Today is Friday, Aug. 11, 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 stories for Friday, Aug. 11:
Police say a new fire burning on the Hawaii island of Maui on Friday night has triggered evacuations of a community to the northeast of the area that burned earlier this week. The Maui Police Department says the fire prompted the evacuation of people in Kaanapali in West Maui. No details of the evacuation were immediately provided. The number of confirmed deaths from the Maui wildfires has increased to 67. Maui County officials on Friday confirmed an additional 12 deaths as of the afternoon. Officials say the fire is not yet contained. Associated Press journalists witnessed the destruction in Lahaina on Friday. The tourism destination was mostly destroyed by the blaze. Many survivors of the fire say they did not receive a warning that gave them enough time to flee.
About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever. That's according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year. But available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. than at any time since the dawn of World War II. Experts caution that suicide is complicated, and that recent increases might be driven by higher rates of depression or limited availability of mental health services. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention says a main driver is the growing availability of guns.
Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis is dismissing concerns about his latest staffing shakeup as he returns to Iowa in the midst of a weekslong campaign reset. The Florida governor has declined to talk about the two rounds of campaign layoffs he made recently in response to unexpected fundraising troubles. Whether DeSantis acknowledges his challenges or not, the threats remain. Five months before the first votes are cast in Iowa’s opening presidential primary contest, a growing chorus of Republican would-be supporters is questioning DeSantis’ core “anti-woke” message and his political instincts. And new signs of tension have emerged between DeSantis’ formal campaign and an allied super PAC.
Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year. Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school. All told, an estimated 6.5 million additional students were chronically absent. That's according to data compiled by Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee in partnership with The Associated Press. The analysis is based on the most recent data available, from 40 states and Washington, D.C. It provides the most comprehensive accounting of absenteeism nationwide. The absences come on top of time missed during school closures. They cost crucial time in classrooms as schools work to recover from massive learning setbacks.
The federal judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against Donald Trump is warning that there are limits on what the former president can publicly say about evidence in the investigation as he campaigns for a second term in the White House. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkin heard arguments Friday on how to structure a protective order that would prevent a public airing of all the evidence turned over by prosecutors. But she also used the forum to address the case’s unprecedented mix of legal and political concerns. Chutkan stressed that political considerations wouldn’t guide her decisions.
The Biden administration says it could soon launch a formal evaluation of risks posed by vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical that burned in a towering plume of toxic smoke following the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The Environmental Protection Agency this year is set to review risks posed by a handful of chemicals and is considering those used for plastic production as a key benchmark. Vinyl chloride is used to make PVC plastic pipes and toys and is among chemicals eligible for review. The EPA says a risk evaluation would take at least three years. Environmental and public health groups have long pushed to ban the chemical.
A rocket carrying a lunar landing craft has blasted off on Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years, racing to land on Earth’s satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft. The launch from Russia’s Vostochny spaceport in the Far East of the Luna-25 craft to the moon is Russia’s first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union. The Russian lunar lander is expected to reach the moon on Aug. 23, about the same day as an Indian craft. The Russian spacecraft will take about 5.5 days to travel to the moon’s vicinity, then spend three to seven days orbiting before heading for the surface.
Nearly two months after a dilapidated fishing trawler crammed with people heading from north Africa to Italy sank in the central Mediterranean, killing hundreds, relatives are still frantically searching for loved ones among the missing and dead. As many as 750 people are believed to have been on board. Only 104 survived and 82 bodies were recovered. By early August, around half the recovered bodies had been identified through a painstaking process combining DNA analysis, fingerprints and interviews with survivors and relatives. For some still searching for lost relatives, the lack of a body to bury means they still hold out hope, however improbable, that their loved one is alive.
The brazen assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio at a crowded political rally has deepened the country’s sense of vulnerability to its rising crime. After multiple threats for his stance against drug trafficking and corruption, Villavicencio was under the watch of police and private security guards. His shooting death has focused global attention on his country’s wave of violent deaths, which began about three years ago, and the connection between organized crime and other powerful interests. Villavicencio’s assassination took out the highest public figure eliminated yet in Ecuador’s battle with organized crime.
When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021 it airlifted tens of thousands of Afghans to safety. But two years later, tens of thousands of others are still waiting to be resettled. They are Afghans who helped the war effort by working with the U.S. government and military, or as journalists and aid workers now at risk under the Taliban. Processing of U.S resettlement programs for Afghans has moved painfully slowly. In the meantime, many of the applicants who have fled Afghanistan are swiftly running through savings, living in limbo in exile.
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IMAGE OF THE DAY
Wildfire wreckage is left behind following a stubborn blaze on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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TODAY IN HISTORY
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate; Harris was the first Black woman on a major party’s presi…
In 2016, Simone Biles soars to the all-around title in women’s gymnastics at the Rio Olympics. See more sports moments from this date:
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TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS
Celebrity Birthdays: Aug. 11
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Hip-hop artist Ali Shaheed Muhammad is 52.
Alyson Stoner
Actor Alyson Stoner is 30.
Anna Gunn
Actor Anna Gunn is 54.
Ashley Jensen
Actor Ashley Jensen is 54.
Ben Gibbard
Rock singer Ben Gibbard is 46.
Charlie Sexton
Rock guitarist Charlie Sexton is 54.
Chris Hemsworth
Actor Chris Hemsworth is 39.
David Henry Hwang
Playwright David Henry Hwang is 65.
Embeth Davidtz
Actor Embeth Davidtz is 58.
Hulk Hogan
Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 70.
Joe Rogan
Actor-host Joe Rogan is 56.
Kenny Gamble
Songwriter-producer Kenny Gamble is 79.
Merritt Wever
Actor Merritt Wever is 42.
Sophie Okonedo
Actor Sophie Okonedo (oh-koh-NAY’-doh) is 54.
Steve Wozniak
Computer scientist and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is 72.
Viola Davis
Actor Viola Davis is 57.
Will Friedle
Actor Will Friedle is 46.
