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1. US and Russia
The White House has a new communications director, but the messages coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are still muddled. Over the weekend Congress announced a deal on new Russia sanctions. Newly-promoted press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (we’ll miss you Sean Spicer!) said the Trump administration was cool with the legislation. But then new Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said President Trump was still mulling it over. Scaramucci also said the President’s still not ready to accept the intel community’s assessment that Russia messed around with the 2016 election.
One more thing on the Russia front: First son-in-law Jared Kushner is expected to appear before the Senate intel committee today.
2. Human trafficking deaths
It was a simple request for water that led to a horrible discovery. The bodies of eight people were found inside a sweltering tractor-trailer parked in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio, Texas. Thirty other undocumented immigrants, severely injured from overheating inside the truck, were also found. A ninth person died at a hospital. A man who was in the trailer asked a Walmart employee for water; the employee called the police and that’s when the tragedy was discovered. Authorities said the tractor-trailer was involved in human trafficking, and the truck’s driver is due in court today to face criminal charges. It’s not clear where the truck came from or how long it was at the Walmart
3. Afghanistan bombing
There’s more bloodshed in Kabul this morning. At least 24 people were killed in a car bomb attack in the Afghan capital. A Toyota Corolla blew up in the city’s Police District 3. The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying it was targeting a bus carrying Afghan intelligence staff. But it’s not clear right now if the victims of the attack were members of the intelligence service. Kabul has suffered through many bombings, including one last month at a funeral that killed seven people.
4. Terror suspect transferred
The Trump administration has moved a terror suspect from Spain to the US, but the Algerian man will be tried in a federal court and not at the Guantanamo Bay naval prison. That’s significant because the President and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have previously said terror suspects should be tried at Gitmo and not in civilian courts. It’s not certain at this point if this represents a change in policy for this administration. The suspect, Ali Charaf Damache, made a court appearance in Philadelphia, accused of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.
5. HIV
A 9-year-old boy in South Africa with HIV is in remission – and it’s happened without drugs. It’s the first reported case of a child controlling their HIV infection without drugs in Africa and the third known case in the world. The boy was diagnosed with HIV when he was just a month old. Shortly after that he was put on antiretroviral treatment for 40 weeks. The treatment was stopped and he’s been in remission ever since. So how is this possible? Scientists aren’t sure, but they think there’s something unique about his biology and immune system that helped protect him from the virus. So they want to dig into that and see what can be learned from it.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If I’d known that that was the last time I was going to speak to my mother, the things I would have said to her,”
Prince Harry on the last phone call he had with his mother, Princess Diana
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
The great race
Beating up on human competition has gotten boring for swimmer Michael Phelps, so the 23-time Olympic gold medalist took on a great white shark.
RIP, Mayor Cat
Talkeetna, Alaska, will never be the same, now that Stubbs the cat – the town’s honorary mayor – has died.
Putting the air in bnb
It’s a flying hotel that you can rent for just $74,000, because that’s how the really rich roll.
A little something extra
New Kopi Jantan Tradisional Natural Herbs Coffee is being recalled – because it contains a Viagra-like ingredient.
AND FINALLY …
Paint passion
Most of us would rather gouge our eyes out than take yet another trip to the home improvement store to look at paint samples. But we’re not this little boy. (Click to view)