Wednesday morning news: August 23, 2023

SOUND: [Wind/thunder]

Tropical storms » Another massive storm is dumping torrential rain in the United States.

Tropical Storm Harold slammed the Gulf Coast of Texas just south of Corpus Christi on Tuesday, packing sustained winds of 50 miles per hour.

Philippe Papin with the National Weather Service:

PAPIN: Rainfall’s a significant threat. It could produce rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches with isolated higher amounts of 7 inches across South Texas through Wednesday.

Meantime, what was Tropical Storm Hilary is still wreaking havoc in California.

Emergency officials had to evacuate hundreds of patients from a Los Angeles hospital Tuesday due to power outages caused by the storm.

LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley:

CROWLEY: We notified and dispatched the appropriate amount of ambulances, as well as additional care, which are ambulances, trucks, and fire engines.

A baby was being delivered at the hospital during the evacuation. Both mom and baby are doing well.

Trump to surrender Tomorrow » Former President Trump says he will surrender tomorrow to authorities in Georgia. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Fulton County prosecutors had given Trump a Friday deadline to turn himself in.

A grand jury in the state earlier this month indicted Trump … on charges alleging he and 18 co-defendants tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He denies any wrongdoing.

One of his associates, John Eastman, has already surrendered to the authorities.

Trump’s expected to be booked and then released on a $200,000-dollar bond.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Winsome Sears - VA school trans battle » Four school boards in Virginia say they will defy Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new policies on transgenderism in schools.

The new rules require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their legal sex. And students can only use cross-gender pronouns with parental consent.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears:

SEARS: The school boards are making themselves judge and jury, and they’re again, pushing education in their own image. You hear them say ‘WE have made a determination.’ But actually, you are not following the law. And so something is going to have to happen.

Virginia law doesn’t allow the state to sue the schools for defying such policies. But the state can join a lawsuit if a parent files it.

Niger » Leaders with the African Union are giving the boot to Niger’s ruling military government.

They’re suspending Niger from the 55-nation bloc until the military junta restores power to civilian leaders.

The move further isolates the junta, as a group of West African nations considers intervening with military force.

Meantime in Washington, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters:

SULLIVAN: We are working intensively with all of our partners to try to ensure the preservation of democracy in Niger.

The military seized power nearly four weeks ago, placing President Mohamed Bazoum under house arrest.

People close to Bazoum say his utilities have been cut off and he is running out of food.

Iran hostages » Sullivan also fielded questions Tuesday about five Americans still detained in Iran two weeks after reports that they would be freed in an exchange with the United States.

No word on why the swap has not yet taken place, but …

SULLIVAN: We believe that that remains on track, as we look forward to the day when those five Americans are home safely with their families.

In exchange for their freedom, the U-S is releasing $6 billion dollars in Iranian funds currently frozen in South Korea under sanctions.

Greece fire deaths » 18 people were found dead in Northern Greece amid the ashes from a spate of wildfires.

Fire official: [Speaking Greek]

A fire official explained that authorities believe the victims may be undocumented migrants, because there have been no missing persons reports from people in the area.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Washington Wednesday with Erick Erickson. Plus, an old world sport on the rise in Texas.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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