10 things you need to know today: August 23, 2019

1. Environmentalists say fires in Brazil's Amazon were started by humans

Environmental groups and researchers say the dozens of fires destroying large sections of the Amazon were almost all set by humans, as cattle ranchers and loggers try to take over the land. The Amazon is a humid rainforest, and it is difficult, even during dry spells, for it to catch on fire, Christian Poirier of the nonprofit group Amazon Watch told CNN. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro promised during his campaign that he would open the Amazon up to business, and he has since slashed the environmental enforcement agency's budget, which environmentalists said had encouraged ranchers and loggers to burn down land. French President Emmanuel Macron called for focusing on the fires at this weekend's G-7 summit, calling the record rate of Amazon fires a global crisis. The Amazon forest produces 20 percent of Earth's oxygen. Bolsonaro warned other nations to stop "interfering with our sovereignty."

CNN The New York Times

2. Bernie Sanders unveils a $16.3 trillion climate plan

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday unveiled an aggressive $16.3 trillion climate change plan that calls for the U.S. to reach 100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation "no later than" 2030, as well as for "complete decarbonization" by 2050. He refers to the plan itself, which would also declare climate change a national emergency, as a Green New Deal. The senator's plan is more expensive than that of any other presidential candidate; Sanders says his proposal would "pay for itself" in 15 years and create 20 million jobs. It would impose new taxes on the fossil fuel industry and eliminate subsidies, which he says would account for $3.1 trillion and be a way of making the industry "pay for their pollution." The plan does not include a carbon tax.

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The New York Times

3. Hong Kong protesters prepare for 'stress test' at airport

Hong Kong's top court on Friday extended an order requiring official approval of mass demonstrations as anti-government protesters prepared to hold a "stress test" at the Chinese-controlled self-governing territory's airport this weekend. The High Court said the decision was necessary to thwart "those who want to deliberately obstruct or interfere with the normal use of the airport." Activists plan to sidestep the ruling, avoiding directly defying the order but disrupting transportation to the airport by all going there at the same time, overloading rail and road traffic. Demonstrators forced the airport, one of the world's busiest, to close temporarily last week by blocking access and clashing with police.

ABC.net Reuters

4. New poll puts Trump approval rating at 36 percent

Sixty-two percent of Americans disapprove of President Trump's job performance, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Thursday. Only 36 percent approved of Trump's overall performance. Trump scored low marks on immigration, health care, foreign policy, and guns, with the economy his only relative bright spot. The numbers were consistent with previous polls, but were interpreted as a warning sign for a president up for reelection in 14 months. Trump is the only U.S. president whose approval rating has never broken 50 percent in Gallup polls since it started tracking presidential approval, although Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush all had low points that were below Trump's worst rating.

The Associated Press

5. White House drops plan to slash foreign aid

The White House is not pursuing President Trump's plan to cut billions of dollars in foreign aid after backlash from federal lawmakers, Reuters reported Thursday, citing senior administration officials. Members of Congress, including some of Trump's fellow Republicans, complained that Trump was trying to go around Congress' authority of government spending by tying foreign aid more closely to U.S. foreign policy. "It's clear that there are many on the Hill who aren't willing to join in curbing wasteful spending," a senior administration official said. Critics of Trump's effort to curb foreign assistance noted that it accounts for less than 2 percent of the federal budget. They also said trimming programs that fight poverty and support education and health abroad would increase U.S. security costs eventually.

Reuters

6. Yale report finds credible sexual abuse allegations against former professor

An independent report released by Yale University on Thursday found five credible allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct by former Yale psychiatry professor Eugene Redmond against former interns in a program he ran. The alleged incidents took place in the 1990s at a private foundation's research facility on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, according to the report by an independent law firm. Redland declined to talk to investigators unless they revealed the identities of the accusers, which they would not do. "Our investigation revealed five credible accounts of sexual assaults in a shared bedroom, three incidents where Redmond conducted inappropriate medical examinations, and multiple other forms of sexual harassment," the report said.

CNN

7. Overstock CEO resigns after revealing relationship with Russian agent

Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne resigned Thursday after revealing that he had a romantic relationship with Maria Butina, a woman accused of acting as an unregistered Russian agent. Byrne said in a letter to shareholders that he had to quit because remaining in the job "may affect and complicate all manner of business relationships." Byrne said in a previous interview that he met Butina at a 2015 libertarian convention, and that she eventually started asking about people connected to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and President Trump. He referred to his role in the "deep state," saying he had helped FBI agents he referred to as "Men in Black" with their investigations. Overstock shares rose by more than 10 percent after Byrne announced his departure.

Overstock The New York Times

8. California hotel cook pleads not guilty to foiled mass shooting plot

A California hotel cook, Rodolfo Montoya, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he threatened to shoot fellow employees and guests at the Long Beach Marriott where he worked. Montoya, 37, was arrested at his Huntington Beach home, where police seized an assault-style Colt AR-15 rifle and other guns, along with tactical gear and dozens of high-capacity magazines of ammunition. Montoya reportedly was upset over a work-related conflict, and told a co-worker he was going to shoot up the hotel. The colleague told the hotel manager, who called police. Police Chief Robert Luna said Montoya "had clear plans, intent, and the means to carry out an act of violence that may have resulted in a mass casualty incident." Police in Florida and Wisconsin also thwarted alleged mass shooting plots this week.

Los Angeles Times USA Today

9. Coast Guard suspends search for missing firefighters

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended a broad search for two firefighters, Justin Walker of Virginia and Brian McCluney of Florida, after they disappeared during a fishing trip off Florida. Coast Guard Capt. Mark Vlaun said that at the end of the search's seventh day the chances of finding the men alive had greatly diminished, because as time went on the search area had grown too large. The search covered more than 105,000 square miles, and by the time it ended ocean currents could have carried the men's boat anywhere from Florida to New England. "At this point in time without additional information, we have simply reached a point where our computer modeling and our ability to search in a given location are no longer allowing us to search with any reasonable degree or probability of success," Vlaun said.

The Washington Post

10. Sarah Huckabee Sanders becomes a Fox News contributor

Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed on as a Fox News contributor. She will make her first appearance in the role on Fox & Friends in two weeks, Fox News said in a statement on Thursday. Sanders, who served as President Trump's top spokesperson from July 2017 until June 2019, becomes the 23rd person to move from the Trump administration to the conservative cable news channel, reinforcing its strong ties to her former boss. Huckabee is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; she is also reportedly mulling a run for that job in 2020. When Sanders left the White House, Trump called her a "warrior." "We've been through a lot together," Trump said. "She's tough and she's good."

The Washington Post The New York Times