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What to know:

• The latest example came this week in Mississippi, where Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom released a video with a snippet of Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent, saying that if consumers are upset over high beef prices, “you know you have so many proteins to choose from.” The video cuts to a man grilling burgers who says, “Pick another protein? I'd rather pick another senator instead.”
  
  

• Elsewhere, Republicans have branded Democrats as vegans or otherwise opposed to meat, trying to show that they are culturally out of step with voters, hostile to local cattle industries or just not manly enough. Democrats have spotlighted meat as well, but mainly as one of the staples that cost more under President Donald Trump. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average pound of ground beef cost $6.79 last month, up from $5.55 in January of 2025, when Trump returned to office.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

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• FBI agents and analysts fired for roles in Trump classified files probe sue to get their jobs back
• BBC asks judge to force Trump to sit for deposition in his own lawsuit against the channel
• Trump, after bipartisan backlash, says Pentagon won’t livestream execution of Fort Hood shooter
• New White House press secretary defends her legal background and short first briefing

US NEWS

Teen shooter kills 4 at Oregon elementary school before being shot by a witness

A 16-year-old shot his way through locked doors to get into an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, on Thursday, killing a teacher and three children aged 5, 8 and 11. He was then shot by a person at the scene who followed him inside, authorities said. Read more.

What to know:

• The shooting was the 28th mass killing in the U.S. this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• WATCH: Vigil held for victims
• A look at mass killings in the U.S.

WORLD NEWS

Drone strikes in the Black Sea raise fears of Russian escalation to test NATO’s response

A string of drone attacks on at least seven cargo vessels in the Black Sea this month, off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, has some members of the alliance wondering if Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking escalation to test their support for Ukraine. Read more.

What to know:

• The attacks in the two countries' exclusive economic zones threaten a global shipping route and have left two people dead, with at least 25 still missing. They also run the risk of drawing other countries directly into the war for Ukraine. Article 5 of the NATO charter has a mutual defense guarantee — an attack on one is an attack on all. But Romanian defense analyst Radu Tudor said it was uncertain as to whether it covers many of the Black Sea drone strikes because they occurred in the alliance members’ exclusive economic zones.