The Sunday Subject – August 13, 2023

At least 80 people were killed as wildfires swept across Maui.

A year-long drought and high winds helped the fires spread with ferocious speed, making it Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster since it became a U.S. state in 1959. Josh Green, Hawaii’s governor, warned that the number of deaths would continue to rise. Thousands of residents remain homeless after thousands of buildings burned down.

Voters in Ohio rejected a Republican-sponsored ballot measure that would have made it harder to amend the state constitution.

The issue at stake was largely understood to be abortion. An amendment is being put forward that would codify Ohioans’ right to abortion.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky fired all the heads of Ukraine’s regional military recruitment centers.

Zelensky, who ran on clearing up corruption in 2019, made the move in order to combat corruption in the military. Military-enlistment officials have been accused of accepting bribes from people who wished to avoid conscription, and face over 100 criminal proceedings.