This morning's top headlines: Thursday, May 25
(12) updates to this series since
America got older, faster during the decade ended in 2020. New census figures released Thursday show the share of U.S. residents age 65 or older ballooned by more than a third from 2010 through 2020, while the share of children declined, particularly those under age 5. Aging was propelled by the two largest cohorts in the U.S.: more baby boomers turning 65 or older and millennials moving into their 20s and 30s. Also, fewer children were born between 2010 and 2020. The most recent census was the first since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Same-sex households made up 1.7% of households that included couples. The nation's median age is 38.8.
Both President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are speaking hopefully of the likelihood of an agreement to raise the government's debt limit and avert an economically chaotic federal default. Yet House Republicans are pushing debt ceiling talks to the brink. As they leave town Thursday for a long Memorial Day recess, it's a display of risky political bravado. They're just days out from a potentially devastating debt default if Congress fails to act to raise the borrowing limit. Both sides are still meeting, and Biden said he and McCarthy have been speaking as well.
The unofficial start of the summer travel season is here, with airlines hoping to avoid the chaos of last year and travelers scrounging for ways to save a few bucks on pricey airfares and hotel rooms. Some travelers say they will settle for fewer trips than they hoped to take, or they will drive instead of fly. Others are finding different money-saving sacrifices. AAA predicts that 37 million Americans will drive at least 50 miles from home this weekend, an increase of more than 2 million from Memorial Day last year but still below pre-pandemic numbers in 2019. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 10 million travelers between Friday and Monday, a 14% increase over the holiday in 2022 and slightly more than in 2019.
The head of the Russian private military contractor Wagner claims his forces have started pulling out of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine and handing over control to the Russian military. His announcement Thursday came days after he said Wagner troops had captured the ruined city. Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s millionaire owner with longtime links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a video published on Telegram that the handover would be completed by June 1. It was not possible to independently verify whether Wagner’s pullout from the bombed-out city has begun, and the Ukrainian General Staff said Wednesday that heavy fighting was continuing inside the eastern city after a nine-month battle that killed tens of thousands of people.
Many residents of Guam remain without power and utilities after Typhoon Mawar tore through the remote U.S. Pacific territory and ripped roofs off homes, flipped vehicles and shredded trees. There no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The typhoon is the strongest to hit the territory of roughly 150,000 people since 2002. It briefly made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 4 storm. The island’s international airport flooded and the swirling typhoon churned up a storm surge and waves that crashed through coastal reefs and flooded homes. An island meteorologist said Thursday that “what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks.”
Anniversary of George Floyd's killing: Changes were made, but short of 'reckoning' on racial justice
The murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police was three years ago today, and the fervent protests that erupted around the world in response seemed like the catalyst needed for a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. Along with a few other cities, Minneapolis has issued bans on chokeholds and neck restraints, and restrictions on no-knock warrants. But activist calls to defund the police and to hold officers accountable have mostly failed. The killing of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police earlier this year underscored just how long it’s taking to achieve meaningful change. On Thursday night, more than 100 people gathered at the site of Floyd's killing, known as George Floyd Square to remember him with music, dancing and a candlelight vigil.
The Air Force fighter pilot tapped to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff got his call sign by ejecting from a burning F-16 fighter jet high above the Florida Everglades and falling into the watery sludge below. It was January 1991, and then-Capt. CQ Brown Jr. had just enough time in his parachute above alligator-full wetlands. He landed in the muck, which coated his body. That's how the man nominated to be the country’s next top military officer got his call sign: “Swamp Thing.” President Joe Biden announced he was nominating Brown for the chairman's job during a Rose Garden event on Thursday.
Ron DeSantis’ entry into the 2024 White House race against former President Donald Trump sets up a clash of the Republican Party’s two leading figures. Trump has spent months working to hobble the Florida governor, whom he and his team have long viewed as his most serious challenger. DeSantis so far has tried to remain above the fray, ignoring Trump's escalating attacks. The rollout of his campaign Wednesday made clear that, at least for the time being, DeSantis intends to leave the dirty work of attacking Trump to his allies, who see openings that they plan to exploit, particularly on policy.
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced Thursday after a landmark verdict convicting him of spearheading a weekslong plot to keep former President Donald Trump in power. He’s the first of the Jan. 6 defendants convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive his punishment. Rhodes did not express remorse or appeal for leniency, but instead claimed to be a “political prisoner." Another Oath Keeper convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside Rhodes — Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs — was sentenced later Thursday to 12 years behind bars.
Federal officials say over 200 patients could be at risk of fungal meningitis after having surgical procedures at clinics in a Mexico border city. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it is collaborating with the Mexican Ministry of Health to respond to the outbreak among patients who traveled to Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas. Officials have identified and closed two clinics linked to the outbreak, River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3. The CDC says 224 U.S. patients might be at risk for meningitis based on their procedures the clinics from January to May 13. Health officials are working to contact those people and urge them to get tested.
From Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger to NBA legend Magic Johnson, many paid tribute to music superstar Tina Turner following her death on Wednesday. The “What’s Love Got to Do With It" singer died at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich. Jagger says he's saddened after hearing about the passing of his friend Turner, who he performed with in 1985. Johnson posted a photo on Twitter with him Turner calling the singer one of his favorite artists of all time. Erykah Badu called Turner a “cultural icon,” while both former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden also paid tribute to the late superstar.
Matthew Tkachuk scored a power-play goal with 4.9 seconds left, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap off a brilliant series, and the Florida Panthers earned their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 27 years by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 to win the Eastern Conference title in a sweep. Tkachuk’s goal was his second of the night — and maybe the biggest in Panthers’ history. The Panthers will play either Vegas or Dallas for the Stanley Cup starting sometime next week; Vegas currently leads the Western Conference title series 3-0.
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