U.S. and world news for Aug. 3

Pelosi expresses U.S. support for Taiwan: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in Taiwan this morning that the U.S. will not abandon its commitment to support Taiwan”™s independence from China. China takes the position that the island nation is part of China and the people who live there are Chinese not Taiwanese. China last night showed its displeasure at Pelosi”™s visit to Taiwan by firing missiles into international waters off Taiwan.

Kansas voters support abortion rights: Voters in Kansas yesterday defeated an attempt by conservative Republican forces to wipe out provisions of the state constitution that protect women”™s reproductive rights. By a margin of approximately 20 points, voters rejected an amendment to the Kansas constitution that would have overridden the constitution”™s language ensuring that women in Kansas had the right to choose to have an abortion.

Rep. Meijer defeated: Michigan Republican Congressman Peter Meijer was defeated in a Republican primary yesterday as he sought the GOP nomination to run for another term. He had voted to impeach Donald Trump and was attacked in the primary campaign by opposing candidates on the right as well as Trump himself. He was defeated by John Gibbs, who Trump had named to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration. Gibbs was not confirmed to the post due to a scandal over his support of anti-Semitism and calling the Democratic Party the party of Islam.

Senate passes veterans”™ bill: By an 86 to 11 vote, the Senate yesterday gave final Congressional approval to a bill expanding health care for veterans, including providing treatment for illnesses caused by exposure to toxic materials from burn pits. A sufficient number of Republicans succumbed to pressure from veterans and the general public and changed their votes. Republicans had defeated the bill when the Senate voted on it last week. There was a firestorm of protest, including from comedian Jon Stewart.

 U.N. official warns of nuclear power plant danger: The director general of the U.N.”™s International Atomic Energy Agency warns that there is the danger of a nuclear accident at Europe”™s largest nuclear power plant, which is located in Ukraine. Rafael Grossi says that the Russians have violated every safety principle since they seized the power plant in March and have not allowed the Ukrainian technicians still at the plant to run it properly.  He appealed for the Russians and Ukrainians to bring in international experts to stabilize the nuclear plant.

Vin Scully dies: Sports broadcaster Vin Scully, the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers and before that play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers, has died at age 94. Vin Scully was born in the Bronx, grew up in Washington Heights, went to Fordham University and began broadcasting Dodgers games from Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn in 1950.

Photo by Matthew Fang / Flickr Creative Commons