Morning Headlines - Friday, Jul. 8, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Japan's Former Leader Shinzo Abe Assassinated

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died on Friday after being shot while giving a campaign speech, officials said. He was 67.

Abe, who was most recently in office from December 2012 to September 2020, was Japan's longest-serving prime minister. He resigned in 2020 for health reasons but remained influential in politics.

Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech in the city of Nara ahead of Sunday's elections for the parliament’s upper house, NHK reported.

Americans Reflect On Nation’s Covid-19 Response

As levels of public concern over the coronavirus outbreak recede, Americans offer a lackluster evaluation of how the country has balanced priorities during the outbreak.

A majority of U.S. adults say the country has given too little priority to meeting the educational needs of K-12 students since the outbreak first took hold in February 2020.

Assessments of the nation’s response across other domains are little better: Fewer than half of Americans say the country has done about the right amount to support quality of life and economic activity or to protect public health.

Facing Pressure, Biden To Sign Order On Abortion Access

President Joe Biden will take executive action Friday to protect access to abortion, the White House said, as he faces mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to be more forceful on the subject after the Supreme Court ended a constitutional right to the procedure two weeks ago.

The White House said Biden will speak Friday morning “on protecting access to reproductive health care services.” The actions he was expected to outline are intended to try to mitigate some potential penalties women seeking abortion may face after the ruling but are limited in their ability to safeguard access to abortion nationwide.

Monkeypox Vaccine And Testing Delays Echo Failures In Early Covid Response

The first monkeypox case in the United States was confirmed in mid-May. As the number of monkeypox cases reached 605 nationwide as of July 6, some public health experts saw echoes of COVID-19 in the government's halting response.

"We're six weeks in, and we're still having problems with availability of testing and vaccine supply, all these issues that we saw with COVID," said Gregg Gonsalves, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. "Now, the prospects for containment are receding quickly."

Senate Democrats Face New Pressure To Pass Assault Weapons Ban

Democrats in Congress are under new pressure to advance an assault weapons ban after a 21-year-old gunman killed seven people at a July 4 parade in Highland Park.

The Senate just approved a bipartisan gun-safety bill last month that was signed into law by President Biden, but even at the time it was seen as an effort insufficient to truly cut into gun violence.

Dem U.S. Senate Candidates Talk Economy In Forum

Dem U.S. Senate candidates in a virtual forum offered solutions to the nation’s economic woes such as adding manufacturing jobs, increasing the minimum wage and helping small businesses.

In the more than two-hour Dane County Democratic Party event last night, seven of eight candidates offered ways to address a variety of economic issues. All of the candidates responded to different questions, but most answered at least one focused on the economy and inflation. They will face off in a Dem primary next month. The winner will go on to face U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, who is seeking a third term.

As More Children Struggle With Mental Health, Wisconsin Offers Tools To Support Them

With school out, many parents and guardians are spending more time with their children — which presents an opportunity to check in on their mental health.

Youth mental health concerns have been on the rise for years. Before the pandemic, about 60 percent of high schoolers in Wisconsin were experiencing anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. Although it's difficult to quantify how the pandemic affected kids' mental health, experts say that isolation, disconnection from school and friends, family financial stresses and the illness and death of loved ones exacerbated children's mental health concerns.

GOP Lawmakers Threaten To Sue Secretary Of State

Republican lawmakers are threatening to sue the Democratic secretary of state; they say he's taking too long to submit formal documents calling for a convention of states.

Sen. Kathy Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls) and Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) called on Secretary Doug La Follette to submit documents from a resolution calling for an amendment to the U.S. constitution that would restrict federal spending and set term limits on members of Congress.

Jacob Blake's Father Arrested In Akron, Ohio During Protest Over Police Shooting

Akron, Ohio police arrested the father of Jacob Blake on Wednesday while protesting the police killing of a 25-year-old Black man.

Akron Municipal Court records confirm Jacob Blake Sr. was arrested on four counts: riot, resisting arrest, failure to disperse and disorderly conduct.

Man Accused Of Damaging Capitol Statues Receives Probation

A Madison man charged with helping tear down two statues outside the state Capitol during a string of protests over racial injustice two years ago has been sentenced to three years of probation.

Jacob Capps, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of felony criminal damage to property Wednesday and was also ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.