USDA-FDA bill is sidetracked: House Republicans were unable to bring the $198 billion USDA-FDA spending bill to the floor because of conservatives’ demands for billions of dollars in additional cuts and moderates’ opposition to banning over-the-counter sales of mifepristone. (Politico)
Hazard Alert for heat: The Labor Department will issue its first-ever Hazard Alert for heat, the No. 1 cause of weather-related deaths in the nation, and step up enforcement of heat-safety violations in high-risk industries such as agriculture and construction, said the White House. (White House)
Plea for Ukraine grain: Speaking after President Vladimir Putin said Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, could fill Africa’s needs, the chairman of the African Union said that with high food prices, the continent needed access to grain from Ukraine and Russia. (Washington Post)
Hottest month on Earth: The World Meteorological Organization and the EU’s Copernicus Institute said this month will be the hottest ever recorded and the Earth’s temperature temporarily passed the 1.5 degree C mark for warming since the start of the Industrial Age. (Associated Press)
Critique faults EATS Act: The so-called EATS Act, the livestock industry’s answer to California’s Proposition 12, could jeopardize more than 1,000 health, safety, and welfare laws on the state level and threaten states’ rights, said a report by a Harvard Law School group. (Food Safety News)