News briefs

Tribune News Service on Jul 29, 2026

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Fauci pleads Fifth Amendment in Senate COVID hearing

WASHINGTON — Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not testify at a Senate committee hearing on his role in the U.S. response to COVID-19 after slamming the proceeding as having been designed to push him into making incriminating statements.

“The only conclusion I can reach, is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee, is to get me to say something — anything — that would allow him to meet his repeated pledges to get me behind bars,” he said of Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

The now-retired Fauci was the early face of the U.S. response to the coronavirus as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Paul has long been critical of Fauci and last week released some of Fauci’s personal diaries, which included his thoughts on the pandemic response and his growing fame.

On Wednesday, Paul said he would seek to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions despite having been preemptively pardoned by outgoing President Joe Biden in 2025.

—Bloomberg News

‘People just don’t see it’: Trump’s midterms messaging sounds a lot like Biden

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump could be falling into some of the same messaging potholes as his predecessor, regularly telling voters to trust him on war and the economy ahead of November’s elections as he places big bets and pushes unproven predictions.

As he repeatedly shrugs off voters’ concerns about pain at the pump and grocery checkout, polls suggest storm clouds appear to be building for Republican congressional candidates.

Speaking Monday in the key midterms battleground of Michigan, the 47th president sounded a lot like the 46th, Joe Biden. The message from the Biden White House often was: Don’t believe your lying eyes — on the economy, on Israel’s brutal conduct of its military operation in Gaza, on the administration’s chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and on Biden’s age.

“You know, a lot of people were against that war. ‘We don’t want the Venezuela (operation). Why are you doing (it), what are you doing?’ After we won in about 48 minutes, approximately, they said, ‘Oh, that was a good move,’” Trump said at a General Motors facility in Milford, Mich. “Well, the same thing is happening in Iran.”

—CQ-Roll Call

Red Cross declares national blood supply crisis, urges donations due to shortage

The American Red Cross declared its second ever national blood supply crisis Monday, urging immediate donations as blood supplies fall to their lowest levels in four summers.

“It is dire,” said Nuriddin Ziyadinov, a regional executive officer at the Red Cross. “For us not to have the blood to be able to save lives, it will have consequences in the hospital.”

The Red Cross now has less than half a day’s worth of blood on supply, according to Ziyadinov. The organization said on its website has been forced to limit distributions of type O blood to hospitals.

Type O-positive blood is the most common blood type, making up around 38% of the population, according to the Red Cross. As a result, it is also the most commonly transfused blood type. Blood also has a shelf life as the red blood cells age over time. In the U.S., blood centers can only store red blood cells for 42 days.

—The Sacramento Bee

Death toll from Japan earthquake rises to 14 as search continues

TOKYO — The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck south-western Japan has risen to at least 14, authorities reported on Wednesday.

Kyodo News said rescue teams were continuing intensive search operations in Kumamoto Prefecture for missing people. Officials fear the death toll could rise.

"There are still people waiting to be rescued. It is a race against time," Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters. "We will mobilize all available resources to save as many people as possible."

The magnitude-7.1 earthquake, which struck on Kyushu island on Tuesday afternoon, caused major damage to buildings and roads across the region. Local media reported that dozens of people were injured, while approximately 8,800 residents spent a second consecutive night in emergency shelters. At least three people were killed in a devastating explosion at a shopping center triggered by the earthquake.

—dpa