Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Heartbreaking devastation near the Nepal-Tibet border: “After three days of searching for survivors of a massive flash flood that swept through Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, killing at least 580 people, the disaster’s full extent and human toll were still being revealed in recovered bodies, battered survivors and growing lists of the missing.”
* The latest case over mail-in voting: “A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday again temporarily blocked a key provision of President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict mail-in voting. The new ruling comes just one day after she lifted a similar injunction — the last remaining roadblock to Trump’s initiative — following pressure from a Supreme Court ruling that lifted a similar block on Monday.”
* Another case we’ve been following: “A federal judge in Manhattan has again declined President Donald Trump’s efforts to transfer, or ‘remove,’ the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal case against him to federal court in an effort to erase his 2024 conviction in the so-called hush money case.”
* The “Defend the Vote” rally in Washington, D.C.: “The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network and MS NOW host, and a coalition of voting rights activists hosted a rally at the Lincoln Memorial to mark the 63rd anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington.”
* Watching the Fed: “Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh remains tight-lipped about where he thinks interest rates are heading — but investors took his tough talk about inflation at a closely-watched speech on Friday as a signal that rates are likely to go higher.”
* The future of the Stars and Stripes newspaper is on the line: “Three journalists from the nation’s independent military newspaper are suing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top officials to prevent their firings, which they allege came in retaliation for negative news coverage and speaking out about the importance of press freedom.”
* We’re overdue for a public conversation about the domestic brain drain: “Twenty-one universities in Canada announced on Thursday the hiring of dozens of researchers to join their top academic ranks, poaching the majority of the recruits from the United States. … Turmoil in American academia, precipitated by a crackdown on prestigious universities by the Trump administration and attacks on scientific research groups, has allowed Canada a rare opportunity to lure some of those schools’ top minds north.”
* This is a good idea: “More than 3,000 miles of railways crisscross the Swiss countryside, linking Alpine villages to big cities like Zurich and Geneva. It’s the most dense rail network in Europe. Now, a start-up company and a local rail operator have found a way to use that land to generate clean electricity: Lay solar panels between the rails.”
* Make your vaccination plans accordingly: “The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday green-lit updated coronavirus vaccines for higher-risk Americans, such as older adults and people with at least one underlying health condition, vaccine manufacturers announced.”
Have a safe weekend.
The post Friday’s Mini-Report, 8.28.26 appeared first on MS NOW.
