"Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman.
Saturday voted to confirm Todd Blanch as the U.S. Attorney General. He'd been acting in
“that role for months." And PR's Barbara Sprunt explains why the vote was so close.”
"Yes, today Alaska Senator Lisa McCousky said she would oppose his nomination. She said the country needs an attorney general who will check the worst impulses of the administration. And she doesn't have confidence that Blanch can achieve that. Susan Collins of Maine had already said she'd vote against Blanch and with Mitch McConnell out, it came down to Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. And there was a bit of a dramatic reveal on the Senate floor when
Cassidy explained why he would support Blanch. And he essentially said that he wasn't sure anyone else would be more successful." That's NPR's Barbara Sprunt with that story.
Thousands of the people in central British Columbia are leaving their homes ahead of a fast-moving
wildfire at this hour. It's just one of dozens of fires spreading across the province where a state of emergency has been issued. As Dan Carpenter reports, officials in the District
“of Summerland have also declared an emergency. The evacuation order covers the entire district.”
Officials say that bald range wildfire exploded in size over the past 24 hours and now poses a significant threat to the health safety and welfare of the more than 12,000 people who live there. The region's emergency information officer says it has become one of the quickest moving and fastest growing fires experienced in the area. Recent surveys suggest the fires in British Columbia, the Northwest and in northern Ontario have sparked a sharp rise in Canadians' concerns about climate
change. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carpenter, in Toronto. A growing number of states are considering
stricter rules for social media influencers who are paid to promote political candidates. As NPRs wins their Johnston reports, the issue is taking on new urgency as campaigns are courting popular online creators in the lead-up to elections in the fall. Texas now requires online creators to disclose when they are paid to post political content and lawmakers in New York
“are considering a similar rule. California already requires disclosure and the bill before the”
state legislature would allow fines above to $5,000 per violation. The issue recently surfaced in Michigan where influencers on social media were reportedly offered money to promote Democratic primary Senate candidate Haley Stevens without clearly disclosing the payments. Stevens campaign denied any involvement. The controversy highlights the growing role of paid influencers as campaigns try to reach voters ahead of the midterm elections.
Windsor-Johnston and PR News, Washington. The largest reservoir in the U.S. has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was created some 90 years ago. Federal data shows that Lake Mead fell Friday to a level just below the prior record low set in July of 2022. You're listening to NPR News. A Ukrainian known as the collector of souls for his dangerous work to recover remains on the front lines in the war with Russia has been killed in a landline blast in PR's Scott Newman has more.
In 2014 after the Kremlin's annexation of Crimea and the insurgency in the Donbass Region of Eastern Ukraine, Alexey Yukov founded a volunteer organization known as Plotsdarm or Bridgehead to recover the dead on all sides of the conflict. Eight years later Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine intensified the need for his efforts. Earlier in the war he was severely wounded in a similar mind blast to the one that killed him earlier this week. But that didn't slow you coughed
down. He was known for getting in close to the action to recover remains and bring closure to the families of the dead. And that's where he was killed in Donetsk on a recovery mission. Scott Newman NPR News. Typhoon Dolphin is off the coast of China at this hour and is expected to land this week and on China's east coast in preparation officials have shut schools and tourist sites. The storms maximum sustained winds have reached 100 miles an hour. The storm has expected to
bring heavy rains and winds creating a severe risk of flooding as well as landslides, Shanghai is in the path of that storm. The Senate passed a short-term budget measure early Saturday that would keep federal agencies funded into early December. The vote was taken just before Senator's left for their August recess. The measure must now be voted on by the house before it can be sent to President Trump. The vote is an effort to avoid a government shutdown
during campaign season. I'm Dale Wilman NPR News. This week on Whitway Donetsk tell me we asked legendary Oscar and Amy award-winning icon Sally Field if it was difficult to act opposite a CGI octopus in her latest film. "I really not Mary Todd. I really wasn't Mary too William. I wasn't Tom and his mother. This is what actors do." "Don't miss our full conversation in the rest of our games. Listen to the Whitway Donetsk tell me podcast on the NPR app or wherever
