10 things you need to know today: July 24, 2022

(Image credit: Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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1. Trump tells Florida crowd there's 'no chance' he'll step away from politics
2. Ukrainian forces launch counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast
3. California wildfire burns nearly 12,000 acres and forces over 6,000 people to evacuate
4. Suspect in attempted stabbing of GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin faces federal assault charge
5. World Health Organization declares monkeypox a global emergency
6. Russian foreign minister to blame U.S. for food shortages during trip to Africa
7. Two U.S. citizens recently died in the Donbas, State Department says
8. Pope Francis travels to Canada to apologize for church role in residential schools
9. Tim Ryan slams J.D. Vance: 'he won't even show up to meet with people'
10. Marvel announces lineup for Phases 4 through 6 of the MCU

published 24 July 2022

1. Trump tells Florida crowd there's 'no chance' he'll step away from politics

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday told the crowd at the Turning Point USA Student Action Conference in Tampa, Florida, that he won two presidential elections and "may just have to do it again." Trump also said that "if I renounced my beliefs, if I agreed to stay silent, if I stayed home, if I announced that I was not going to run for office, the persecution of Donald Trump would immediately stop ... But that's what they want me to do, and you know what? There's no chance I'd do that." The crowd responded with a chant of "Four more years!"

Ukrainian forces have launched a counteroffensive into Kherson Oblast, the first part of the country to fall under Russian control when the invasion began in February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday. Ukrainian artillery is reportedly targeting bridges in the region, aiming to hinder the delivery of supplies to the Russian occupiers. Zelensky said his country's forces are advancing "step by step" into the region, but civilians in liberated areas have been asked to remain quiet about troop movements in order to maintain operational security.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency on Saturday as a wildfire ripping through Mariposa County has burned nearly 12,000 acres, forced more than 6,000 people to evacuate, and sent authorities scrambling to protect the giant sequoias in nearby Yosemite National Park. State fire officials said that, as of Saturday night, the fire was zero percent contained. About 400 firefighters have been deployed to fight the blaze, along with four helicopters, said CalFire spokeswoman Natasha Fouts.

Army veteran David Jakubonis was arrested Saturday on a federal charge of assaulting a member of Congress with a deadly weapon after video showed him attempting to stab Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) during a campaign event on Thursday. Jakubonis said he was drinking whiskey before the attack, did not know who Zeldin was, and "must have checked out" before confronting Zeldin on stage with a two-pronged self-defense keychain. Zeldin, the GOP candidate for New York governor, said he was "thankful that federal authorities came in to do what New York State's broken pro-criminal justice system could not." Jakubonis was released by local authorities within hours of the attack due to New York's 2019 bail reform.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday declared monkeypox a global emergency. He said he made this declaration despite a lack of consensus among public health experts on the emergency committee, the first time a director-general has taken such an action unilaterally. "Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern for the moment, this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners. That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies," Tedros said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Egypt on Sunday as part of a trip to Africa that will include stops in Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In an op-ed published in all four countries, Lavrov wrote, ""We know that the African colleagues do not approve of the undisguised attempts of the U.S. and their European satellites to gain the upper hand, and to impose a unipolar world order to the international community." He also blamed the global food crisis on the West. African public opinion is split on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and no African countries have imposed sanctions on Russia.

Two United States citizens recently died in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, a State Department spokesperson said Saturday. The spokesperson said the State Department is providing "consular assistance" to the families of the deceased but did not provide the names of the two citizens or the dates and circumstances of their deaths. "Out of respect to the families during this difficult time, we have nothing further," the spokesperson said. Last month, a Russian news outlet broadcast messages from a pair of U.S. military veterans who were captured while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.

Pope Francis on Sunday will begin a "penitential pilgrimage" to Canada in order to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in operating the country's residential schools. These schools, which were funded by the Canadian government and operated by various Christian denominations, were designed to strip Indigenous children of their culture and language. "Unfortunately, in Canada, many Christians, including some members of religious institutes, have contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation that, in the past, have severely harmed native communities in various ways," Francis said last week.

Republicans are urging Senate candidate J.D. Vance to step up his campaigning and fundraising as Rep. Tim Ryan (D) floods the airwaves in Ohio. National Republicans are reportedly concerned that they could be forced to divert resources from swing states like Georgia to Ohio, which should have been an easy win. Ryan has also picked up on this criticism, saying last week that Vance "won't even show up to meet with people here during his campaign." Conservative Youngstown radio host Ron Verb said Vance is "running the worst campaign that you could possibly run," while Ryan — who Verb called "a fraud and a phony" — is "running one of the most effective campaigns I've seen."

Marvel Studios announced the lineup for Phases 4, 5, and 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — collectively known as the Multiverse Saga — during their panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday. Phase 4 is set to conclude in November with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Phase 5 will include a second season of the Disney+ series Loki, the introduction of Mahershala Ali as vampire hunter Blade, and Anthony Mackie's first feature film turn as Captain America. Phase 6 will begin with Fantastic 4, slated for Nov. 8, 2024, and conclude with two Avengers films subtitled The Kang Dynasty — a reference to supervillain Kang the Conqueror — and Secret Wars.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.