Daily Briefing: A premature victory lap on inflation?

Are President Joe Biden and the Inflation Reduction Act that passed last month responsible for a dip in inflation? Hold on, the experts say. Also in the news: Queen Elizabeth II's coffin moves to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state and Ukraine continues to liberate towns that were under Russian control.

👋 I'm Steve Coogan, filling in for Nicole Fallert today and the rest of the week. Before we jump into the news, what do you think of Daily Briefing? Love it? Want to see different kinds of stories? If you'd like to share, we want to hear your thoughts here.

Here is Wednesday's news.

🌅 Up first: The best way to get a crying baby back to sleep? Researchers say they have figured it out. Read more

Is Biden responsible for inflation dip? Victory lap is premature, experts say.

President Joe Biden touted progress on inflation Tuesday, even though the government's latest data reinforced concerns. The yearly pace of inflation declined slightly in August, but the drop wasn't as large as economists predicted. And two other key gauges – the month-over-month change in prices and an inflation measure that excludes volatile food and energy costs – did the opposite: They rose. Read more

Top takeaways: Critics charge the White House with taking credit for deficit reduction that disappeared soon after the Inflation Reduction Act became law. Many economists said the legislation probably would have at best a modest effect on inflation, especially in the short term. What voters will be paying attention to in November is how far their paychecks can stretch.

• What's going on with inflation? It remains high even as lower gas prices ease consumer pain, the CPI report shows.

• Stocks close sharply lower: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq have worst days of year after inflation report

• More on the Inflation Reduction Act: Biden signs climate and health care bill. Now, Democrats race to explain its benefits.

• Also on Wednesday: President Joe Biden will attend the North American International Auto Show in Detroit

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Queen Elizabeth II heads to Parliament to lie in state

Queen Elizabeth II's coffin will leave Buckingham Palace for the last time Wednesday. Amid somber pageantry, the coffin will be borne as it is taken amid somber pageantry on a horse-drawn gun carriage to the Houses of Parliament, where the late monarch will lie in state for four days. The late queen's coffin left Scotland and landed Tuesday evening in London, where crowds gathered along the route to Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth II's daughter, Princess Anne, has been by her mother's side since the queen died last week at 96. Anne issued a statement after the plane landed, thanking those who paid respects on the late monarch's final journey. Read more

• The queen will soon lie in state in Westminster Hall: These are the first people in the line.

• 'Grannie is with Great Grandpa': Princess Kate shares Prince Louis' reaction to queen's death

• Prince Harry won't wear his military uniform at the queen's funeral. But Prince Andrew was granted an exception.

• Caught on camera: Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, embraces mourner after Queen Elizabeth II's death

► Royal news right in your inbox: Subscribe to Keep Calm and Carry On, a newsletter answering all of your questions about the royal family following Queen Elizabeth II's death.

More news to know now:

• ⚖ Pieper Lewis, the Iowa teenager who fatally stabbed her alleged rapist, avoids prison time and she could escape having a felony record.

• 🔵 Lindsey Graham's attempt at a national abortion ban could help the Republican party in the midterms. This is what we know about the bill.

• 💰 Social Security recipients could see 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment bump as inflation soars. That would be the largest increase since 1982.

• 🏀Robert Sarver, majority owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns and WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, received a year suspension and a $10 million fine for ''workplace misconduct and organizational deficiencies."

• ⚖ The House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, aims to hold another hearing Sept. 28, its chairman said.

• 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, health reporter Karen Weintraub looks at the difficulty of treating long COVID. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.

🌤 What's the weather up to in your neck of the woods? Check your local forecast here.

Ukraine liberates more towns, pushes for Russian troops to surrender

The Ukraine military claimed Tuesday it had downed one of Russia's Iran-built drones as Kyiv's counteroffensive continued to drive back the invaders from northeastern towns occupied since the early weeks of the war. The Ukrainian military published images of wreckage from the drone, encountered near Kupiansk, where Ukraine troops have made a recent push into the strategically important city of Izyum. Early Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she wants to cap the revenue of electricity producers making extraordinary profits due to the war and climate change and announced she would travel to Ukraine's capital of Kyiv. Read more

• Counteroffensives: Ukraine retakes more territory in a week than Russia captured in months

• Video: Liberated Ukraine city of Izium carries scars of battle

Northeastern University will be open after package explodes on campus

A package exploded on the campus of Boston's Northeastern University late Tuesday, injuring a staff member, the school confirmed as authorities said another suspicious package was found near a prominent art museum. The package was delivered to Holmes Hall shortly before 7 p.m. and detonated when a staff member opened it, a university spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email. "The staff member sustained minor injuries and is being treated," the email stated. Local police are working with the FBI and ATF. In an alert published Tuesday night, the university stated campus will be "open and fully operational" on Wednesday. Read more

• Video: One injured as package explodes on the campus of Boston's Northeastern University

Just for subscribers:

• 🚂 Inside the dispute and what happens next: President Biden faces mounting pressure to avert a freight rail shutdown as the deadline for a strike looms.

• 🦠 What causes long COVID? Researchers have some clues.

• 🦠 "We are only beginning to know what it is": This is why doctors are struggling to identify treatments for long COVID.

• ⛰ People die summitting 14,000-foot mountain peaks. These climbers choose to do it anyway.

• ⚫ From USA TODAY Opinion: Jimmy Kimmel's stupid antics are just latest insult for Black women (and men) in Hollywood.

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Already a subscriber and want premium content texted to you every day? We can do that! Sign up for our subscriber-only texting campaign.

California is negotiating Colorado River water reductions amid drought

California water agencies that depend on Colorado River supply are quietly negotiating combined reductions of between 320,000 and 400,000 acre-feet from the fast-dwindling Lake Mead reservoir next year. Four agencies that use the river water talk regularly, and will meet again Wednesday. It's unclear if the move would be enough to assuage harsh criticism from neighboring states such as Arizona and Nevada, who are already being forced to make cuts under previous legal agreements, or to satisfy federal officials who say 2 million to 4 million acre-feet in reduced use is needed from seven states in 2022 to keep the system and its drought-ravaged reservoirs afloat. Read more

• Grand Canyon National Park increases water restrictions: What visitors should know

• 'The End of the Dream': Billboards depict California's drought, wildfire, housing crisis

• Previous relevant coverage: Feds cut Colorado River allocation for Arizona and Nevada in 2023, citing need for 'urgent action'

📷 Photo of the day: Aces move closer to WNBA title📷

Chelsea Gray continued her scorched-earth tear through the playoffs Tuesday night, bringing the Las Vegas Aces within one game of their first-ever WNBA championship. For the sixth time in eight playoff games, Gray finished with 20-plus points. She also dished out eight assists in the 85-71 win over the Connecticut Sun Tuesday night in Las Vegas. The Aces now hold a commanding 2-0 series lead and can clinch their first WNBA title with a victory Thursday evening in Connecticut. Read more

Head here to see more of the best photos from the 2022 WNBA playoffs. 

A little something different

• 🏈 "He's a bad guy": Author Jeff Pearlman advises fans to not read his biography of Brett Favre after the recent release of text messages.

• 🐱‍🐉 "Dinosaur mummy": Researchers believe they have found one of the best preserved dinosaurs ever.

• 📺 Who will win "America's Got Talent"? Check out Drake Milligan's country smash and Sara James' haunting Kate Bush cover.

• 🎤 Country star Vince Gill provided an update on his wife Amy Grant's recovery from a recent accident and said the "best thing" for her is to "just be still."

Steve Coogan is an audience editor at USA TODAY. Sign up for the email here.  Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden taking a premature victory lap on inflation?: Daily Briefing