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Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning! It's Tuesday, September 5th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today's show Major new developments in the Ukraine war. Explaining the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and why wild flamingos are landing in Ohio.
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But first, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news. In the Nevada desert, Burning Man attendees are slowly making their way out of the waterlogged event. Intense rain over the weekend flooded camp sites and made roads too muddy to drive on, trapping tens of thousands of people. “CNN's” Camila Bernal reported from the site.
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Camila Bernal: I talked to people whose RVs were stuck, they were using shovels to try to get those RVs up and running again. So, it just has been a difficult last couple of days, just because even though people here expected harsh conditions. They just did not expect this amount of rain and dealing with that very cakey mud.
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Later today, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio will be sentenced for his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy. Prosecutors want him to get 33 years in prison. And that would make the longest sentence related to the Insurrection.
And Congress is gradually getting back to business after its August break. Lawmakers need to make a deal on funding the government by the end of this month. If they don't, there could be a partial government shutdown in October, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed and national parks closed. Party leaders have said they want to pass a short-term deal to keep the government running, while the budget talks move ahead. But there are Republicans on the right who say they will not support an extension without concessions on immigration policy and other issues.
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Now to the war in Ukraine, where there are several major developments that could affect the course of the conflict, from the battlefield and beyond it. First Ukraine is replacing its defense minister Oleksii Reznikov. This comes after multiple issues of corruption in the armed forces. Reznikov has not been personally implicated, but the scandals were seen as a distraction when the military needed to focus on the offensive against Russia.
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“CBS” correspondent Imtiaz Tyab reported from Ukraine, where the change of leadership is not expected to mean a major shift in strategy.
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Imtiaz Tyab: The removal of Reznikov comes as the military starts to make important gains in the South. According to U.S. officials, there's been quote, notable progress near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.
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Ukrainian forces were able to punch through Russia's first main defensive line in recent days. That is an important step, but it is currently too soon to tell how big of a breakthrough it might be. There are still several more layers of Russian defenses to get through. But Ukraine is optimistic, with a military advisor telling “NBC” that the first line was considered the most heavily fortified. So future progress could be faster.
There are also major diplomatic developments. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is reportedly planning a rare trip outside of his country. He is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia later this month. The U.S. says there are active talks for North Korea to provide more weapons to Russia, and that the country has already delivered rockets and missiles. North Korea has said in the past that it would not sell arms to Russia. Analysts say dealings with Russia are likely underway as North Korea works to help its troubled economy.
Separately, Putin met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The key topic there was restarting a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be shipped to world markets. Russia pulled out of it, and Putin says it will not come back to the deal until Moscow's concerns about selling its own products globally are met. Erdogan said that he is optimistic that an agreement to restart grain shipments could come soon.
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In the Texas Senate, the impeachment trial for attorney general Ken Paxton starts today. The state's top lawyer and one of its most prominent Republicans faces allegations of corruption, bribery, and abuse of power. The impeachment is just one of several legal cases against him.
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Paxton was impeached in May by a solid majority of the Texas House, both Republicans and Democrats. Now the Senate will try him, and a two-thirds vote is required to convict. He could be banned for life from holding public office in the state.
Lauren McGaughy: It's the first impeachment trial for a statewide elected official since 1917, so it is undoubtedly historic.
Lauren McGaughy with the “Dallas Morning News” told us about one of the key figures in the impeachment Nate Paul, a real-estate developer and donor to Paxton's campaign.
McGaughy: He is accused of bribing Paxton with a kitchen remodel and a job for a woman with whom Paxton allegedly had had an affair. And in exchange, Paxton allegedly abused his office to help Nate Paul. Paxton is accused of using the power of the attorney general's office to go out and counterattack against Paul's perceived enemies.
Some of Paxton's top employees went to the FBI in 2020 to say their boss was abusing his office to help Paul. All of them eventually resigned or were fired. Several sued, and Paxton later asked for $3.3 million to settle the lawsuit. McGauhy says that request crossed a line for lawmakers.
McGaughy: They refused to fund the settlement and then turned around and a House ethics committee started to investigate Paxton and that eventually led to his impeachment.
Paxton has denied all wrongdoing in various cases against him.
McGaughy: He has actually argued through his lawyers that all of the impeachment articles should be thrown out, that the alleged crimes were either within his power as attorney general to perform, or they didn't rise to the level of being an impeachable offense.
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McGauhey says the trial is expected to draw a big crowd in Texas.
McGaughy: It's going to be a spectacle, really no matter which side of the issue you're on.
Finally, we didn't forget about those wild flamingos in Ohio we mentioned. And also, Virginia, Tennessee, and a whole bunch of other states where those typically Caribbean birds are normally only seen in zoos. Growing up in Ohio, trust me, this is not the usual. In recent days, there have been dozens of sightings around the country.
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“USA Today” reports on how Hurricane Idalia scattered flamingos across America. It's something that happens often during big storms with strong winds, according to bird watchers. It's known as "fallout." Sometimes birds are caught up in the storm directly. Or they try to fly around and get diverted. Birdwatchers have seen flamingos in faraway places before, but this time is different. One told “USA Today” “it was unprecedented to see this many flamingos in this many places.”
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Now scientists and birders are watching to see what the birds do next. Some may stick around. And if enough of the flamingos like their new settings, they could establish new nesting colonies in the U.S.
You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app, including some great shots of some of these well-traveled flamingoes. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around.
A narrated article from “Bloomberg Businessweek” is coming up next about how New York City is trying to reform its bail system. Instead of sending accused people to pretrial jail, the city is pairing them with social workers, who aim to keep them employed and stable while their cases move forward.
So check that out, and we'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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