Russia Missile Attack, Alec Baldwin Trial, and Escobar's Hippos

Adam Rogers
July 09, 2024

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Russia launched a missile attack on multiple Ukrainian cities on Monday.

The blasts caused widespread destruction and killed at least 36 civilians across Ukraine. The Ukrainian government declared a day of mourning and spoke of the urgent need for better air defenses from Western allies. Defense systems managed to shoot down 30 out of 38 missiles, but many buildings, including homes and medical facilities, were damaged in several cities.
The attack killed 22 people in Kyiv, including two children, and injured 82 others. Additional casualties included 11 deaths and 64 injuries in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and three deaths in Pokrovsk. President Zelenskiy vowed to retaliate and called for a strong response from Western allies. Russia claimed its targets were defense industry sites
Kyiv's power infrastructure was also damaged, leading to electricity cuts. The capitol’s main children's hospital, one of the largest in the country, had to evacuate children due to significant damage. One of the missiles directly struck the medical facility.

Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge related to two fatal 737 Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Families of the 346 crash victims had wanted a criminal trial and a larger fine, up to $25 billion. Instead, Boeing will pay $487.2 million in penalties and invest at least $455 million over three years to improve its safety programs. The plea, if approved, would label Boeing a felon, potentially harming its defense business.
Paul Cassell, an attorney for the victims' families, objected to the plea deal, arguing it unfairly favors Boeing and fails to hold the company accountable. He claims the deal hides the deadly consequences of Boeing's actions. Despite this, Boeing's stock rose as investors saw the plea as resolving a major issue for the company.
Both crashes were caused by faulty flight sensors and an automatic control feature that forced the planes' noses down. After the Ethiopian Airlines crash in 2019, Boeing's 737 MAX series was grounded for 20 months. The plane’s safety was again under federal investigation after a mid-air door blowout on an Alaskan Airlines flight earlier this year.

Almost three years after the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" movie set, actor Alec Baldwin is going to trial.

Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the incident, which also hurt the film's director, Joel Souza. Jury selection starts today, but it is unclear if Baldwin will testify.
On October 21, 2021, Baldwin was rehearsing with a prop gun when it went off, killing Hutchins and injuring Souza. Baldwin claims he did not pull the trigger and that the gun misfired. However, FBI tests showed the gun would not have fired without the trigger being pulled. Baldwin's lawyers recently tried to get the case dismissed, arguing the gun was damaged during testing, but the judge denied the request.
Initially, Baldwin faced additional charges that could have added five years to his sentence, but those were dropped. The case saw several twists, including changes in prosecutors and a brief dismissal of charges before they were refiled.
Baldwin's trial is set to last about two weeks. The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged and sentenced to 18 months in jail, while assistant director Dave Halls received probation.

Researchers found a file with almost 10 billion stolen passwords, making it the largest ever discovered. This file, named "rockyou2024.txt," was uploaded to an online criminal marketplace by a hacker called ObamaCare. The file includes an earlier database called RockYou 2021, which had 8.4 billion passwords. This means 1.5 billion more passwords were added from 2021 to 2024. (More)

Thousands of protesters marched through Barcelona to show their anger about mass tourism and its effects on the city. Some protesters sprayed water guns at people dining in restaurants and carried banners that said "Tourists go home.” (More)

Japan and the Philippines are signing a key defense deal that allows Japanese forces to join the Philippines for military exercises. Despite a harsh Japanese occupation in WWII, both countries are now allies and are building their alliance against threats from North Korea and China. (More)

Hundreds of flights were canceled Monday due to Hurricane Beryl hitting Texas. About 3,500 flights were delayed, with many disruptions affecting Texas airports. Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport had almost 600 cancellations, and William P. Hobby Airport had 165. United Airlines had the most cancellations with 486, followed by Southwest with 346. (More)

Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese made WNBA history on Sunday by getting her 13th straight double-double, setting a new league record, during her team's 84-71 loss to the Seattle Storm. Reese broke the previous record of 12 consecutive double-doubles set by Candace Parker in 2009 and 2010. (More)

Pablo Escobar’s hippos are still causing havoc in Colombia.

Here’s how some animals can have a baby without a mate.

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