Nation and world news in brief for July 30
Iowa’s 6-week abortion ban takes effect
(NYT) — Iowa’s ban on abortions after about the sixth week of pregnancy took effect Monday morning, changing the map of abortion access in the Midwest and giving Republicans in the state a long-sought policy victory. Since the Iowa Supreme Court ruled 4-3 last month that the ban could be enforced, it had mostly been a matter of when, not if, the law would take effect.
Appeals court blocks US airline fee disclosure rule
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A U.S. appeals court on Monday blocked the U.S. Transportation Department’s new rule requiring upfront disclosure of airline fees pending a full review of the regulation. The DOT issued final rules in April requiring airlines and ticket agents to disclose service fees alongside the airfare, saying it would help consumers avoid unneeded or unexpected fees. The court decision is a significant setback for the Biden administration that has taken a hard line on airline fee practices over the last three years.
Trump says Vance’s comments reflect his love of family
(Reuters) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday backed his running mate, Senator JD Vance, over past comments about “childless cat ladies” that have gone viral and become a political headache for their White House campaign. Vance’s 2021 comments criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives” resurfaced after Trump selected the Ohio senator as his running mate earlier this month. The comments prompted a backlash and warnings from some political strategists that they could cost the Trump campaign valuable votes in a close election that could be decided in a handful of states by a few thousand voters.
Floods sweep Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park
(NYT) — A barrage of showers and thunderstorms spread across eastern Tennessee on Sunday, causing significant flooding at Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood, and injuring at least one person, officials said. On Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service in Morristown issued a flash flood warning for the region, including the town of Pigeon Forge, where Dollywood is, until nearly 11 p.m. Within hours, rising waters had made what would typically be a pleasant afternoon of food, music and entertainment into a drenching experience.
Suspected Trump gunman was spotted more than an hour before shooting, FBI says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Police noticed the Pennsylvania man who tried to assassinate Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump more than an hour before the July 13 shooting and took a photo to share with other law enforcement officers, an FBI official said on Monday. “The shooter was identified by law enforcement as a suspicious person,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters at a briefing on the agency’s investigation into the assassination attempt. FBI officials said they had yet to identify a motive for Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman, who was shot dead by a Secret Service agent after opening fire. But they said he had conducted online searches on prior mass shooting events, on improvised explosive devices and on the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister in May.
Judge bans NRA ex-chief LaPierre for 10 years
NEW YORK (Reuters) — A New York state judge decided not to impose an outside monitor for the National Rifle Association, handing a victory to the gun rights group, while banning former chief Wayne LaPierre from serving as an NRA officer or director for 10 years. Monday’s decision by Justice Joel Cohen of the Manhattan Supreme Court was a mixed outcome for state Attorney General Letitia James in her four-year-old civil case. Cohen ruled without a jury following the second stage of a trial.
3 men sentenced in plan to attack power station
(NYT) — Three men with white supremacist ties, including two former U.S. Marines, were sentenced to prison last week after plotting to destroy a power station in the northwestern United States, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The men, Paul James Kryscuk, 38; Liam Collins, 25; and Justin Wade Hermanson, 25; received separate sentences Thursday for charges related to what the Justice Department described as a racially motivated scheme to attack a power grid. The men gathered information on weapons and explosives, manufactured firearms and stole military gear, prosecutors said.
