Starbucks asks labor board to halt union votes temporarily
Starbucks is asking the National Labor Relations Board to suspend all union elections at its U.S. stores. The request came Monday in response to a board employee’s allegations that regional NLRB officials improperly coordinated with union organizers. In a letter sent to the board, Starbucks said an unnamed career NLRB official told the company about the activity, which happened in the board’s St. Louis office in the spring while it was overseeing an election at a Starbucks store in Overland Park, Kansas. The labor board says it doesn’t comment on open cases. More than 220 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year. The company opposes unionization.
Trump Org. CFO expected to plead guilty in NY tax case
Donald Trump’s longtime finance chief is expected to plead guilty as soon as Thursday in a tax evasion case, according to three people familiar with the matter. Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is accused of failing to pay taxes on fringe benefits he got from the company. A judge has scheduled a hearing for Thursday. The three people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case. They said the purpose of the hearing was for Weisselberg to enter a guilty plea. One of Weisselberg’s lawyers confirmed that Weisselberg was engaged in plea negotiations but didn’t specify terms of a potential deal.
Giuliani targeted in criminal probe of 2020 election
Prosecutors in Atlanta have told Rudy Giuliani’s lawyers that he is a target of their criminal investigation into possible illegal attempts by then-President Donald Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 general election in Georgia. Giuliani’s lawyer said Monday the special prosecutor sent notification that the former New York mayor, later a lawyer for Trump, is a target of the investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Giuliani said Monday, “You do this to a lawyer, we don’t have America anymore.” Willis has said she is considering calling Trump himself to testify before the special grand jury.
Illegal border crossings fall in July but remain high
Authorities say migrants were stopped fewer times at the U.S. border with Mexico in July than in June, a second straight monthly decline. Flows were still unusually high, particularly among nationalities less affected by a pandemic-era rule, Title 42, that denies migrants legal rights to seek asylum on grounds of preventing spread of COVID-19. In theory, Title 42 applies to all nationalities. But costs, diplomatic relations and others considerations usually dictate who is expelled under the public health authority. Customs and Border Protection says authorities stopped migrants nearly 200,000 times at the Mexican border in July, down 4% from June.
Deadline looms for western states to cut Colorado River use
Seven Western U.S. states face a deadline from the federal government to come up with a plan to use substantially less Colorado River water in 2023. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is expected to publish hydrology projections on Tuesday that will trigger agreed-upon cuts for states relying on the river. States face the threat of proposing additional cuts or having them mandated by the federal government. Prolonged drought, climate change and overuse are jeopardizing the water supply that more than 40 million people rely on. States acknowledge painful cuts are needed, but are stubbornly clinging to the water they were allocated a century ago.
Kenya declares new president, but battle may not be over
On Monday, a winner was declared in Kenya’s presidential election, ending an unpredictable battle that had millions of Kenyans glued to their televisions and smartphones as the results rolled in. William Ruto, the president-elect, beamed as he addressed a hall filled with roaring supporters. But the losing candidate, Raila Odinga, rejected the result even before it was announced. A fracas erupted in the hall where Ruto had been speaking, and where the votes had been counted, sending chairs and fists flying. And four electoral commissioners stormed out, casting doubt on a result that is almost certain to end up in court.
Ukrainian military says it repelled more than dozen attacks
The Ukrainian military says it has repelled more than a dozen Russian attacks in the country’s east and north, including attempts to advance on key cities in the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas. In its regular Facebook update, the military’s General Staff said Monday that Russian troops had attempted to push towards Kramatorsk, one of two major cities in the eastern Donetsk province that remain under Ukrainian control, but they failed “completely and chaotically” and retreated. The Donetsk region is one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, where the fighting has largely been focused in recent months, since Kremlin forces retreated from around the capital, Kyiv.
Iran denies involvement but justifies Salman Rushdie attack
An Iranian government official has denied that Tehran was involved in the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie. However, the official, Nasser Kanaani, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, sought to justify the attack in the Islamic Republic’s first public comments on the bloodshed. The spokesman said Monday that Iran does not “consider anyone deserving reproach, blame or even condemnation, except for (Rushdie) himself and his supporters.” Iran has in the past denied carrying out other operations abroad targeting dissidents in the years since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, even though prosecutors and Western governments have attributed such attacks to Tehran.
By wire sources