Global economy:Â The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this morning downgraded its forecast for the future of the global economy. The IMF says it expects global economic growth this year of only 2.9% compared with 3.4% last year. It expects the U.S. economy to grow 1.6% this year compared with 2.1% last year. The IMF forecasts 7% global inflation this year compared with 8.7% last year.
Arabs working with Russia:Â The Washington Post reports this morning that one of the classified documents that were recently leaked on the internet said Egypt secretly planned to build 40,000 rockets that were going to be shipped to Russia. A leaked document also showed that the United Arab Emirates had been secretly working with Russian spies and agreed to work with the Russians against U.S. and British intelligence agencies.
Trump to New York: A new ABC News poll shows that Donald Trump’s favorability rating has dropped to 25%, with 48% believing he should stop running for another term in the White House. Trump is due back in New York City on Thursday for a deposition at the Manhattan office of New York Attorney General Letitia James. James has filed a business fraud lawsuit against Trump’s company. She’s seeking to recover at least $250 million for the state. When Trump last sat for a deposition by James’ office he refused to answer questions by taking the Fifth Amendment about 400 times.
Military equipment for Poland:Â Poland’s Prime Minister is visiting Washington for meetings with Vice President Harris and representatives of U.S. defense companies. Poland is buying a lot of U.S. military equipment including fighter jets, tanks and missiles. Discussions are expected to deal with financing the purchases, said to total billions of dollars.
Expelled legislators:Â As expected, Democrat Justin Jones returned to his seat in the Tennessee Legislature late yesterday after having been expelled by the Republican majority. Jones was selected by the Nashville City Council to fill his former seat until a special election can be held. Legislator Justin Pearson, who also was expelled by the Republicans, is expected to be returned to the legislature tomorrow. Jones and Pearson, both Black, were expelled after they demonstrated for new gun control laws.
Mifepristone in Massachusetts:Â Gov. Healey of Massachusetts has issued an executive order allowing the state to stockpile the abortion pill mifepristone, which a right-wing federal judge in Texas appointed by Donald Trump ordered removed from the market. Â Massachusetts has ordered 15,000 doses of the medicine, which it is estimated to be a one-year supply for the state.
