favor of electric cars, is so great that the biggest obstacle to selling more abroad is a lack of specialized ships to carry them. Chinese automakers have leaped to dominance in Russia since war began in Ukraine, transporting cars by train. The companies have also captured large shares of markets in Southeast Asia, Australia, South America and Mexico.
Philanthropies pledge $500 million to address crisis
in local news
On Thursday, more than 20 nonprofit organizations announced plans to invest a total of $500 million over the next five years in local media organizations, one of the biggest efforts yet to address the crisis in local news. The initiative, Press Forward, is spearheaded by the MacArthur Foundation and supported by organizations including the Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Press Forward will fund grants for existing local for-profit and nonprofit newsrooms, help build shared tools, provide resources to diverse outlets and those in historically underserved areas, and invest in nonpartisan public policy development that advances access to news and information.
Japanese talent agency admits founder preyed on boys
in its care
The president of one of Japan’s most influential entertainment agencies resigned after an independent investigation confirmed the company’s founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had sexually abused young men in his care since the 1970s. Allegations against Kitagawa, who helped aspirants achieve pop stardom in Japan, have circulated for decades but were largely ignored. Johnny &Associates announced in May that it was forming an internal investigative panel to “prevent the recurrence” of future abuse. At a news conference Thursday, Julie Keiko Fujishima, Kitagawa’s niece, acknowledged the results of the investigation and apologized. She also announced she had resigned as the company’s president Wednesday.
Warner Bros. suspends deals with top show creators
In an escalation of the standoff between studios and the Writers Guild of America — it has entered its fifth month — Warner Bros. moved late Wednesday to suspend deals with the 1% of television writers. That includes Mindy Kaling, a creator of the Max series “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” and J.J. Abrams, whose recent television efforts include “Duster,” a coming thriller set in the 1970s, according to two people briefed on the matter. The suspension of the deals suggests that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of studios, expects the strike to continue into the fall.
Drone strikes rock Russian city that is home to key military base
Explosions rocked the area around one of Russia’s largest military hubs before dawn Thursday, and officials later said that air defenses had shot down two drones. At least one blast was heard in the city of Rostov-on-Don, which is home to Russia’s southern military headquarters and is a command center for its forces in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said that drone attacks in other regions were thwarted. The forays are a sign, analysts say, that even as Ukraine has begged Western allies to supply long-range weapons, its own arms makers have built a homegrown arsenal that is capable of hitting Russian territory at a great distance.
Extreme weather in Greece traps residents and submerges villages
A night of heavy rainfall compounded major flooding in central Greece, leaving some villages almost completely under water Thursday and prompting the government to deploy armed forces to help rescue residents from the worst-hit areas. At least six people have died in Greece as a result of the extreme weather conditions this week, according to the country’s fire service. And the toll could rise amid reports of missing residents. Fire service vehicles were unable to reach many of the worst-hit spots because the water was so deep, reaching 6 feet in some parts, according to a government spokesperson.
Gabon military says deposed president is free to travel overseas
Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was deposed as president of Gabon last week in a coup that ended his family’s decadeslong grip on power in the central African nation, is no longer subject to house arrest and is free to leave the country, the ruling military junta has said. Bongo suffered a stroke five years ago. The military said in a statement read on national television Wednesday night that he would be allowed to travel overseas for medical care. The announcement came two days after the leader of the coup, Gen. Brice Oligui Nguema, a cousin of the ousted leader, was sworn in as Gabon’s new leader.
India’s preparations for G20 must also account for monkeys
If you’re ever in New Delhi and think you hear a monkey, don’t assume it’s a monkey. It could be a professional monkey noise impersonator. This weekend, the impersonators will take on a fresh challenge: keeping monkeys, which often evade guards by swinging through tree canopies, from barging into venues for the Group of 20 summit of world leaders. The event is an important one for India on the global stage, and the government does not want monkeys to steal the spotlight. “We are trying everything to keep the monkeys away,” Satish Upadhyay, vice chair of the New Delhi Municipal Council, said in an interview.
By wire sources
