Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will raise a host of issues dividing the United States and Russia when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, but their conversation is expected to accomplish little beyond the airing of opposing views.
In an indication that little concrete progress is expected when Pompeo meets with Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, State Department officials say the meeting is “an opportunity to take the conversation to a higher level.”

Nearly two-thirds of Millennials are living paycheck to paycheck – and just 38 percent feel financially stable, according to a new survey.
Overall, 59 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, according to the survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by Charles Schwab.
However, the Millennial generation (people ages 23-38) was the most likely to struggle in between payday, at 62 percent, followed by Generation X (60 percent), Generation Z (55 percent) and Baby Boomers (53 percent).
Similarly, Millennials were the least likely to feel financially stable, followed by Generation X (40 percent), Generation X (45 percent) and Baby Boomers (47 percent).

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday warned the Trump Organization to reduce carbon emissions from its buildings, threatening to fine it $2.1 million a year beginning in 2030, according to Reuters.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, even the president of the United States, you have to obey the laws of New York City,” De Blasio, who is reportedly considering a run for president, said in the lobby of Trump Tower on Monday, according to the news service.
The mayor’s office said in a statement that buildings are responsible for nearly 70 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. De Blasio tweeted an itemized “bill” to Trump properties in the city, including $469,848 for Trump Tower, $239,315 for Trump Palace, and $850,871 for Trump International Hotel and Tower.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday defended freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib after President Trump accused her of anti-Semitism.
“Mr. President: Stop dividing the American people up by their religion, their race or their country of origin–and stop your ugly attacks against Muslim women in Congress. You are taking Rep. @RashidaTlaib’s comments out of context and should apologize,” Sanders tweeted.
The controversy began after Tlaib, one of two Muslim women in Congress, told Yahoo News’s “Skullduggery” podcast that she gets a “calming feeling” knowing that her Palestinian ancestors lost their land so that Jews could have a safe place to live after the Holocaust.

The number of measles cases in the US is now at 839 for the year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly measles update.
That’s 75 more cases than the agency reported last week and is inching closer to the 963 cases reported in 1994 which is the highest number of cases in a year in the last 25 years.
Last month, the number of cases this year became the highest number of cases in a single year since the virus was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. The designation means measles was no longer being transmitted within the country.
Read more at CBS News.
{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rebbetzin Rochel Leah Brudny a”h. She was 94 years old.
Rebbetzin Brudny was the wife of Rav Shmuel Brudny zt”l, rosh yeshiva at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY.
The Rebbetzin, an isha chashuvah in her own right, was supremely devoted to her husband, allowing him to be marbitz Torah for decades and educate bnei Torah.

The Dow plunged Monday after China said it will raise tariffs in retaliation to last week’s tariff increase by the United States.
Worries over the escalation of the trade spat with China just aren’t going away.
US stocks ended the day sharply lower. The Dow closed down 617 points after falling as much as 719 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 2.4% and the Nasdaq (COMP) dropped 3.4%.
The Dow and S&P 500 had their worst day since January 3, according to Refinitiv. The Nasdaq had its worst day of 2019 and biggest one-day drop since December 4, 2018.
Read more at CNN.
{Matzav.com}