August 4 top stories
It is August 4. Here are today’s top stories.
Trump pleads not guilty to charges of overturning 2020 election
Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The judge informed Trump that if he is convicted of his charges, he could face up to 55 years in prison.
Trump was released with the agreement that he cannot communicate with anyone that may be a witness.
After Trump left the courtroom to return to New Jersey, he said it is a “very sad day for America” and that this is “persecution of a political opponent.”
In this case, Trump is accused of scheming with others to enlist slates of fake electors and trying to pressure Vice President Pence to recognize them on Jan 6, 2021 so he could “win” certain states that he lost.
ABC News said the judge overseeing the case is Tanya Chutkan. She gave federal prosecutors until Thursday to propose a trial date and provide an estimate of how long they think it will take to make their case at trial. Trump’s defense team will then have to respond by August 17 to propose their own trial date and estimate how long it will take to put on their defense.
Russian ship hit by drone attack
BBC reported that a Russian naval ship was damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack in the Black Sea.
The drone was a sea drone that carried almost 1,000 pounds of dynamite. The attack happened near the Russian port city of Novorossiysk.
There is a video that shows the drone approaching the ship and apparently hitting its side before the video goes blank, probably because of the explosion.
Another video shows the same ship being towed. It was listing badly on one side.
This incident is the latest Ukrainian attack towards Russian land with previous attacks targeting buildings in Moscow and the Kerch Bridge in Crimea.
Husband arrested after wife’s remains found in three suitcases
In Florida, a man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after the remains of his wife were found in three suitcases that were discovered in the Intracoastal Waterway.
The husband’s name is William Lowe (78). Police said someone called 911 to report something strange in the water. Police discovered the suitcases and after investigating, they served a search warrant at Lowe’s home, where they discovered blood splatter in the home and a chainsaw that had blood and human remains on it.
The wife’s name was Aydil Barbosa Fontes. The husband said she was in Brazil for about three weeks but couldn’t provide specific information. Police confronted the husband with the information that one of the suitcases had his wife’s name on it and he replied that he didn’t know anything.
Police said they positively identified the human remains in the suitcases through dental records and determined that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. Lowe was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a dead body.
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Two Navy sailors charged with sharing secrets with China
Reuters reported that two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of sharing classified national security material to China.
The soldiers’ names are Wenheng Zhao and Jinchao Wei. The first was accused of taking almost $15,000 in exchange for photographs and videos of classified U.S. military information. The second person was charged with conspiring to send national defense information to China in exchange for thousands of dollars.
The information included U.S. military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region, electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system on a U.S. military base in Japan, information on U.S. naval facilities in California, and information on various U.S. warships.
Navalny receives 19-year sentence in Russia
A Russian court sentenced Alexei Navalny, a prominent political leader and critic of Russian President Putin, to an additional 19 years in prison.
Navalny was accused of several extremism-related charges. His supporters said the charges are politically motivated.
Axios said he was already serving more than 11 years in prison on various charges and now must serve even more time.
Navalny posted on X (Twitter) that he understands that he is “sitting on a life sentence” but he said, “where life is measured by the term of my life or the term of life of this regime.”
The European Union said it believes that the verdict is politically motivated and called on Russia to immediately release Navalny.
Police officer jumps on runaway boat to stop it
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office in Florida shared a body camera video of an officer jumping into a runaway boat traveling at about 40 mph with nobody on it. The boat’s driver fell off.
The sheriff’s office said they received a call from the U.S. Coast Guard to help and intercept the boat. The sheriff’s office used its boat to catch up to the runaway boat and an officer jumped on it. Here’s the video.
[Video clip] Credit: Pinellas Sheriff
The sheriff’s office said boaters should always connect their kill switch lanyard.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/trump-2020-election-indictment-charges/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-trumps-jan-6-case-attorneys-2-weeks/story
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66402046
https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-arrested-after-human-remains-found-3-suitcases/story
https://www.axios.com/2023/08/04/alexei-navalny-extremism-sentence
https://people.com/florida-sheriffs-deputy-jumps-onto-unmanned-runaway-boat-video-7569040