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All Eyes On Venezuelan Election

All Eyes On Venezuelan Election

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
July 26, 2024

Good Friday morning. Scientists now think the Tyrannosaurus rex may have been almost twice as large as previously believed. That is a lot of dinosaur. Have a great weekend!

In Today’s Brief

California: Clearing homeless camps
‘El Mayo’: Drug kingpin caught
Obama: Endorsement coming
Southwest: Assigned seats
MLB: No-hitter

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Poll watching

Venezuela’s presidential race will receive an international spotlight this weekend.

What's happening: Strongman Nicolas Maduro faces a significant threat to his rule in Sunday's election. Polls suggest opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, a former diplomat running in place of banned opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, could score a landslide victory in a fair election. But many fear it will be anything but.
Key context: Maduro, the protege of late President Hugo Chavez and an ally of China, Iran and Russia, has twice won elections plagued by irregularities. His Socialist Party controls all levels of government, has been accused of rigging past elections and has oppressed the opposition in myriad ways, including imprisonments and persecutions. Maduro has also backslid on reforms following international pressure and threatened war with Guyana while overseeing a economic collapse that has weakened his domestic standing.
The geopolitics: Over 8M Venezuelans have fled into neighboring countries due to unrest in recent years, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva seems fed up. He blasted Maduro's claim that Venezuela will experience a "bloodbath" if he loses, demanding the dictator respect the democratic process. Top Brazilian officials will observe the election along with opposition witnesses at each polling place. The White House also warned Maduro that the U.S. is "watching closely."

2) Tightening up

Early indications suggest Vice President Kamala Harris's ascension atop the Democratic ticket has made the race against former President Donald Trump more competitive.

Battleground states: Trump is up five points on Harris in Arizona, two in Georgia and Pennsylvania, one in Michigan and the candidates are tied in Wisconsin, according to a new batch of polls released by The Hill and Emerson College. But Harris is polling at least three points ahead of President Joe Biden's most recent share in each state. She is also tied with Trump in Michigan when independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy and other third-party candidates are included.
Also worth noting: Democratic Senate candidates are leading in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the polling, with all running ahead of Harris (and some ahead of/tied with Trump).
Debate drama: Harris accused Trump of "backpedaling" on ABC's scheduled presidential debate on Sept. 10 and said she is ready to square off. Trump has ripped the network in recent days and called for Fox News to host a debate. The Trump campaign said it will not commit to the ABC debate, but it plans to debate Harris and wants to have multiple debates before Election Day.
Talking points: Republicans have honed in on Harris' actions (or lack thereof) regarding border security and her time as a prosecutor in attack ads. A House resolution condemning Harris and the Biden Administration for its handling of the border passes yesterday with a handful of Democratic votes.

3) Spineless stance

Congress wants to shut down a controversial practice before anyone even thinks about it.

The news: A bipartisan bill banning commercial octopus farming has been introduced in the Senate. There are currently no such farms in the country or reports of development. But Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the OCTOPUS Act's co-authors, said they felt the need to take proactive action.
The impetus: A Spanish seafood company wants to breed octopi in the Canary Islands given their worldwide popularity as a delicacy. Animal rights groups and scientists argue it is not humane to raise the creatures in captivity and doing so would create sustainability issues, as companies would need to fish more to provide food for the octopi.
Big picture: The idea of a ban is not completely out of left field. Washington state has already passed a ban while other states have considered legislation. Over 20 relevant organizations support the bill.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies to clear homeless camps. He also called on cities to follow suit after the Supreme Court expanded rights to enforce anti-camping rules; the state had an estimated 180K unhoused people last year (More)
Ohio's top court ruled consumers cannot expect boneless chicken wings to be bone-free. The 4-3 decision by the state's supreme court rejected a lawsuit by a man who claims he ingested a small bone at a restaurant that led to a torn esophagus and infection (More)
Over a dozen vegetables and herbs sold in 15 states have been recalled due to listeria contamination concerns. The Food and Drug Administration said the goods were sold at Aldi, Kroger and Walmart locations, mainly concentrated on the East Coast and in the Midwest (More)

World News

The co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel is in U.S. custody. The Department of Justice said Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was apprehended in El Paso; Juaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of infamous co-founder Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was also arrested (More)
North Korea is attempting to steal military and nuclear secrets from governments and private companies around the world, according to the U.S., United Kingdom and South Korea. The hackers aim to advance Pyongyang's ambitions and programs (More)
At least 26 people were killed in a series of attacks on three villages in Papua New Guinea. At least 16 children were killed while houses were torched; police say people are still missing (More)

Campaign News

Former President Barack Obama is expected to endorse Vice President Harris in the coming days. The two have reportedly spoken several times since she launched her presidential campaign (More)
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will launch a $4.4M ad campaign targeting Hispanic voters with an emphasis on Spanish-speakers. The Republican faces a competitive re-election race against Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL player (More)
Prosecutors said a New York judge should not toss former President Trump's business fraud conviction on immunity grounds. The Manhattan District Attorney argues his crimes were committed in a personal, not presidential, capacity; sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 18 (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed mixed yesterday. The U.S. economy grew 2.8% in Q2, well ahead of analysts' 2.1% projection (Dow +0.20%, S&P 500 -0.51%, Nasdaq -0.93%).
Southwest Airlines will end its open-boarding system and begin assigning seats. The airline will also offer redeye flights for the first time; officials said 80% of customers expressed a desire to have an assigned seat in surveys (More)
OpenAI will launch an artificial intelligence-powered search engine to compete with Google. SearchGPT is currently in early-stage testing; it will eventually be integrated into its ChatGPT system (More)

Entertainment & Sports

San Diego Padres pitcher Dylan Cease threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals. The right-hander is the second pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter and the second big leaguer to do so this season (More)
Tennis player Coco Gauff will be Team USA's female flagbearer at the Paris Olympics. The opening ceremony on the Seine River will be broadcast live by NBC at 1:30 p.m. ET today; it will also be replayed at 7:30 p.m. ET (More)
SAG-AFTRA called a strike against major video game makers. The actors' union has been in contract renegotiation talks over its interactive media agreement for over two years; the strike was scheduled to begin at midnight today and impact 10 companies (More)

Quick Hitters

Fun Stuff: The Olympics introduces a new mascot every two years. The big reveal usually leads to a lot of head-scratching and plenty of jokes.
Lucky Guy: An Indian man with a large family and significant debt regularly searched for diamonds as a hopeful side hustle. After a decade of hunting, he just found one worth $95K.
Go Deep: Internet outages can cause absolute mayhem. Just ask CrowdStrike. And they can happen for various, and quite strange, reasons.
Great Attitude: And you thought rain on your wedding day would be bad. This couple was forced into a basement due to a tornado, but still had a day to remember.
Life Hack: There are beautiful flowers everywhere you look at this time of year. If you clip some of them, here is how to make them last inside your home.

Watch This

This dispatch from ABC World News Tonight will warm your heart.