U.S. and world news for Aug. 16

Hunter Biden”™s attorney quits: Christopher J. Clark, the lawyer who represented Hunter Biden in the plea negotiations to resolve his tax and gun offenses, stepped down on Tuesday. The New York Times reported Clark intends to testify as a witness on behalf of the president”™s son, pursuing the argument that the U.S. Department of Justice was trying to renege on a legally binding deal designed to end the federal investigation of Biden. Abbe Lowell, a Washington lawyer whose clients include former President Trump”™s son-in-law Jared Kushner, filed court documents indicating he now represents Biden in the case.

Typhoon hits Japan: Typhoon Lan made landfall in Japan on Tuesday, leaving power outages and property damage across the western Kansai region and surrounding prefectures. The Japan Times reported in some regions the total amount of rainfall topped the usual amount for a month while the nation”™s airlines grounded domestic flights. No fatalities were reported from the typhoon, which is expected to avoid much of greater Tokyo and move into the Sea of Japan by Wednesday morning.

UK arrests three Bulgarians as possible Russian spies: British police have arrested three Bulgarian nationals who were living undercover in the U.K. while allegedly working for Russian agents. One of the Bulgarians was living in a coastal resort town and the other two were residing in London ”“ and while they were living openly using their real identities, the trio were apprehended with multiple forged passports and documents from European countries. The three were released on bail and are due to appear in court next month.

Television viewing below 50% mark: Americans are watching significantly less cable and broadcast television, according to new data from Nielsen. Cable television accounted for 29.6% of total U.S. viewing time during July and broadcast accounted for 20%, while streaming services captured 38.7% of viewing time and the “Other” category that includes DVDs and gaming accounted for the remaining 11.6%.

“Barbie” banned in Algeria: Not everyone is infatuated with the new “Barbie” film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the government of Algeria banned the movie shortly after its July 21 opening, claiming the Margot Robbie-Ryan Gosling romp “promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances.” Across the Arab world, “Barbie” has generated mixed responses ”“ the film was banned in Kuwait while Lebanon”™s culture minister declared it “contradicts values of faith and morality” but still allowed it to screen. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain allowed the film to open after some scenes were edited.

New president at CBS News: Award-winning journalist and veteran news executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews has been named president of CBS News. Ciprian-Matthews has won the Emmy, Alfred I. duPont Award and Edward R. Murrow Award for her journalism and most recently served as executive vice president for newsgathering. She replaces Neeraj Khemlanim, who stepped down earlier this week after two years on the job to pursue other opportunities with Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS.

Cover photo of Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews courtesy of CBS News