Wednesday morning news: July 27, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

EU reaches deal to ration gas » Europe aims to burn less natural gas in the coming months as it tries to weaken Moscow’s leverage over the EU.

Kadri Simson is the European Commissioner for Energy.

SIMSON: We have to be ready for possible supply cuts from Russia at any moment.

EU leaders approved a draft law designed to cut demand for gas by 15 percent from August through March.

That came a day after a major Russian energy company said it would cut gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to just 20 percent of capacity.

Natural gas prices jumped Tuesday to their highest level in months.

Czech Industry Minister, Jozef Sikela …

SIKELA: We have to reduce the dependencies on Russian supplies as soon as possible. if we will manage this, all Europe will profit.

Last year, about 40 percent of the natural gas the EU used came from Russia.

Trump, Pence addresses in Washington » Former President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence both delivered speeches in Washington on Tuesday.

Speaking only a mile away from the White House he once called home, Trump predicted a big showing for Republicans in November.

TRUMP: The American people are poised to reject the failed reign of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the radical left in a momentous landslide.

Trump addressed a summit organized by a group of former White House officials who have been crafting an agenda for a possible second Trump administration.

The former president again insisted that he did not lose the 2020 election.

Hours earlier, the former vice president spoke at a separate conference. He said he’s not interested in debating the results of the last election.

PENCE: I don’t know that the president and I differ on issues. But we may differ on focus. I truly do believe that elections are about the future.

Many analysts see the former partners as potential GOP rivals in 2024.

Consumer confidence/Walmart/IMF/Fed rate hike » Soaring inflation has taken another bite out of consumer confidence as the U.S. economy slows down. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Walmart sent shockwaves across Wall Street Tuesday after warning that inflation has Americans clutching their wallets more tightly.

The nation’s biggest retailer said as consumers start to cut back, the company has had to cut its profit outlook for the second quarter and the full year.

Walmart’s profit warning in the middle of the quarter is rare and it raised worries about how inflation is affecting the entire retail sector.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce another rate hike today as it tries to beat back rising costs.

The Fed will likely raise rates as much as three-quarters of a percentage point—triple the usual amount.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Fentanyl hearing in Senate » On Capitol Hill Tuesday, lawmakers in the Senate tackled the growing drug overdose crisis.

GOP Senator Bill Cassidy …

CASSIDY: Fentanyl is killing over 200 Americans a day. In 2021, we saw the largest annual increase in opioid deaths in 50 years… 100,000 died last year.

And Democratic Senator Patty Murray said from April of 2020 to April of last year synthetic opioids like fentanyl caused nearly two-thirds of all overdose deaths.

MURRAY: That's because Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Two milligrams can be a lethal dose.

Republicans called out the Biden administration’s border policies, saying much of the fentanyl is pouring in through Mexico.

But Democrats insisted that most fentanyl arrives through ports, largely in shipments from China.

17 Republican AGs warn Google on crisis pregnancy centers » The attorneys general of 17 U.S. states say Google might be suppressing the websites of crisis pregnancy centers in search results.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said Thursday …

MIYARES: I can’t think of an any more gross abuse of power in which you use the full force of power of monopoly to shut down an idea just because you disagree with them.

Miyares and 16 other Republican attorneys general penned a letter to Google expressing their concerns. Google did not immediately respond publicly.

Last month, a group of nearly 20 Democratic lawmakers claimed crisis pregnancy centers were—quote—“fake clinics that traffic in misinformation.” They said the centers try to trick users into mistaking them for abortion providers and urged Google to hide them in search results.

St. Louis flooding » Record rainfall triggered flash flooding across the St. Louis area Tuesday, killing at least one person.

St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson explained …

JENKERSON: We had an individual drive into water - that he didn’t know how deep it was, and it was too late to turn around.

Officials say rescue crews have been swamped with calls for high water rescues.

St. Louis Fire Captain Garon Mosby …

MOSBY: We have had just a tremendous number of motorists stalled in vehicles in high water.

Floodwaters wreaked havoc after a massive downpour dropped more than a foot of rain in parts of the region.

By noon on Tuesday, more than 9 inches of rain had fallen at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, demolishing the previous daily record of just under 7 inches set in 1915.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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