June 2022

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Before meeting Ukraine’s president, a group of European leaders took a tour of the devastation wrought by Russia. To understand Ukraine’s fight for survival, they had to see it themselves, with their own eyes. The blown up buildings. The smashed cars. And a message of hope spray-painted on a damaged building despite mounting Ukrainian deaths. French President Emmanuel Macron spotted it immediately amid the ruins. It said “Make Europe, not war.” Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Premier Mario Draghi and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis toured the small city of Irpin on Thursday. It bore the full brunt of Russia’s failed assault on the Ukrainian capital in the first weeks of the war. Later, they met with Ukraine’s president.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — The head of the Russian Central Bank warned Thursday that the country’s economy faces pressure from abroad that could persist indefinitely, dampening hopes that conditions could return to what they were before Russia sent troops into Ukraine.

Severe weather has forced Abbott Nutrition to pause production at a Michigan baby formula factory that had just restarted. The company said late Wednesday that production for its EleCare specialty formula has stopped, but it has enough supply to meet needs until more formula can be made. Abbott says it needs to assess damage and re-sanitize the factory after severe thunderstorms and heavy rains swept through southwestern Michigan Monday evening. The company didn’t indicate how much damage the factory sustained. Abbott had restarted the Sturgis, Michigan, factory on June 4 after it had been closed since February due to contamination.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has pledged to do whatever it takes to curb inflation, now raging at a four-decade high and defying the Fed’s efforts so far to tame it. Increasingly, it seems, doing so might require the one painful thing the Fed has sought to avoid: A recession.

Residents of the West Texas city of Odessa improvised emergency water supplies after a water system outage left them high and dry for days amid scorching heat, even as utility crews scrambled Wednesday to restore normal service.

DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar said Tuesday it is packing up its headquarters from its longtime home state of Illinois and moving to Texas.