5 things to know for Aug. 5: Hurricane Debby, Presidential race, UK riots, Drug bust, Ukraine
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Olympic organizers are facing questions after Belgian and Swiss athletes fell ill after participating in triathlon races in the River Seine. Details on their illnesses are not yet clear, but they come amid widespread concerns that the poor water quality may be exposing athletes to serious health risks. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Hurricane Debby, a Category 1 storm, is nearing landfall with the eyewall moving onshore in the Florida Big Bend area, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasts show Debby will slowly traverse over the Southeast US and dump potentially catastrophic rainfall over widespread parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. More than 100,000 homes and businesses are already without power across Florida as Debby’s hurricane-force winds begin to batter the state, according to PowerOutage.us. Hundreds of flights have been canceled and delayed in the region and several school systems have announced temporary closures. View CNN’s Storm Tracker to see Debby’s projected path. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce her running mate this week but intends to keep her selection under wraps until they make an appearance together on Tuesday. Sources say Harris has narrowed her selection to three final contenders — Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. Her selection this week will be followed immediately by a joint tour of battleground states, starting with a stop in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, a fresh CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday found no clear leader between Harris and former President Donald Trump among likely voters nationally — whereas President Joe Biden had been down 5 points in previous polling data. Rioters set fire to hotels used to shelter asylum seekers in northern England on Sunday as the country grapples with the worst social unrest it has seen in years. The violence was triggered by the stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school last week, sparking disbelief over why would anyone target children having fun during the summer holiday. The far right has seized on and spread a wave of disinformation, including false claims the attacker was an immigrant, to mobilize anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant protests. Police say the suspect was born in Britain. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the weekend’s protests, warning that those involved in violence will face the full force of the law. US Customs and Border Protection officers in Arizona said they recently seized the largest amount of fentanyl pills in the agency’s history. A 20-year-old was detained at the Lukeville port of entry after attempting to transport around 4 million fentanyl pills weighing more than 1,000 pounds, according to the agency. The CBP has seized more than 15,000 pounds of fentanyl so far in 2024, federal data shows. Fentanyl, a strong synthetic opioid that is about 50 times more potent than heroin, was involved in almost 70% of overdose deaths last year, according to data from CDC. The narcotic kills tens of thousands of people in the US annually.
Senate Democrats grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his various controversial statements including his stance on vaccines during his confirmation hearing to be President Donald Trump’s health and human services secretary, and most left feeling overwhelmingly unsatisfied by the answers they received.
A Nigerian man has been extradited to the US to face charges in the “sextortion” of a South Carolina teen who died by suicide in 2022. Prosecutors allege the scammer posed as a young woman, persuaded 17-year-old Gavin Guffey to send him nude photos and then threatened to publicize them if Guffey didn’t send money.