Trump indicted in documents case
The Justice Department has lodged federal criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, multiple people familiar with the matter said Thursday. The charges follow an investigation of his handling of classified documents that he took with him upon leaving office and into whether he obstructed the government’s efforts to reclaim them. It is the first time a former U.S. president has faced federal charges. It puts the nation in an extraordinary position, given Trump’s status as a onetime chief executive but also as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to face President Joe Biden, whose administration will now be seeking to convict his potential rival.
DeSantis campaign uses apparently fake images to attack Trump on Twitter
As Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida begins to aggressively attack former President Donald Trump, his campaign has spread three images of the former president embracing Dr. Anthony Fauci that forensic experts say are almost certainly “deepfakes” generated by artificial intelligence. The images — which at first glance appear genuine and are interspersed with real photographs in a campaign video — show Trump hugging and kissing Fauci, who led the nation’s pandemic response and has been a target of harsh criticism from DeSantis. The governor has used the pandemic to contrast himself with Trump. The governor’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Record pollution and heat herald a season of climate extremes
Fires are burning across Canada, blanketing parts of the eastern United States with smoke. Puerto Rico is under a severe heat alert. Earth’s oceans have heated up at an alarming rate. The science is unequivocal that global warming significantly increases the chances of severe wildfires and heat waves like the ones affecting major parts of North America. Now comes a global weather pattern known as El Niño, which can drive up temperatures and set heat records. Thursday morning, scientists announced its arrival. The week’s extremes offer one clear takeaway: The world’s richest continent remains unprepared for the hazards of the not-too-distant future.
A new front in reparations: seeking the return of lost family land
African American families across the country are pushing for the return of land they say was taken in government seizures. Descendants are searching for aging deeds and scouring public records to try to prove past ownership of properties that are now the sites of businesses, college dormitories, even parking lots. They want the land or to be paid current market value. In some cases, families are asking for acknowledgment of the harm done. A national organization dedicated to helping Black families recover lost land has received about 700 claims to properties since 2021. One real estate lawyer has heard from hundreds of people seeking assistance.
Biden and Sunak say their countries will support Ukraine for the long haul
President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak affirmed their support for Ukraine on Thursday, pledging to continue drumming up financial and military aid for Kyiv. Sunak’s visit to Washington, his first as prime minister, was a high-profile engagement for the 43-year-old leader, who is eager to establish himself on the world stage. Both men hailed the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. But Sunak, who has been in pursuit of a free-trade agreement with Washington, will leave with only a modest pact unveiled Thursday. The Atlantic Declaration will bring the countries closer on research around quantum computing, semiconductor technologies and artificial intelligence.
Zelenskyy visits Ukraine’s flood zone, where residents see ‘horror’ float by
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the flood-stricken city of Kherson on Thursday, trying to rally the region’s emergency workers. Even as rescuers took boats through flooded streets to get people to safety Thursday afternoon, Russian forces continued to assail the city. The monthslong bombardment of Kherson, which Russian soldiers once occupied in southern Ukraine, has not let up since an explosion Tuesday at the Kakhovka dam, up the Dnieper River, which sent a torrent of water downriver, lifting cars and houses out toward the Black Sea. Zelenskyy was visiting Kherson on Thursday to see the damage, and to stress his appeal for “a clear and quick global response” to help the population.
U.S. suspends food aid for Ethiopia, citing widespread theft
The United States on Thursday suspended all food aid to Ethiopia, where its contributions feed an estimated 12 million people, citing “widespread and coordinated” theft of rations in a scheme overseen by Ethiopian government officials. The United States is by far the largest aid donor to Ethiopia, where about 20 million people depend on food aid. In the past fiscal year, it gave $1.5 billion in aid, more than two-thirds of that in food. Although a significant amount of that aid reached the hungry, U.S. officials said they had discovered misappropriation on a scale that left them with no choice but to halt the deliveries.
Stabbing in France critically injures 4 children, shocking country
A knife-wielding man stabbed four children and two adults at a park and a playground in southeastern France on Thursday, in an attack that horrified the country and set off political recriminations over immigration. Authorities said that a suspect, a Syrian asylum-seeker who arrived in France last fall, had been arrested in the attack, which took place in Annecy, a city of about 130,000 people in the French Alps. Line Bonnet-Mathis, the city’s public prosecutor, said that the suspect was being questioned and that he had acted alone. One of the adult victims was also hit by a bullet when police fired at the attacker, Bonnet-Mathis said.
Man tied to Natalee Holloway disappearance is extradited to U.S.
Jordan van der Sloot, who has been connected to the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, was temporarily extradited to the United States on Thursday. Van der Sloot, 35, has been serving a prison sentence in Peru, where he pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old student. Van der Sloot was being extradited to face federal charges of wire fraud and extortion in Alabama related to the Holloway case. Prosecutors say he tried to demand a $250,000 payment from Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, claiming to have knowledge of the location of the girl’s remains. Van der Sloot has not been charged in Holloway’s disappearance.
By wire sources