Today’s edition of quick hits.
* One year later: “Friday marks one year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russian security forces on spying allegations — the first such detention of an American journalist on espionage charges in Russia since the latter days of the Cold War. The Journal — which vehemently rejects the charges — observed the somber anniversary with an #IStandWithEvan tribute.”
* On a related note: “The top four leaders in Congress issued a joint statement on Friday marking one year of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s wrongful detainment in Russia and calling for his release, in a rare moment of bipartisan unity in Washington.”
* News from the EPA: “The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday set strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses and other large vehicles, an action that officials said will help clean up some of the nation’s largest sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases.”
* Keep an eye on this one: “A veto by Russia on Thursday ended the United Nations’ monitoring of sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, dissolving a U.N. body that for 14 years was responsible for keeping a close eye on Pyongyang’s illicit activities. This was Russia’s first time vetoing what has previously been a routine annual vote to extend the panel’s mandate, which had signified a unified global opposition to North Korea’s expansion of its nuclear weapons program and violations of international sanctions.”
* Next week: “President Joe Biden on Friday told reporters that he plans to head next week to Baltimore, the site of a deadly bridge collapse. Speaking to reporters as he deplaned Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews following several campaign stops on Thursday and Friday in New York, the president said, ‘I’m going to Baltimore next week.’”
* At the Fed: “Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday reiterated a message he has sounded in recent weeks: While the Fed expects to cut interest rates this year, it won’t be ready to do so until it sees ‘more good inflation readings’ and is more confident that annual price increases are falling toward its 2% target.”
* It’s sometimes difficult to know what to say: “A Michigan state lawmaker involved in former President Donald Trump’s election denials is being widely criticized making false claims that buses carrying college athletes to Detroit for March Madness were shuttling illegal migrant ‘invaders’ into the city.”
Have a safe weekend.
