U.S. and world news for August 29

New poll: A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this morning reports that Vice President Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump by 45% to 41% nationwide. The poll’s margin of error is 2%. Among women and Hispanic voters, Harris leads Trump by a 13 point margin. According to the poll, 73% of Democratic voters say they are more excited about the presidential contest as a result of Harris replacing President Biden on the Democratic ticket. The poll showed that likely voters think Trump would do a better job on the economy than would Harris.  

Arlington National Cemetery: The Associated Press reports that an official at the Department of Defense says that the Trump campaign was warned not to take political campaign photos and videos at Arlington National Cemetery before Trump and campaign staff got to the cemetery. Once at the cemetery, Trump people started shooting pictures and a political video and a cemetery official tried to stop them. That resulted in the Trump people getting into a physical and verbal altercation with the cemetery official. The Trump campaign went ahead and made a political commercial using material they gathered at the cemetery and started showing it within hours.  

SpaceX rockets: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded Falcon 9 rockets made by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. A reusable first stage rocket booster fell over in flames after it was landed on a platform in the ocean. The Falcon 9 rocket had been sent aloft from Cape Canaveral and put 21 satellites for internet communications into orbit. The FAA is investigating the accident.  

Taylor Swift concerts: The Associated Press reports that David Cohen, the CIA’s deputy director, told a conference in Maryland that the people who attacked the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna, Austria, wanted to kill tens of thousands of people. The concerts were canceled when Austrian authorities found out about the plot and arrested three people. The Austrians said the plotters were tied to ISIS.

Boar’s Head: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that nine people have now died in the U.S. from listeria bacteria in Boar’s Head deli meat products. A total of 57 cases requiring hospitalization in 18 states have been reported as a result of people becoming sick from eating the contaminated products. More than 7.2 million pounds of Boar’s Head products manufactured at a plant in Virginia have been recalled.

Newspaper editors: In Hong Kong, which has come under greater control by the Chinese, a judge has found the editors of a newspaper guilty of sedition for publishing stories promoting democracy. The two men were editors of the now-closed newspaper Stand News and published a series of 17 pro-democracy articles. Hong Kong police raided the newspaper’s offices in 2021 and stopped its publication. The two editors could face up to two years in prison.