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These states will vote on abortion in 2024. And, a mysterious ant takes over NYC
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Today's top stories
Missouri and Arizona are the latest states that will allow voters to decide in November whether to add abortion protections to their state constitutions. If the proposed amendments pass, both states would legalize abortion until around 24 weeks, which is generally recognized as the point of fetal viability. Nearly every abortion, with the exception of medical emergencies, has been illegal in Missouri since June 2022. In Arizona, the law bans abortions after 15 weeks and includes exceptions for medical emergencies. The two states join six others with similar ballot measures in the upcoming election: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.
- 🎧 NPR’s Elissa Nadworny says Arizona’s secretary of state verified that organizers received more than half a million signatures, which is far more than what was needed. Arizona Right to Life, a group that opposes abortions, is suing to keep the question off the ballot. Nebraska, Montana and Arkansas are waiting for decisions on similar ballot questions. Some Arkansas signatures were thrown out because they were collected by paid gathers, putting them below the threshold needed. But the state Supreme Court could give the group more time. Decisions could come as early as next week In the other two states after the secretaries of state evaluate the signatures' validity.
Questions swirled this week after the Trump campaign said it was hacked and suggested Iranian hackers were to blame. Politico and other news outlets reported over the weekend that they received leaked internal Trump campaign documents. The FBI confirmed it's investigating the matter. Here's what we know so far:
- 🎧 The Trump campaign says the documents are real and due to a breach, NPR’s Shannon Bond tells Up First. The campaign pointed to a Microsoft report revealing that Iranian hackers targeted an unnamed presidential candidate, but hasn’t provided any evidence that the leaked Trump campaign documents were connected. Microsoft did confirm that the hacking attempt came from a group run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The hackers compromised the email of a former advisor to an unnamed campaign and used that to target a current campaign official, according to Microsoft The report didn’t say whether this was successful. The Harris campaign says the FBI informed them in July that it had been targeted by a foreign entity, but it's unaware of any breaches.
Peace talks are expected today in Geneva aimed at ending Sudan’s war. A top U.N. official said the refugee crisis, which has been deemed the worst in the world, has reached a “breaking point.” More than 12 million people have been displaced since the war broke out last April between the military government, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and a powerful paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. Several efforts to end the fighting have failed.
- 🎧 “It sounds like a broken record at this point to say at pretty much every stage since last April that the country's collapse has basically been a disaster and it's still getting worse,” NPR’s Emmanuel Akinwotu says. Sudan has been a battleground of fierce international competition for its resources, influence and control for decades. Diplomatic talks have failed repeatedly. Several actors have fueled the war by arming both sides. The United Arab Emirates is under growing scrutiny as Sudan says they're heavily funding the RSF. The UAE denies this. The U.S. is working to persuade the SAF to attend the peace talks; they've so far said they will not attend. The RSF has sent a delegation and has said the military’s absence shows they’re the party that’s blocking peace.
Deep dive
Vice President Kamala Harris is spotlighting her history of tough border enforcement in her campaign ads and speeches. This comes as the Biden administration faces low approval ratings on immigration and Republicans blame Harris for what they call a “border invasion.” A closer look at Harris’ record as a public official in California reveals a more nuanced picture.
- ⚖️ Harris went after abusive employers who shortchanged immigrant workers during her time as San Francisco's district attorney from 2004 to 2010 and encouraged immigrant communities to feel safe with law enforcement. But she also favored turning juvenile immigrants arrested for crimes to immigration agents.
- ⚖️ When Donald Trump became president in 2017 and Harris was a new U.S. senator, she met with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and reassured undocumented immigrants that she would fight for them.
- ⚖️ In 2021, President Biden tasked Harris with addressing the “root causes” of migration from three Central American countries that were the source of the most unauthorized migration at the time.
- ⚖️ Harris and Biden called on Congress to pass a bipartisan bill that would increase resources for Border Patrol and immigration courts. It would also allow the government to expel people without hearing asylum claims if border encounters reach a certain level.
- ⚖️ Many immigrant rights groups have sharply criticized Biden for his policies, but so far they’re not attacking Harris in the same way. Political observers say that with the November election approaching, advocates may recognize that the alternative to a Harris presidency would be Trump’s hard-line policies.
Life advice
Did the Olympics draw you into a sport you’ve barely heard of before? The Paralympic Games, which are just around the corner, will likely do the same with exciting sports like wheelchair rugby and goalball. Many of these sports are played in small contests across the country. Some can even be found in the darker corners of sports broadcasters’ schedules. Here’s how you can keep up with them after the Games:
- 👟 Lacrosse will be reintroduced in the upcoming Olympics. Before then, it can be seen professionally and collegiately in the U.S.
- 👟 Why stop at regular running? You could participate in mud runs that insert a messy obstacle course, rucksack races that add weighted packs, or even races that allow running in the buff.
- 👟 Add a degree of difficulty to climbing with ice climbing. If you just enjoy watching, ESPN sometimes televises the Wipeout-adjacent Slippery Stairs.
- 👟 Red Bull has a 15-year-old series of cliff-diving competitions. In it, athletes may leap from nearly 100 feet above the water. For a tamer option, you might want to consider dog surfing.
- 👟 If you get into tennis-adjacent squash, you'll be ahead of the game when it makes its Olympic debut in Los Angeles.
- 👟 Check out your gym for varieties of martial arts options and wrestling techniques.
3 things to know before you go
- A mysterious species of ant nicknamed the ManhattAnt first showed up in New York in 2011. At the time, no one knew where it came from. Mostly ignored for years, it has since flourished and is now vying with a species called the pavement ant as the most common ant in the city.
- Basketball star Dearica Hamby has filed a federal lawsuit against the WNBA and her former team, the Las Vegas Aces. She accuses them of discriminating and retaliating against her while she was pregnant, culminating in her trade to the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2023.
- Eighteen-year-old Jay Babina has amassed more than 400 pieces of technology in what he calls the Westport Tech Museum. He started the collection at 14 and has researched, curated and displayed them in his Westport, Conn., attic. (via WSHU)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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