Russians target Ukraine electricity:Â Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy said this morning that Russian attacks have knocked out 30% of Ukraine’s electric power plants, causing massive blackouts. Russia’s Defense Ministry said yesterday that it is targeting Ukraine’s electric generating stations.
DOJ asks maximum sentence for Bannon:Â The Justice Department has submitted presentencing recommendations to the judge who is due to sentence Trump ally Steve Bannon on Friday for contempt of Congress. The department called for Bannon to receive the maximum sentence, which is six months in jail and a fine of $200,000 for ignoring a Congressional subpoena to testify about the attempt to overthrow the government. Public statements made by Bannon before the attempted Jan. 6 coup indicated he knew in advance what was going to happen.
Student loan forgiveness website opens: The website at which people can apply for forgiveness of their student loans was formally opened for business yesterday by President Biden. Biden revealed that the website actually was available for use over the past weekend and that about 8 million people had already gone online to apply for loan forgiveness. The website is studentaid.gov.
Hasbro Q3 sales and earnings down: The toy company Hasbro today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2022. Revenues of $1.68 billion were down 15% compared with the third quarter of 2021. The operating profit was $194.3 million, a drop of 47% from the third quarter of last year. Chris Cocks, Hasbro’s CEO, said consumers have become very price sensitive and that the company looks for the fourth quarter financials to be about the same as last year.
Johnson & Johnson Q3 sales and earnings up:Â Johnson & Johnson this morning reported third quarter 2022 financials. Johnson & Johnson had third quarter sales of $23.8 billion, up 1.9% from the third quarter last year. Earnings were $4.5 billion, up 21.6% compared with the third quarter of 2021. Joaquin Duato, the company’s CEO, said the figures show the company’s continued strength and resilience.
Trump Administration pressured CDC:Â A report by a House committee looking into the Covid crisis has found that the Trump Administration interfered with scientific research and efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to tell the truth about the pandemic. The committee said that Trump Administration officials put pressure on the CDC to change the information it was putting out because they felt it made Donald Trump look bad.
Photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons
