CIA Chief Went To Moscow To Warn Russia Against Attacking NATO: WSJCIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise trip this week to Moscow was to warn Russia not to attack NATO countries, sources told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.Earlier, CBS News reported that the U.S. believes Russia is increasingly likely to launch an assault against NATO members, with President Vladimir Putin feeling the squeeze from his yearslong war with Ukraine. According to the Journal, that could range from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion on an allied country.This week’s trip was Ratcliffe’s first publicly known visit to Moscow, though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the spy chief didn’t meet with Putin. “It is still too early to say to what extent this will affect the overall process of bringing our bilateral relations out of the deepest crisis they are currently in,” Peskov said.ABC News reported Wednesday that U.S. intelligence believes Russia was responsible for an explosive-laden drone flying into Leipzig airport in Germany earlier this month, which forced a temporary shutdown of the facility.Read more from the Journal:Latest Live UpdatesFederal Judge Rejects Minnesota Bid To Extradite ICE Officer Who Allegedly Shot Person In The LegA federal judge on Wednesday rejected Minnesota’s bid to force the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who’s accused of shooting a person in the leg, clearing the way for his release. In May, Minnesota prosecutors charged ICE officer Christian Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime after he allegedly shot and injured Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.Castro was taken into custody in Texas, however, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has yet to sign a warrant extraditing him to Minnesota. Under Texas law, Castro can only be held for 90 days under the existing warrant, meaning he could be released as soon as Thursday. Minnesota officials had asked the court to bar Texas authorities from releasing Castro, citing concerns that he could be a potential flight risk. They also requested that the judge compel Abbott to act on Castro’s extradition. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, a Trump appointee, acknowledged prosecutors’ concerns, but declined to grant both requests. Rodriguez argued that Abbott’s investigation of the extradition – and the lengthy amount of time he’s taken to do it – was within his rights.“Greg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement responding to the ruling. “But regardless of today’s ruling, Christian Castro will not escape justice in Minnesota.”Trump's Proclamation On Beef Still Doesn't Answer A Big QuestionPresident Donald Trump has signed a proclamation that more or less formalizes his Truth Social post from Friday announcing a decision to reduce tariffs on certain beef imports.The Wednesday proclamation will “temporarily increase the quantity of lean beef trimmings that are imported with no above-quota tariff to ensure affordable beef for American consumers in light of current supply challenges,” the White House fact sheet states. The fact sheet, unfortunately, still does not say where the beef is coming from – a question that’s been on everyone’s minds since the announcement.“I don’t wanna say,” the president told reporters on Friday, while Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday she was “not privy to talk about that.”The White House said the decision includes “key safeguards” for “protecting American ranchers from foreign imports,” but cattle ranchers have been up in arms about the move since Friday.“You don’t put America first by putting U.S. cattle producers last,” Justin Tupper, president of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, said in a statement. “This move will weaken our markets and gamble with food safety in the process.”‘Darline’s Parents Deserved Better’: Sen. Graham’s Opponent Calls Out Healthcare HypocrisySen. Darline Graham’s (R-S.C.) Democratic rival made a poignant observation Wednesday after Graham dismissed the notion of public healthcare as a “bad idea” while simultaneously recalling how both her parents suffered for lack of easy healthcare. “I believe that Darline’s parents deserved better,” Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Annie Andrews told CNN.“Her healthcare plan is, ‘You should work hard until you die,’” Andrews said, reflecting on Graham’s speech. “I believe that we deserve better. I believe that Darline’s parents deserved better.”Graham told the crowd after her runoff victory last night that she was orphaned at a young age after both of her parents died, having worked long hours, even when they were sick.“My parents worked long, hard hours to make ends meet,” Graham told the crowd. “We didn’t take vacations. If they were sick they had to get up and go to work because if the doors weren’t open, we weren’t making money. My mother passed away when I was 11, and my father just over a year later.”Death Toll In Nepal Flash Flood Rises To 157Police said the death toll from the flash flood that hit Nepal and Tibet has risen to 157, although hundreds of people are still missing, Reuters reported. Alarming images of the fast-moving floodwaters showed homes and infrastructure swept away in seconds in what is typically a bustling border region. Read more here.Silver Screen Legend Tim Curry Dead At 80British actor and singer Tim Curry, known for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in “It,” has died at 80, TMZ and Variety first reported Wednesday.Curry died Tuesday night in Los Angeles, TMZ reported. A cause of death was not immediately available, though he had years of health issues, including a 2012 stroke that he said last year left him unable to walk.Read more here: Meta Asks Rivals To Eat Crow After Settlement Compels It To Do The SameMeta plans to publish an open letter in newspapers tomorrow urging its rivals to voluntarily restrict kids’ access to their apps, spinning an $18 billion settlement compelling it to do the same as a “new industry standard” it pioneered.The social media company on Wednesday settled a federal trial brought by 29 states alleging its products, including Facebook and Instagram, intentionally addicted children to harmful content, and knowingly harvested their personal data in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.As penance — and even as it denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement — Meta will limit teenagers’ use to two hours a day, cut off usage from midnight to 6 a.m., and disable push notifications during common school hours.In its letter tomorrow, Meta plans to ask TikTok and YouTube to follow along.According to New York Times reporter Mike Isaac, the full-page ad will run in the New York Times, Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone,” reads an advance copy of the letter obtained by Isaac. “These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place.”“All platforms should empower parents and support teens in these ways because we know that when teens are restricted on one app, they simply move to another,” it concludes. “For meaningful progress to happen, we urge our peers to join us.”CIA Director Didn’t Meet With Putin, Kremlin SaysCIA Director John Ratcliffe didn’t meet with Vladimir Putin during his surprise trip to Moscow yesterday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wednesday.“I can tell you that there were no meetings with the Russian president,” Peskov said, in comments relayed by the Russian state news agency TASS. “Of course, President Putin is immediately briefed on all of this.”Peskov declined to say if the situation in Ukraine, Iran or some other issue prompted Ratcliffe’s visit, though he did say that the visit alone was “a positive development.”“It is still too early to say to what extent this will affect the overall process of bringing our bilateral relations out of the deepest crisis they are currently in,” Peskov said.Sources familiar with the situation told CBS News that the U.S. believes Putin is increasingly likely to sign off on provocations against NATO members.Earlier this month, a drone laden with explosives flew into Leipzig airport in Germany, forcing a temporary shutdown of the facility. U.S intelligence sources told ABC News Wednesday they believe Russia’s Military Intelligence Directorate was responsible.Trump Reposts Angry Screed Against His Own PartyPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday promoted a diatribe against his own party as if he were not its leader and had no responsibility for it. The post, by right-wing influencer Matt Van Swol, faulted Republicans for a variety of policy failures. “I don’t think the GOP fully grasp how badly they are fucking up right now,” Van Swol wrote on X. “I’m talking to people who normally have ZERO interest in politics who are legitimately pissed off. They are not seeing the major reform they thought would happen and are REALLY MAD about it.” Trump posted an image of Van Swol’s screed on Truth Social, even though, as president of the United States and the leader of the Republican Party, he is part of the reason for complaints about things like no “true mass deportations” and no “meaningful decrease in the deficit.”Van Swol’s post does emphasize the failure of Congress to pass certain legislation, such as election reform, and suggests Trump is not actually implicated in the legislative process.“People believed they were voting for the Trump agenda. and instead, many feel like they’re getting the same old Washington. If Republicans in Congress don’t start producing tangible results, they’re going to discover that frustration has consequences,” Van Swol wrote. Van Swol also wrote he was “done with the GOP” back in May 2025. Watch: Nepal Landslide Hit Port Checkpoint, Killing At Least 95At least 95 people have died from a landslide and flash flood that struck the Himalayan nation of Nepal on Wednesday. Watch CCTV footage that captured the moment it hit the Gyirong port checkpoint at the China-Nepal border.Josh Shapiro To RFK Jr.: Your Conspiracy Theories Caused Measles DeathsPennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said he was “very blunt” with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the consequences of him spreading misinformation about vaccines after it was reported that two people in Pennsylvania died from measles. Shapiro said Kennedy reached out to him Tuesday morning to offer aid from the U.S. health department. Shapiro said he told Kennedy he believes Pennsylvania’s health department can handle it.“I was very, very blunt with him and I made it very clear that his actions and the rhetoric that’s coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said at a Tuesday news conference. “There’s real-life consequences to spreading misinformation. There’s real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information to parents so that we can make reasonable decisions for our kids.”See All Updates