The Full Belmonte, 10/19/2023
The U.S. said Israel wasn’t to blame for a deadly hospital strike in Gaza.
“Yesterday: On a visit to Israel, President Biden said the strike appeared to come from an ‘errant rocket fired by a terrorist group.’ U.S. intelligence also said Israel wasn’t responsible.
Why it matters: Palestinian officials said Tuesday’s strike, which they blamed on Israel, killed 471 people. It sparked protests and fueled fears of wider escalation.
What else to know: Biden said Egypt agreed to allow 20 trucks of aid into the Gaza Strip as it faces a humanitarian crisis. He’ll address the U.S. response to the war at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Read this story at Washington Post
A Palestinian boy walks past a destroyed building in Gaza.
Israel
“Egypt has agreed to allow the first aid trucks into Gaza as anger rises globally over Israel's siege of the isolated enclave in response to the brutal Hamas attacks. The relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israel and a pileup of crucial aid in the region has sparked growing protests across the Middle East. Nearly 3,500 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with the World Health Organization saying conditions are ‘spiraling out of control’ for millions now trapped in the enclave. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is expected to deliver an Oval Office address later today to make the case for sustaining wartime aid to both Israel and Ukraine as public opinion regarding US assistance has been mixed.” [CNN]
World Leaders
“Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, is in Israel to express support and push for a humanitarian aid route in Gaza. He is expected to visit other nations in the region.” [New York Times]
“Xi Jinping, China’s leader, called for a cease-fire and said Beijing still supported the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.” [New York Times]
Biden’s Visit
President Biden on Air Force One.Kenny Holston/The New York Times
“President Biden departed Israel after meeting with victims of the Hamas attacks, including a grandmother held at gunpoint who offered food to her captors.” [New York Times]
“He sympathized with Israelis’ pain, The Times’s Peter Baker wrote, but also offered a gentle warning that they not be consumed by rage.” [New York Times]
“‘After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States,’ Biden said. ‘While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.’” [New York Times]
“Biden said he had secured a commitment from Israel to allow some humanitarian aid into Gaza through Egypt. He also announced $100 million in U.S. aid for Palestinian civilians.” [New York Times]
Rep. Jim Jordan failed again to become House speaker yesterday.
Tracking votes. Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times
“What happened? The Ohio lawmaker lost a second round of voting as 22 House Republicans didn’t support him. See how your representative voted here.
What now? The House will vote again today but Jordan’s path forward isn’t clear. Some want to give more power to Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the interim speaker.
What else to know: Republicans who oppose Jordan are facing threats.”
Read this story at Washington Post
A Dutch man admitted to the 2005 murder of Natalee Holloway.
“The details: Joran van der Sloot, 36, said in a plea deal yesterday that he beat 18-year-old Holloway to death on a beach in Aruba after she rejected his advances.
Zooming out: The Alabama teen’s disappearance led to months of wall-to-wall news coverage, raising questions about media coverage of missing White women.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Covid-19
“The price of the lifesaving Covid-19 medication Paxlovid will more than double in the coming months, drugmaker Pfizer announced Wednesday. The change in list price comes as the US transitions from a system in which the government purchased the medication and provided it free to everyone to a more traditional commercial marketplace. The list price, before insurance, will be $1,390 for a five-day course, Pfizer said. That's 2.6 times higher than the $530-per-course price paid by the US government, which provided Paxlovid free to patients during the pandemic. Covid-19 vaccines also increased in price as they went through a similar transition to a commercial market, rising about fourfold to between $115 to $130 per dose.” [CNN]
Pollution
“A group of Republican-led states and industry groups are asking the Supreme Court to block President Biden's ‘good neighbor’ pollution rule. The regulation aims to cut down on harmful smog and air pollution that wafts across state lines. For instance, if one state generating ozone and smog through its coal-fired power plants sends these pollutants into another neighboring state, it could be in violation of the rule. In their application to the Supreme Court, the GOP-led states and industry groups say the plan finalized by the EPA threatens the reliability of the nation's electric grid. The high court will likely ask for a response from the EPA before taking action.” [CNN]
Defendant in Tupac Shakur killing case will enter plea
“The Southern California street gang leader charged in the fatal shooting of Tupac Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas will make a court appearance Thursday. Duane "Keffe D" Davis' faces accusations he orchestrated the drive-by killing of the rap music icon. Davis won't immediately enter a plea. In recent years Davis has publicly described his role in Shakur's death, including in interviews and a 2019 tell-all memoir that described his life as a leader of a Crips gang sect in Compton. Davis is the only living person among four men who were in the car from which shots were fired at Shakur and rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight, and his indictment made him the first person ever arrested in Shakur's death.” Read more at Washington Post
Duane "Keffe D" Davis is led into the courtroom at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in Las Vegas. Davis has been charged in the 1996 fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur.
Bizuayehu Tesfaye, AP
“Israel’s intensifying war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas has prompted many US-allied Arab countries to worry about their own security.
The blame game over the explosion at the Gaza hospital that Palestinian officials said left hundreds dead highlights the dilemma of those nations that have made peace with Israel or were in the process of doing so.
They are struggling to balance international demands to condemn Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel and killing of at least 1,400 people with the massive sympathy among their citizens for the group regarded as a symbol of Palestinian resistance.
Arab states had hoped Joe Biden’s visit would have a calming effect. Instead, it became too great a liability for the region’s leaders to be seen with the US president after the hospital catastrophe.
As widespread protests ensued, the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority canceled a meeting yesterday with Biden in Jordan. The president risked inflaming the situation further by siding publicly with Israel’s assertion that a Palestinian militant group was responsible for the disaster.
With the US offering words, money and military aid in support of Israel’s right to crush Hamas, many Arab states are now looking for help in deescalating the crisis from China, Europe, Russia, and even Iran, which many consider a foe.
Saudi Arabia was making progress toward normalizing ties with Israel just days before the assault. Yesterday, it blamed Israel for the ‘heinous crime’ at the hospital, and its foreign minister held talks in Jeddah with his counterpart from Iran, which has provided military and financial support for Hamas for decades.
Public outrage in the region is likely to intensify as Israel prepares its full-blown ground offensive in Gaza and Palestinian fatalities — now reportedly around 4,000 — mount.
Leaders in many Arab capitals will be walking a tightrope as they calibrate their international response while worrying about their own stability at home.” —Sam Dagher [Bloomberg]
A pro-Palestinian demonstration on a road leading to the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. Photographer: Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg
“The dispatch of two US aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean is designed to warn Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iran-backed groups against getting involved in the Israel-Hamas war. Washington has sent back-channel messages to suggest to Iran that it’s serious about using force if necessary, sources say.” [Bloomberg]
“President Xi Jinping reiterated that China supports Russia’s efforts in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests. Deepening bilateral relations is not an expedient but a long-term solution, Xi told Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Beijing yesterday, according to a Chinese government statement. His comments reinforce the tight ties between China and Russia, especially since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
WATCH: Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has become increasingly dependent on China — a situation that’s of deep concern to the US.” Source: Bloomberg [Bloomberg]
“Removing the ruling Law & Justice party’s grip on Poland’s national broadcaster is a first vital step to restore democratic institutions the European Union has slammed Warsaw for undermining. As Piotr Skolimowski writes, Donald Tusk and his future governing coalition face a tough task in unpicking the elements of a power grab that run deep into the state.” [Bloomberg]
“The US suspended sanctions on Venezuelan oil, gas and gold production and lifted some restrictions on bond trading. It was a gesture of goodwill after President Nicolas Maduro’s government entered into talks with some members of the opposition and an expression of confidence that the strongman is ready to hold an open election.” [Bloomberg]
“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed support for North Korea’s policies in a speech commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pyongyang and Moscow.” [Bloomberg]
“The Philippines is pushing to bolster defense ties with the US and Japan amid the Southeast Asian nation’s lingering territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.” [Bloomberg]
“The EU will host leaders of some 20 countries next week to boost its global infrastructure plan aimed at competing with China in strategic regions, sources say.” [Bloomberg]
Failed Indigenous Voice Referendum Seen as a Setback to Australia Becoming a Republic
OCTOBER 19, 2023 4:00 AM EDT
“CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s failed referendum on the Indigenous Voice has set back the government’s plans to cut the nation’s constitutional ties to Britain’s King Charles III, a minister said Thursday.
Australians last week overwhelmingly rejected the referendum that would have enshrined in the constitution an Indigenous advisory body to Parliament.
The loss reduced the chances of another referendum soon to make the country a republic with an Australian president as head of state instead of the British monarch, Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite said.
‘In my view, it’s not off, but it does certainly make it a lot harder,’ Thistlethwaite told Sky News Australia.
‘Australians are reluctant to look at further referendums in the short term,’ he added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the Voice referendum a top priority for his center-left Labor Party government’s first three-year term when it was elected last year.
Albanese placed Thistlethwaite in charge of paving the way toward a republic and left open the prospect of a referendum being held in a second term if Labor wins the 2025 election.
Queen Elizabeth II’s death last year at the age of 96 was widely seen as increasing Australians’ mood for constitutional change to a republic….” Read more at Time
October 19, 2023
Good morning. We’re covering the great American investment slump….
The lounge on a Pan Am Boeing 707 in 1958. Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images
From A to B
“The next time you take a trip within the U.S., I encourage you to try a thought experiment: Imagine how long the same trip might have taken a half-century ago. Chances are, it would have taken less time than it does today.
The scheduled flight time between Los Angeles and New York, for example, has become about 30 minutes longer. Aviation technology has not advanced in ways that speed the trip, and the skies have become so crowded that pilots reroute planes to avoid traffic. Nearly every other part of the trip also lasts longer than it would have a few decades ago, thanks to traffic on the roads and airport security. All told, a cross-country trip could take a few more hours today than it would have in the 1970s.
Shorter trips also take more time. Auto traffic in almost every metro area has worsened, and the country has done little to improve its rail network. In 1969, Metroliner trains made two-and-a-half-hour, nonstop trips between Washington and New York. Today, there are no nonstop trains on that route, and the fastest trip, on Acela trains, takes about 20 minutes longer than the Metroliner once did.
The speed at which people can get from one place to another is one of the most basic measures of a society’s sophistication. It affects economic productivity and human happiness; academic research has found that commuting makes people more unhappy than almost any other daily activity. Yet in one area of U.S. travel after another, progress has largely stopped over the past half-century.
This lack of recent progress is not a result of any physical or technological limits, either. In other parts of the world, travel has continued to accelerate. Shanghai’s airport is almost 20 miles from its city center, and the trip on a high-speed train takes less than 10 minutes. La Guardia Airport and Times Square are significantly closer together — yet good luck making the trip in less than 30 minutes.
Why is it more difficult to get around the U.S.? Above all, it’s because our society has stopped investing in the future as we once did.
For decades, government investment in highways, mass transit, scientific research, education and other future-oriented programs has grown more slowly than it once did — and has often failed to keep pace with economic growth. And the private sector tends to underinvest in these same areas because any individual company has a hard time making a profit from early-stage investments.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis | By The New York Times
This shortfall of investment affects far more than travel. It affects economic growth, public health and both racial and gender inequities. The long American investment slump is one of the causes of our modern malaise, with rising income inequality, declining life expectancy, and deep frustration about the economy even when it’s growing.
Interstate 90 in 1972.Associated Press
I explain the connection in a new Times Magazine article that goes into much more detail about the investment slump. The article also explains why there are some signs — albeit early ones — that the U.S. is rethinking its recent approach.” [New York Times]
What’s Causing Early Death in America’?
“Stress is a major reason why Americans live shorter lives than peers in similarly wealthy nations, The Washington Post reports.
Half of Americans say insufficient income is a source of stress, and more than half point to a lack of savings, per a Washington Post-Ipsos poll.
Researchers zoom out and say the day-in, day-out stress of living in an unequal society leads to early death.
What does long-term stress do to the body? Repeated and regular activation of the body’s sympathetic nervous system (‘the fight-or-flight system’) forces high blood pressure and inflammation to persist, stiffening blood vessels and making the heart work harder.
The result is ‘weathering,’ a term coined by University of Michigan researcher Arline T. Geronimus to describe the connection of stress to premature aging.
Uneven weathering: Stress experienced by Black people leads them to experience hypertension, diabetes, and strokes a decade earlier than whites, per a 2016 Journal of Urban Health article.
The Quote: ‘This has to be a societal project, not the new app on your phone that will remind you to take deep breaths when you’re feeling stress,’ Geronimus says.” [Global Health NOW]
Rings
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
A'ja Wilson builds a dynasty
“So much of the conversation after Las Vegas’ Game 3 loss in the WNBA Finals was focused on players the Aces would be without. Starters Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes were hobbled, and so was the Aces’ chance at another title, even if they were up 2-1 on New York.
Last night was a reminder to focus on the players they still had — most notably, A’ja Wilson, the person many thought should’ve been WNBA MVP this year. She looked the part last night. The Aces are champions for the second straight year because of it.
The game itself was incredible. The Liberty held a lead for most of the contest until an Aces surge in the third quarter. Vegas had every chance to let up in the fourth quarter, even when a six-point lead evaporated in the final minute, and never did. It’s hard to top a title-clinching game coming down to the last possession. Aces 70, Liberty 69.
Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, earning Finals MVP. Breanna Stewart, who won league MVP over Wilson, shot just 3-for-17 from the floor. The juxtaposition came on Stewart’s home floor, too. Yeesh. Plus Wilson stifled Jonquel Jones, who scored below double digits for the first time all postseason. Disappointment was high in the New York locker room.
The Aces are officially a dynasty, the first team to win consecutive WNBA titles since the Los Angeles Sparks did it in 2001-2002.
Here’s Aces owner Mark Davis dancing for good measure: [The Athletic]
We have a series
“We didn’t really expect the Astros to saunter away into the offseason, right? This team has been to seven straight ALCS and won a ring last year. Their gutty, 8-5 win over the Rangers last night, bringing the series to 2-1, was thus unsurprising.
A few impressive notes from a heady night:
Houston raced out to a 5-0 lead on Rangers starter Max Scherzer, who was making his first appearance in 36 days. Maybe he shouldn’t have started, but it’s hard to say no to Scherzer.
Before last night, the Rangers had trailed for just three plate appearances over seven postseason games, as Jayson Stark noted in his excellent Weird and Wild column. They trailed the entire contest last night.
Houston is now 7-1 at Globe Life Field this season. Maybe we’ll get one of those bizarre series in which the road team wins every game. Advantage: Rangers?
Thing is, the Rangers showed plenty of moxie last night. Josh Jung hit two massive home runs, and Texas never really felt out of it. Then, Jung was up with one out and a man on base in the ninth, hoping to make it a one-run game. A double play ended it.
This series is officially fun, and maybe we should hope it goes the distance, especially if the Phillies win later. Schedule for today:”
Phillies at Diamondbacks
5 p.m. ET on TBSAstros at Rangers
8 p.m. ET on FS1[The Athletic]
“Lives Lived: Burt Young was best known for playing Paulie in the “Rocky” movies. But his bulldog build and doleful countenance also appeared in harrowing dramas and comedies. He died at 83.” [New York Times]
There’s a new hottest pepper in the world.
Ed Currie holds his creation, the Pepper X. (Jeffrey Collins/AP)
“What is it? Pepper X. It dethroned the Carolina Reaper as the spiciest pepper this week, hitting an average of 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units. (That’s a lot hotter than a jalapeño.)
How does it taste? Kind of earthy, according to its creator. But he said that flavor was swiftly followed by brutal heat and stomach cramps.”
Read this story at Washington Post