Russia halts grain flow, deadly storms pummel Northeast: July 17 rundown

KARAH RUCKER: MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS COMING OUT OF RUSSIA THIS MORNING AS THE COUNTRY ANNOUNCES IT IS PULLING OUT OF THE UKRAINIAN GRAIN AGREEMENT AND A KEY BRIDGE EXPLODES IN THE AREA. AND —

SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE DEAD AFTER SEVERE STORMS WALLOP THE NORTHEAST, AND TRAVEL IS DISRUPTED IN AIRPORTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

THE RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.

THIS IS STRAIGHT-ARROW NEWS. BRINGING YOU UNBIASED, STRAIGHT FACTS.

TODAY IS MONDAY — JULY 17TH. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M KARAH RUCKER.

RUSSIA PULLS OUT OF UKRAINIAN GRAIN DEAL

RUSSIA HAS ANNOUNCED IT HALTED ITS DEAL TO ALLOW GRAIN TO FLOW FROM UKRAINE TO COUNTRIES IN AFRICA — THE MIDDLE EAST — AND ASIA.

THE DEAL WAS STRUCK LAST YEAR — AFTER RUSSIA HAD BEGUN ITS INVASION OF UKRAINE — IN ORDER TO AVOID A GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT COMES JUST HOURS AFTER  A SECTION OF THE KEY BRIDGE CONNECTING CRIMEA TO RUSSIA’S MAINLAND EXPLODED EARLIER TODAY.

RUSSIA IS BLAMING THE EXPLOSION ON UKRAINE — CALLING IT A TERRORIST ACT.

TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED — AND ANOTHER INJURED.

WHILE THE UKRAINIAN MILITARY SUGGESTED THE ATTACK COULD’VE BEEN RUSSIAN PROVOCATION — UKRAINIAN MEDIA CITED ANONYMOUS SOURCES AS SAYING UKRAINE’S SECURITY SERVICE USED SEA DRONES TO BLOW UP THE PORTION OF THE BRIDGE.

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN TARGETED IN RECENT MONTHS — WITH UKRAINE BEING BEHIND ANOTHER BOMBING LAST OCTOBER.

WITH CRIMEA SERVING AS A MAJOR HUB FOR RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE — ACCESS TO THE BRIDGE IS VITAL FOR THE RUSSIAN SIDE.

WHILE TODAY’S ATTACK WASN’T AS SERIOUS AS OCTOBER’S — RAIL TRAFFIC WAS HALTED FOR ABOUT 6 HOURS.

10K+ FLIGHTS DISRUPTED BY SEVERE STORMS

AIRPORTS ACROSS THE U.S. ARE IN DISARRAY – PLAYING CATCH UP AFTER MORE THAN 10 THOUSAND FLIGHTS WERE DISRUPTED LARGELY BY SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THE NORTHEAST.

MORE THAN 25 HUNDRED FLIGHTS HAVE BEEN CANCELED AND NEARLY EIGHT THOUSAND MORE DELAYED ACCORDING TO FLIGHT TRACKING DATA.

AIRLINE “JETBLUE” HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED —

27 PERCENT OF ITS FLIGHTS CANCELED AND 43 PERCENT OF THEM DELAYED.

THE F-A-A RELEASED A STATEMENT —

SAYING SLOW-MOVING THUNDERSTORMS” WERE TO BLAME.

5 DEAD, 2 MISSING IN PENNSYLVANIA FLASH FLOODING

THOSE SEVERE STORMS CREATED DEADLY FLOOD WATERS IN PENNSYLVANIA OVER THE WEEKEND. 

IN BUCKS COUNTY, JUST OUTSIDE PHILADELPHIA– ELEVEN CARS WERE SURROUNDED BY FAST-MOVING — FIVE-FEET DEEP WATER. FIVE PEOPLE DIED GETTING CAUGHT IN FLASH FLOODING.

AS OF SUNDAY EVENING — A BABY AND A TWO-YEAR OLD TODDLER ARE **MISSING —

THEIR MOTHER BEING ONE OF THE VICTIMS FOUND ON THE FLOODED ROADWAY.

OVER THE LAST MONTH — PARTS OF THE NORTH-EAST HAVE SEEN DOUBLE — OR EVEN TRIPLE — THEIR AVERAGE RAINFALL.

LAST WEEK IT WAS VERMONT, NEW YORK, AND MASSACHUSETTS UNDER WATER.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, (D) New York: “And as I said before, this is possibly our new normal. This is the kind of weather that even what should normally be a beautiful beach going Sunday in July can turn into a devastating catastrophe because of Mother Nature. And so we’re still in recovery phase from last week’s storms.”

SUSPECT IN GEORGIA MASS SHOOTING KILLED

A MASS SHOOTING IN GEORGIA ENDED WITH FOUR PEOPLE KILLED AND THE SUSPECTED GUNMAN DEAD FOLLOWING A SHOOTOUT WITH POLICE.

AUTHORITIES SAY OFFICERS WERE ABLE TO TRACK DOWN 40-YEAR-OLD ANDRE L. LONGMORE AND CONFRONTED HIM ON SUNDAY, A DAY AFTER THE DEADLY RAMPAGE.

LONGMORE WAS KILLED AND THREE OFFICERS WERE WOUNDED DURING THE EXCHANGE OF GUNFIRE. THE INJURED OFFICERS ARE EXPECTED TO RECOVER. 

SATURDAY MORNING’S MASS SHOOTING TOOK PLACE IN THE COMMUNITY OF HAMPTON, ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTH OF ATLANTA. 

THE NAMES OF THE VICTIMS HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED. A MOTIVE FOR THE SHOOTING REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION.

AAA PULLS BACK FLORIDA COVERAGE AMID HURRICANE SEASON

RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF HURRICANE SEASON –SOME FLORIDA RESIDENTS ARE BEING DROPPED FROM THEIR INSURANCE COMPANIES.

IT’S A TREND WE’VE BEEN REPORTING RECENTLY – BIG-NAME INSURANCE COMPANIES LIKE A-I-G, ALL-STATE AND STATE FARM HAVE STOPPED TAKING ON NEW CUSTOMERS IN CERTAIN HIGH-RISK AREAS — LIKE IN FLORIDA DUE TO A HIGH FLOOD RISK OR CALIFORNIA BECAUSE OF HIGH FIRE RISK.

LAST WEEK FARMERS INSURANCE ANNOUNCED IT WAS PULLING OUT OF THE SUNSHINE STATE — JUST DAYS LATER — TRIPLE A SAID THEY ARE FOLLOWING SUIT — NOT RENEWING HOME OR AUTO INSURANCE POLICIES FOR SOME OF ITS FLORIDA RESIDENTS.

IF YOU HAVE A HOME LOAN — YOU HAVE TO HAVE INSURANCE. SO WHEN YOU’RE COVERAGE DROPS — THAT LEAVES YOU WITH FEWER CHOICES — AND HIGHER PREMIUMS.

A FLORIDA REAL ESTATE AGENT EXPLAINS THE SIGNIFICANT TOLL THIS PATTERN IS TAKING ON RESIDENTS WITH FIXED INCOMES.

CALLEN JONES | FLORIDA REAL ESTATE AGENT: “When you look at homeowners who they’re looking at their budget and they’re saying, okay, so we can afford this much a month, and now out of nowhere, that number is 50% higher. Unfortunately for some people, it’s two or 300% higher. There’s no money to make up that difference.”

MORE TROUBLE AT TWITTER

MORE TROUBLE AT TWITTER. IN A REPLY OVER THE WEEKEND RESPONDING TO BUSINESS ADVICE, TWITTER OWNER ELON MUSK REVEALED THAT THE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY IS LOSING CASH BECAUSE OF A DROP IN ADVERTISING.

MUSK SAID QUOTE “WE’RE STILL NEGATIVE CASH FLOW, DUE TO (ABOUT A) 50% DROP IN ADVERTISING REVENUE PLUS HEAVY DEBT LOAD.”

HE ADDED, THAT TWITTER NEEDS TO “REACH POSITIVE CASH FLOW” BEFORE THE COMPANY HAS “THE LUXURY OF ANYTHING ELSE.”

MUSK, WHO ACQUIRED TWITTER LAST FALL IN A 44 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL, STEPPED DOWN AS THE COMPANY’S CEO IN MAY. TWITTER GOT SOME NEW COMPETITION IN THE FORM OF META’S PLATFORM CALLED THREADS EARLIER THIS MONTH. 

IN ITS FIRST WEEK, THREADS REACHED 100 MILLION DOWNLOADS. 

TWITTER RESPONDED BY THREATENING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST META. 

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WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW

UNTIL THEN I’M KARAH RUCKER

HAVE A GREAT DAY!