Start your week smart: Drones hit Moscow, Americans abducted in Haiti, Republicans in Iowa, Mitch McConnell, kidnapping hoax

By CNN Newsource

Published July 30, 2023 5:48 am

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, except it’s no laughing matter: It’s so hot in Phoenix that cactuses are dying.

Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• Russia says Ukraine targeted Moscow with drones, the latest in a series of attacks that have brought the Ukraine war to Russia’s capital. A business and shopping development in the west of the capital was hit. No casualties were reported.
• An American nurse and her child have been kidnapped in Haiti, according to El Roi Haiti, the Christian humanitarian aid organization she works for. Alix Dorsainvil, wife of El Roi Haiti’s director, and their child were reportedly abducted.
• Donald Trump charged ahead with his bid for the 2024 GOP nomination at a major Republican event in Iowa, largely ignoring the new charges in the federal classified documents probe. Trump, an aide and a Mar-a-Lago worker face expanded charges in the special counsel investigation.
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to serve the rest of the 118th Congress as the GOP leader, the Kentucky Republican’s office said. Questions about the future of McConnell, 81, were raised after he froze for 30 seconds during a news conference.
• Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who admitted to staging her own kidnapping and triggering a 49-hour-long search, turned herself in and has been charged with making false reports.

The week ahead

Monday
Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira has been summoned to appear in federal court in Miami following his indictment last week in connection to the case alleging former President Donald Trump mishandled classified documents. Prosecutors allege De Oliveira and Trump aide Walt Nauta attempted to delete security camera footage at the resort after the Justice Department issued a subpoena for it. De Oliveira was also charged with lying to the FBI about moving boxes of classified documents from Trump’s residence to a storage room.

Tuesday
The US assumes the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August.

Thursday
El Paso, Texas, will host a series of remembrance ceremonies for the victims and families of the August 3, 2019, mass shooting at a Walmart. The gunman who carried out one of the deadliest attacks against Latinos in modern US history was sentenced to 90 life terms by a federal judge earlier this month.

Friday
Law enforcement will conduct a reenactment of 2018’s mass shooting inside Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as part of a civil lawsuit. The reenactment — which will use live rounds fired into a ballistic bullet trap — is part of a lawsuit against Scot Peterson, the then-school resource officer who remained outside as a shooter killed 17 people and injured 17 others on Valentine’s Day 2018. A jury acquitted Peterson last month of related criminal charges.

We’ll also get the latest reading on the job market when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the employment report for July. Employers added just 209,000 jobs in June, coming in below economists’ expectations. However, that weaker-than-expected number fueled optimism that the Federal Reserve is on course to lower inflation without triggering a recession.

One Thing: Weighing trendy weight-loss drugs
In this week’s One Thing podcast, CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell explains what we should know about popular drugs being used for weight loss like Ozempic and Wegovy, and how they may help curb addictive behaviors. Listen for more.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
“The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart,” based on the novel by Australian author Holly Ringland, premieres Friday on Prime Video. The seven-part miniseries stars Alycia Debnam-Carey as the titular Alice and Sigourney Weaver as her grandmother who lives on a flower farm.

In theaters
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” hits the big screen on Wednesday, and “Meg 2: The Trench” arrives Friday. But don’t expect “Barbie” to surrender her box office crown to talking turtles or a prehistoric shark … (“Meg 2: The Trench” is from Warner Bros., which, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Music
The Lollapalooza music festival kicks off on Thursday in Chicago’s Grant Park. Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lana Del Rey are among the dozens of performers set to take the stage over four days.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
Play continues this week at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. Colombia produced a dramatic upset, scoring in the last minute to beat two-time world champion Germany 2-1. Click here for live scores and the latest results.

The New York Jets and quarterback Aaron Rodgers face the Cleveland Browns in the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame game on Thursday.

And the 2023 World Dog Surfing Championships will be held Saturday at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica, California.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s weekly news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 72% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

Happy birthday, Mick!
Sir Michael Philip Jagger, the frontman for The Rolling Stones, celebrated his 80th birthday last week. Mick is living proof that age is just a number — and it’s only rock ‘n’ roll.

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