Brief News
War on Ukraine – Moscow to strike new targets
Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning that Moscow will strike new targets if the US supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine. Delivering new arms to Kyiv would only “drag out the armed conflict for as long as possible,” Putin said. Meanwhile, Putin claims Russia’s actions in Ukraine “have nothing to do” with the looming global energy and food crisis, and has instead blamed Western economic policies. He also blamed European countries for not listening “to our urgent requests to preserve long-term contracts for the supply of natural gas” another factor that he said led to inflation.
In Ukraine, some of the “fiercest battles” are being fought in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, the region’s top official, adding that the evacuation of 15,000 civilians remains impossible because of intense fighting.
Targeted Attack – Former judge killed in his home
A former Wisconsin judge was killed Friday in what authorities are calling a targeted attack by a suspect who also had other government officials as targets.
Former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer, 68, was killed in a New Lisbon, Wisconsin, home, the Wisconsin Justice Department said in a statement. The killing stems from a court case or cases, the department explained, but did not give further details. The suspect was identified as Douglas K. Uhde. Authorities attempted to negotiate with the suspect while he was in the home, the state’s DOJ said.
The Juneau County Special Tactics and Response Team entered the home shortly before 10:20 a.m. and found the suspect in the basement of the home with an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
January 6 insurrection – Calling on MAGA allies
Former President Donald Trump is mobilizing his MAGA allies to defend him ahead of the upcoming public hearings by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.
Trump’s team has asked some prominent Republicans to cover for him and push back on the committee while the public hearings play out, according to GOP sources familiar with the request. Committee members have teased that the prime-time hearings could be focused on Trump’s direct role in undermining the election results.
The committee has been working toward a thesis that Trump’s obsession with losing the election and his peddling of false claims about the results is what laid the groundwork for the violent and deadly riot at the Capitol. The first public hearing will take place Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
Baby formula Shortage – Abbott restarts production
The baby formula manufacturing plant that has been at the center of the nationwide shortage restarted production Saturday.
Abbott, located in Sturgis, Michigan, said in a statement it has started with the production of specialty formulas for babies who cannot tolerate more common ones, with the first batches expected to be available to consumers around June 20.
Similac and other products made at the plant will take longer to become available, the company said. The Sturgis plant has been shut down for months following an FDA inspection that found dangerous bacteria, which can be deadly to infants, in several areas at the facility.
