What is the new Langya virus that has infected dozens in China

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A new virus has infected dozens of people in China, with researchers suggesting shrews might be a “natural reservoir” for the virus.

Research published in The New England Journal of Medicine last week said that the Langya henipavirus was found in 35 people in the Chinese provinces of Henan and Shandong. 

Scientists said that 26 of those people had no other pathogen detected in their body besides Langya and had a range of symptoms, including nausea, fever, vomiting and cough.

“Among 25 species of wild small animals surveyed, [Langya] RNA was predominantly detected in shrews (71 of 262 [27%]), a finding that suggests that the shrew may be a natural reservoir of [Langya],” researchers said. 

Researchers think there may be only “sporadic” infection among humans.

“There was no close contact or common exposure history among the patients, which suggests that the infection in the human population may be sporadic. Contact tracing of 9 patients with 15 close-contact family members revealed no close-contact [Langya] transmission, but our sample size was too small to determine the status of human-to-human transmission for [Langya],” they said.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are only two henipaviruses officials know of that cause disease in humans, the Hendra virus and the Nipah virus.

“Both Hendra and Nipah virus infections can cause a severe influenzalike illness with fever, myalgia, headache, and dizziness. This may progress to severe encephalitis with confusion, abnormal reflexes, seizures, and coma; respiratory symptoms may also be present,” according to the CDC.

Francois Balloux, the director of the University College London Genetics Institute, said that because the virus was first detected in humans in 2018, it was an indicator that Langya was not rapidly contagious.

“Other Henipaviruses can infect humans. Nipah virus in particular is a cause of concern as it known to transmit between humans, but it is so lethal that it doesn’t have ‘pandemic potential’. LayV looks far less lethal but probably doesn’t transmit easily from human to human,” he tweeted

“At this stage, LayV doesn’t look like a repeat of Covid-19 at all, but it is yet another reminder of the looming threat caused by the many pathogens circulating in populations of wild and domestic animals that have the potential to infect humans,” he added in a separate tweet. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump attorney calls FBI search ‘an overzealous hunt’

An attorney representing former President Trump called the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Trump’s Florida residence “an overzealous hunt.”

“They were looking for records, and you know, now that the dust has settled over the last couple days, I really do believe this was an overzealous hunt where the FBI has turned into glorified librarians,” the attorney, Christina Bobb, said during an interview Wednesday evening with Newsmax when asked about the direction of the search warrant.  

“I don’t think that this was anything of a matter of national security. I don’t believe that this was anything nefarious other than record-keeping, quite frankly. I think this is a lot to do about nothing.”

Bobb said she could not go into depth about the types or nature of the documents sought, but she noted that “I would have liked to see more supporting documentation or more specifics for what they wanted.”

The Trump attorney said that she and another attorney were not able to observe the search while it was being conducted. 

Bobb’s comments come two days after Trump announced that the FBI had conducted a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, an unprecedented step taken against a former president.

One of Trump’s sons, Eric Trump, said during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that “the purpose for the raid from what they said was because the National Archives wanted to, you know, corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”

Details from the Justice Department about what documents were taken by officials, however, were not immediately clear. 

The FBI search has been criticized by Republicans, with many calling for answers about why the Justice Department was searching Trump’s home.

Source: TEST FEED1

Pompeo also targeted in an Iranian assassination plot: reports

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was targeted in an Iranian assassination plot along with former national security adviser John Bolton.

A source close to Pompeo told Axios the former secretary of state was on Shahram Poursafi’s hit list. The Department of Justice (DOJ) formally charged Poursafi on Wednesday with planning to hire someone to kill Bolton and another unnamed individual.

The DOJ formally charged Poursafi on two counts: using interstate commerce facilities to commission a murder-for-hire scheme and attempting to provide material support for a transnational murder plot. He faces up to 25 years in prison for the combined charges.

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for confirmation.

The DOJ says Poursafi attempted to pay someone $300,000 to kill Bolton in Washington, D.C. or Maryland, while he offered a $1 million payment to kill a second individual that was not disclosed on Wednesday.

In the charging documents, Poursafi references the second job to a confidential source involved a “former high-ranking United States Government official from the Trump Administration.”

The Department of State reportedly spent more than $131 million on protection service detail between August 2021 and February 2022 on protection for Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook. The two were receiving 24-hour security as of March.

Bolton told CNN on Wednesday his secret service detail was pulled the day he resigned from the Trump administration in 2019, but that President Biden restored his protection amid concerns about threats on his life.

The DOJ said that Poursafi, an Iranian nationalist and a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps., was likely targeting Bolton and the second individual to retaliate against the U.S. for the January 2020 drone strike and killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

Pompeo served as Secretary of State from 2018 until the end of the Trump administration in January 2021.

Source: TEST FEED1

Tim Scott dodges questions about whether he wants Trump to run in 2024

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) on Wednesday dodged questions about whether he wanted former President Trump to run in 2024, instead saying he wants the “same policy positions” as the Republican leader.

When CNN’s Dana Bash asked Scott directly whether he wanted Trump to seek another presidential term, Scott trailed off into a discussion about the economy and successes under the former president’s administration.

“Do you want the former president to run again?” Bash asked, interrupting the senator.

“I want the same policy positions we had before,” Scott answered.

“Can somebody else do that and not somebody who makes things, in your words, difficult?” Bash replied.

“I hope that we will find a way back to where we are talking about principles,” Scott said.

Last year, Scott expressed his support for a second Trump run for office.

The senator has also mulled a presidential run himself, and last month had to refute an error in his new memoir that said he was announcing a run for president this year.

Trump has not officially announced a 2024 run, although there have been rumors that he has made up his mind about another presidential bid.

After the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, some believe Trump’s prospects for a second run are improving, as Republicans flock to defend the former president from what they claim is a politically motivated investigation.

But Trump still faces a series of scandals that have dogged him since leaving the White House, including his alleged role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a probe in New York into his business and tax dealings, and his seizure of classified documents, which was the subject of the FBI raid.

Source: TEST FEED1

FBI's Wray denounces threats following search of Trump home

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The director of the FBI had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Christopher Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department “deplorable and dangerous.”

“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”

Wray made the remarks following a news conference during a long-planned visit to the agency’s field office in Omaha, Nebraska, where he discussed the FBI’s focus on cybersecurity. He declined to answer questions about the hours-long search Monday by FBI agents of Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida resort.

It has been easy to find the threats and a call to arms in those corners of the internet favored by right-wing extremists since Trump himself announced the search of his Florida home. Reactions included the ubiquitous “Lock and load” and calls for federal agents and even U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to be assassinated.

On Gab — a social media site popular with white supremacists and antisemites — one poster going by the name of Stephen said he was awaiting “the call” to mount an armed revolution.

“All it takes is one call. And millions will arm up and take back this country. It will be over in less than 2 weeks,” the post said.

Another Gab poster implored others: “Lets get this started! This unelected, illegitimate regime crossed the line with their GESTAPO raid! It is long past time the lib socialist filth were cleansed from American society!”

The search of Trump’s residence Monday is part of an investigation into whether Trump took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence, according to people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department has been investigating the potential mishandling of classified information since the National Archives and Records Administration said it had received from Mar-a-Lago 15 boxes of White House records, including documents containing classified information, earlier this year.

Source: TEST FEED1

Why a growing number of young Americans aren’t interested in college

Story at a glance


  • Enrollment data has revealed there are fewer and fewer high school graduates enrolling in college-degree programs.

  • In 2020, 63 percent of high school graduates immediately enrolled in college but in 2018 that percentage was at nearly 70 percent.

  • The perceived benefit of college is also dropping, with Americans wary of the cost of a degree and the time it takes to earn one.

More and more young Americans are growing disenchanted with the idea of going to college, as the price of a four-year degree continues to rise and takes increasingly longer to complete, it’s made many consider: is college really worth it?  

The Hechinger Report analyzed the post-high school graduation plans of young students across the country and found there’s been a significant and steady drop in the proportion of high school graduates enrolling in college. 

In 2020, 63 percent of high school graduates in the U.S. immediately enrolled in college but that percentage was nearly 70 percent in 2018, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 

College enrollment among high school graduates has fluctuated from as far back as 2010, but 2020 marked the lowest percentage in enrollment over ten years. 

The downward trend appeared to continue into 2022, with National Student Clearinghouse finding that spring 2022 college enrollment had more than 1 million fewer students enrolled compared to spring 2020.  


America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. 


At the same time, Clearinghouse also found that applications for federal financial aid were down nearly 9 percent in 2022 compared to last year and more than 15 percent among those eligible for Pell grants — which is free money the federal government awards to students with exceptional financial need that doesn’t need to be repaid. 

The U.S. has gotten glimpses into the minds of students across the country and their views on higher education. The Hechinger Report noted that there’s been widespread skepticism about the value of a college degree, impatience over how long it takes to earn one and the cost of obtaining one.  

Those concerns aren’t unfounded, as the cost of college has more than doubled in the past two decades and is growing steadily by around 7 percent annually.  

Clearinghouse found cost was the number one perceived challenge to getting more education for 57 percent of respondents in a fall 2021 education survey.  

That became starkly visible when Clearinghouse asked adults ages 18 to 65 through one academic year their perceived benefit of additional education. When asked in spring 2020, about 50 percent of respondents felt college would be worth the cost. By fall 2020, that percentage dropped to 35 percent. 

A year later in fall 2021, only 32 percent of respondents felt additional education would be worth the cost. 

Time is also a deterrent, with a separate report from Clearinghouse finding only 51 percent of full-time college students earned 24 or more credit hours in their first year — indicating the average full-time student does not even attempt to take enough credit classes to complete a bachelor’s degree in four years. 

There are pockets of the country that have tried to address some of these issues, with some states offering options for a tuition-free college degree. That includes New Mexico, which passed legislation that provides tuition-free college to up to 35,000 New Mexicans that attend a New Mexican public or Tribal college or university. 

If college is more affordable for young students, it could also make it easier to complete degree programs on time and prevent the student debt crisis from growing — as the U.S. currently has $1.7 trillion in outstanding loan debt. 

Despite the perceived challenges, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates having a college degree can be a worthwhile investment. In 2020, workers with a bachelor’s degree had median weekly earnings of $1,305 compared to only $781 for those with only a high school diploma.  

The unemployment rate for bachelor’s-degree workers was also lower, at 5.5 percent, compared to the 9 percent for those who only had a high school diploma. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Why the WHO is renaming monkeypox

The World Health Organization (WHO) is renaming monkeypox amid concerns that the name may be considered racist and might not accurately describe the origin of the virus.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in mid-June that the organization would be renaming monkeypox.

“WHO is also working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of #monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes. We will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible,” he said, according to WHO.

A group of scientists wrote a joint statement earlier in June urging for the monkeypox to be renamed, calling the current name “discriminatory and stigmatizing.”

“The prevailing perception in the international media and scientific literature is that [monkeypox virus] is endemic in people in some African countries. However, it is well established that nearly all [monkeypox virus] outbreaks in Africa prior to the 2022 outbreak, have been the result of spillover from animals to humans and only rarely have there been reports of sustained human-to-human transmissions,” they said. 

“In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing. The most obvious manifestation of this is the use of photos of African patients to depict the pox lesions in mainstream media in the global north.”

There are also concerns about whether the name of the virus accurately describes the origin of the monkeypox. The virus received its name because it was first found in monkey colonies in 1958, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that the actual source of the virus is unclear.

That’s led some officials to warn people against targeting monkeys over the disease.

“What people need to know very clearly is the transmission we are seeing is happening between humans to humans. It’s close contact transmission. So the concern should be about where it’s transmitting in the human population, and what humans can do to protect themselves from getting it and transmitting it. They should certainly not be attacking any animals,” WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said on Tuesday.

The renaming campaign comes amid the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which former President Trump has referred to as the ‘China virus” and “Wuhan virus.” WHO officials have warned not to use that terminology, given that it can stigmatize the Asian community.

Source: TEST FEED1

Bolton says Biden approach to Iran encouraging threats to US officials

Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday slammed the Biden administration for negotiating with Iran on a new nuclear deal after it was revealed he was targeted in an Iranian assassination attempt, saying attempts to “appease” Tehran are encouraging threats against U.S. officials.

Bolton told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on the “Situation Room” that because the nature of the Iranian regime “drives it to this kind of action,” President Biden should not be trying to revive a 2015 deal that limited Iran’s nuclear abilities in exchange for easing U.S. sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation.

“It’s a big mistake for the administration to continue to show weakness to Iran by begging to get back in the 2015 nuclear deal,” said Bolton, who has long been hawkish on Iran. “It encourages Tehran to engage in just these kinds of terrorist activities.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday charged an Iranian nationalist and member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with planning to hire someone to kill Bolton.

The DOJ said Shahram Poursafi began plotting the attack in October, likely to retaliate against Bolton for a January 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force.

Poursafi was planning to pay up to $300,000 for someone to kill Bolton in Maryland or Washington, D.C., according to the DOJ, and was in contact with a U.S. resident whom he asked to kill Bolton. The resident is listed as a confidential source in DOJ documents.

Poursafi was also offering a $1 million bounty to kill another unknown person, which Axios reported was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who also served under Trump.

Earlier this month, police thwarted what they said was an attempted assassination of a prominent Iranian journalist in New York City, which she blamed on Tehran.

The Biden administration has engaged in indirect negotiations with Tehran for months in an effort to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which former President Trump scrapped in 2018.

Negotiations increasingly seem to be stalled. Biden last month said the U.S. will not “wait forever” to revive a new nuclear deal

Bolton resigned from the Trump administration in 2019 and was not involved with the drone strike on Soleimani, but he has long encouraged a more aggressive posture against Iran. He also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush.

On Wednesday, Bolton said the JCPOA was a “mistake” and has not “gotten any better with age,” urging the administration to drop the talks.

“The administration has been on its knees in Vienna, [Austria], begging to get back into the deal, which sends signals of weakness,” Bolton said.

“If this doesn’t show anything about Iran’s willingness to try and intimidate its adversaries, I don’t know what else to say.”

Source: TEST FEED1

The high cost of Biden’s energy policy and the so-called ‘Inflation Reduction Act’

Imagine trying to run a small business that requires you to travel extensively every week, while paying hundreds of extra dollars for gas. Imagine being on a fixed income and having to decide if you can afford to travel to see your grandchildren. Or, having small children and trying to decide how to put fuel in the tank and buy the groceries. Imagine living paycheck to paycheck, as 58 percent of Americans do

You don’t have to use your imagination. These stories were told to me during an event we held in Sugarloaf with Americans for Prosperity-Pennsylvania. The group rolled back the price of unleaded gas to $2.38 for motorists who came in droves to fill up their tanks, the price it cost when President Biden took office. 

Small businesses, families and seniors are suffering from self-imposed, self-inflicted, and anti-energy policies of the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress. To add insult to injury, Democrats have the gall to blame gas station owners and small businesspeople for price gouging, while families continue to feel the pain of inflation all around them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. 

My district is home to nearly 11,000 small businesses that employ nearly 50 percent of my constituent workforce. As a ranking subcommittee member of the U.S. House Small Business Committee, I recently hosted a roundtable in Washington, with businesses located in the 9th District to discuss the problems they’ve encountered lately to stay afloat. Each business owner offered details on how the escalation in prices, from gasoline to building materials to food, has reduced their profitability, and caused price hikes on their goods. 

We also should not be raising taxes during a recession and creating more government, when we should be pulling back the reins. The United States Congress Joint Economic Committee reported that Pennsylvania families paid an extra $592 in June due to inflation, with an annualized rate of $7099. The tax and spend proposal by The Democrats, “The Inflation Reduction Act,” should really be called “The Recession Extension Act.” The 700-page bloated bill would raise taxes, expand the Internal Revenue Service by 87,000 new agents (nearly doubling the size of the IRS for evermore!), and will raise taxes on virtually every income level of American workers, according to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation. That’s despite the Biden administration’s pledge not to raise taxes on anyone earning $400,000 or less.  

If you think you’re already paying enough for energy on all fronts, get ready to pay more, thanks to this bill. Americans for Tax Reform reported that estimates show there will be a $6.5 billion tax increase on American oil and gas development, which will also increase household energy bills. The American Gas Association indicates consumers could be slapped with a 17 percent increase on their bills, on top of recent price hikes. A 16.4 cent tax per barrel on crude oil and imported petroleum products will also be passed on to consumers. Unbelievable. 

Our country’s current economic and national security problems, including the border and the war on domestic energy, has created the current state of turbulent economic and geopolitical affairs. And now, the Democrats are hellbent on pouring fuel on the fire. It makes no sense to go around the globe, begging countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for help during these times. It leaves America in a vulnerable position. By ending the freeze on oil and gas leases, cutting the red tape over export permits for liquified natural gas, expediting approval of pipelines and energy development and making investment into our domestic energy resources to investors by stopping regulatory assault, we can be in a much better and more stable position, and controlling our own destiny. Such actions will also lead to lower grocery prices. 

This tax and spend bill will as a matter of definition increase demand and decrease supply, thus contributing towards inflation, not reducing it. It’s time for us to slam the brakes on this spending spree and engage in pro-growth economic policies. As well, Biden and his Democrat colleagues need to put down their shovels and stop digging this economic ditch before there’s no hope of crawling out of it. 

Dan Meuser was sworn in to represent Pennsylvania’s 9th District in Congress in 2019 and currently serves as a member of the House Small Business and Foreign Affairs Committees. He previously served as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Revenue and spent over 25 years in the private sector. 

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On The Money — New figures suggest inflation may be at turning point

New inflation figures suggest rising prices may finally be at a turning point. We’ll also look at GOP attacks targeting the large boost in funding for a sprawling Democratic package, a recent warning to House lawmakers about TikTok as campaign season heats up, and more.  

But first, Elon Musk is being Elon Musk

Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan LaneAris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Inflation could be at a turning point

Inflation didn’t rise between June and July according to new figures from the Labor Department’s consumer price index (CPI), the first numbers in some time that suggest rising prices may finally be at a turning point. 

Prices aren’t actually going down. In fact, the new figures, while unchanged from June, were 8.5 percent higher than they were a year ago. That’s still near a 40-year high, though it’s also a dip from the 9.1 percent increase that occurred from June of last year to June of this year, according to the CPI. 

  • More importantly, core inflation, which doesn’t count price increases in the particularly volatile categories of energy and food, held constant at 5.9 percent annually and was only up 0.3 percent compared to last month. 
  • That’s pretty much in line with the month-to-month changes in core inflation that happen under more “normal” economic circumstances when annual inflation is closer to 2 or 3 percent. 
  • As a result, there’s a sense that the new numbers could be pointing to a change, even if there’s not enough information yet to be more hopeful. 

“We are at a major turning point in terms of inflation,” said Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College, who in an interview with The Hill called the figures a “good sign.” 

“It’s one month. One month does not make a trend — you’re going to hear that a thousand times, but I also project that the inflation rate will moderate in August, because we’re seeing further declines in gasoline prices. So, it’s looking like we’ve turned a corner,” he said. 

But there are reasons to be cautious. 

The Hill’s Tobias Burns has more here

See also: Inflation eases in July but remains near 40-year highs

LEADING THE DAY

GOP rails against IRS funding in Inflation Reduction Act 

Republican lawmakers are fuming about the large boost in funding for the IRS included in the $400 billion tax, health care and climate package passed by Democrats in the Senate over the weekend.   

The bill provides nearly $80 billion to strengthen the IRS, more than half of which will go specifically to increased enforcement efforts such as audits. Twenty-five billion will go toward operational support, nearly $5 billion will go toward new technology and
$3 billion will go to services for taxpayers, like making IRS agents available to answer questions over the phone.  

  • During the extended voting session of the Senate that lasted well into Sunday,  Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho), top Republican on the Finance Committee, unsuccessfully filed an amendment to the bill to explicitly prevent the IRS from using the additional enforcement funding on taxpayers who earn less than $400,000 per year.  
  • While the amendment was shot down by Democrats in the Senate, IRS chief Charles Rettig wrote identical letters to the House and Senate last week stressing that the new enforcement funding would comply with an order from the Treasury Department to make sure that audit rates of people making less than $400,000 a year would not rise.  
  • But, despite Rettig’s reassurances, House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Kevin Brady (R-Texas) expressed doubt that the agency would be able to keep its word and focus on rich taxpayers. 

Republicans have stated that the funding boost is going to be used to hire 87,000 new IRS agents. The number is likely speculative, and was picked up after the Republican National Committee cited a figure from the right-wing advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform. 

Burns has the details here

See also: 45 percent in new poll concerned IRS will increase number of audits 

SLOW YOUR SCROLL

House administrators warn lawmakers against TikTok use 

The House’s Chief Administration Officer is warning lawmakers of security concerns tied to TikTok as campaign season fuels interest in the app. 

While primarily known for viral dance videos and dishing up a lighter side of the internet, lawmakers have been flocking to the app, seeing an opportunity to reach new and different demographics — especially younger voters. 

  • But as lawmakers increasingly jump at the chance to be content creators, the operational office for the House issued a stern warning with a new cyber advisory. 
  • “The ‘TikTok’ mobile application has been deemed by the CAO Office of CyberSecurity to be a high-risk to users due to its lack of transparency in how it protects customer data, its requirement of excessive permissions, and the potential security risks involved with its use,” the office wrote in a memo released Tuesday. 

The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch has the rundown here

HOT WATER

Facebook profits from ads on searches for hate group pages: report 

Facebook has profited from searches and ads for white supremacist groups on its social media platform, according to a report released Wednesday from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP).  

The TTP investigation found ads monetizing search results for some white supremacist groups, of which there are more than 80 using Facebook as a hub, according to the report. The ads weren’t for the white supremacist groups themselves, but generated revenue for the social media giant when they appeared in searches. 

  • A Facebook spokesperson said on Wednesday that the platform has corrected the issue. The 80-group count found in the report amounts to more than a third of 226 total white supremacist groups labeled as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League and Facebook.  
  • Even with clear flags of white supremacy like “Ku Klux Klan” in the name, searches for some groups showed users ads for Black churches, which the TTP flagged as possibly “highlighting potential targets for extremists.” 

The Hill’s Julia Mueller breaks it down here.

Good to Know

Walgreens helped fuel the opioid epidemic in San Francisco by dispensing hundreds of thousands of prescriptions without performing adequate due diligence, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. 

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that over the course of a 15-year period, Walgreens pharmacists did not stop or flag suspicious orders, including tens of thousands from doctors with suspect prescribing patterns. 

Here’s what else we have our eye on: 

  • China officially announced an end to its war games around Taiwan on Wednesday, but said its military would continue with further “training and war preparation.” 
  • Landfills are responsible for methane emissions equivalent to that of hundreds of thousands of cars, according to research from the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Technology.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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