Tuesday, August 2, 2022

A U.S. drone strike kills an Al Qaeda leader, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, in Kabul. Despite Chinese warnings, the House speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan. And voters in Arizona choose candidates for key races in November's midterm election.

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain departs the port city of Odesa, after months of blockade. Dozens are dead and unaccounted for in Kentucky floods. And the basketball legend, 11-time NBA champion, Bill Russell dies at 88.

The pandemic shook up a lot about how we work. There have been changes in the hours we put in, the kinds of work we do, our relationships to our jobs and even what we wear when we show up to the office. We'll hear from people who welcomed these changes into their lives and even began seeing themselves differently as they shifted the way they work.

Floods have swallowed entire towns in Kentucky with more rain in the forecast. Also, inflation has cooled the spending frenzy in the U.S. — we'll look at how that will affect the economy. We'll also have the latest on the war in Ukraine.

The White House is trying to get the monkeypox outbreak under control as the number of cases is rising. Parts of the US are coping with dangerous floods, which have become more frequent, partially due to climate change. And tech companies are facing various challenges due to the economic downturn.

Senator Joe Manchin has agreed with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on a climate, healthcare and inflation bill. President Biden is expected to have a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping amid tensions over Taiwan. And the US offered a deal to Moscow to release two detained Americans, Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.

The Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates on Wednesday. An Indiana doctor speaks out about the consequences she has faced for providing an abortion to a 10-year-old who had been raped. Russia cut down its gas supplies to European Union forcing the bloc to reduce the consumption in the coming months.

Former President Trump and his former Vice President are both back in Washington DC speaking to supporters, but they're not together. The Biden administration is trying to expedite availability of the new vaccine boosters that are more effective against the Omicron subvariants. And, China's economy survived most of the pandemic, but severe lockdowns in the country are hurting one of the world's strongest economies.

Ukraine moves forward with grain shipments despite Russian missile strikes on the Black Sea port in Odessa this weekend. The Oak Fire in Mariposa County California is spreading fast near Yosemite National Park forcing thousands to evacuate. And, Vice President Kamala Harris is headed to Indianapolis today to discuss reproductive rights as Indiana's GOP led legislature prepares a new abortion ban.

How did the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol come together? Who was involved in planning it? What did President Trump know and why did he take so long to respond? How much danger were lawmakers in? And, finally, who will be held accountable? In this hourlong special, the NPR Politics team breaks down the key insights from the public hearings.