Morning Headlines - Friday, May 20, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

U.S. Aims To Arm Ukraine With Advanced Anti-ship Missiles To Fight Russian Blockade

The White House is working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia's naval blockade, officials said, amid concerns more powerful weapons that could sink Russian warships would intensify the conflict.

Ukraine has made no secret it wants more advanced U.S. capabilities beyond its current inventory of artillery, Javelin and Stinger missiles, and other arms.

Export Bans Abroad Threaten To Push Sky-High Food Prices Even Higher

Soaring food prices both in the U.S. and abroad have prompted countries to ban exports of core agricultural commodities, causing domestic food prices to further increase and leading agronomists wondering what additional crops could face supply constraints on their way to grocery stores.

Food inflation in the U.S. is already at a 40-year high, with the annual index for consumer food prices up 9.4 percent in April — the largest 12-month increase since 1981 —according to the Department of Labor.

Twitter’s New Crisis Misinformation Policy: All You Need To Know

Twitter has decided to launch a new policy that aims to step up its fight against misinformation and the spread of false allegations on the social media platform during times of crisis.

Here are the changes for users of the platform.

What We Know About The New Monkeypox Outbreak

A monkeypox outbreak in several European countries and one U.S. state may become the largest outbreak of the virus outside of Africa, but it's not likely to cause a global pandemic like COVID, an infectious disease expert tells Axios.

The CDC has confirmed at least one case in the United States. The current outbreak is small so far and scientists continue gathering data, but there may be community transmission of the virus.

The Real Dividing Line On Abortion

Even though abortion is often presented as a women’s issue, it’s not a topic with a stark division of opinion between men and women. If you dig into the polling and research, it becomes clear that the divide is less about people’s individual genders than the way they think about gender. People who believe in traditional gender roles — and perceive that those roles are increasingly being blurred to men’s disadvantage — are much likelier to oppose abortion than people who don’t hold those beliefs.

GOP Resolutions Call For Hand Counting Paper Ballots, Praising Johnson On Covid-19

Delegates at the GOP state convention this weekend will consider resolutions that call for protecting those who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and requiring all Wisconsin elections to be conducted by hand-counted paper ballots.

One resolution proposes supporting U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on COVID-19, praising the Oshkosh Republican for a panel discussion he hosted last year in which speakers largely expressed skepticism about the vaccine.

Wisconsin House Delegation Votes On Baby Formula Bills

The U.S. House on Wednesday approved $28 million in emergency funding to help address the baby formula shortage.

The bill will provide funding for stepped up Food and Drug Administration oversight of formula production and distribution. It passed with only 12 Republican votes, none from Wisconsin Republicans.

Judge Threatens To Fine Vos In Open Records Case Involving Gableman Election Investigation

A Dane County judge warned a lawyer for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that she would start fining the speaker for contempt of court if he didn't get answers from the head of a Republican election investigation.

The warning from Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn was her sharpest yet in an open records case that has dragged on for months between the liberal watchdog group American Oversight and Wisconsin Republicans including special counsel Michael Gableman.

Wisconsin Adds More Jobs In April, Economy Continues Pandemic Recovery

New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Wisconsin's economy is steadily recovering from the COVID-19 recession.

In April, the state's unemployment rate held at 2.8%, the same as March.

Job and labor force growth also continued at a steady pace in April. The state added 2,700 nonfarm jobs and 3,100 private-sector jobs.

State Of Oregon Man Sentenced To 60 Months For Interfering With Railroad Conductor

Timothy Thomas, 32, Portland, Oregon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 60 months in prison for intentionally interfering with an on-duty Amtrak railroad conductor. Thomas pleaded guilty to this charge on March 3, 2022.

On November 7, 2020, law enforcement responded to a report of an Amtrak passenger brandishing an eight-inch knife. While in route, officers received information that the engineer stopped the train near the intersection of US-12 and Hudson Road in Monroe County, Wisconsin. Law enforcement also learned that the subject, later identified as the Timothy Thomas, got off of the train and attempted to force his way into one of the locomotives.