Tuesday, August 2 top stories
It is Tuesday, August 2. Here are today’s top stories.
Pelosi visits Taiwan
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan today to show support for the island’s ability to govern itself independently.
Pelosi is defying a warning from China of potential retaliatory measures because China considers Taiwan a part of their territory and is usually aggressive against the idea of Taiwan's independence.
News videos showed Pelosi walking with Taiwanese government leaders. The Taipei 101 skyscraper, one of the world’s tallest buildings, had a flashing LED message that said, “Welcome Speaker Pelosi.” Pelosi will meet with Taiwan's president on Wednesday.
China responded by dispatching fighter jets across the Taiwan Straits, mobilizing tanks, and conducting live-fire military exercises.
Pelosi wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post explaining why she was visiting Taiwan. She wrote that over 40 years ago, the U.S. signed a law that said it was committed to defending Taiwan's ability to be free.
Pelosi said she is concerned about Chinese President Xi Jinping's grip on power and said the world is in a struggle between autocracy and democracy.
U.S. kills al Qaeda leader
President Biden announced last night that the U.S. killed al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday night.
A CIA-operated Air Force drone killed him as he stood on the balcony of his house. Biden said he gave the final approval for the strike.
The drone fired two “Ninja” missiles that had sharp blades on it at Zawahiri.
Zawahiri took over al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.
At least four children infected with monkeypox
ABC News reported that at least four children in the U.S. have now tested positive for monkeypox.
Two of the most recent child cases were in Indiana while the other two cases were detected in California and D.C.
ABC News said the children in the California and D.C. cases are in “good health.”
Most of the monkeypox cases worldwide have been found among gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, but the virus itself can spread through close person-to-person contact or objects that an infected person touches.
Currently at least three states have declared a public health emergency due to outbreaks of monkeypox: New York, Illinois, and California.
New York has 1,472 cases as of Monday, while California has 786 cases and Illinois has 520 cases.
U.S. health officials said they would make 800,000 monkeypox vaccine doses available for distribution.
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Jan 6. rioter sentenced to 7 years
A Jan 6. rioter from Texas, Guy Reffitt, was sentenced to just over seven years in prison by a federal judge on Monday.
It is the longest sentence given out related to the attack on the Capitol. Reffitt carried a firearm with him on the Capitol grounds and charged a police line.
He was a member of the Texas Three Percenters, a far-right militia group. Prosecutors said he threatened his children when they wanted to report him to authorities.
DOJ sues Idaho over abortion law
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Idaho over Idaho’s near-total abortion ban.
Idaho’s law will take effect at the end of August and would make abortion illegal unless it is needed to save a pregnant person’s life.
The DOJ said the state law is in conflict with a federal law that allows abortions in emergency situations.
This is the first abortion lawsuit from the Biden administration after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Massive sinkhole in Chile
In northern Chile, there is a massive sinkhole that is about 82 feet in diameter. The hole is on land that is owned by a Canadian copper mining company.
Chilean authorities said the sinkhole is over 650 feet deep and that there is water at the bottom of it. The mining work site is now closed to allow investigation of the area.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/02/politics/nancy-pelosi-visit-taipei-taiwan-trip/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/02/nancy-pelosi-taiwan-visit-op-ed/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/children-us-test-positive-monkeypox/story?id=87767655
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/01/illinois-monkeypox-outbreak
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/01/jan-6-guy-reffitt-longest-sentence
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guy-reffitt-january-6-sentence-87-months/
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/02/biden-idaho-abortion-ban-doj-sues