Daily Briefing: Trump reclaims his megaphone

After more than three years, Donald Trump returned to X to post his booking photo following his arrest in Georgia on 2020 election charges. Also in the news: Schools have been forced to cancel or delay classes as extreme heat impacts swaths of the country and our preview for Week 0 of college football.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Just a friendly reminder National Dog Day is tomorrow.

Now, here we go with news

Indictment spurs Trump social media moment

Trump shared his Fulton County booking photo on X Thursday, just hours after being arrested and released in a Georgia case that alleges racketeering by a criminal organization that tried to overturn the 2020 election results.

The background: Trump hasn't posted on the social media site formerly called Twitter since he was banned in 2021 after the Capitol riot.

• The social media company's billionaire owner Elon Musk reinstated the former president's account, including his blue check mark and 87 million followers, after the former president announced his 2024 presidential bid in November. But Trump did not start posting again until after his arrest Thursday.

• As Trump's legal troubles escalated, the former president reclaimed his favorite megaphone. Experts assume he will quickly resume his role as the main character on the platform.

• Supporters and opponents of Trump argued with each other outside the jail in the searing Georgia heat about the 91 criminal counts the president faces, but largely without incident.

Keep reading: From Rudy Giuliani to Jenna Ellis: Here are Donald Trump's allies who have surrendered in Georgia.

Missile, bomb or accident? Putin eulogizes Prigozhin

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences Thursday to the family of Russian mercenary group founder and aborted coup leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who apparently died in the suspicious crash of his private plane northwest of Moscow. The Russian agency in charge of civil aviation listed Prigozhin, 62, top lieutenant Dmitry Utkin and five other Wagner members among 10 passengers and crew on the Embraer business jet that crashed Wednesday night. The Federal Air Transport Agency said all aboard had died and that an investigation into the crash was underway. "He was a man of difficult fate, and he made serious mistakes in life," Putin said, as reported by state media, adding that "he achieved the results he needed." Read more

• Foreign spies are targeting private space companies, US intelligence agencies warn.

More news to know now

• A retired police sergeant who killed 3 at Southern California bar shot his estranged wife first, authorities say.

• A Spanish soccer exec is expected to resign after a forced kiss overshadowed a World Cup title.

• mRNA cancer treatment is the new target for Biden administration research support.

• Climate change is impacting emperor penguins: Chicks are dying and extinction looms, a study finds.

• On today's 5 Things podcast, a discussion about neurodiversity in the workplace. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Maui County files lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Company over deadly wildfires

Maui County filed a lawsuit Thursday against utility Hawaiian Electric Company over the deadly wildfires in Lahaina, alleging the company's failure to shut off power despite warnings from the National Weather Service contributed to the catastrophe. Attorney John Fiske, who is representing Maui County, told USA TODAY Thursday that the utility's "equipment failed" as downed power lines ignited and "transferred thousands of volts of electricity into dry brush and grass," causing the fires. At least 115 people died in the Aug. 8 disaster, and Hawaii officials said Tuesday that 1,000 people were still missing after having lowered the count to about 850 on Monday. Read more

• ''Hawaii is one family'': Maui wildfire tragedy ripples across islands.

Broken, nonexistent air conditioning forces schools to change schedules during 'heat dome'

School districts in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and other states have either closed or dismissed students early as the National Weather Service said millions of people are being affected by excessive heat. The National Weather Service said heat will likely blanket the Midwest and Gulf region well into Friday, during what it called a heat dome. The temperatures are "extremely anomalous" and likely to break daily and monthly records, the service said. Meanwhile, a U.S. Government Accountability Office study from June 2020 found more than 36,000 schools needs updates or replacements to their HVAC systems. Read more

• Gov. Ron DeSantis' education overhaul continues with a bathroom rule at Florida state colleges.

• Black elementary school students are singled out for assemblies about improving low test scores.

• 2023 teacher shortages: What to know about vacancies in your region.

Just for subscribers:

• Swimmable cities a climate solution? Amid scorching heat, cities rethink access to waterways.

• Want to be an organic vegetable farmer? This program is growing the workforce.

• With no body, case against Kristin Smart murder suspects opens Monday in California.

• Four people were arrested in a twin newborn Amber Alert case in Michigan. Many questions remain unanswered.

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. 

As deadline nears, autoworkers are 'ready to strike'

Practice pickets are scheduled on Friday near Ford’s Kentucky Truck and Louisville Assembly plants, respectively as the United Auto Workers union continues bargaining with Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis. Their chants and signs in previous practices this week echoed many of the same themes that union leadership has been preaching for months: “Equal work for equal pay. All the tiers must go away.” Talks have been publicly testy, with lots of rhetoric and messaging that the union is prepared to strike if key demands aren’t met. The contracts are in effect until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. Read more

• Hyundai recalled nearly 40,000 vehicles because of a software error that can cause car to accelerate.

Quick hits

• WWE star Bray Wyatt, known for the Wyatt Family and ''The Fiend,'' has died at age 36.

• Here's our preview of College Football Week 0, plus Jim Harbaugh and playoff news.

• Current mortgage rates are the highest they've been since 2001. Is there an end in sight?

• ''Riverdale'' fans slam a ''quad'' relationship featuring Archie Andrews and Jughead in the series finale.

• 5 things to know about the US Open draw: Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are on a collision course.

• Analysis: Simone Biles should be judged on what she can do, not what other gymnasts can't.

• It's time to look for the Loch Ness monster this weekend.

Photo of the day: 2023 Basketball World Cup

The Basketball World Cup — FIBA’s biggest tournament — started Friday, spread out across three countries for the first two rounds before all the biggest games get played in Manila to decide which nation will go home with gold medals and the Naismith Trophy on Sept. 10. Spain is the defending champion, but the Americans have high hopes and enter as the tournament favorites. Read more

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: Trump Georgia mug shot, Putin, Maui lawsuit, back to school, UAW strike, college football: Daily Briefing