AP Afternoon Wire – August 30, 2023

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Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell appears to freeze up again, this time at a Kentucky event

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter at an event in Kentucky, weeks after he had a similar episode in Washington. Read More.

Hurricane Idalia unleashes fury on Florida and Georgia, swamping wide stretch of coast

Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday in Florida as a Category 3 storm and unleashed devastation along a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast, submerging homes and vehicles, turning streets into rivers, unmooring small boats and downing power lines before sweeping into Georgia. Read More.

Ex-Catholic Cardinal McCarrick, age 93, is not fit to stand trial on teen sex abuse charges

Former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will not stand trial on charges he sexually assaulted a teenage boy decades ago as both prosecutors and defense attorneys agree he has dementia. Read More.

Judge holds Giuliani liable in Georgia election workers’ defamation case and orders him to pay fees

A federal judge on Wednesday held Rudy Giuliani liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say they were falsely accused of fraud, ruling that the former New York city mayor gave “only lip service” to complying with his legal obligations. Read More.

White House says Putin and Kim Jong Un traded letters as Russia looks for munitions from North Korea

The White House says it has new intelligence that shows Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have swapped letters as Russia looks to North Korea for munitions for the war in Ukraine. Read More.

Smell of pot wafts over notorious U.S. Open court: ‘Like Snoop Dogg’s living room’

It’s become a stink at the U.S. Open: a pungent marijuana smell that wafted over an outer court, clouded the concentration of one of the world’s top players and left the impression there’s no place left to escape the unofficial scent of the city. Read More.

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