10 things you need to know today: August 29, 2016

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Jump to category:

1. Trump announces plan for 'major speech' on immigration
2. Car bombing kills dozens of military recruits in Yemen
3. Colombia's historic ceasefire takes effect
4. Tropical storms brewing in Atlantic, Gulf
5. Bus crash near New Orleans kills fire chief
6. Two brothers charged in murder of Dwyane Wade's cousin, Nykea Aldridge
7. Bombs kill Syrians mourning victims of previous bombing
8. False report of gunfire temporarily halts operations at L.A. airport
9. Mexican music icon Juan Gabriel dies at 66
10. Beyoncé wins Video of the Year at VMAs

published 29 August 2016

1. Trump announces plan for 'major speech' on immigration

Donald Trump said via Twitter on Sunday that he would give a "major speech" on illegal immigration Wednesday. Trump raised questions about his policies last week when he postponed the immigration speech and said he was considering "softening" his promised crack down on undocumented immigrants. The Republican presidential nominee said he still planned to build a wall on the Mexican border, but that he was open to sparing some of the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants from swift deportation, leaving even allies confused about Trump's plans.

A suicide car bombing killed at least 40 pro-government recruits in the southern Yemen city of Aden on Monday. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The men who were killed had gathered at a staging area, preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia and fight Houthi rebels in Yemen's north. Saudi Arabia is trying to train and deploy 5,000 fighters in cities near its border to fight Yemeni rebels in a push to end the war between the Saudi-backed government and rebel forces.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

A ceasefire between Colombia's military and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest rebel group, took effect early Monday, potentially marking a permanent end to five-decades of fighting. The two sides last week signed a historic peace deal at the end of talks in Havana. "Never again will parents be burying their sons and daughters killed in the war," FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, also known as Timochenko, said. "All rivalries and grudges will remain in the past."

A tropical depression formed off the Carolina coast on Sunday, and forecasters warned it could hit shore in North Carolina's Outer Banks as a tropical storm by Tuesday. The storm's top sustained winds, clocked at 35 miles per hour on Sunday, were expected to reach 40 mph by landfall. Another storm system formed off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to drench Gulf Coast states, including Louisiana, which is still reeling from flooding that killed 13 people earlier in the month. Out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Gaston reformed 655 miles east-southeast of Bermuda with top winds of 85 mph, but it is expected to steer away from land.

A bus carrying volunteer flood-relief workers crashed near New Orleans on Sunday, killing two people and injuring 41 more. The bus spun out of control as it approached the scene of an accident. One of the people who died was St. John the Baptist Fire District Chief Spencer Chauvin, who had been helping victims of the first accident. Two other firefighters were injured. The second person killed was not immediately identified.

Police have charged two brothers with the killing of Nykea Aldridge, the cousin of Chicago Bulls basketball star Dwyane Wade, officials said Sunday. Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother of four, was shot Friday as she pushed a baby stroller on Chicago's South Side. Police said the two men charged with her murder, Darwin and Derren Sorrells, were aiming for a for-hire driver who had looked at them the wrong way. Both of the brothers were on parole, and allegedly had gang ties.

Two barrel bombs exploded at a funeral for children killed in an earlier bombing in Aleppo, Syria, killing at least 16 of the mourners, the activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday. Another group, the Aleppo Media Center, put the death toll at 24. Witnesses said the bombs were dropped from a helicopter, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights blamed the government for the attack. Aleppo is divided, with rebels controlling some parts of the city while the government controls others.

Authorities briefly shut down Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday night after reports of gunfire created a panic, sending travelers running out of a terminal building onto the tarmac. Police investigated but found no evidence of a gunman. "Report of shooting at LAX proven to be LOUD NOISES only," police announced 45 minutes after the reports. "No shots fired; no injuries. Investigation continues to locate source."

Mexican music legend Juan Gabriel died of natural causes in California on Sunday, Los Angeles County Coroner spokeswoman Selena Barros said. He was 66. Juan Gabriel, whose legal name was Alberto Aguilera Valadez, performed in Los Angeles on Friday, and had a 15-date U.S. tour scheduled through early December. He sold more than 100 million records and was inducted into Billboard's Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1996. "A voice and a talent that represented Mexico," Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said in a tweet. "His music is a legacy to the world."

Beyoncé dominated the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, winning the coveted Video of the Year award for Formation and singing several ballads in a widely praised tribute to her latest album, Lemonade. Rihanna also performed, kicking off the event with Please Don't Stop the Music and several other hits and later accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award for lifetime achievement. Britney Spears sang her new song Make Me, wearing a yellow neon body suit that will be raffled off to raise money for flood victims in her home state, Louisiana.

Explore More

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.