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Biden’s Job Rating Rises to 44%, Highest in a Year
After hitting a record low in July, President Joe Biden's job approval rating is up six percentage points to 44%, his highest in a year. While this uptick represents a significant improvement on the heels of several policy successes for Biden…
The increase in Biden's job rating is largely buoyed by political independents, whose approval rose from 31% last month to the current 40%. Democrats' (81%) and Republicans' (4%) ratings of Biden are not significantly changed over the same period.
Biden rallies for Democrats, slams ‘semi-fascism’ in GOP
President Joe Biden called on Democrats Thursday “to vote to literally save democracy once again” — and compared Republican ideology to “semi-fascism” — as he led a kickoff rally and a fundraiser in Maryland 75 days out from the midterm elections.
Addressing an overflow crowd of thousands at Montgomery High School in Rockville, Biden said: “Your right to choose is on the ballot this year. The Social Security you paid for from the time you had a job is on the ballot. The safety of your kids from gun violence is on the ballot, and it’s not hyperbole, the very survival of our planet is on the ballot.”
“You have to choose,” Biden added. “Will we be a country that moves forward or a country that moves backward?” […]
“MAGA Republicans don’t have a clue about the power of women,” Biden said, noting the resonance of the abortion issue with women voters as some in the GOP push a national ban on the procedure. “Let me tell you something: They are about to find out.”
Zaporizhzhia: World narrowly avoided radiation accident - Zelensky
Europe faced the prospect of a radiation disaster on Thursday when a Russian-occupied nuclear plant was disconnected from Ukraine's power grid, President Volodomyr Zelensky has said. It was only due to back-up electricity kicking in that the Zaporizhzhia plant was able to operate safely, he added.
Fires had earlier damaged overhead power lines, cutting the plant off. There is growing concern over fighting near the complex, which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe.
"If the diesel generators hadn't turned on, if the automation and our staff of the plant had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to overcome the consequences of the radiation accident," President Zelensky warned on Thursday night.
Ukraine’s bridge attacks cut Russian effectiveness in the south
The combat effectiveness of Russian forces in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast will be noticeably affected by Ukrainian strikes on the bridges and crossing points there, military analysts said.
With multiple recent strikes against three main bridges across the Dnipro, Ukraine’s largest river, Russian forces in Kherson Oblast were forced to build pontoon bridges and use boats to transport equipment to their troops on the western side.
These have a lower transport capacity than bridges, while being just as vulnerable to the precise HIMARS rocket artillery systems used by Ukraine. That means less ammunition, fuel and rations for Russian forces west of the river.
Soldier’s diary of Ukraine campaign exposes a Russian army in disarray
On August 1, Pavel Filatyev, a 34-year-old Russian soldier, published a 141-page journal of his Ukrainian battlefield experience on Vkontakte, Russia’s equivalent of Facebook.
Titled “ZOV” – after the tactical markings painted on Russian military vehicles in the Ukraine campaign – the memoir was spotted by Russian-speaking Western military experts and created a stir on Twitter. His damning account of the war was picked up by several Western news organisations before he fled Russia for an undisclosed location in Europe. […]
The Ukraine campaign is "a war where no one will give a damn about your security, about what you eat and drink,” he wrote. “They've just decided to throw our corpses at Ukraine, the women will still give birth to more.”
Vladimir Putin signs decree to increase size of Russian armed forces
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 million to 2.04 million, as the war in Ukraine enters its seventh month with no signs of abating.
The Russian president’s decree appears to point to the country’s aim to replenish its military, which has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine and failed to achieve its objective to capture the capital, Kyiv.
The order, which will come into effect on 1 January, includes a 137,000 rise in the number of combat personnel to 1.15 million.
Europe's drought 'may be worst in 500 years'
According to data released on Tuesday (23 August) by the EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC), over half of Europe is in danger of drought.
In addition, 17 percent of Europe's surface is on red alert, meaning severe water deficiency. Although final data will only come in at the end of the season, the JRC said this year's drought may be worst in 500 years.
"Severe-to-extreme" drought conditions are evident in Italy, south-eastern and north-western France, eastern Germany, eastern Europe, southern Norway and large parts of the Balkans.
France heatwave forces early Champagne harvest
Champagne grape pickers have had to start the harvest earlier this year, as climate change forces the makers of the French sparkling wine to rethink how they make the coveted bubbly. […]
An August harvest, rather than in early September last year, used to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the Champagne region, said Charles Philipponnat, president of the family-owned Philipponnat Champagne winery that produces several hundred thousand bottles a year – but not anymore.
"It’s quite clear that global warming is having an effect now," he said in his winery in northern France.
Complaints mount over UK dumping sewage into Channel
The European Commission on Thursday said it was reviewing complaints it received from lawmakers that the UK had alleged poured sewage into bodies of water it shares with the EU.
"The English Channel and the North Sea are not dumping grounds,'' said Stephanie Yon-Courtin, a member of the European Parliament's fishing committee and a local councilor in Normandy.
"We can't tolerate that the environment, the economic activity of our fishers and the health of our citizens is put into grave danger by repeated negligence of the United Kingdom in the management of its sewage water,'' she said.
These Are the Megaprojects in China’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan
[…] Beijing is making 6.8 trillion yuan (about $1 trillion) of government funds available for construction projects, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official announcements. Total spending could be even higher than that — three times that amount, by some estimates — once bank lending and corporate funds are added.
In the near term, infrastructure investment could give a boost to employment, providing much-needed relief to millions of jobseekers hit by the downturn. Over the longer-term, the stimulus helps China’s ambition of becoming a more urbanized, high-income economy that’s better able to compete with the US in high-tech areas like semiconductors. […]
China already has 40,000 km of high-speed rail — more than twice as much as the rest of the planet combined — and dozens of big-ticket projects are still ongoing…
China said this year it plans to have 70,000 km of high-speed rail by 2035.
Heatwave in China is the most severe ever recorded in the world
Low rainfall and record-breaking heat across much of China are having widespread impacts on people, industry and farming. River and reservoir levels have fallen, factories have shut because of electricity shortages and huge areas of crops have been damaged. The situation could have worldwide repercussions, causing further disruption to supply chains and exacerbating the global food crisis. […]
It is the longest and hottest heatwave in China since national records began in 1961. According to weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who monitors extreme temperatures around the world, it is the most severe heatwave recorded anywhere.
“This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at the same time,” he says. “There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China.”
Together with the extreme heat, low rainfall in parts of China has led to rivers falling to low levels, with 66 drying up completely. In parts of the Yangtze, water levels are the lowest since records began in 1865. In a few places, local water supplies have run out and drinking water has had to be trucked in. On 19 August, China announced a national drought alert for the first time in nine years.
Behind in polls, Brazil's Bolsonaro hopes evangelicals will carry him to reelection
Before about 500 worshippers at an evangelical Christian church in a working-class Rio neighborhood, Pastor Abner Ferreira … during the nearly three-hour service, … praises Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and displays photos of himself alongside the right-wing leader on a giant screen displayed behind the altar. […]
With the president seeking another four-year term in the Oct. 2 election, Ferreira predicts: "I am sure that evangelicals will vote massively for Bolsonaro."
Bolsonaro is relying on their support to pull off an upset. He trails his main opponent in the race, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in all of the polls, mainly due to Brazil's stagnant economy.
Study paints ‘bleak picture’ for nearly all marine life without emissions cuts
A new study has found that nearly 90% of assessed marine life will be at high or critical risk by the year 2100 if climate change accelerates along a high-emissions pathway, and that these species will face risks across 85% of their native ranges in the ocean.
“It’s a pretty bleak picture,” Alex Pigot, study co-author and biodiversity expert at University College London, told Mongabay. “When we’re talking about 90% of species at higher critical risk across most of their geographic distribution, we’re talking about enormous disruption to marine ecosystems.
“The projections for the kind of ocean that we would be leaving our children and grandchildren by the end of the century,” he added, “is really extremely concerning.”
Texans who perform abortions now face up to life in prison, $100,000 fine
Performing an abortion is now a felony punishable by up to life in prison in Texas after the state’s trigger law, which has only narrow exceptions to save the life of a pregnant patient, went into effect Thursday. […]
The trigger law criminalizes performing an abortion from the moment of fertilization unless the pregnant patient is facing “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy.” The statute specifically prohibits prosecuting a pregnant patient who undergoes an abortion.
Violations of the law are punishable by up to life in prison. The statute also says that the attorney general “shall” seek a civil penalty of not less than $100,000, plus attorney’s fees.
Beto O’Rourke slams Gov. Abbott at Houston abortion clinic as trigger law takes effect
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke visited a Houston women’s clinic Thursday — the day Texas’ “trigger ban” took effect — to denounce the governor’s role in outlawing nearly all abortions and encourage like-minded voters to come to the polls in November.
“Reproductive healthcare is under attack in this state more than anywhere else in the country, probably more than anywhere else in the developed world, and there is one person responsible for that: Governor Greg Abbott. There is one way to overcome this, and that is by beating him in this election on Nov. 8,” O’Rourke said. […]
Texas… remains poorly prepared for an expected surge in pregnancies, healthcare advocates warn, and state measures have made it harder to attain contraceptives. The state is also funding anti-abortion programs such as Alternatives to Abortion.
In Arizona, Blake Masters backtracks on abortion and scrubs his campaign website
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters’… campaign published an overhaul of his website and softened his rhetoric, rewriting or erasing five of his six positions. NBC News took screenshots of the website before and after it was changed. […]
"I am 100% pro-life," Masters' website read as of Thursday morning. That language is now gone. […]
Masters’ backtracking is one of the clearest signs of how much the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate federal abortion protections is scrambling the political landscape, energizing Democrats both to turn out at higher-than-expected rates in some bellwether contests and to flood their candidates and campaign committees with small-dollar donations.
RNC chief on tape to donors: We need help to win the Senate
[…] Republican candidates are being swamped by Democrats in the chase for campaign cash. The Supreme Court’s June decision nixing Roe v. Wade, [Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna] McDaniel said, triggered a gusher of online donations for the opposition.
[…] During a question-and-answer session, Republican mega-donor Steve Wynn asked whether there are any dark-money nonprofits that contributors could give to. Unlike political action committees, those groups aren’t required to disclose their donors.
Some donors, Wynn said, “are self-conscious for reasons that are personal to them, business people and folks like that” and would rather give anonymously.
The billionaire also offered up some messaging advice. Republican candidates, he said, should run aggressive TV ads casting Democrats as advocates of tax policies that would hurt lower-wage earners and small businesses.
“Hard-hitting kind of spots with a man’s voice, no soft pedal,” Wynn suggested, before giving a sample script: “‘They’re coming after you if you’re a waiter, if you’re a bartender, if you’re anybody with a cash business … they’re coming after you.’”
Fetterman’s and Shapiro’s leads might be narrowing in Pa.’s midterm races
A complicated picture of the races for U.S. Senate and governor is starting to form as polling picks up ahead of Pennsylvania’s closely watched midterm elections in November.
This summer, most polls of likely voters have shown Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman hovering around a 10-point lead over Republican opponent Mehmet Oz. Gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro has grown his lead over his Republican opponent Doug Mastriano to about 7 points in recent weeks. But two surveys released this week appeared to show a tightening of those margins.
Judge accepts Justice Dept. redactions to Mar-a-Lago search affidavit, orders Friday release
A federal judge in Florida has accepted a list of redactions from the Justice Department to a key document that led to the search of Donald Trump’s home earlier this month, ordering its release by noon on Friday.
The document — an affidavit that outlines probable cause that evidence of crimes was at the … Mar-a-Lago estate — is likely to be heavily redacted. The Justice Department is investigating whether [Trump] committed crimes in his handling of highly classified material.
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in the Southern District of Florida said that the U.S. government had “met its burden” in showing that a full release of the document would “reveal the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties” and “the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods.”
Fulton grand jury seeks testimony from Meadows, Trump campaign lawyers
A Fulton County special grand jury investigating interference in Georgia’s 2020 elections is seeking the testimony of former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell and others next month.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis filed petitions seeking their testimony in Fulton Superior Court on Thursday…
Former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and James “Phil” Waldron, a Meadows contact and cyber researcher, have also been summoned.
Georgia judge skeptical of claims of political bias in 2020 election probe
[…] Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney did not immediately rule on a request from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to toss a subpoena for his testimony from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D).
“It is not my space” to focus on politics, McBurney said as lawyers for Kemp argued that the subpoena had already become a political issue this election season. “I don’t think it is the right forum” to debate the political ramifications of the case, said the judge. […]
Kemp, who resisted pressure from Trump to overturn Georgia’s election results, is considered a key witness. Prosecutors said in a filing this week they would like to ask the governor about calls he received from Trump and others pressing him to contest the state’s election results.
Kemp is running for reelection against Democrat Stacey Abrams, a former state lawmaker and voting rights advocate whom he narrowly beat in 2018. Last week, Abrams tweeted that the governor’s “refusal to testify shows that he will do anything to win an election. Kemp wants credit for ‘standing up’ to Trump but refuses to testify against the former president and said he would welcome his endorsement.”
Floridians Plead Guilty to Stealing Biden’s Daughter’s Diary
Two Floridians pleaded guilty in New York’s Southern District court to transporting the diary they stole from President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley in Florida shortly before the 2020 election to New York, where they were each paid $20,000 for it by the right-wing media group Project Veritas.
Prosecutors said that Project Veritas even asked Aimee Harris and Robert Kurlander to return to Biden’s home in order to pilfer more materials for the organization. They agreed before meeting with a representative from Project Veritas in Florida to hand over additional stolen items.
Eight Sources Say Feds Are Not Done With Matt Gaetz
[…] Eight people with direct knowledge of the probe confirmed to The Daily Beast that the case is still unfolding—albeit at a methodical pace—as federal prosecutors work their way across a number of spokes of possible criminality. While each zone has its own sets of witnesses, subjects, and targets, all of it spirals out from one man: a crooked local tax official and Gaetz’s former “wingman,” Joel Greenberg.
Lyle Mazin, a criminal defense attorney who represents a witness in the case, told The Daily Beast that the quiet should not be misconstrued as reluctance on the part of Roger Handberg, a federal prosecutor who led the local team conducting the investigation and now leads the Florida Middle District U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“He’s methodical. He doesn’t let anything go,” Mazin said. “If you’re going after a monster, you have to get it right—especially when you have a bunch of Trump supporters who’ll come after you.”
Sean Hannity and Others at Fox Face Depositions in Defamation Suit
Some of the biggest names at Fox News have been questioned, or are scheduled to be questioned in the coming days, by lawyers representing Dominion Voting Systems in its $1.6 billion defamation suit against the network, as the election technology company presses ahead with a case that First Amendment scholars say is extraordinary in its scope and significance.
Sean Hannity became the latest Fox star to be called for a deposition by Dominion’s legal team, according to a new filing in Delaware Superior Court. He is scheduled to appear on Wednesday.
Tucker Carlson is set to face questioning on Friday. Lou Dobbs, whose Fox Business show was canceled last year, is scheduled to appear on Tuesday. Others who have been deposed recently include Jeanine Pirro, Steve Doocy and a number of high-level Fox producers, court records show.
Mesa County’s deputy clerk agrees to testify against Tina Peters in election tampering case
Mesa County’s deputy county clerk will testify against her boss Tina Peters, who is criminally charged with tampering with election equipment and misconduct, under a plea deal approved Thursday by a district court judge.
In all, Peters, the Republican county clerk, faces 10 criminal charges, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and identity theft — all felonies.
She also is charged with first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state, all misdemeanors.
Unaffiliated Oregon governor candidate Betsy Johnson qualifies for November ballot
Betsy Johnson has loomed large all year in the race to be Oregon’s next governor. Now, she’s officially a candidate… She’ll face Democrat Tina Kotek and Republican Christine Drazan, in a three-way race that has attracted national attention both for its political dynamics and the fact it features three female candidates. […]
Johnson has handily outraised Kotek and Drazan so far, with help from well-known donors such as Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle. […]
Johnson’s nonpartisan, politically centrist campaign is aimed at both Republicans tired of losing gubernatorial races and disaffected Democrats upset by issues like crime and homelessness. […]
Whether that message is potent enough to override the inherent disadvantages of running without party backing is one of the race’s major questions. The other: Whether Johnson’s candidacy, if unsuccessful, will siphon more votes from Kotek, a former Oregon House speaker, or Drazan, a former Republican leader in the state House.
Independent Dennis Pyle will be on Kansas ballot in governor race with Kelly and Schmidt
State Sen. Dennis Pyle will be on the Kansas ballot in November as an independent candidate for governor after the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office announced Thursday that it had verified that Pyle had gathered more than the 5,000 signatures required.
Pyle, a conservative state senator from Hiawatha in northeast Kansas, left the Republican party earlier this year before announcing he would run for governor against incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly and Republican Derek Schmidt, the state attorney general. […]
He pledged to be a “pro-life” leader in the wake of the overwhelming defeat of Kansas’ abortion amendment, support parental control over education and “get to the bottom” of election integrity concerns. There is no evidence of widespread election fraud in Kansas.
WA will ban new gas-powered cars by 2035, following California’s lead
Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday that Washington would follow California’s lead and ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
The specific regulations for Washington will be sharpened in the coming weeks and months and the public will have the opportunity to weigh in. But the move toward zero-emission vehicles represents a significant and aggressive step toward cutting greenhouse gases in the state — a step that one Washington Republican criticized as overly proscriptive.
“This is a critical milestone in our climate fight,” Inslee said…
As California moves ahead on electric vehicles, Missouri, other states try to pull plug
California is moving closer to banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, but Missouri and 16 other states are trying to block the maneuver.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who is running for U.S. Senate, is among a group of Republican attorneys general who filed a lawsuit in May seeking to overturn President Joe Biden’s decision to allow California to set its own vehicle emissions standards. […]
He faces Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine in the Nov. 8 election. […]
In addition to Missouri, other states that have joined the lawsuit are Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
White House calls out Greene, other Republican critics on how their own loans were forgiven
The White House on Thursday called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) criticism of President Biden’s plan to forgive some student loans, noting that the congresswoman had Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven.
The Biden administration’s official Twitter account shared a video of Greene knocking the just-announced debt cancellation in a Newsmax interview as “completely unfair.”
“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven,” the White House wrote, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a lifeline extended to help small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. economy contracts mildly in second quarter; no sign of recession in underlying data
The U.S. economy contracted at a more moderate pace than initially thought in the second quarter as consumer spending blunted some of the drag from a sharp slowdown in inventory accumulation, dispelling fears that a recession was underway.
That was underscored by details of the report from the Commerce Department on Thursday, showing the economy growing steadily last quarter when measured from the income side. The underlying economic strength fits in with recent upbeat readings on the labor market, retail sales and industrial production.
"We have had a tremendous recovery, this is a mid-cycle slowdown and not a recession," said Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Boston College. "Employment is still growing, which means basically, production is still growing, but there are these supply chain problems."
IRS will refund $1.2 billion in late tax filing penalties
The IRS is refunding $1.2 billion in late filing penalties to 1.6 million taxpayers who were late filing returns for 2019 and 2020. An IRS statement called it COVID-19 tax relief.
"Throughout the pandemic, the IRS has worked hard to support the nation and provide relief to people in many different ways," IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in the statement.
"The penalty relief issued today is yet another way the agency is supporting people during this unprecedented time. This penalty relief will be automatic for people or businesses who qualify; there's no need to call." […]
The penalties will be waived, abated, refunded or credited. Many of these penalty refunds and credits are expected to come by the end of September, according to the IRS.
Ghislaine Maxwell's Lawyers Are Suing Her For $878,302 In Unpaid Legal Fees
The law firm that represented Ghislaine Maxwell in court is now suing her and her family, saying she owes $878,302 in unpaid legal fees.
Maxwell — the right-hand woman in Jeffrey Epstein's decadeslong scheme of grooming and sexually abusing girls as young as 14 — was sentenced in June to 20 years in prison on federal sex trafficking charges…
In a lawsuit filed Monday, which was obtained by Courthouse News Service, Denver-based law firm Haddon, Morgan, and Foreman (HMF) accused Maxwell, as well as her brother and husband, of failing to pay for their services.
Federally funded studies must be freely accessible to the public, White House says
The White House has updated its policy on federally funded research. Going forward, the results of studies funded by the government must be made public right away. Until now, researchers who receive federal funding have been allowed to publish their findings in academic journals exclusively for one year, effectively adding a paywall to their work. Agencies will need to update their policies accordingly by December 31st, 2025.
The Biden administration hopes that the move will afford more equitable access to research. "All members of the American public should be able to take part in every part of the scientific enterprise—leading, participating in, accessing and benefitting from taxpayer-funded scientific research. That is, all communities should be able to take part in America’s scientific possibilities," senior policy advisor Dr. Ryan Donohue and assistant director for open science and data policy Dr. Christopher Steven Marcum wrote in the White House's announcement.
Scanning students’ homes during remote testing is unconstitutional, judge says
As the pandemic unfolded in spring 2020, an Educause survey found that an increasing number of students—who had very little choice but to take tests remotely—were increasingly putting up with potential privacy invasions from schools. Two years later, for example, it’s considered a common practice that some schools record students throughout remote tests to prevent cheating, while others conduct room scans when the test begins.
Now—in an apparent privacy win for students everywhere—an Ohio judge has ruled that the latter practice of scanning rooms is not only an invasion of privacy but a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s guaranteed protection against unlawful searches in American homes.