Court puts on hold Graham’s testimony in Ga. election probe
A federal appeals court has agreed to temporarily put on hold a lower court’s order requiring that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham testify before a special grand jury that’s investigating possible illegal efforts to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss in Georgia. A subpoena had instructed the South Carolina Republican to appear before the special grand jury on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on Monday denied Graham’s request to quash his subpoena and on Friday rejected his effort to put her decision on hold while he appealed. Graham’s lawyers appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit on Sunday issued an order temporarily pausing May’s order declining to quash the subpoena.
Flash floods at National Parks strand 200 and leave a hiker missing
One person who had been hiking Friday at Zion National Park in Utah remained missing Sunday and about 200 people at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico were trapped for several hours Saturday amid heavy rain and flash flooding in parts of the Southwest. Monsoonal moisture is contributing to more frequent showers and thunderstorms, the National Weather Services in Utah and New Mexico said. From the Southern Plains into the lower Mississippi River Valley, heavy rains were expected to continue into the week, with a continued threat of flash flooding, the weather service said.
Kansas recount confirms results in favor of abortion rights
Election officials say a decisive statewide vote in favor of abortion rights in Kansas has been confirmed with a partial hand recount. Nine of the state’s 105 counties recounted votes at the request of two activists who questioned the conduct of the election without providing evidence of problems. The results were confirmed Sunday when Sedgwick County released its results a day after missing a state deadline. Voters on Aug. 2 rejected a ballot measure that would have removed protections for abortion rights from the Kansas Constitution and allowed the Legislature to further restrict abortion or ban it. It failed by 18 percentage points, or 165,000 votes statewide.
Jill Biden leaving isolation after testing negative for COVID
Jill Biden, the first lady, left isolation after testing negative for the coronavirus Sunday, nearly a week after she tested positive while on vacation in South Carolina. Biden had been isolating in a private residence there, but joined President Joe Biden in Rehoboth, Delaware, on Sunday, according to a statement from her office. Jill Biden, who was up to date on vaccines and has received two booster shots, only experienced mild symptoms, according to her office. She had also been prescribed the antiviral pill Paxlovid, a treatment that reduces the effects of a coronavirus infection.
Brazen attack near Moscow rattles Russians
A brazen car bombing in a Moscow suburb that killed the daughter of a prominent backer of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has injected new uncertainty into the six-month war and rattled Russia’s elite. Russian authorities said Sunday that they had begun a murder investigation into the killing of Daria Dugina, 29, a hawkish political commentator who was the daughter of philosopher Alexander Dugin, long a leading proponent of an imperialist Russia who has been urging the Kremlin to escalate its assault on Ukraine. Russian state television described the car bombing, which occurred Saturday evening on a highway, as a “terrorist act.”
US delegation visits Taiwan for trade talks, risking China’s ire
A U.S. delegation including Indiana’s governor arrived in Taiwan on Sunday to begin trade talks with Taipei amid increased U.S. political tensions with China, which launched a barrage of military drills near the island in response to visits this month by U.S. government officials. The delegation — including Gov. Eric Holcomb; Bradley Chambers, Indiana’s secretary of commerce; and others — will also visit South Korea later this week. The officials are set to meet with business and academic leaders in Taiwan and South Korea, and will focus on “strengthening Indiana’s economic and academic partnerships” with both places, Holcomb said in a news release.
By wire sources