The Full Belmonte, 10/1/2022
Dozens dead from Ian, one of strongest, costliest US storms
By MEG KINNARD and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON
“PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Rescuers searched for survivors among the ruins of Florida’s flooded homes from Hurricane Ian while authorities in South Carolina began assessing damage from its strike there as the remnants of one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. continued to push north.
The powerful storm terrorized millions of people for most of the week, battering western Cuba before raking across Florida from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, where it mustered enough strength for a final assault on South Carolina. Now weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, Ian was expected to move across central North Carolina on Saturday morning then move into Virginia and New York.
At least 30 people were confirmed dead, including 27 people in Florida mostly from drowning but others from the storm’s tragic aftereffects. An elderly couple died after their oxygen machines shut off when they lost power, authorities said.” Read more at AP News
“Florida faces years of rebuilding and an estimated $67 billion in damages from Hurricane Ian, one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall in the US. The climate-fueled storm killed several people, knocked out power to millions and likely ravaged Florida’s orange crop before moving on to South Carolina, where it made landfall Friday afternoon. Ian is the latest in a string of extreme and deadly weather events that scientists say are intensified by global warming.” Read more at Bloomberg
Hurricane Ian arrives in Fort Myers, Florida. It will likely be one of the costliest storms to ever hit the US. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg
House Puts Off Vote to Limit Lawmakers’ Stock Trades, Casting Doubt on Prospects
The majority leader’s announcement that the House would not vote this week on a bill to curb trading by members of Congress punted the issue until after the midterm elections and reflected a rough road ahead.
By Stephanie Lai and Kate Kelly
“WASHINGTON — Legislation to limit stock trading by members of Congress has stalled amid resistance from members of both parties to more tightly regulating their financial activities, raising doubt about the prospects of a bid to ensure that public officials are not profiting off their positions.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and initially a skeptic of such a measure, embraced the effort in recent months after pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers. She said that the House would take up the issue this month, before adjourning for the midterm elections. But on Thursday, Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority leader, told reporters that the legislation was on hold, at least until after the balloting in November.
‘It’s an important issue,’ Mr. Hoyer said. But members of the House, he said, ‘need time to look at it and make sure that when we do something, we do it right.’
The delay was a potentially permanent setback to efforts to rein in stock trading by members in response to a surge of anger among voters and scrutiny by watchdog groups about lawmakers’ virtually unlimited ability to buy and sell financial instruments.” Read more at New York Times
A woman hangs flags in Donetsk as people cast their votes in controversial referendums Ukraine on Monday. Source: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
“Putin Vows Annexation of Occupied Ukraine Lands Is ‘Forever’
Vladimir Putin vowed Russia’s annexation of four occupied regions in Ukraine is irreversible as he prepared to formalize Europe’s biggest land grab since World War II. The UN, the European Union, the US and other nations rejected the move as illegitimate as Kyiv fought to recapture lost territory.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Putin’s Annexation Plans Fail to Impress in Besieged Port City
The governor of Mykolayiv, a southern town under brutal bombardment since the start of the war, dismissed Putin’s annexation plan. As Marc Champion writes, Ukrainians already living in the war zones say the Russian president’s actions won’t change anything.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Nord Stream Gas Leaks May Be a New Disaster for the Climate
The rupture of the Nord Stream gas pipelines — which the US and EU countries blamed on Russia — points to a climate disaster. John Aingerand Aaron Clark explain how the breaches released the amount of gas with roughly the same climate impact over a 20-year period as the annual emissions from about 5.48 million US cars.
Norway’s armed forces stepped up patrols of the country’s energy facilities and NATO allies rushed to offer help, as the damage to key gas pipelines raised the stakes in Europe’s energy conflict with Russia.” Read more at Bloomberg
Gas leaks from a Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea on Thursday. Source: Armed Forces of Denmark
“Britain’s Crisis of Confidence Was Years in the Making
Britain is in a self-inflicted financial crisis that threatens to accelerate the economy’s dive into recession. Take a look at how this week’s market crash put the focus on investors’ long-held fears about Britain’s current-account deficit, as well as its fractious relationship with its closest trading partner and a mistrust of what politicians promise.” Read more at Bloomberg
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Coolio performing in 2019.Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images
“‘A lot of people say it saved them from whatever demons they were dealing with,’” Coolio said of his song ‘Gangsta’s Paradise.’ He died this week at 59.” Read more at New York Times
“Karl Lagerfeld will be the subject of the Met’s next Costume Institute blockbuster.” Read more at New York Times
“Cormac McCarthy has given very few interviews over the course of his career, but several early ones have recently been rediscovered.” Read more at New York Times
“Trevor Noah announced that he would step down from ‘The Daily Show.’ Here are some highlights from his seven years as host.” Read more at New York Times
“Lea Michele is stupendous in ‘Funny Girl,’ making the 1964 musical seem better than we know it to be, Jesse Green writes.” Read more at New York Times
“Wendell Pierce is fulfilling his American dream: playing Willy Loman in a Broadway revival of ‘Death of a Salesman.’” Read more at New York Times
“Katie Couric was diagnosed with breast cancer this summer, she wrote in an article on her website.” Read more at New York Times
“The 60th New York Film Festival opened yesterday. It has remained relevant by staying more or less the same, A.O. Scott writes.” Read more at New York Times
“President Biden issued an executive order re-establishing the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.” Read more at New York Times
“The curators for the 2024 Whitney Biennial are Chrissie Iles, a veteran of the museum, and Meg Onli, an emerging voice in the art world.” Read more at New York Times
“Prosecutors in Spain have charged Shakira with tax fraud. Here’s what we know.” Read more at New York Times