Daily Briefing: Alito's trip to Alaska
The nation’s highest court now finds itself under siege from a series of stories involving private jet travel, luxury vacations and property sales not reported on financial disclosure forms. Also in the news: The search for a missing submersible has grown dire and President Joe Biden will host a state dinner with India's leader.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. It's been a heavy news week. Watch this duck refuse to go swimming without his cow pal.
Now, here we go with with Thursday's news.
Alito took private jet trip for Alaska fishing trip
In the latest in a series of ethics revelations involving members of the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito acknowledged Tuesday that he flew to Alaska for a fishing trip on a private jet in 2008 that belonged to a hedge fund manager who repeatedly brought cases before the high court. Alito, among the court’s most senior conservative justices, defended the trip in an unusual Wall Street Journal op-ed that was a reaction to a ProPublica story that had not yet been published. The piece was ultimately posted on ProPublica’s website hours later. Read our recap of the saga.
Prospects dire for 5 passengers on missing Titanic sub as oxygen levels run out
Oxygen - and time - may have run out in the rescue effort for five people aboard the submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic on a tour to the Titanic wreckage site. An updated prediction by the U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday said the Titan was likely to run out of oxygen at around 7 a.m. ET Thursday. Search crews Wednesday expanded the surface area in the search and rescue mission to about twice the size of Connecticut and 2.5 miles deep as underwater noises detected in the area of the Titanic wreck on Wednesday gave hope to crews. Read more
For members of the Coast Guard, the search for the missing tourist sub is a rescue unlike most others.
Why we can't look away from the missing sub: It's ''most people's biggest fear.''
More news to know now
Tornadoes ripped through a northern Texas town, killing three people.
Migrant boat death toll rises to 82 as Greece is criticized for its response to the capsized vessel.
An ''extremely violent'' explosion at a Paris building injured at least 24 people.
Against the backdrop of a mental health care shortage, emergency room doctors are overwhelmed.
On today's 5 Things podcast, why the FTC has sued Amazon. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.
What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
House censures Rep. Adam Schiff
The Republican-led effort to censure Rep. Adam Schiff over his claims about former President Donald Trump’s connections to Russia succeeded Wednesday.
House lawmakers voted 213-209 along party lines to censure Schiff, with six lawmakers voting present. Immediately after the vote, Democrats in the lower chamber began chanting "shame."
Who is Schiff? The California Democrat previously chaired the House Intelligence Committee and led the first impeachment inquiry into Trump, which resulted in the House voting to impeach the former president for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., renewed her effort to censure Schiff for alleging collusion between Trump and Russia during the former president’s 2016 campaign, after her initial attempt was blocked last week by House Democrats.
Schiff said last week that he is “flattered” by the effort to censure him and suggested the resolution was introduced as a distraction from Trump’s legal woes.
Meet the Mississippi moms who fear for their lives a year after Roe fell
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled against Mississippi’s abortion clinic. Every state in the South has since limited abortion access. Mississippi had 2,100 fewer abortions in the first six months after the ruling, according to a report by the Society of Family Planning. The state’s health director projected 5,000 more babies would be born this year in a state where pregnancy care was already stretched thin. This number and more about Mississippi's maternal health care crisis are highlighted in a new collaboration between USA TODAY and The Tennessean as part of the documentary video series “States of America." Check it out here.
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Moscow court upholds ruling to detain US journalist Evan Gershkovich until August
A court in Moscow has upheld an earlier ruling to keep Evan Gerhskovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia on espionage charges, in detention until late August, rejecting the journalist’s appeal. The 31-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip. A Moscow court agreed last month to keep him in custody until Aug. 30. Defense lawyers challenged the decision, but the Moscow City Court rejected the appeal on Thursday. Gershkovich and his employer have denied he spied in Russia. The U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release. Read our latest Ukraine-Russia coverage.
Quick hits
An orca attacking a boat near Scotland marked the first such incident in the North Sea, following some on the Iberian coast.
USWNT World Cup roster released: Julie Ertz is in, so is newcomer Savannah DeMelo.
''Yellowstone'' creator Taylor Sheridan finally talked about Kevin Costner's exit.
Samuel L. Jackson revels in being a ''flawed'' Nick Fury for Marvel's new ''Secret Invasion.''
Photo of the day: Preparing for Modi's state dinner
President Joe Biden will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an official state dinner Thursday as he has sought to deepen the security partnership between the two nations as part of his administration’s efforts to counter China’s global influence. Read more about the politics behind the dinner and takeaways from Jill Biden's previews of the meal featuring stuffed portobello mushrooms in a creamy saffron-infused risotto.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alito, Titanic, missing submersible, Schiff censorship, abortion, Ukraine, Russia, India: Daily Briefing
