U.S. and world news for July 29

Homeland Security texts missing: The Washington Post reports that Department of Homeland Security text messages to and from the agency”™s top officials during the final days of the Trump Administration are missing. The officials are Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli. Among the missing messages are those from the time leading up to and during the Jan. 6 attempted coup. This comes on the heels of Secret Service text messages also having been wiped out.

Republicans block veterans”™ health care bill: Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have expanded health care for veterans. Comedian Jon Stewart led a group of veterans”™ families and other supporters who had gone to Capitol Hill to lobby for the bill. In a news conference after the vote, Stewart used graphic language to call out the Republicans for lying about their support for veterans. He especially called out Senators Rick Scott, Mitch McConnell, Raphael Cruz and John Toomey.

Floods sweep parts of Kentucky: At least 15 are dead in flash floods that swept through parts of Kentucky. Up to nine inches of rain fell yesterday with more expected today. In St. Louis, Missouri, which previously lwas hard hit by floods, more rain is expected today leading to more flooding there.

POW camp hit: Russia and Ukraine are accusing each other of firing shells into a Russian prisoner of war camp resulting in the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers, the exact number initially unknown. The Russians say the Ukrainians used weapons supplied by the U.S. and the Ukrainians say the Russians staged the attack to destroy evidence of their torture of prisoners.

Amazon reports Q2 loss: Amazon reports sales of $121.2 billion in the second quarter of 2022, up 7% from the second quarter last year. However, Amazon reported a loss of $2 billion in the second quarter of this year. Amazon said it has donated more than two million items to more than 45 organizations supporting Ukrainian refugees since Russia invaded.

Labor costs go up: Businesses are paying more for labor, according to government data released this morning. Wages and salaries paid by U.S. businesses rose at an annually adjusted rate of 5.3% for the 12-month period ending in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. The cost of benefits paid workers during the same period rose 4.8%. The bureau said that wages and salaries increased 1.4% and benefit costs increased 1.2% from March to June.

Photo: Tobias Heine / Pixabay