Today’s edition of quick hits.

* The latest on the Russia story: “President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the death of a worker at a Russian plague research center was not connected to a bioweapon. … Nevertheless, the United States issued a formal diplomatic complaint, known as a démarche, to Russia regarding its lack of communication surrounding the reported death of a lab worker from a plague research center in Siberia, MS NOW has learned.”

* In related news: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked Tuesday about the reported involvement of the Russian counterintelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, and whether he had concerns that the Russian lab had intentionally modified a strain of the plague. ‘It would be irresponsible for me here to sit and speculate because we just don’t have all the information yet,’ Rubio told reporters in Iceland. ‘I think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world.’”

* The story about Democratic congressional candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia’s rape in Arizona is absolutely gut-wrenching.

* Deadly Russian assaults in Ukraine continue: “Russian missiles and drones pounded Kyiv and a dozen other Ukrainian regions overnight into Wednesday, killing at least 21 civilians, including four children, and wounding around 60 in Moscow’s latest devastating barrage, Ukrainian officials said.”

* France’s latest tumult: “Police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters across France on Tuesday, as more than a quarter million students, parents and teachers took to the streets to demand more funding for public schools. A French government source briefed on the matter said Tuesday’s protests, which included blockades at 684 high schools, drew an estimated 256,000 participants across the nation, including 56,000 in Paris.”

* Low expectations on Trump’s executive order on dyed diesel: “Farmers, truckers and economists say a move to cut taxes on diesel will provide little relief from record-high fuel prices that have soared since the U.S. attacked Iran months ago.”

* Trump was told his tariffs would raise prices. Then he did it anyway. Then prices went up: “Prices for consumer goods were set to fall slightly. But then came tariffs. A new study from researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that levies put in place last year by the Trump administration drove up consumer goods inflation by an estimated 2.9 percentage points as of February.”

* Isaias is roughly 580 miles southwest of the Mississippi River’s mouth: “Tropical Storm Isaias formed early Wednesday in the warm waters off eastern Mexico and forecasters said it was expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week.”

See you tomorrow.

The post Wednesday’s Mini-Report, 10.7.26 appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.