Today is Thursday, June 8, 2023. Let's get caught up.
Here are today's top stories, celebrity birthdays and a look back at this date in history.
***
MORNING LISTEN
***
TOP STORIES
This morning's top headlines: Thursday, June 8
France’s interior minister says an attacker with a knife injured children and others in a town in the Alps. Gerald Darmanin says the attack took place in a square in the lakeside town of Annecy on Thursday. In a short tweet, he said police have detained the attacker. He tweeted that “Several people including children have been injured by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy." A local lawmaker, Antoine Armand, tweeted that children were attacked on a playground. He called the attack “abominable.” An interior ministry official said four children and two adults were wounded. Police said two children and one adult suffered life-threatening wounds.
Justice Dept. moves closer toward possible indictment of Trump in classified documents investigation
A federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump in Florida has heard from at least one additional witness Wednesday amid signs that the Justice Department is moving toward a possible indictment over the former president’s mishandling of classified documents. Over the last week, Trump’s lawyers have met with Justice Department officials to argue against an indictment, while Trump has issued a series of social media posts suggesting he was anticipating being charged. A former top aide appeared Wednesday before a grand jury in Miami — an indication, legal experts say, that prosecutors have settled on Florida, not Washington, as the appropriate venue for charges.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy is suddenly confronting a new threat to his power. Angry hard-right conservatives have brought the House chamber to a halt, reviving their displeasure over the debt ceiling deal struck with President Joe Biden. McCarthy brushed off the disruption as healthy political debate — not too different from the 15-vote spectacle it took in January for him to finally convince his colleagues to elect him as speaker. But it's a foreshadowing of the next budget fight as Congress tries to fund the government at the levels agreed to, or risk a federal shutdown in fall.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the flood-hit region of Kherson to evaluate response to damage caused by a dam breach. The Ukrainian leader wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping assess efforts to evacuate civilians, provide them with drinking water and other support, and try to stanch vast environmental damage. Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied town 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the collapsed Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant, reported on Russian state TV Thursday that five of seven local residents who had been declared missing following the dam breach have died. The two remaining people have been found and efforts were being made to evacuate them, Vladimir Leontyev added.
President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are reiterating their commitment to help Ukraine repel Russia's ongoing invasion, while agreeing to step up cooperation on the clean energy transition and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. The leaders' wide-ranging talks Thursday at the White House also covered China, economic security, a critical minerals agreement and more. Biden and Sunak have already had four face-to-face meetings since Sunak became prime minister in October, but the talks in Washington offered the two leaders a chance for their most sustained interaction to date. The visit to Washington is Sunak's first since becoming Britain's prime minister in October.
President Joe Biden is condemning a wave of state legislation curbing the rights, visibility and access to health care for LGBTQ+ people, especially children. He says the laws are “cruel” and “callous.” Biden commented Thursday at a White House news conference with Britain's prime minister. The president says “it matters a great deal” how everyone is treated in the United States. He spoke directly to LGBTQ+ people who feel under attack, telling them the administration "has your back.” The White House has postponed a Pride Month celebration that had been planned for outdoors on Thursday because of poor air quality. The event will be held on Saturday.
The Vatican says Pope Francis' condition is stable and is following the regular post-operative course of recovery following a three-hour operation to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall. The Vatican says he is drinking liquids, received the Eucharist and even made a phone call Thursday. Most of the day, though, was spent resting. Doctors say Wednesday’s operation was successful and there were no complications or other pathologies discovered. The pontiff is expected to remain in the 10th-floor papal suite at the Gemelli hospital for several days, and all papal audiences have been canceled through June 18.
Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island is erupting again. U.S. Geological Survey officials say a glow was detected in webcam images from the summit caldera early Wednesday. The images show fissures at the base of the crater generating lava flows on the crater floor's surface. Before issuing the eruption notice, the observatory said increased earthquake activity and changes in the patterns of ground deformation at the summit started Tuesday night, indicating the movement of magma in the subsurface. All activity is within a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and not threatening any communities.
