After propelling Biden in 2020, Black women aren’t eager to abandon him now
(NYTimes) — As Democratic leaders and voters called on President Joe Biden to step aside after his faltering debate performance, Black women remained his firewall of support. During conversations at a national music festival Saturday in New Orleans, a small organizer gathering in rural Georgia immediately after the debate last month, and in recurring chats over text chains and phone calls, Black female Democrats have affirmed and reaffirmed their willingness to vote and organize their communities to back Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Many acknowledged that Biden’s debate performance was flawed. But they have joined many Black lawmakers in publicly dismissing the idea that Biden should step aside.
Haley urges her delegates to vote for Donald Trump
(NYTimes) — Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who was the last Republican to drop out of the primary race against former President Donald Trump, said Tuesday she was releasing her 97 delegates and urging them to support Trump. “The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity,” Haley said in a statement. “Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term, and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America.” The decision comes as the Republican Party is set to open its national convention on Monday in Milwaukee. Asked whether she would attend the convention, her spokesperson said Haley had not been invited.
FTC slams middlemen for high drug prices
(NYTimes) —The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sharply criticized pharmacy benefit managers, saying in a scathing report that “these powerful middlemen may be profiting by inflating drug costs and squeezing Main Street pharmacies.” The agency has long taken a hands-off approach to policing these companies, the three largest being CVS Health’s Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Rx. The industry fears that the report could lead to a formal investigation into its practices or to a lawsuit accusing benefit managers of anticompetitive conduct. The agency’s findings could also fuel legislative efforts in Congress and in the states to impose limits on the industry.
FTC bars anonymous messaging app from serving users younger than 18
(NYTimes) — The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday barred an online service for the first time from serving users younger than 18. The FTC said it had reached a settlement with the maker of the anonymous messaging app NGL over privacy and consumer protection violations. NGL Labs had aggressively marketed its app as a “safe space for teens” with robust moderation, but instead it exposed users to cyberbullying and other harms, the agency said. NGL agreed to a $4.5 million settlement to pay consumers affected by the company’s practices. The settlement was jointly reached with the Los Angeles district attorney, who imposed an additional $500,000 civil penalty on NGL.
US officials say Russia is unlikely to take much more Ukrainian territory
(NYTimes) — Russia is unlikely to make significant territorial gains in Ukraine in the coming months as its poorly trained forces struggle to break through Ukrainian defenses that are now reinforced with Western munitions, U.S. officials say. Through the spring and early summer, Russian troops tried to take territory outside the city of Kharkiv and renew a push in eastern Ukraine. Russia has suffered thousands of casualties in the drive while gaining little new territory. Russia’s problems represent a significant change in the dynamic of the war, which had favored Moscow in recent months.
Cigarette smuggling in Gaza turns aid trucks into targets
(NYTimes) — A new problem is bedeviling humanitarian aid convoys attempting to deliver relief to Palestinians: attacks by organized crowds seeking not the flour and medicine that trucks are carrying, but cigarettes smuggled inside the shipments. In the tightly blockaded Gaza Strip, cigarettes have become increasingly scarce, now generally selling for $25 to $30 apiece. U.N. and Israeli officials say the coordinated attacks by groups seeking to sell cigarettes for profit pose a formidable obstacle to bringing aid to southern Gaza. Israeli authorities closely scan everything that goes in and out of Gaza through checkpoints. But the cigarettes have managed to slip through for weeks inside aid trucks.
France’s far-left firebrand: Ready to govern?
(NYTimes) — Emphatic, pugnacious and demanding: The style met the moment in the far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s speech to a fired-up crowd of thousands celebrating victory in Sunday’s French legislative elections. Standing before supporters in the working-class 20th arrondissement of Paris, Mélenchon addressed himself to President Emmanuel Macron. “The president should either resign or name one of us prime minister,” he declared. Other leftist leaders have said that there should be “discussions” about the future of the country. Mélenchon’s tone and hard-line stance have given him a devoted, youthful following and made him both adored and hated, marginalized and central in French politics.