Today’s edition of quick hits.
* At the White House: “President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his administration will announce major sanctions Friday to hold Russia accountable for the death last week of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Biden confirmed the forthcoming package to reporters before leaving for a campaign trip to the West Coast.”
* The latest on the Kansas City shooting: “Two men have been charged with murder in the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting that killed one woman and injured more than 20 people last week. The charges were announced against the men in a news briefing Tuesday afternoon.”
* At the United Nations: “The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza. Algeria introduced the resolution in the hopes of showing how broad the support for a cease-fire is. The U.S. has circulated an alternative draft resolution, which instead calls for a temporary pause in the fighting as part of hostage negotiations and opposes any ground operation in Rafah.”
* In Yemen: “Yemen’s Houthi rebels shot down a U.S. drone and damaged a Belize-flagged, British cargo ship in their latest assault against commercial vessels, their spokesperson claimed Monday. The Iranian-backed group, which has been targeting commercial shipping since the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, said they hit the cargo ship Rubymar in the Gulf of Aden.”
* I hope you saw Rachel’s coverage of Maksim Kuzminov’s story last night: “A man’s corpse, found riddled with bullets and run over by a vehicle in Spain last week, was identified as that of Russian military pilot Maksim Kuzminov, who flew his Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine in a dramatic defection in August, Ukrainian officials said. His apparent murder — after a very public threat to his life last year on Russian state television — has raised questions about whether this was a Russian-ordered assassination carried out on European soil.”
* In related news: “Russia’s main security agency said on Tuesday that it had arrested a dual citizen of Russia and the United States on accusations of committing state treason by raising funds for Ukraine.”
* The latest good news on inflation: “Few prices are as visible to Americans as the ones they encounter at the grocery store or drive-through window, which is why two years of rapid food inflation have been a major drag for U.S. households and the Biden administration. ... But now, the trend in grocery and restaurant inflation appears to be on the cusp of changing.”
* A new congressional task force of note: “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has convened high-profile forums on artificial intelligence for months. Now, the two leaders of the House are getting in on the action as lawmakers struggle to regulate the fast-moving technology.”
See you tomorrow.