Soon after Russia released an American prisoner this morning, President Trump's special envoy praised Vladimir Putin, who started a war in Ukraine that has led to the deaths of many thousands of people, as a "humanitarian." The prisoner, Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old teacher who was tortured while imprisoned in Russia for more than four years, is now back in U.S. custody and headed home, his lawyer and Trump said. He had been accused of being a Ukrainian mercenary, charges the State Department considers fabricated. Hubbard's two sons, who live abroad, flew to the U.S. to meet their father when he arrives. His plane is expected to stop in Washington and then head to Texas, where doctors will assess his health.
In related news: Ukraine's military drones fell from the sky when Starshield, the military satellite internet service, cut out. Democrats lead in polls, but still face image problems. Our latest poll found that likely voters prefer the Democratic candidate in their district over the Republican one by 11 percentage points. That significant margin is yet another sign that the national political environment is bleak for Republicans, as Trump's approval rating dips to a new low. Democrats still face serious challenges, however, particularly in their quest to flip control of the Senate. Just 28 percent of voters said they were satisfied with the Democratic Party.
In other politics news: A.I. discovers a critical security flaw. Using Open AI's advanced artificial intelligence models, researchers unearthed major bugs in PHP — a piece of software that, by some estimates, is used in 70 percent of all websites and apps. The U.S. and other governments urged websites to immediately install updates to patch the flaw, but security professionals warned that the fallout could be significant. "The episode will be more serious if people ignore the warnings," our cybersecurity reporter Dustin Volz told me. "A.I. means that more significant flaws are being discovered at an unprecedented rate. In some ways that is a good thing, because weak or faulty code is being fixed. But A.I. also can help malicious hackers move a lot more quickly."
State and federal officials warn of rabies risks. Rabid beavers were found at a Maryland state park. Three baby goats from a traveling petting zoo tested positive for rabies in North Carolina. California and Idaho noted an uptick in rabid bats. Now, federal officials are warning about an apparent increase in "human rabies exposures." No actual cases of rabies in people have been reported this year, and it's unclear whether the risk of the disease — which is typically fatal without swift administration of treatments — has actually increased. But experts said the reported surges were worth keeping a close eye on, especially given the rise of animal vaccine hesitancy.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing