Geoff Bennett:
More aid was airdropped over North Gaza today, sending desperate people scrambling. The World Health Organization today said more Palestinians are dying due to hunger and that there are some 12,000 children under the age of 5 who are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he hopes to meet with President Trump next week. Speaking to reporters at the Kremlin, Putin suggested the United Arab Emirates as a possible location for the meeting. Those comments come a day ahead of President Trump’s deadline for Moscow to move toward ending the conflict or face stiff economic sanctions.
A White House official had cast doubt on any meeting today, saying that Putin must also agree to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But when asked about that this afternoon, President Trump signaled that wasn’t the case.
The FBI is reportedly firing several top officials, including its former acting director. Brian Driscoll led the agency at the beginning of President Trump’s current term. He had refused to turn over the names of agents who were assigned to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Steven Jensen was also reportedly ousted. He responded to January 6 as the head of the Washington field office.
Both men have sent farewell messages to their colleagues. Other agents working on cases related to President Trump were also reportedly forced out. The FBI Agents Association says the firings make Americans less safe, writing — quote — “Agents need to be focused on their work and not on potentially being illegally fired based on their assignments.”
In Florida, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to construction at the so-called Alligator Alcatraz facility. That’s the new ICE detention center isolated in the vast wetlands of the Florida Everglades. The order bars workers from developing any new infrastructure at the site for two weeks while attorneys argue whether its construction violates environmental laws. The order will not affect operations at the facility where hundreds of detainees are currently being held.
A new CDC report says that most Americans now get more than half of their calories from ultra-processed foods. For adults, about 53 percent of calories come from these foods, which are high in sweeteners, salts, and unhealthy fats. It’s even higher for kids and teens at 62 percent. The foods in question include hamburgers, baked goods, snacks, pizza, and sweetened drinks, among other things.
But the CDC says these figures are actually down slightly over the past decade. Experts say that could be because of greater public awareness of their harmful impact.
United Airlines is working to resolve ongoing delays after a tech outage temporarily grounded its flights nationwide last night. According to the tracking Web site FlightAware, 35 percent of United flights were delayed yesterday and 7 percent canceled. By this morning, those numbers had dropped significantly, though flights to or from more than a dozen airports were still being affected.
United says the tech outage lasted several hours and was related to a system that manages the airline’s flight information.
And a quick update now on a story we have been covering out of Central California. Authorities issued new evacuation orders today as the state’s largest fire of the year grows even bigger. The Gifford Fire has now scorched more than 150 square miles of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Some 3,000 firefighting personnel are battling the blaze, which erupted last Friday. Officials say it’s only 15 percent contained. It’s one of hundreds of wildfires burning along the Western U.S. and in Canada. Smoke from those fires has drifted south and is affecting the air quality for millions of people across the Midwest and Eastern U.S.
On Wall Street today, stocks ended mixed as President Trump’s latest tariffs had a muted effect on markets. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 200 points on the day. The Nasdaq managed a gain of about 70 points. The S&P 500 ended just a touch lower.
And the trailblazing pianist, composer and band leader Eddie Palmieri has died. Starting with his band La Perfecta in 1961, Palmieri was known for his innovative style, often mixing salsa with funk, soul and jazz sounds. In so doing, he left a lasting impression on Latin music worldwide.
In 1975, Palmieri became the first Latino to win a Grammy Award for “The Sun of Latin Music.” He would go on to win seven more over the course of his long career. In a 2001 interview, he spoke about his love of music.
