Ripped from the Headlines: August 2020: This Week In Words: August 15–21, 2020

A newly released document shows that in 2006 federal prosecutors had evidence of numerous crimes by executives at Purdue Pharma and recommended bringing charges. The government did not do so, instead reaching a settlement with the company, which makes OxyContin. The document surfaced as states are suing Purdue for a total of $2.2 trillion over its decades of deceptive and aggressive marketing of the drug. 400,000 Americans have died from opioid abuse.

Two years ago, Apple was the first company to be worth $1 trillion, and this week it passed the $2 trillion mark, making it the most valuable public company. The company has done extremely well during the extended work-from-home and shop online period caused by the pandemic. The company is worth more than the gross domestic product of many large countries, including Brazil, Italy, Russia, and Canada.

Massive wildfires are once again raging in Northern California. Sparked by over 10,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours, the fires are burning out of control in a large area — close to 50,000 acres total — northeast of San Francisco. 50 homes have been destroyed so far and three people have been injured. Residents of Vacaville and a number of other towns are being evacuated.

President Trump's former chief strategist was arrested and charged with fraud by federal prosecutors over a crowdfunding campaign that raised money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Steven Bannon allegedly funneled $1 million to himself illegally by creating a fake company that billed the "We Build The Wall" nonprofit for nonexistent services. Invoice comes from the French envoyer, meaning "to send."

Protests continued in Belarus after an election that observers and E.U. officials say was fraudulent. President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory with 80 percent of the vote, but nobody believes that number. Citizens have been in the streets demanding that he step down, and now the E.U. is refusing to recognize the result and imposing sanctions on individuals in the government.

On Wednesday night, Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for Vice President. President Obama also gave a speech, in which he harshly criticized President Trump, saying that "he hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe: 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever."

The Senate released a nearly 1,000-page report detailing its findings in the investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. It concluded that Paul Manafort, the campaign manager, was in close contact with a Russian intelligence officer. The report also said that the President talked to Roger Stone about coordinating the release, via Wikileaks, of Democratic emails at key points in the campaign.

Democrats have proposed an emergency spending bill that provides the $25 to the Post Office Board to ensure that mail service continues through election season, when voters in many states mail in ballots. The Postmaster General also said that he would stop removing ballot sorting machines and drop boxes from sites around the country, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that in a phone call with the PG, he said there are no plans to replace any that have already been removed.

On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden officially accepted the party's nomination for President. His wife Jill spoke before him, as did former President Bill Clinton and several Republicans, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell. All the speakers praised various aspects of Biden's personality and career, drawing sharp contrasts between him and President Trump.

Boeing announced the sale of two 737 Max airplanes to a Polish airline, but the statement referred to the aircraft as "737-8s." The 737 Max has been grounded after two crashes in two years resulted from serious software and mechanical problems. Observers wondered whether the company is trying to give the plane a new name to help market it once the solutions have been proven to work and the plane is cleared to fly again. Underscore is another way of saying "underline."