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Chapter 1: What are the latest updates on the earthquake rescue efforts in Venezuela?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. Venezuela efforts are underway to rescue trapped earthquake victims. Venezuela's president says at least 920 people have been killed. Reporter Manuel Rueda has more.
Rescue teams from the United States, El Salvador and Spain arrived in Venezuela Friday morning, as crews race against the clock to pull survivors from collapsed buildings. Recovery efforts have been slow, with many residents complaining about the lack of equipment or specialized teams to get people out. In La Guayra, the city hit hardest by the quake.
Dozens of buildings are rubble, including public housing projects, and the military has now been sent to the coastal city to support rescue efforts and prevent looting. La Guayra's airport was damaged by the earthquakes, so aid teams are flying into airports about a three-hour drive from this city. For NPR News, I'm Manuel Rueda in Bogota.
In Los Angeles, the federal trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, accused of igniting last year's deadly Palisades fire, has ended in a mistrial. 12 people were killed, thousands of homes destroyed. Steve Futterman has the latest.
The judge asked the jury foreman and each of the jurors, is there anything the court can do that might help you reach a unanimous decision? And each of them said no. That's when the judge declared a mistrial. The jury foreman did disclose the division of the jury He told the court it was split 10 to 2 in favor of a not guilty verdict.
So that's a victory of sorts for the defense, which had always claimed there was never enough evidence to convict Jonathan Rinderknecht of actually starting the fire. The government plans to retry the case on all three counts. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman at the Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles.
The judge in the case now has set a new trial date for October 19th. The court ordered that Rinderknecht remain detained. On Capitol Hill, the House Oversight Committee wants significantly more than it got today in a closed-door meeting with billionaire investor and former Jeffrey Epstein associate Leon Black. NPR's Ava Berger has that story.
Lawmakers said Black walked out of the interview when pressed on his ties with Epstein. House Oversight Chair James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told reporters that he's now issuing two subpoenas for Black. He says he wants copies of supposed non-disclosure agreements Black allegedly signed with survivors of Epstein's abuse. And he wants to depose Black under oath.
This is a result of refusing to answer specific questions about the NDAs and the terms.
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Chapter 2: What led to the mistrial in the Palisades fire case?
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