Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Putin still does not appear to have any interest in peace: “Russia launched a deadly barrage of missiles and drones on the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, as Kremlin officials signaled they would resist changes negotiated by Ukraine to President Trump’s peace plan. The attack on Kyiv, the capital, killed at least seven people and injured 20 others, according to the city’s mayor.”
* Keep an eye on this one: “The Trump administration plans a review of all refugees admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration, according to a memo obtained Monday by The Associated Press, in the latest blow against a program that has for decades welcomed people fleeing war and persecution into the country.”
* More discouraging economic news: “Weak buyer demand, weakening home prices and overall uncertainty in the economy are combining to make home sellers change their minds and step out of the market. … Sellers are delisting because so many listings are going stale, sitting on the market longer and longer.”
* The apparent resolution of a lingering story: “Sen. Jim Justice and his wife agreed to pay $5 million in back taxes to the federal government shortly after the Justice Department sued them Monday. The West Virginia Republican and his wife, Cathy Justice, owed $5,164,739.75 in unpaid income taxes dating back to 2009, the Justice Department alleged in the civil suit.”
* Trump finds more supporters to disappoint: “Florida Republicans fiercely backed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as he was essentially promising to give the oil industry anything it wanted, yet now they seem taken aback that the president is following through on his vow. Florida Democrats in the state are broadly opposed to the Trump administration’s plans to drill in an area off the state’s coast. And Florida Republicans … are speaking out as well.”
* New signs of tumult at the Naval Academy: “The United States Naval Academy fired the commandant of midshipmen, Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr., on Monday due to a ‘loss of confidence in his ability to effectively lead’ the brigade, removing him than his position less than half a year after he assumed the post. Clark, who assumed the role in June, was axed by Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte.”
* Hegseth vs. the Boy Scouts? “The century-old partnership between the U.S. military and Scouting could be coming to an end. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning for the military to sever all ties with Scouting America, saying the group once known as the Boy Scouts is no longer a meritocracy and has become an organization designed to ‘attack boy-friendly spaces,’ according to documents reviewed by NPR.”
* R.I.P., Viola Fletcher: “Viola Fletcher, who as a child in 1921 saw her affluent Black neighborhood torched by white citizens in what became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre — one of the most violent acts of racial violence in American history — and who, a century later, testified in Congress to the terror she witnessed in the hope of winning reparations, has died. She was 111 and the oldest survivor of the attack.”
See you tomorrow.
