Mitch McConnell freezes up again, president of Gabon detained in coup, and more of today’s trending news

Take a look at trending topics for today, Aug. 30:

Mitch McConnell

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared to briefly freeze up and was unable to answer a question from a reporter at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday, weeks after he had a similar episode in Washington.

According to video from a local news station, the 81-year-old McConnell was asked whether he would run for reelection in 2026. The senator asked the reporter to repeat the question before trailing off and staring straight ahead for about 10 seconds.

A woman standing at the front of the room with McConnell asked him whether he heard the question and she repeated it. When McConnell did not answer, she announced to the room that “we’re going to need a minute.”

McConnell’s reaction was similar to the time when he froze for about 20 seconds at a news conference in the Capitol in late July.

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This video grab shows Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba sitting in his residence in Libreville, Gabon, Wednesday Aug. 30, 2023. Mutinous soldiers speaking on state television announced that they had seized power in and were overturning the results of a presidential election that was to extend the Bongo family’s 55-year hold on power.

Uncredited – handout one time use, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gabon

Mutinous soldiers in Gabon proclaimed their republican guard chief as the country’s leader Wednesday after placing the just-reelected President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest, alleging betrayal and massive embezzlement during his long-time rule over the oil-rich Central African nation.

The coup leaders said in an announcement on Gabon’s state TV that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema had been “unanimously” designated president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of Bongo, who earlier Wednesday had been declared the winner of the country’s latest presidential election following 55 years of rule by him and his late father.

In a video from detention in his residence, Bongo called on people to “make noise” to support him. But the crowds who took to the streets of the capital instead celebrated the coup against a dynasty accused of getting rich on the country’s resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle.

This aerial photo shows homes surrounded by floodwaters in Steinhatchee, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, left behind by Hurricane Idalia.

Daniel Kozin – staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hurricane Idalia

Hurricane Idalia tore into Florida at the speed of a fast-moving train Wednesday, splitting trees in half, ripping roofs off hotels and turning small cars into boats before sweeping into Georgia and South Carolina as a still-powerful storm that flooded roadways and sent residents running for higher ground.

“All hell broke loose,” said Belond Thomas of Perry, a mill town located just inland from the Big Bend region where Idalia came ashore.

Thomas, a 41-year-old worker at the town’s paper mill, fled with her family and some friends to a motel, thinking it would be safer than riding out the storm at home. But as Idalia’s eye passed over about 8:30 a.m., a loud whistling noise pierced the air and the high winds ripped the building’s roof off, sending debris down on her pregnant daughter, who was lying in bed. Fortunately, she was not injured.

“It was frightening,” Thomas said. “Things were just going so fast. … Everything was spinning.”

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Venus Williams

Michael Jackson

Hurricane Idalia tore into Florida with 125 mph winds, splitting trees in half, ripping roofs off hotels and turning small cars into boats. After coming ashore in the state’s Big Bend region, the storm then swept into Georgia with 90 mph winds, flooding roads and sending some residents running for higher ground. No deaths were confirmed in Florida, but Florida Highway Patrol reported two people dying in separate weather-related crashes just hours before Idalia made landfall. State officials, 5,500 National Guardsman and rescue crews were in search-and-recovery mode, inspecting bridges, clearing toppled trees and looking for anyone in distress. Nearly a half-million people in Florida and Georgia were left without power.

Mutinous soldiers in Gabon have proclaimed their republican guard chief as the country’s leader after placing the newly re-elected president under house arrest and alleging massive embezzlement under his long-time rule over the oil-rich nation. The mutinous soldiers went on Gabon’s state television and said that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was designated president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose family has ruled the oil-rich nation for 55 years but whose government has drawn allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Republicans in Washington and Georgia are looking for ways to punish Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for indicting Donald Trump. But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and some other Republicans in the state are opting out of the push, even as Trump eggs it on. In Washington, House Republicans last week announced an investigation of Willis. And in Georgia, Republicans are coalescing around a plan to seek Willis’ removal by a new state prosecutorial oversight commission that begins work on Oct. 1. Trump has made repeated attacks on Willis. But Kemp has kept criticism of Willis at arm’s length, underlining how ingrained his divide with Trump has become.

Former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday for orchestrating the far-right extremist group’s attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tarrio wasn’t in Washington, D.C, when Proud Boys members joined thousands of Trump supporters in storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But federal prosecutors say he organized and led the group’s assault from afar. His defense lawyers say the Proud Boys had no plans to storm the Capitol. The Justice Department is seeking a 33-year prison sentence for Tarrio, who is from Miami. That’s nearly twice the length of the longest prison term so far among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions.

Authorities say a University of North Carolina graduate student walked into a classroom building, shot his faculty adviser and then left. Thirty-four-year-old Tailei Qi was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in Monday’s killing of Zijie Yan inside of a science building at the state’s flagship public university. UNC Police Chief Brian James said at a news conference that Chapel Hill police arrested Qi in a residential neighborhood near campus. He says investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the attack and are still searching for the gun used to kill Yan. The attack led to a roughly three-hour lockdown on the UNC campus. No one else was hurt in the attack.

Crews in Hawaii have all but finished searching for victims of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, and it is unclear how many people perished. Authorities said Tuesday the count of the dead stands at 115 three weeks after the fire devastated Maui’s historic seaside community of Lahaina. An unknown number of people are still missing. Officials suggested that responders likely have already recovered any remains that are recognizable as such, and they are shifting the response to focus on removing hazardous waste and making the area safe for residents to begin returning.

The second ranking House Republican says he has been diagnosed with blood cancer. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana said Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The 57-year-old Scalise says he’ll continue to serve in the House as he undergoes treatment. He vowed to tackle the treatment with “strength and energy” and described the cancer as “very treatable.” Scalise was among those wounded in 2017 when an attacker fired on lawmakers on a Virginia baseball field. He endured long hospitalizations from being shot in the hip. In offering their best wishes to him now, fellow lawmakers are recalling the determination and strength he showed in recovering from that attack.

Russian officials are accusing Ukraine of launching what appears to be the biggest nighttime drone attack on Russian soil since the war began 18 months ago. On the same night, the Kremlin’s forces hit Kyiv with what Ukrainian officials called a “massive, combined attack” that killed two people. Drones hit an airport in Russia’s western Pskov region near the border with Estonia and Latvia early Wednesday. Russia’s state news agency Tass reported damage to four Il-76 transport aircraft that can carry heavy machinery. Russia, meanwhile, used drones and missiles in its biggest bombardment of Kyiv in months, Ukrainian authorities said.

Venus Williams’ 100th career U.S. Open match produced her most lopsided loss at the Grand Slam tournament where she won the trophy in 2000 and 2001. Williams was eliminated 6-1, 6-1 by Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the first round on Tuesday night. At 43, Williams is the oldest player in the field. The first 21 times Williams entered the U.S. Open, she went 21-0 in the first round. But this was her third consecutive opening-round loss at Flushing Meadows. The 26-year-old Minnen was born in August 1997, the month before Williams reached the U.S. Open final for the first time.

The second round of singles play, and the opening round of men’s, women’s and mixed doubles arrives on a busy Wednesday at the U.S. Open. That means double duty for 19-year-old Coco Gauff. The No. 6 seed in singles, she faces Mirra Andreeva, 16, in the afternoon opener on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The American won when they met this year in the third round of the French Open. Gauff is then scheduled to return to the court later to join Jessica Pegula in their women’s doubles opener. They are seeded No. 3. The schedule also includes an unusually early matchup of past Grand Slam champions. No. 11 Petra Kvitova faces Caroline Wozniacki, who came out of retirement this summer.

The governing body of European soccer heads to its annual awards gala on Thursday in Monaco amid turmoil created by its vice president from Spain. Luis Rubiales won’t be at the high-end ceremony in Monte Carlo where the awards for best player and coach will be made because he has been suspended by FIFA. Spain could sweep the prizes for women’s soccer. FIFA suspended Rubiales while it investigates the kiss he forced on Women’s World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso. UEFA has stayed publicly silent on the issue since Rubiales provoked a furor in Spain and elsewhere and then refused to resign.

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