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Good morning. Today’s Morning Sixpack has a campus in revolt, a mysterious death in a Russian lab, a French debt bill that has come due, a diesel shortage that crude can’t fix, a senator whose private number went public, and a war that has woken up around one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Let’s get into it.
Cornell Erupts Over Alleged Fraternity Gang Rape as Students Demand President Resign
Cornell University is facing an escalating campus revolt over its handling of allegations that multiple fraternity members sexually assaulted a student in 2024. Protesters are demanding transparency, tougher consequences, and the resignation of President Michael Kotlikoff. No criminal charges have been filed, but the case has moved from university discipline to a state-led criminal investigation. Students, faculty, and others filled a plaza in purple ribbons, then marched to an administration building that had been vandalized overnight. The woman identified as Jane Doe has sued Cornell, seven former students, the fraternity, and others, while lawyers for two former students deny their clients took part in an assault. Cornell has shut down the Chi Phi chapter, expelled some students, and suspended others. Gov. Kathy Hochul has handed the criminal case to the state attorney general and called for an independent review. For Cornell, the question is whether students will believe anything short of outside scrutiny.
Source: AP News
Rubio Presses Russia for Answers After Plague Lab Worker Dies
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is calling on Russia to disclose more about the death of a laboratory worker that U.S. officials are investigating for a possible link to pneumonic plague. The worker was employed at a Russian institute dedicated to studying plague, according to The Washington Post. The CDC and other U.S. agencies are trying to figure out what happened, while Russian authorities have reportedly quarantined several nearby hospitals. Rubio said it is “incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world,” and he invoked the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials still don’t know whether pneumonic plague actually caused the death. Washington wants Moscow talking, because in a story like this, more information beats creative imagination.
Source: The Washington Post
France’s $1 Trillion Debt Reckoning Has Bond Markets Reaching for the Alarm
France is staring at a potentially brutal debt squeeze, with borrowing costs near multidecade highs, debt near 120% of GDP, and more than $1 trillion coming due by 2030. The 10-year yield has climbed toward 5%, and the government plans to sell a record roughly $380 billion in debt next year. Servicing costs are projected to jump 59% by 2030 and could eventually exceed military spending. France hasn’t balanced its budget since 1974, and spending piled up through the yellow-vest protests, the Covid pandemic, and the European energy crisis. Macron’s 2024 decision to dissolve parliament left a fractured National Assembly and made reform even harder. Investors say a full-blown crisis isn’t inevitable, but interest costs are on track to outrun growth, creating what one asset manager calls a “snowball effect.” France spent years asking for magic money, and the bond market’s answer is that the trick is over.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Hormuz Oil Is Flowing Again, but America’s Diesel Crisis Isn’t Going Anywhere
Crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have rebounded to roughly three-quarters of prewar levels, but damaged Middle Eastern refineries have left the world desperately short of diesel. The national average hit a record $6.53 a gallon late last month, and California reached $8.44. Missile and drone strikes knocked refineries offline across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and elsewhere, and refined products make up just 11% of the oil moving through Hormuz. President Trump has temporarily authorized tax-exempt dyed diesel for highway use, and the G7 agreed to release 100 million barrels from emergency reserves. Oil executives are also pushing the Navy to prioritize escorts for tankers carrying refined fuels. There’s no quick fix, and analysts say a full recovery could stretch well into 2027, especially with Iran launching new attacks on vessels near Hormuz. The oil is flowing, but you can’t put crude in a semitruck.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Trump Doxxes Tom Cotton as Daylight Saving Time Feud Erupts Inside GOP
President Donald Trump publicly posted Republican Sen. Tom Cotton’s cellphone number while urging supporters to pressure him over permanent daylight saving time. The post rattled Senate Republicans and turned a dispute about clocks into an intraparty brawl. Cotton, the third-ranking Senate Republican, opposes the Sunshine Protection Act because permanent daylight saving time could put children on the road to school in winter darkness. Sen. Roger Wicker backed those concerns, Majority Leader John Thune also opposes the proposal, and Sen. Rick Scott wants a vote in the lame-duck session. Cotton didn’t back down, noting that Congress has enacted permanent daylight saving time before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late winter sunrises. Wicker said he “wouldn’t have advised” publishing the number, and Sen. John Kennedy offered a far more colorful critique of the president’s temperament. Washington has apparently advanced from arguing about policy to changing your phone number over a disagreement about clocks.
Source: The Hill
Yemen War Explodes Again as Saudi-Backed Forces Battle Houthis for Vital Shipping Chokepoint
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces have recaptured several key areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The fighting is escalating a revived civil war around a waterway that carries roughly 12% of global trade. Government-aligned forces retook Dhubab and other towns with the help of Saudi air power, and the coalition says 100 fighter jets supported the operation. The Houthis claim missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil, airport, and military targets, including sites in Riyadh and Rabigh. The U.S. is providing intelligence sharing, target identification, and planning assistance, while Pakistan and Turkey have agreed to deploy forces to Saudi Arabia under their defense pact. The offensive, dubbed “Yemen Dawn,” ends a four-year ceasefire. The latest violence has killed at least 959 people and displaced roughly 174,000, and Saudi-backed forces say they ultimately want to retake Sanaa. Global shipping now has another reason to keep one eye on the map.
Source: AP News
That’s your Morning Sixpack. The headlines keep getting stranger, but we’ll be back tomorrow to sort through them with you.
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