News Wrap: Government suing owner of ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse

In our news wrap Wednesday, the Justice Department is suing the owner of the cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse, Boeing’s CEO says it will furlough employees to offset the costs of an ongoing strike, Portugal declared a “state of calamity” amid 100 wildfires and officials in Zimbabwe will allow the killing of hundreds of wild elephants to feed people affected by a severe drought.
Amna Nawaz:
We start the day’s other news with the aftermath of the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse.
The Justice Department is suing the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the disaster. It’s seeking to recover $100 million it says the government spent to clear the wreckage and reopen the port. The DOJ alleges that electrical problems on the ship that led to the crash went ignored. The suit calls the catastrophe — quote — “entirely avoidable” and says the companies — quote — “cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure.”
Six construction workers were killed in the collapse, and trade in the Port of Baltimore was held up for weeks.
The CEO of Boeing says the plane maker will start furloughing a large number of employees to offset the costs of an ongoing strike. Kelly Ortberg said today that employees will be required to take one week off without pay per month. It’s not clear how many people will be affected, but the number is expected to be in the tens of thousands. Senior executives will also take pay cuts.
More than 30,000 machinists have been striking since Friday for better pay. Production has stopped on multiple Boeing planes, including the 737 MAX jet.
In Portugal, officials have declared a state of calamity, as more than 100 wildfires have scorched some 60 square miles in the country’s north. At least seven people have died in the worst wave of fires in recent years. With emergency services stretched thin, fellow E.U. countries Spain, France and Italy have sent aircraft to help.
Local residents too joined in the effort, bringing water to fire crews in the worst hit areas.
Cristina Almeida, Portugal Resident (through interpreter):
We are trying to help the firefighters. We know they are very tired. And then, as they don’t have access to food and water, we are trying to help, and it’s our way of thanking them.
Amna Nawaz:
Meanwhile, in Central Europe, a crisis of a different kind. The death toll from floods there this week has risen to 23 across Poland Austria, Romania and the Czech Republic. A massive cleanup is under way. But some areas, particularly in Southwestern Poland, could see more flooding in the coming days.
Officials in Zimbabwe say they will allow the killing of hundreds of wild elephants to feed people affected by a severe drought. Namibia announced a similar measure last month. Southern Africa has been ravaged by drought conditions, in part due to the El Nino weather phenomenon affecting some 68 million people. Officials say the elephants will be killed in areas where their populations have become unsustainable.
The Hwange National Park, for instance, has more than 45,000 elephants, but only has the capacity to sustain about a third of that number.
Back here in the U.S., millions of Americans can now renew their passports online. The State Department said today its Web-based renewal process is fully up and running. The old process required a mailed-in paper application, photos and check, taking an average of six to eight weeks. The new system is expected to streamline the process for about five million Americans each year.
But it is not available for children’s passports, first-time applicants, expedited passports or people living outside of the United States.
The WNBA is headed back to Portland, Oregon, with a new expansion team set to start playing in 2026. A previous team, dubbed the Fire, debuted in 2000, but folded after just three seasons. The league’s commissioner said today that — quote — “As the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented growth, bringing a team back to Portland is another important step forward.”
The Portland franchise, which doesn’t have a name yet, will be the third to join the league in the coming two years, alongside the Golden State Valkyries and a team in Toronto.
Tupperware Brands has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The iconic food storage company has been struggling for years amid increased competition and is saddled with more than a billion dollars in debt. Tupperware was created shortly after World War II and found its groove in the mid-century, when so-called Tupperware parties gave women a chance to work out of their home by selling products to friends.
Tupperware plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and hopes to find a buyer to keep the brand alive.
On Wall Street today, stocks initially popped after news of that Fed rate cut, but then fell back. By the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down around 100 points. The Nasdaq slipped about 50 points, or a third of 1 percent. The S&P 500 also ended slightly lower.
And four black women who were pivotal to NASA’s efforts in the space race were awarded Congress’ highest civilian honor today.
Christine Darden, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan were known as hidden figures, later made famous by a film of the same name. They faced sexism and racism along the way and their contributions weren’t widely recognized.
On Capitol Hill today, House Speaker Mike Johnson presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the women’s families. Darden, who is the only one of the four still alive, watched on from her home in Connecticut.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA):
At a time in America when our nation was divided by color and often by gender, these women dared to step into the fields where they had previously been unwelcome. And although we call them hidden figures, we shouldn’t think of them merely as supporting characters in the American story of space exploration. They were the engineers and mathematicians who actually wrote the story itself.
Amna Nawaz:
A fifth medal was awarded symbolically to all the women whose impactful work on the U.S. space program went unrecognized from the 1930s to the 1970s.