July 27 top news
Hello! I am Renca and I will be replacing Alex for today’s top news. Today is Thursday, July 27. Here’s the top news.
Sen. McConnell freezes up
Yesterday Sen. Mitch McConnell was talking with reporters at the Capitol when he seemed to freeze up. He stopped talking all of a sudden and was silent for about 20 seconds. He seemed to stare into space. Other senators near him noticed and helped him to walk out of view. After a moment, Sen. McConnell walked back and seemed to be better and back to normal.
A reporter asked him if he was still recovering from a recent concussion. The senator replied that he was fine. His aide said he felt lightheaded for a moment and had to walk away.
McConnell is 81 years old and has worked in the Senate since 1985 and is one of the most powerful Republicans in the Capitol.
Missing Glendale teen reunited with her family after four years
Alicia Navarro from Glendale, Arizona has been missing for four years. She was 14 years old at the time. Recently, she was located in a small town in Montana. She was found safe, healthy, and happy. It seems that she stopped by a local police department and identified herself as the missing teenage girl. She has been reunited with her family. The articles say that the community and her family are relieved and joyful that Alicia has been found. Glendale police said that they will investigate this situation that led up to her disappearance and return. It is still unclear where she was for the last four years or who she was with, but the police say she was missing initially because she ran away from home. The police said Alicia is in good spirits and very apologetic about what happened. She said that she understands that she caused a lot of pain and hopes that she can rebuild the connection with her and her family.
Colorado family die while trying to live ‘off the grid’
Two weeks ago, the police found three “fairly mummified” bodies at a remote campsite in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The bodies were found inside a tent that was still zipped up while the other body was in a wooded area nearby the tent. The police were confused and had to investigate this. As of yesterday, it was announced that the bodies have been identified as two adult sisters (41 and 42) and a 14-year-old son. The three of them used to live in Colorado Springs before packing up to live “off the grid.” According to a family member, they mentioned one of the sisters named Rebecca wanted to live off the grid because she saw this world as chaotic and dangerous. Rebecca’s paranoia increased during the pandemic. This family member said that Rebecca said life would be better waiting in nature instead of with society. So, Rebecca and her other sister, and the son went off to live permanently in Gunnison National Forest. Based on an investigation of the bodies, it seems that the three of them died sometime during this recent winter and possible signs of starvation. So it is possible that their bodies succumbed to starvation and freezing temperatures. Right now, the officials are waiting for toxicology reports to determine the exact cause of deaths.
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This month is the planet’s hottest in around 120,000 years
Two global climate authorities say that this month will be the planet’s hottest record by far based on several continents with extreme heat and the ocean’s heat rising up. The authorities say the temperatures are the warmest that the planet has seen in 120,000 years. This is based on climate data extracted from tree rings, coral reefs, and deep-sea sediment cores. A deputy director mentioned that these are the hottest temperatures in human history. This deputy said that human-caused climate change is the main reason we are having extraordinary heat and possibly higher temperatures next year. Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is more urgent and that “climate action is not a luxury but a must.”
100 pilot whales stranded on Australia beach
Nearly 100 pilot whales became stranded on a beach in Western Australia. After two days of trying to rescue them, they are all dead. Pilot whales are one of the largest dolphin species. They were washed ashore for an unknown reason. Officials at the Parks and Wildlife Service of Western Australia and a hundred volunteers went to the beach to try to save them. At first, it seemed successful as workers moved them to be submerged in the water, but within 45 minutes of their attempts to move them, they became “re-stranded” further down the beach. Yesterday, 96 whales died. By today, the veterinarians had accessed the remaining 45 whales and confirmed that they showed signs of rapid deterioration. Two died due to natural causes then they euthanized 43 whales to prevent them from suffering more. One of the workers mentioned that it was heartbreaking because pilot whales always travel together and could see how the whales were trying to stay together too. When they would send off one whale under the water, they would return to nuzzle with another whale still stranded. This worker said it is clear how tight pilot whales are together. There were about 350 people who tried to help and were not expecting this outcome for the pilot whales.
That’s all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
McConnell: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/watch-mitch-mcconnell-freeze-press-conference-rcna96486
Climate: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/world/july-hottest-month-record-climate/index.html