Friday morning news: August 30, 2024

Sullivan-Xi meeting » National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan shook hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Thursday in Beijing … as the White House aims to defrost relations with China … or at least prevent any volatile turns.

SULLIVAN: The president sent me here for the first trip by a national security adviser in eight years to maintain the high level strategic communication that is essentially for responsibly managing the relationship.

JINPING (Mandarin): [In and under]

And for his part, Xi Jinping said that China— in his words … is committed “to the goal of a stable, healthy, and sustainable China-US relationship.” 

JINPING (Mandarin): [up briefly, then under and slowly out]

The White House says Beijing and Washington will plan for a phone call in the coming weeks between President Biden and Xi Jinping. And there is a possibility the two leaders might meet in person before Biden leaves office.

Ukraine » Ukraine needs the green-light to launch strikes deep inside Russia. The European Union's top diplomat is making that case this week.

E-U High Representative Josep Borrell told reporters that Western allies need to begin allowing Ukraine to strike military targets well beyond the Russian border.

BORRELL: The restrictions have to be lifted in order for the Ukrainians to be able to target the places where Russia is bombing them. Otherwise, the weaponry is useless.

Currently the U-S restricts the use of long-range ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russian targets inside Ukraine and in border regions.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also pressed the case on Thursday.

KULEBA: If we are supplied with sufficient amount of missiles, if we are allowed to strike, we will significantly decrease the capacity of Russia to inflict damage on our critical infrastructure. And we will, improve the situation for our forces on the ground.

But critics worry those attacks...could lead to a dramatic escalation of the war.

WHO limited pauses in Gaza for vaccines » The U.N. World Health Organization says it's reached an agreement with Israel for limited pauses in fighting in Gaza … to allow for polio vaccinations for hundreds of thousands of children.

Dr Rik Peeperkorn is the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories.

PEEPERKORN: I’m not going to say that this is the ideal way forward, but this is a workable way forward. Not doing anything would be really bad. We have to stop this transmission in Gaza.

It comes after a baby contracted the first confirmed case in 25 years in the Palestinian territory.

The vaccination campaign will start Sunday in central Gaza, with a “humanitarian pause” lasting from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. for three days. The effort will then move to southern Gaza and finally northern Gaza for similar pauses.

Trump, Harris campaign in swing states » Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both stumping in key battleground states this week. Trump campaigned at a steel plant in central Michigan Thursday:

TRUMP: We want more babies, to put it very nicely. And for this same reason, we will also allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes.

Trump announced that he would push for a rule to mandate that the government and health insurance companies cover the cost of in vitro fertilization.

Meantime, Harris campaigned on abortion in Georgia. 

HARRIS: Every state in the south except for Virginia has a Trump abortion ban. Think about that.

Harris called that—quote … “immoral.”

FBI reporting failures » The Justice Department watchdog says the FBI has failed to report some child sexual abuse allegations to local law enforcement or social service agencies as required. WORLD’s Paul Butler has more.

PAUL BUTLER: The report released Thursday was a review brought on by the FBI’s failures in its handling of the case against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

The inspector general found serious problems remain … that run the risk of child sexual abuse allegations falling through the cracks … as overworked agents juggle dozens of cases at a time.

A senior FBI official acknowledged that the bureau has made mistakes … but said the “vast majority of work” has been handled appropriately.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

Hong Kong court convicts journalists » A Hong Kong court has convicted two former editors of a now shuttered news outlet … in a continued crackdown on free speech.

Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were arrested in 2021 and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications.

For years, Hong Kong operated a semi-independent territory of China … but it has come squarely under the thumb of Beijing.

Stand News was one of the city’s last media outlets that openly criticized the government amid a crackdown on dissent … after pro-democracy protests in 2019.

I’m Kent Covington.

Still ahead, Culture Friday with special guest Megan Basham.

Plus, your listener feedback.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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