Today is Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. Let's get caught up.
Here are today's top stories, celebrity birthdays and a look back at this date in history.
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MORNING LISTEN
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TOP STORIES
Top headlines for Tuesday, Aug. 8:
Now that July’s sizzling numbers are all in, the European climate monitoring organization made it official: July 2023 was Earth’s hottest month on record by a wide margin. July’s global average temperature of 16.95 degrees Celsius was a third of a degree Celsius (six tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) higher than the previous record set in 2019. That's according to Tuesday's calculations by Copernicus Climate Change Service, a division of the European Union’s space program. Normally global temperature records are broken by hundredths or a tenth of a degree, so this margin is unusual.
Throngs of fans have gathered in the Irish coastal town that singer Sinéad O’Connor called home to say goodbye following her funeral. O’Connor’s family invited the public to line the waterfront in Bray on Tuesday as her funeral procession passed by. An old VW camper van with rooftop speakers blasting a Bob Marley song led a hearse through a thick crowd of admirers. They tossed flowers on the car as it passed and clapped as it stopped briefly outside her former home. O’Connor was found unresponsive at her London home on July 26. Police have not said how she died, though they said her death was not suspicious.
At least two people have died, thousands of U.S. flights have been canceled and more than 1 million have lost power as destructively strong storms moved through the eastern U.S. Residents had been warned to stay indoors Monday. The threat of severe thunderstorms and tornados stretched from Alabama to New York. Officials say a 15-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree in South Carolina and a 28-year-old man was killed by lightning in Alabama. Homes and businesses in nearly a dozen states lost power as trees and power lines fell onto roads and homes. FlightAware says more than 2,600 U.S. flights have been canceled and nearly 7,900 delayed.
The destruction that resulted from a glacial dam bursting in Alaska's capital highlights the danger such flooding poses around the world. Authorities say several homes, including two condo buildings, have been condemned after the levels of the Mendenhall River in Juneau rose to unprecedented levels. Two homes fell into the river completely Saturday after an ice dam on the Mendenhall Glacier gave way, sending torrents of water downstream. Researchers say such glacial floods could threaten about 15 million people around the world.
Voters in Ohio reject GOP-backed proposal that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights
Ohio voters have resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would've made it more difficult to pass abortion protections. The vote sets up a fall campaign that'll become the nation’s latest referendum on the issue since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to abortion last year. The defeat of Issue 1 keeps in place a simple majority threshold for passing future changes to the Ohio Constitution, rather than requiring a 60% supermajority. Ohio Republicans placed the question on the summer ballot in hopes of undercutting a citizen initiative voters will decide in November that seeks to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution. Tuesday's result marks the latest setback for Republicans in a conservative-leaning state.
President Joe Biden has signed a national monument designation for the greater Grand Canyon, declaring it good “not only for Arizona but for the planet.” Tuesday's move turns the decades-long visions of Native American tribes and environmentalists into reality. It will help preserve about 1,562 square miles just to the north and south of Grand Canyon National Park. Representatives of various northern Arizona Native American tribes attended Biden’s remarks. They have advocated for increased protections on the land for decades. Mining companies have opposed the move. Biden also used his visit to Arizona, which is critical to next year's presidential race, to criticize Republicans. Biden is on a three-state Western trip.
Officials say the death toll from Russian missile strikes that hit apartment buildings in an eastern Ukrainian city has climbed to seven, with 81 people injured. Two Russian missiles slammed into the downtown area of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region that is partially occupied by Russia, on Monday evening. Local officials said the missiles damaged apartment buildings, houses, a hotel, dining establishments, shops and administrative buildings. The Kremlin says its forces target only military assets and claim other damage is caused by debris from Ukrainian air defense weapons.
A Colombian man once seen as one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords has been sentenced to 45 years in prison in the U.S. Dairo Antonio Úsuga — known as Otoniel — was sentenced Tuesday in a federal court in New York. He pleaded guilty in January to high-level drug trafficking charges. Úsuga headed the Gulf Clan, a cartel and paramilitary group with a blood-drenched grip on much of northern Colombia. Úsuga was Colombia’s most-wanted kingpin before his arrest in 2021. When pleading guilty, he admitted smuggling tons of U.S.-bound cocaine and acknowledged “there was a lot of violence.”
Nearly two weeks have passed since the coup in Niger, and the two men making competing claims to power have gone quiet in recent days. One is the ousted president, who said last week he’s being held hostage and has been publicly silent since then. The other is the military junta leader who asserts he acted for the country's security and has encouraged Nigeriens to defend it from any foreign intervention. Here’s a look at President Mohamed Bazoum and Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as Niger’s junta defies a threat by the West African regional bloc to step in and use force if necessary.
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IMAGE OF THE DAY
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TODAY IN HISTORY
In 1963, Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.
In 1984, Carl Lewis sets the Olympic record in the 200 meters with a 19.80 clocking. See more sports moments from this date:
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