10 things you need to know today: August 27, 2018
McCain to lie in state in the Capitol, Florida shooting leaves two victims and the suspect dead, and more
- 1. McCain to lie in state at Capitol
- 2. Suspect and 2 others dead in shooting at Florida video-game tournament
- 3. Trump expresses condolences but withholds praise for McCain
- 4. U.N. report urges Rohingya 'genocide' trial for Myanmar military leaders
- 5. ISIS leader in Afghanistan reportedly killed in air strike
- 6. Pope Francis apologizes for church's 'crimes' in Ireland
- 7. North Korean newspaper accuses U.S. of 'double-dealing' after Pompeo visit canceled
- 8. China's Didi Chuxing suspends Hitch ride service after killing
- 9. Crazy Rich Asians leads the box office for 2nd weekend
- 10. Neil Simon dies at 91
1. McCain to lie in state at Capitol
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died of brain cancer on Saturday at age 81, will lie in state first in the Arizona State Capitol and then at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, congressional leaders said Sunday. McCain will be honored in a cross-country funeral procession from his home state of Arizona to Washington, D.C. Only 31 Americans have lain in state or in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, in addition to soldiers from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War who have been honored there. The last person honored this way was the Rev. Billy Graham earlier this year. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said he was pleased Americans would have the chance to pay their respects to McCain, a Vietnam-era war hero and long-serving lawmaker who was his party's nominee for president in 2008. "It's hard to imagine a person more worthy of the honor," Ryan said.
2. Suspect and 2 others dead in shooting at Florida video-game tournament
A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament in Florida on Sunday, killing two people before fatally shooting himself, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said. Nine others were injured by gunfire, and two more were hurt as people dashed for cover when the shooting started. Authorities identified the suspect as David Katz, a 24-year-old gamer who traveled from Baltimore for the tournament at The Landing, a riverside shopping and dining complex. The shooting occurred during the livestreaming of a qualifying event for a Madden 19 tournament at the GLHF Game Bar. "Worst day of my life," posted Twitter user Drini Gjoka, who said he was in the tournament and was shot in the thumb. "I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second."
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3. Trump expresses condolences but withholds praise for McCain
President Trump conspicuously withheld any statement of praise for the late Sen. John McCain on Sunday, as lawmakers from both parties and foreign dignitaries released statements of respect for the longtime political leader and Vietnam-era war hero. White House aides drafted a statement praising McCain for his military and Senate service and calling him a "hero." Trump instead posted a brief tweet expressing his "deepest sympathies" to McCain's family, and spent much of the rest of his day golfing and attacking foes on Twitter. McCain, who died Saturday after battling brain cancer, had publicly declared that he did not want Trump, with whom he had frequently sparred, to participate in his funeral, where former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been asked to speak.
The New York Times The Washington Post
4. U.N. report urges Rohingya 'genocide' trial for Myanmar military leaders
A team of investigators from the United Nations-backed Human Rights Council on Monday released a scathing report on Myanmar's military campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority, recommending that the nation's military rulers be prosecuted for genocide. The list of six named leaders includes Myanmar's commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing. The report said it found evidence the military gang-raped women, killed and enslaved children, and torched entire villages. A "conservative" estimate is that 10,000 people were killed in the military purge, the investigators said, and some 700,000 Rohingya have fled. "The crimes in Rakhine state, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity, and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts," the report said.
5. ISIS leader in Afghanistan reportedly killed in air strike
The Islamic State's leader in Afghanistan, Abu Saad Erhabi, was killed in an air strike on hideouts used by the Islamist extremist group in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security in Kabul said Sunday. Ten other ISIS members also reportedly were killed in the joint ground and air operation. ISIS's Amaq news agency did not confirm the claim. Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the U.S. launched air strikes on Saturday against a "senior leader of a designated terrorist organization," without providing specifics on the jihadist leader's identity. ISIS has built a stronghold in Nangarhar, along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan.
6. Pope Francis apologizes for church's 'crimes' in Ireland
Pope Francis apologized during a Mass in Dublin on Sunday for "crimes" committed by the Catholic Church, including the sexual and physical abuse of children at schools and churches. "We ask forgiveness for those members of the hierarchy who didn't take responsibility for this painful situation," Francis told the crowd of 300,000. At the same time, protesters gathered in the town of Tuam, where decades ago almost 800 children and babies died at a Catholic-run orphanage. Also on Sunday, Pope Francis told journalists to decide on their own whether there is any truth to former Vatican official Carlo Maria Vigano's claim that Francis knew in 2013 about allegations of sexual misconduct against Theodore McCarrick, a cardinal who resigned in July. "I won't say a word about it," he said.
7. North Korean newspaper accuses U.S. of 'double-dealing' after Pompeo visit canceled
North Korea's state-controlled newspaper on Sunday accused the Trump administration of "double-dealing" after President Trump delayed a visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing a lack of progress on denuclearization by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's government. Negotiations have made little if any progress since Trump's summit with Kim in June. Pompeo has pushed for concrete steps, while Pyongyang has demanded the U.S. make the first concessions. North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said U.S. special units based in Japan were conducting drills for "the infiltration into Pyongyang." The newspaper added: "Such acts prove that the U.S. is hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war against the DPRK."
8. China's Didi Chuxing suspends Hitch ride service after killing
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is suspending one of its carpooling services, Hitch, nationwide starting Monday following the rape and murder of a woman, allegedly by her driver, the company said Sunday. The company also fired two executives in the latest rush by China's largest online ride-hailing platform to deal with public complaints. The company's users book about 30 million rides per day. The latest fatal attack blamed on a driver came just three months after the last one, in which another Didi driver was accused of killing a flight attendant. In the latest case, police in the city of Yuequing in Zhejiang province said the Didi driver admitted raping and killing the 20-year-old woman, who hailed a ride from him on Friday. She reportedly sent a text message asking friends for help after the driver picked her up.
9. Crazy Rich Asians leads the box office for 2nd weekend
Crazy Rich Asians led the box office for the second straight weekend, bringing in an estimated $25 million. The romantic comedy's second-weekend haul was down just 6 percent from its debut weekend, a feat rarely seen in Hollywood as most films drop sharply after their opening splash. Incredibles 2, for example, fell by 56 percent between its first and second weekends. Crazy Rich Asians now has made $76.8 million domestically. The Warner Bros. film was the first major studio movie with a mostly Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club, which was in theaters 25 years ago. Crazy Rich Asians has exceeded expectations by so much that the studio has already started working on a sequel.
10. Neil Simon dies at 91
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Neil Simon, whose plays and musicals were among Broadway's most successful for decades, died Sunday in Manhattan from complications of pneumonia. He was 91. Simon got his start writing for Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar, and other television greats. He also wrote movie scripts, but made his greatest impact with his plays, starting with his breakout hits Barefoot in the Park (1963) and The Odd Couple (1965). From 1965 to 1980, his theater work was performed 9,000 times, a record far exceeding the total of any other playwright of his time. Just in 1966, he had four shows running on Broadway at the same time.
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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.
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