KARAH RUCKER:

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE START THE WEEK BY TRADING ATTACKS USING DRONES –THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE ONGOING WAR.

AND — BYE, BYE BIRDIE. THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM — FORMERLY KNOWN AS TWITTER — HAS A NEW LOOK AND A NEW NAME. 

THE RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.

THIS IS STRAIGHT-ARROW NEWS. BRINGING YOU UNBIASED, STRAIGHT FACTS. TODAY IS MONDAY — JULY 24TH. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M KARAH RUCKER.

UKRAINE, RUSSIA TRADE ATTACKS

NEW VIDEO THIS MORNING — AS RUSSIA AND UKRAINE TRADE ATTACKS TO START THE WEEK.

RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES ACCUSED UKRAINE OF LAUNCHING A DRONE ATTACK ON MOSCOW EARLY THIS MORNING.

TWO BUILDINGS WERE HIT — AND ONE OF THE DRONES ENDED UP NEAR THE RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY’S MAIN HEADQUARTERS.

MONDAY’S ATTACK WAS THE SECOND ON MOSCOW THIS MONTH.

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MEANWHILE IN UKRAINE — RUSSIAN FORCES STRUCK SOUTHERN UKRAINE WITH EXPLODING DRONES AT UKRAINIAN PORTS — 

THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF ATTACKS ON UKRAINIAN PORT INFRASTRUCTURE AFTER THE GRAIN DEAL FELL APART ONE WEEK AGO.

ON SUNDAY — AT LEAST ONE PERSON WAS KILLED AND 22 OTHERS WOUNDED IN AN ATTACK ON ODESA THAT SEVERELY DAMAGED 25 LANDMARKS ACROSS THE CITY.

RUSSIA HAS DESCRIBED THE RECENT STRIKES AS RETRIBUTION FOR LAST WEEK’S UKRAINIAN STRIKE ON A BRIDGE LINKING RUSSIA WITH CRIMEA.

AS THE WAR CONTINUES TO ESCALATE —

OUR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER RYAN ROBERTSON HAS A NEW TWO-PART SERIES — PLAYING OUT THE WHAT-IF SCENARIO OF RUSSIA DEPLOYING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF THAT HAPPENING.

YOU CAN FIND THE FIRST OF OUR TWO PART SERIES NOW — AT S A N DOT COM.

U.S., NORTH KOREA BEGIN CONVERSATIONS OVER MISSING SOLDIER

CONVERSATIONS HAVE STARTED BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND NORTH KOREA OVER THE AMERICAN SOLDIER WHO CROSSED INTO THE NORTH LAST WEEK. 

THAT’S ACCORDING TO GENERAL ANDREW HARRISON, THE DEPUTY COMMANDER OF THE U.N. COMMAND

HARRISON SAYS COMMUNICATION LINES HAVE BEEN SET UP AT THE JOINT SECURITY AREA BETWEEN THE KOREAS.

PRIVATE TRAVIS KING CROSSED THE BORDER LAST TUESDAY WHILE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON HIS WAY TO FORT BLISS, TEXAS TO FACE MILITARY DISCIPLINE AFTER SERVING NEARLY TWO MONTHS IN A SOUTH KOREAN PRISON ON ASSAULT CHARGES. 

GENERAL HARRISON SAYS THE WELL-BEING OF KING REMAINS THE COMMAND’S PRIMARY CONCERN. AND WHILE HE “REMAINS OPTIMISTIC” – THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW HOW THE CONVERSATIONS WITH NORTH KOREA WILL PROCEED. 

NETANYAHU TO BE RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AS ISRAEL TAKES CRITICAL VOTE

ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU NOW HAS A PACE-MAKER AFTER GOING TO THE HOSPITAL UNEXPECTEDLY OVER THE WEEKEND.

NETANYAHU SAYS HE IS “FEELING EXCELLENT” — IS EXPECTED TO BE DISCHARGED TODAY — JUST IN TIME FOR ISRAEL’S LAWMAKERS TO VOTE ON A CONTROVERSIAL BILL THAT LIMITS SUPREME COURT POWERS TO OVERRULE SOME GOVERNMENT DECISIONS.

PRESIDENT BIDEN SAYS NETANYAHU SHOULD NOT MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PLAN.

A VOTE ON A KEY PART OF THE PLAN WILL TAKE PLACE TODAY…AFTER THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE — BOTH SUPPORTERS AND CRITICS — HAVE TAKEN TO THE STREETS  IN PROTEST FOR MONTHS.

DOJ THREATENS LEGAL ACTION OVER TEXAS BUOY BORDER WALL

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS TOLD TEXAS TO REMOVE A BUOY BORDER WALL BY 2 P-M EASTERN TODAY — OR ELSE THEY’LL SLAP THE STATE WITH A LAWSUIT.

TEXAS GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT RESPONDED —

SAYING “WE’LL SEE YOU IN COURT, MISTER PRESIDENT.”

THIS IS A STORY WE’VE BEEN COVERING SINCE BEFORE THE BUOYS WENT UP IN THE RIO GRANDE.

THE BUOYS ARE MEANT TO SERVE AS A DETERRENT FOR MIGRANTS CROSSING THE BORDER THROUGH THE RIVER.

MILES OF BUOYS WERE INSTALLED LAST WEEK IN EAGLE PASS, TEXAS.

THE STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN THIS DISTRICT SPOKE WITH CBS’ “FACE THE NATION” ON SUNDAY.

CRITICS OF THE BUOYS SAY MIGRANTS COULD GET STUCK UNDERNEATH THEM AND DROWN — CALLING THE INSTALLATION “INHUMANE.”

REPRESENTATIVE TONY GONZALES SAYS — MIGRANTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN DROWNING — SAYING THE GOVERNMENTS’ CONCERNS ARE COMING TOO LATE.

REP. TONY GONZALES | (R) TEXAS: “I don’t think the buoys are the problem. Honestly, Margaret, this has been happening every single week. We’ve see people drown last year, there were hundreds of migrants that are drowning. I’m glad it’s getting some attention. there is a disconnect between what is happening at the top and the person at the ground that is delivering that is doing the, the actual function.”

MUSK CHANGING TWITTER BIRD LOGO TO LETTER X

MOVE ASIDE TWITTER AND SAY HELLO TO “X.”

THAT’S WHAT TWITTER CEO ELON MUSK IS NOW CALLING HIS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.

ON SUNDAY, MUSK PROPOSED THE NEW DIRECTION FOR TWITTER.

ALONG WITH THE NEW NAME —

HE IS REPLACING THE WELL-KNOWN BLUE BIRD LOGO WITH AN X. 

THE CHANGE TOOK EFFECT THIS MORNING. 

MUSK TWEETED THAT THE IDEA OF CHANGING THE LOGO IS – QUOTE – “TO EMBODY THE IMPERFECTIONS IN US ALL THAT MAKE US UNIQUE.”

THE LETTER X IS NO STRANGER TO MUSK.

HE ALSO OWNS HIS ROCKET COMPANY SPACEX, FOUNDED THE STARTUP X.COM WHICH LED TO PAYPAL, AND HIS TESLA  AUTO BRAND HAS A MODEL X.

LAST OCTOBER – MUSK TWEETED THAT BUYING TWITTER WAS QUOTE “AN ACCELERANT TO CREATING ‘X,’ THE EVERYTHING APP.”  

‘’BARBENHEIMER’ DOMINATES WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE WAS DOMINATED BY BARBIE AND OPPENHEIMER —

SPARKING A “BARBEN-HEIMER PHENOMENON —

ONE THE MOVIE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN IN NEED OF.

THE TWO FILMS ARE A FAR CONTRAST FROM ONE ANOTHER —

BUT APPEALED TO MILLIONS OF MOVIE-GOERS —

“BARBIE” DRAWING IN 155 MILLION DOLLARS DURING ITS FIRST THREE DAYS IN THEATERS — THE HIGHEST OPENING OF 2023.

AND “OPPENHEIMER” BROUGHT IN 80.5 MILLION IN ITS DEBUT.

TOGETHER — THE DUO IS EYEING THE SECOND HIGHEST BOX-OFFICE-WEEKEND EVER.

IT WAS A WEEKEND REVIVAL FOR AN INDUSTRY IN NEED OF ONE —

TICKET-SALES HAVE BEEN DOWN 20 PERCENT COMPARED TO 2019 PRE-PANDEMIC.

THOSE ARE YOUR TOP STORIES THIS MORNING.

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING SAN AS YOUR TRUSTED SOURCE.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MORE OF OUR WORK AT STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS DOT COM.

AND YOU CAN ALSO FIND THE LATEST RUNDOWN EPISODES AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS.

UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS. THAT’S SAN. 

WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW!

UNTIL THEN I’M KARAH RUCKER.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!