Thursday morning news: August 11, 2022

For World Radio, this is Kent Covington.

PACT Act » President Biden signed another bill into law at the White House on Wednesday, delivering this message to military veterans …

BIDEN: You are the backbone, the very spine of this country. May God protect our troops. Now I’m going to walk over here and sign this legislation.

The PACT Act will expand health benefits for veterans exposed to burning waste.

He said when troops exposed to toxic burn pits returned home, many were never the same,

BIDEN: Headaches, numbness, dizziness, cancer. My son Beau was one of them.

Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015.

Burn pits were used to dispose of chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste near US bases overseas. The Pentagon estimates that millions of servicemembers were exposed.

But Veterans Affairs has denied 70% of disability claims involving exposure to the pits.

The PACT Act will direct the VA to assume that certain illnesses are related to burn pit exposure rather than veterans having to prove causation.

Trump pleads Fifth » Former President Trump pleaded the Fifth on Wednesday when he was called in to testify about his business in New York. WORLD’s Mary Muncy has more.

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: President Trump said he declined to answer questions during closed-door testimony Wednesday.

New York Attorney Letitia James has been conducting a civil investigation, not a criminal probe, into Trump’s business for months. She alleges that Trump’s company misled lenders and tax authorities about the value of assets like golf courses and skyscrapers.

The former president says the accusations are false and he’s done nothing wrong.

Trump said he pleaded the Fifth to help protect his family and others around him from what he called a politically motivated witch hunt.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

Iranian operative charged in plot to murder John Bolton » The Justice Department has charged an Iranian operative in a plot to murder a former Trump administration official.

The man identified as Shahram Poursafi is wanted by the FBI in a murder for hire plot.

Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen said the department has unsealed a complaint.

OLSEN: Exposing a brazen attempt by a member of the Islamic Revolutional Guard Corp to carry out the murder of a former US national security adviser.

A US airstrike killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020. John Bolton was national security adviser at the time. Olsen said the murder plot was apparently in retaliation for Soleimani’s death.

US officials say Soleimani was an architect of terrorist operations and Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East.

John Bolton reacted to the news on Wednesday.

BOLTON: This is a murderous, lying regime. It’s an enemy of the United States and we need to treat it that way.

And he said while he can’t get into details, he’s not the only US official that Iran is trying to assassinate.

Inflation » Filling up your gas tank was a little less painful last month, and that helped to curb the growth of inflation in the month of July, at least a bit.

According to the Consumer Price Index, inflation dipped from 9.1 percent to 8.5 percent.

But White House economic adviser Gene Sperling conceded …

SPERLING: Some things went up, food for example, which is unfortunate. And other things went down. But of course, one month is encouraging, but we still think prices are too high.

Some economists exclude those energy and food costs in what they call the “core inflation” level. That marker stayed the same … instead of rising like many thought it would.

Ukraine update » Explosions at the Saki airbase in Crimea killed one person, wounded several others, and sent numerous tourists fleeing in panic as plumes of smoke rose over a nearby beach.

The Ukrainian air force says the explosions destroyed nine Russian warplanes.

Kyiv says Ukrainian forces were not behind the attack. If they were, it would be Ukraine’s first attack on Russian forces in Crimea.

Russia also denies a successful enemy attack, claiming a cigarette from a careless smoker ignited some ammunition.

Zaporizhzhia G7 warning » Global leaders are urging Russia to give control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant back to Ukraine before it’s too late. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher reports.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Leaders from the Group of Seven nations, representing most of the world’s top economies, sounded alarms on Wednesday.

They said they are “profoundly concerned” about the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

The G7’s demand comes after UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said the nuclear plant was “out of control.”

Fighting has plagued the area around the facility for weeks.

Grossi warned that “every principle of nuclear safety has been violated.”

Both Russia and Ukraine have signaled a willingness to allow UN inspectors to visit the plant. But there’s no sign yet Russia intends to turn over control.

Grossi has called on both sides to turn over control of the facility to an independent third party.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

And I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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