Today, Donald Trump faces more criminal charges. Singapore executes a woman for the first time in two decades. July is set to be the hottest month on record. And a man who finally has his rape conviction overturned has to pay for his prison accommodation costs.
From TLDR News, this is a daily briefing for Friday 28th July 2023. In what feels like regular news now, former US President Donald Trump is in more legal trouble. New charges have been made against Trump in relation to the classified documents case in which Trump is accused of mishandling government records after leaving office. Specifically, the significant new allegations against Trump is that he ordered staff at Mar A Lago Resort in Florida to delete security videos.
They'd been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice. Special Counsel Jack Smith filed three new criminal counts against Trump, which means he now faces 40 counts relating to the case, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and more. A new third defendant was also added to the case, Carlos de Oliveira, a Mar? A Laco property manager who is accused of obstructing the investigation by helping Trump and his aide Walt Nouter hide documents from investigators.
According to the new superseding indictment, de Oliveira told another Trump employee who worked in IT that the boss wanted the server deleted, adding that the conversation should remain between the two of them. Trump appeared in court in Miami last month, where he pleaded not guilty to the original charges, and he maintains that they are election interference and part of, quote, the single greatest witch hunt of all time. He became the first former US President to face criminal charges when he was indicted earlier this year in New York as part of a separate case alleging that he falsified business records when he made hush money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels. That case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2024, while the Florida classified documents trial is scheduled to begin in May 2024.
By March, the Republican presidential primary will be in full swing, and the nominee may already have been decided by May. But despite the fact that his courtroom calendar seems to clash with the Republican primary, he's still by far the frontrunner. In fact, Trump's leader, his main challenger, Ron DeSantis, has actually grown since his first indictment in March. A recent Reuters Ipsos poll shows Trump at 47% and DeSantis at 19%.
Among Republicans, the race for the Republican nomination will heat up next month as the first TV debate is set for August 23rd on Fox News. Six Republican candidates, including Trump, DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie and more appear to have already met the polling and donor thresholds required to qualify for a place on the debate stage. One big remaining question is whether Trump will actually show up to the debate, as he's indicated that he may decide to skip it. There's more on the way.
Be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to make the daily briefing part of your daily routine. Or just search for us on your podcast app to listen along Singapore has for the first time in almost 20 years executed a woman causing outrage in the country. Sara Dewey Germani was hanged earlier this morning. The 45 year old Singaporean national had been found guilty of trafficking 30 grams of heroin and was in 2018 sentenced to death.
For her part, Saraduri had argued that she was not able to give an accurate statement to the police at the time of her arrest as she was suffering from drug withdrawal. However, a High Court judge ruled that she at most was suffering from mild to moderate methamphetamine withdrawal during the statement period. They additionally ruled that this did not affect her ability to make a statement. This makes her the first woman since 2004 to be executed.
The last woman to be executed was Yan Mei Won, who was also found guilty of drug trafficking charges and hanged. Sarah Dewey is the second person to be executed just this week, and the 15th since the government resumed executions in March this year. They were previously paused for two years during the pandemic. Amnesty International said the week had cast a harsh and tragic spotlight on the complete lack of death penalty reform in Singapore.
So that's what's been happening in Singapore today. Let's move and discuss what's been happening in relation to climate change. It will likely come as no surprise to many, but scientists have said that July is virtually certain to be the world's warmest month on record following a release of data from Copernicus Climate Change Service, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres we don't have to wait for the end of the month to know this. Short of a mini ice age over the next days, July 2023 will shatter records across the board, he added.
According to the data released today, July has already seen the hottest three week period ever recorded, the three hottest days on record and the highest ever ocean temperatures for this time of year. In the past months, temperatures have been pushed to extremes by heat waves in large parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Guterres has said that it's been a cruel summer for vast parts of the world and for scientists, it's unequivocal. He humans are to blame, adding that the era of global boiling has arrived.
The ongoing impact of greenhouse gases released by human activity, coupled with the growing effect of the El Nino weather system, may well make 2023 the warmest year on record. The head of the World Meteorological Organization said the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is more urgent than ever before. Climate action is not a luxury, but a must. It was reported yesterday that British man Andrew Malkinson, who has recently had his rape conviction overturned, may have to pay prison accommodation and food costs.
Malkinson spent 17 years in prison for a rape that he did not commit. During that time he was able to be released after six and a half years. But he refused to do what was required of him in order for this to happen. In essence, it required him to admit his guilt, which he was not prepared to do as he was innocent.
This is known as the innocent prisoner's dilemma. His conviction was only quashed by the Court of Appeal this month. As he was in prison for so long, he will be entitled to compensation. However, a deduction will be made from this for his food and accommodation costs.
Malkinson has said the idea that he has to pay money for the torture he endured enraged him. He additionally said he was sickened by the idea that he would have to pay for his own kidnapping. Subob Neil Logistic, Committee Chairman, said the UK government should review the rules. In the final uplifting story today we discuss some old worms.
It's been reported today that stone age worms dug up from the Siberian permafrost have been brought back to life after around 46,000 years in so called suspended animation. This means that when you were last alive, so too were Neanderthals, woolly mammoths and saber toothed tigers. It's worth mentioning that the worms are less than a millimetre in length and died within a few months of being alive. They have reproduced though and are still undergoing lab experiments.
That's all we have time for on YouTube. But the briefing isn't over. That's because I sat down with Jack and Gorey and quiz them on this week's news. Right, that's enough of that.
Oh God. There we go. Other buzzers. Fun.
Are they funny? They're funny in the room. Daily reaping, Daily reefing. That way.
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