WCCO via CNN Newsource
Consumer spending heated up a bit last month – but so did inflation
(CNN) — US consumers continued to spend in June, powering the economy in the process, despite tariff-related price hikes becoming more present on store shelves and online. Consumer spending rose 0.3% from May, when spending was flat, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday. Adjusted for inflation, spending ticked up 0.1%. The report — which provides a comprehensive look on how prices are changing as well as how households’ income, spending and savings are faring — showed that inflation picked up as well last month. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — the inflation gauge the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% target rate — rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, which lifted the annual rate to 2.6%, the highest since February. Tariffs are starting to leave a bigger mark on overall inflation; however, consumers, whose spending powers more than two-thirds of economic activity, are largely “holding up OK,” Gus Faucher, chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN in an interview. Personal income rose 0.3% in June and the savings rate held steady at 4.5%, Thursday’s report showed.
More than two dozen on Delta flight taken to hospitals after emergency landing
(CNN) — Severe turbulence struck a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam Wednesday, causing service carts and unbelted passengers to hit the ceiling and forcing an emergency landing in Minnesota, where 25 people on board were taken to hospitals. Delta said flight DL56 landed safely at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and was met by medical teams upon arrival. Video shows fire rescue vehicles waiting on the tarmac as the plane made its landing. Twenty-five onboard the flight were taken to area hospitals “for evaluation and care,” Delta said in its statement. There were 270 people on board, the pilot told air traffic control before landing. The health system HealthPartners told CNN it is “assessing and treating some of the passengers who needed care” after the flight. One passenger, William Webster, told CNN he takes about 80 flights a year, but what he experienced on board was “the craziest turbulence I’ve ever seen in my life.” The plane landed around 7:25 p.m. local time, a spokesperson for the airport told CNN, confirming the flight was diverted “due to reported in-flight turbulence that caused injuries on board.” The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport Fire Department and paramedics met the plane at the gate and provided “initial medical attention to passengers in need,” before some were taken to hospitals, the airport spokesperson said. CNN has reached out to Delta for more information.
Trump admin official denies Maxwell clemency is currently on the table
(CNN) — A senior Trump administration official stated Thursday that President Donald Trump is not currently considering clemency for Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell after the president has repeatedly left the door open on the matter in recent weeks. “No leniency is being given or discussed. That’s just false. The President himself has said that clemency for Maxwell is not something he is even thinking about at this time,” the official told CNN. The remark comes as the family of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre is speaking out against any possibility of Trump giving clemency to Maxwell. The family was spurred to comment after the president told reporters earlier this week that Epstein “stole” Mar-a-Lago employees, leading to the two men’s falling out in the early 2000s. He acknowledged, when asked by a reporter, that one of those employees may have been Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year. “I think she worked at the spa,” Trump said. “I think that was one of the people, yeah. He stole her.”
Kamala Harris to release book about 2024 presidential campaign
(CNN) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris will release a book in September about her historic campaign for president. “What the world saw on the campaign trail was only a part of the story,” Harris wrote in a social media post about the book’s release. The book — called “107 Days” — will give a behind the scenes look at the shortest presidential campaign in modern history. “I believe there is value in sharing what I saw, what I learned and what I know it will take to move forward. In writing this book, one truth kept coming back to me: sometimes the fight takes a while,” Harris said in a video announcement. After her crushing loss to President Donald Trump, Harris has remained huddled with close confidantes and advisors to plan her political future. The book announcement comes a day after she announced she will not run for governor of California in 2026. Those close to her say this doesn’t necessarily mean she will run for president in 2028 but this immediate choice at least allows her to continue to entertain that possibility.
Russia : It captured key Ukrainian town as ground offensive strengthens
Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) — Russia says its force have captured the key town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine after nearly 18 months of fierce fighting in the area. The Ukrainian military confirmed Thursday that Russian forces had attacked locations near Chasiv Yar, which lies several miles west of Bakhmut. But it denied the town had been lost. “Chasiv Yar remains under the control of the 11th Army Corps,” the Corps said Thursday. The Russian Defense Ministry published drone footage showing its troops in parts of the town and said more than 4,200 buildings and structures had been cleared, with about 50 Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner. Chasiv Yar had a pre-war population of 12,000 but is now in ruins after two years of airstrikes and artillery attacks. DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source mapping site that charts the war’s front lines, showed Kyiv’s forces still present at the western edge of the town. It added that video from the Russian Defense Ministry showed its troops planting flags in two neighborhoods, but said the Russians had no control over those areas. Meanwhile, Russia launched another major missile and drone attack on the capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday. A six-year-old boy and his mother were among at least eight people killed, according to local officials.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
