Today’s edition of quick hits.
* I’d love to know what they said: “Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chatted briefly on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in India on Thursday, the first meeting between the top diplomats since Russia invaded Ukraine. Their encounter involved less than 10 minutes of discussion, a senior State Department official said in a background call with reporters.”
* An update on a story I flagged last week: “Recent cases of bird flu discovered in two Cambodian villagers, one of them fatal, show no sign of human-to-human transmission, health officials in the Southeast Asian nation say, allaying fears of a public health crisis.”
* The latest from East Palestine: “The fire that erupted after last month’s train derailment in Ohio melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals, so federal officials warned railcar owners Thursday to check their fleets for similar flaws. The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that investigators determined the aluminum covers over the pressure relief valves on three of the five tank cars carrying vinyl chloride melted and that some of the metal was found around the valves.”
* A scary story out of Michigan: “Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was targeted last month by a ‘heavily armed’ man who threatened injury and death to Jewish members of the state government, she said Thursday morning.”
* And speaking of scary stories: “A Pennsylvania man faces federal criminal charges after he checked in a suitcase with an explosive device hidden in the lining on a flight to Florida, authorities said Wednesday.”
* Would you trust a brain implant from Elon Musk? “On at least four occasions since 2019, Elon Musk has predicted that his medical device company, Neuralink, would soon start human trials of a revolutionary brain implant to treat intractable conditions such as paralysis and blindness. Yet the company, founded in 2016, didn’t seek permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) until early 2022 — and the agency rejected the application, seven current and former employees told Reuters. The rejection has not been previously reported.”
* And Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, the Republican who wore a wig, a pearl necklace, and a short-skirted cheerleader’s uniform for a football game in high school, today signed the nation’s first statewide restrictions on drag performances.
See you tomorrow.
