THE FIRST TROPICAL STORM TO MAKE LANDFALL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN MORE THAN 80 YEARS LEAVES ROADS FLOODED AND THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER.
AND —
RUSSIA’S LUNAR MISSION ENDS WITH A CRASH ON THE MOON
THE RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.
THIS IS STRAIGHT-ARROW NEWS. BRINGING YOU UNBIASED, STRAIGHT FACTS.
TODAY IS MONDAY AUGUST 21ST.
THANKS FOR JOINING US.I’M KARAH RUCKER.
THE FIRST TROPICAL STORM TO HIT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN 84 YEARS IS BRINGING HEAVY RAINS TO THE REGION WITH FORECASTERS TELLING RESIDENTS TO BRACE FOR MORE FLASH FLOODING AND MUDSLIDES.
MORE THAN 7 MILLION PEOPLE WERE PLACED UNDER A FLASH FOOD WARNING THROUGH MONDAY MORNING AS TROPICAL STORM HILARY – ONCE A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE – FLOODED ROADWAYS AND LEFT THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER.
HILARY TRIGGERED CALIFORNIA’S FIRST EVER TROPICAL STORM WARNING.
GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM DECLARED A STATE EMERGENCY OVER THE WEEKEND.
JUST AS THE TROPICAL STORM CAME ASHORE ON SUNDAY, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WAS HIT WITH A 5.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE.
LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF KRISTIN CROWLEY GAVE AN UPDATE ON THE EARTHQUAKE’S IMPACT.
“As many of you are aware, in addition to our storm, we have experienced an earthquake at 2:41 pm centered in the city of Ojai in Ventura County. Our fire department did initiate our earthquake mode which prompts all of our fire station resources to conduct a survey by land, air and sea, in which they will look at their individual districts to identify any potential threats or infrastructure issues. As of now, we have received no reports of any significant damage.”
THE DEVASTATION FROM THE TROPICAL STORM COMES AS THE RECOVERY EFFORTS CONTINUE IN MAUI FROM THE HISTORIC WILDFIRES THAT HAVE KILLED MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN ARE SET TO VISIT THE FIRE-RAVAGED ISLAND TODAY, TO SURVEY THE DAMAGE AND MEET WITH SURVIVORS AND FIRST RESPONDERS.

THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO RAMP UP IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY’S SEARCH FOR THEIR PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE FOR 2024.
7 CONTENDERS ARE EXPECTED TO TAKE PART IN THE FIRST GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IN JUST TWO DAYS —
BUT THE PARTY’S FRONT RUNNER WILL BE MISSING FROM CENTER STAGE —
HE HAS A DIFFERENT PLAN FOR THAT NIGHT WHICH REPORTEDLY INVOLVES FORMER FOX NEWS HOST TUCKER CARLSON.
FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WHO HAS A HEALTHY LEAD OVER HIS CONTENDERS — POSTED TO TRUTH SOCIAL OVER THE WEEKEND THAT HE WILL NOT BE DEBATING THEM ON WEDNESDAY.
HE COMMENTED ABOUT A NEW CBS POLL THAT HAS MORE THAN **60 PERCENT OF REPUBLICANS PLEDGING THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT.
THE POLL INDICATES AN **INCREASE IN HIS POPULARITY SINCE TRUMP’S FOURTH INDICTMENT WAS ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK.
AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO APPEARING IN THE DEBATE — SOURCES HAVE TOLD MULTIPLE NEWS OUTLETS THAT TRUMP WILL SIT FOR A INTERVIEW WITH FORMER FOX NEWS HOST TUCKER CARLSON – AFTER IT WAS TEASED BY TRUMP MONTHS AGO.
THE PRE-RECORDED INTERVIEW IS SET TO BE RELEASED THE **SAME NIGHT AS THE DEBATE.
THE CBS POLL ALSO ASKED PARTICIPANTS WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR FROM OTHER GOP CANDIDATES DURING THE DEBATE.
MORE THAN 90 PERCENT OF LIKELY REPUBLICAN VOTERS SAID THEY DO *NOT WANT TO HEAR THE CANDIDATES CRITICIZE TRUMP —
INSTEAD THEY WANT THEM TO FOCUS ON A CASE FOR THEMSELVES.
THE CBS POLL HAS TRUMP WITH 62 PERCENT OF THE PARTY’S SUPPORT.
THE NEXT CLOSEST CONTENDER IS FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS AT 16 PERCENT.

NORTH KOREA IS TESTING A SERIES OF CRUISE MISSILES —

OVERSEEING ITS CAPABILITIES TO DEFEND ITSELF FROM THE SEA AND POTENTIALLY CARRY OUT A QUOTE “ATTACK MISSION” AGAINST SOUTH KOREA “IN AN ACTUAL WAR”.

THE NORTH’S MISSILE LAUNCHES BY SHIP TODAY WERE LARGELY SEEN AS RETALIATION —

AS THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH KOREA BEGAN CONDUCTING ITS ANNUAL JOINT-MILITARY DRILLS.

SOUTH KOREA SAYS THIS YEAR’S DEMONSTRATIONS WILL BE HELD ON “THE LARGEST SCALE EVER” INVOLVING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF U.S. TROOPS ASSISTING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SOUTH KOREAN TROOPS IN ITS DISPLAY OF DEFENSE AGAINST ANY NUCLEAR OR MISSILE THREAT FROM THE NORTH.

RUSSIA’S FIRST MISSION TO THE MOON IN NEARLY 50 YEARS ENDED OVER THE WEEKEND AFTER THE ROCKET CRASHED INTO THE MOON WHILE ATTEMPTING A HISTORIC LANDING.

THE LAUNCH FROM EARLIER THIS MONTH WAS HIGHLY ANTICIPATED —

AS RUSSIA RACES WITH INDIA TO BECOME THE FIRST NATION TO LAND A ROVER ON THE SHADOWED SOUTH POLE OF THE MOON THAT IS BELIEVED TO POTENTIALLY HOLD WATER.

RUSSIAN OFFICIALS SAY THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL SITUATION THAT OCCURRED AS THE ROCKET PREPARED TO ENTER A “PRE-LANDING ORBIT” THAT CAUSED THE SPACE CRAFT TO LOSE COMMUNICATION WITH ITS HOME BASE —

RESULTING IN A CRASH.

NOW ALL EYES ARE ON INDIA — WHICH IS PROJECTED TO MAKE THE SAME LANDING ATTEMPT ON WEDNESDAY.

CANADA ASKS META TO REINSTATE NEWS ACCESS DURING WILDFIRES AFTER NEW LAW FALLOUT

THE DISPUTE BETWEEN META AND CANADA — WHICH LED TO THE TECH GIANT DISABLING DOMESTIC NEWS ACCESS TO ITS PLATFORMS  — IS IMPACTING CANADIAN COMMUNITIES RAVAGED BY WILDFIRES.

RESIDENTS WHO USED TO GET NEWS AND ALERTS FROM FACEBOOK OR INSTAGRAM — NO LONGER HAD ACCESS TO IT AS HISTORIC WILDFIRES SWEPT THROUGH.

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT DEMANDED META TO LIFT ITS ACCESS-BAN IN THE COUNTRY WHILE THE PLATFORM WAS NEEDED TO HELP PROVIDE VITAL INFORMATION TO PEOPLE THREATENED BY FAST-MOVING FIRES.

IN RESPONSE — META RE-INSTATED LIMITED ACCESS — USERS COULD ONCE AGAIN USE THE “SAFETY CHECK” FEATURE TO MARK THEMSELVES AS “SAFE” IN THE WAKE OF A NATURAL DISASTER.

USERS CAN ALSO ACCESS OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY PAGES FOR THE LATEST EMERGENCY UPDATES ON EVACUATIONS AND WILDFIRE CONTAINMENT.

META RELEASED A  STATEMENT — STANDING BY THEIR DECISION TO DISABLE ACCESS TO ITS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN RESPONSE TO A LAW CANADA PASSED THAT REQUIRES SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES TO NOW **PAY FOR NEWS CONTENT SHARED ON ITS SITES.

META SAYS FORCING THE COMPANY TO PAY FOR CONTENT IS NOT SUSTAINABLE FOR ITS BUSINESS.

FINALLY THIS MORNING, A NEW CHAMPION HAS BEEN CROWNED AS SPAIN WON ITS FIRST WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TITLE SUNDAY – DEFEATING ENGLAND.

WITH A SCORE OF ONE ZERO, SPAIN CELEBRATED ITS VICTORY AMID A TUMULTUOUS TIME FOR THE TEAM THAT SAW 15 PLAYERS STEP AWAY LAST YEAR CALLING FOR A MORE PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT. THREE OF THOSE PLAYERS RETURNED TO PLAY IN THE WORLD CUP.

IT WAS ALSO A RANGE OF EMOTIONS FOR 23-YEAR-OLD OLGA CARMONA, WHO SCORED THE WINNING GOAL FOR SPAIN. THE ROYAL SPANISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION CONFIRMED THE STAR PLAYER LEARNED OF HER FATHER’S PASSING JUST AFTER THE MATCH.

CARMONA WROTE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, “I KNOW YOU HAVE GIVEN ME THE STRENGTH TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING UNIQUE. I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN WATCHING ME TONIGHT AND THAT YOU ARE PROUD OF ME. REST IN PEACE, DAD.”

CARMONA ALSO SCORED IN SEMIFINALS, BECOMING THE FIRST PLAYER SINCE USA’S CARLI LLOYD TO SCORE IN A WORLD CUP SEMIFINAL AND FINAL.

THOSE ARE YOUR TOP STORIES THIS MONDAY MORNING.THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS AS YOUR TRUSTED SOURCE.

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UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS. THAT’S STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.

WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW.

UNTIL THEN I’M KARAH RUCKER. HAVE A GREAT DAY.