Wednesday morning news: August 24, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Ukraine independence day / $3b more in aid to Ukraine » Today is the six month mark of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It is also Ukraine’s Independence Day, an occasion Ukrainians will mark even as they’re forced to fight to keep their independence.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nation Richard Mills said Tuesday that only Russia’s leaders can say when the war will end.

MILLS: Only they can explain why Russia thinks it can redraw international borders by force in contravention of the UN charter. Only they can account for the atrocities they have carried out against the Ukrainian people

Officials fear Russia may ramp up attacks today as Ukraine marks its independence.

The United States reinforced that worry with a security alert citing “information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days.”

The U.S. government is expected to announce today roughly $3 billion in additional aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces.

UN Security Council Zaporizhzhia meeting » Members of the UN Security Council met Tuesday about the safety crisis at a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

DICARLO: Common sense must prevail to avoid any actions that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the plant.

UN Under Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo heard there.

UN nuclear officials continue to warn that the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeastern Ukraine is in dangerously poor condition.

They’re calling on Moscow to allow UN officials to inspect the facility and help prevent a nuclear catastrophe.

But Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslystsya says Russia is holding the Ukrainian crew operating the plant captive and could coerce them into hiding the truth from inspectors.

KYSLYSTSYA: That is why it is really important to conduct the mission in a way that would allow the international community to see the real situation and not a Russian theatrical show.

Ukraine says Russia is using the nuclear plant as a military staging ground.

Trump-FBI » Former President Trump and his legal team officially filed a motion for an independent review of the records that the FBI seized when it raided his Florida home.

His team stated, “we are demanding the appointment of a special master to oversee the handling of the materials taken in the raid.”

Trump’s son in law and advisor, Jared Kushner, said Tuesday…

KUSHER: Unfortunately, we’ve lost a lot of faith in the fairness of the judicial system.

Trump’s lawyers are also demanding an inventory of the property seized and that those items be returned to him. They argue any other review of those records would be unconstitutional.

The FBI responded saying the search and seizure was legal and warranted.

MI governor kidnapping conviction » A federal jury in Grand Rapids convicted two men Tuesday in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

FBI special agent David Porter said justice was done.

PORTER: If you disagree with you government, you criticize your government, protest, vote your elected officials out of office. What you can not do is plan or commit acts of violence.

This is the second round in court for Adam Fox and Barry Croft after a jury couldn’t reach a verdict in April.

Two other men were acquitted in that case, while two others pleaded guilty.

Defense attorney’s accused the FBI of entrapment.

Fox and Croft could face decades behind bars when they’re sentenced.

Dallas flooding » Floodwaters continue to wash over the streets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

That after more than nine inches of rain fell in 24 hours in some parts of the metro area.

One resident said most everything he owns is now waterlogged.

RICHARDSON: And I guess it’s about over a foot in the house. Everything's just flooded with water.

Emergency crews have had their hands full performing high-water rescues.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the flooding is the worst Dallas has seen since 1932, but it could have been worse.

ABBOTT: Through this entire storm so far, there’s been only one reported death.

Sudan deaths » But in Sudan, the flooding has been far worse.

At least 89 people have died in floodwaters amid torrential rains.

AUDIO: [Speaking in Arabic]

One villager described the scene as rushing water poured through the streets and into homes.

Some 20,000 families are now homeless after flood waters destroyed their houses.

The United Nations says the floods have affected more than 140,000 people. And Sudan’s rainy season will likely last at least another month.

Twitter » A whistleblower is accusing Twitter of taking shortcuts with its cybersecurity. And Congress is now investigating. WORLD’s Mary Muncy has more.

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: Former Twitter executive Peiter Zatko filed complaints with Congress and other agencies alleging that Twitter misled federal regulators. He said the company falsely claimed that it had put stronger measures in place to protect its users than it actually did.

He also said the platform is not as good at policing bots—or fake accounts—as it claims.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is citing the bot problem as he tries to back out of his $44 billion purchase of the company.

Twitter said it fired Zatko for “ineffective leadership and poor performance.” And it said the “allegations and opportunistic timing” present a “false narrative.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

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

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.