U.S. and world news for Sept. 2

Trump to honor Giuliani

Donald Trump announced on social media that he will award disbarred attorney Rudolph Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the government’s highest civilian honor. In his announcement, Trump said nothing about Giuliani having been badly injured in a car accident in New Hampshire. Giuliani has been hospitalized with a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg. Giuliani, who served as an attorney for Trump, played a key role in several of Trump’s efforts to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He was disbarred last year in New York state and Washington, D.C. Two former Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, obtained a $148 million defamation judgment against him for false allegations he made about them after the 2020 election. In January, he reached a settlement agreement with Freeman and Moss that allowed him to keep his home and most valuable possessions.

Taliban asks for help in earthquake recovery

The Taliban is asking for international help after an earthquake destroyed entire villages in Afghanistan. At least 1,100 people were killed and more than 3,200 were injured when the 6.0-magnitude quake struck near the Pakistan border on Sunday. Search and rescue efforts in the remote mountainous areas have been hindered by damaged roads, heavy rain and landslides. The war-ravaged country was already in the throes of a humanitarian crisis when the Taliban seized power in 2021 and the situation has only gotten worse — especially for women and girls, whose rights have been stripped away by the militant group. In response, many humanitarian organizations withdrew from Afghanistan, and aid declined to $767 million in 2025, down from $3.8 billion in 2022. Now, the UK plans to give $1.3 million in new emergency funding to families affected by the earthquake. India has already delivered 1,000 tents to Kabul and 15 metric tons of food aid to Kunar. So far, the U.S. State Department has sent “heartfelt condolences to the Afghan people.”

Climate change report

More than 85 veteran climate scientists today pushed back against a Trump administration report downplaying the severity of climate change, submitting more than 400 pages in public comments to the Energy Department. The department’s Climate Working Group report was authored by five well-known climate change contrarians and even portrayed climate change as potentially beneficial. The scientists describe that report as grossly misleading, lacking in substance and peer review. “It makes a mockery of science,” said Andrew Dessler, a climate researcher at Texas A&M University who helped organize the public comments to push back against the report, citing mistakes in the document and other flaws. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former oil exploration company executive who has minimized the ongoing and future harms of climate change, handpicked the working group report’s authors. The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has cited the report as a basis for its plans to wipe out regulations that protect the environment.

Trump questions Covid-19 vaccine

Donald Trump appeared to raise fresh questions about the Covid-19 vaccines that were developed during his first administration. Trump on social media said he wants to know whether the vaccines are miracles that saved millions of lives. There has been ample evidence that they have, in fact, saved millions of lives. Now that Trump has put Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is against vaccines, in charge of the department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy is crusading to raise questions about vaccines. Trump’s comments came after the government changed its guidance on use of the Covid-19 vaccine and changed regulations to allow insurance companies to refuse to pay for many people to be vaccinated against the disease.

Sources say Trump plans to send the military into Chicago this week

CNN reports that according to multiple sources, the Trump administration this week plans a major campaign against immigrants in Chicago and also plans to send National Guard troops into the city. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called the planned operation disruptive and dangerous. He also classified it as an invasion with U.S. troops. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order demanding that President Trump “stand down” from deploying military forces in the city. The order directs city departments to “resist coordinated efforts from the federal government” that violate the rights of people in Chicago.

Funding cut for programs to combat shootings

In the month before the mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis that killed two children and injured 21 others, the Trump administration cut funding for programs aimed at identifying potential mass shooters, CNN reports. The programs had been paid for by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and provided grant money to fund programs at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office to assess and manage mass violence threats. In a letter to officials, Homeland Security said the money was being cut because it went to what Homeland Security alleged were “openly partisan and political organizations.” Before the mass shooting at the church and school, Minneapolis officials had sent a letter to DHS asking for the grants to be reinstated. Their letter referenced the shooting of state lawmakers in June and cited violence directed at religious groups and threats to schools.