Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The former Manchester mayor becomes the U.K.’s seventh prime minister in a decade: “Andy Burnham became the United Kingdom’s prime minister on Monday following the resignation of his predecessor, Keir Starmer. As is tradition, King Charles III invited Burnham to form a new government. The two had a meeting at Buckingham Palace on Monday, during which Burnham became the new prime minister.”
* Just days after Trump said Putin wants to end the war: “Russia bombarded Ukraine’s capital with one of the largest ballistic missile assaults of the war before dawn on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said, the third major attack on the capital, Kyiv, in the past 35 days. As smoke still hung over the city and rescue teams raced to strike locations, city officials said one person had been killed and more than 15 had been injured.”
* Hmm: “A federal judge in California temporarily paused Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday in response to a request from a dozen Democratic state attorneys general who sued to block the megamerger, citing harm to competition in Hollywood.”
* De-Orbánizing isn’t easy, but it’s worthwhile work: “Hungary’s president signed a constitutional amendment into law on Saturday that ends his term in office, bringing to a close a dispute between him and the country’s new government that was seeking to oust him as part of a purge of officials appointed during the reign of Viktor Orbán.”
* I like to occasionally mention that Canada is our ally and neighbor, and should be treated as such: “President Donald Trump is threatening to increase tariffs on Canada over wildfire smoke that has blanketed large swaths of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, joining several Republicans who have called for the U.S. ally to be punished for the intense air pollution.”
* A significant move from a leading financial institution: “Citizens Bank no longer funds two private-prison companies that house people detained by federal immigration services, the company said in a statement on its investor page Friday.”
* The fact that these developments unfolded in the middle of the night spoke volumes: “The Trump administration has completed its overhaul of the President’s House Site on Independence Mall, installing a new exhibit that critics say softens George Washington’s role as an enslaver and shifts attention away from the nine people he held in bondage while living in Philadelphia.”
See you tomorrow.
The post Monday’s Mini-Report, 7.20.26 appeared first on MS NOW.
