U.S. and world news for June 26

Russian insurrection: The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video showing Defense Minister Sergi Shoigu in a helicopter flying to visit troops in Ukraine. He is one of the Russian military leaders that the head of the mercenary Wagner Group went after during the failed insurrection over the weekend. Veygeny Prigozhin, who led the uprising, supposedly has been given asylum in Belarus but as of this morning had not been seen. International observers speculate that the uprising has dealt a blow to the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he will escalate the war in Ukraine to demonstrate his ability to be brutal in the hope that will deter anyone thinking of trying another uprising.

Submersible investigation: The National Transportation Safety Board, U.S. Coast Guard, and Canadian and French officials have launched a coordinated investigation into the accident involving the submersible Titan in which all five aboard were killed. The submersible imploded while descending to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. The debris field is being mapped and pieces of the wreckage are to be collected and taken to St. John’s in Newfoundland for examination.

Railroad bridge collapse: A spokesperson for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality says there is no threat to drinking water supplies as a result of contamination from the railroad bridge collapse and train derailment near Columbus, Montana. Seven tank cars carrying asphalt and molten sulfur plunged into the Yellowstone River. Investigators are looking at inspection and maintenance records for the bridge.

North Korea rallies: North Korea’s Central News Agency reported this morning that a number of rallies took place in North Korea yesterday to protest what it said was the U.S. having started the Korean War 73 years ago. The war actually was started when North Korea sent a military contingent across the border into South Korea. The North Koreans said the largest rally was attended by more than 120,000 people in its capital city, Pyongyang.

Broadband expansion: A White House statement this morning likened President Biden’s plan to expand broadband internet access to the rural electrification program that brought electricity to vast parts of the country during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. The White House said it’s ready to allocate the first $40 billion of spending designed to bring broadband internet access to all Americans by 2030.

Oil’s future: The Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, said in a speech today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that the world’s demand for energy, including energy from oil will increase by 23% by 2045. Haltham Al Ghais said the Earth’s population will reach 9.5 billion by then and OPEC sees no way to meet the energy demand without continuing to rely on oil. He said OPEC sees the global economy doubling in size by 2045.