The Full Belmonte, 10/20/2022
British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after just six weeks in office
“LONDON – Liz Truss became the shortest-serving leader in British political history after she resigned Thursday less than two months into the job.
Her announcement came after her attempt to roll out a series of aggressive tax cuts aimed at spurring economic growth but which dramatically roiled financial markets, led to unprecedented central bank intervention and drove her personal poll ratings to the lowest ever recorded for a prime minister.
Truss, 47, lasted just 44 days in office. Because Britain elects a party, not a specific leader, she will replaced by another lawmaker from her ruling Conservative Party.
The previous shortest tenure for a British leader was held by Sir Alec Douglas-Home, who served for one year and one day, from 1963 to 1964.
Truss fired Kwasi Kwarteng, her close ally and finance minister, on Oct. 14, even though he was implementing the pro-growth economic policies she campaigned on.
In one survey for polling firm Opinium, Truss had a personal approval rating of -47. Multiple polls have shown that the opposition Labour Party would likely win a landslide victory in a general election. Under British political rules, the Conservative Party must call an election before January 2025. Kwarteng was replaced by Jeremy Hunt, a former foreign minister who was beaten to the prime minister job by Boris Johnson in 2019. Hunt failed to make a run-off in the Conservative Party process that selected Truss.” Read more at USA Today
Trump deposed in E Jean Carroll lawsuit accusing him of rape
The deposition allowed the writer’s lawyers to interrogate the ex-president, though details weren’t immediately disclosed
“Donald Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who says the Republican former president raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room.
The deposition gave Carroll’s lawyers a chance to interrogate Trump about the assault allegations as well as statements he made in 2019 when she told her story publicly for the first time.
Details on how the deposition went weren’t immediately disclosed.
‘We’re pleased that on behalf of our client, E Jean Carroll, we were able to take Donald Trump’s deposition today. We are not able to comment further,’ said a spokesperson for the law firm representing her, Kaplan Hecker & Fink.
Trump has said Carroll’s rape allegation is ‘a hoax and a lie’. Last week, the former president lashed out angrily, calling the legal system a ‘broken disgrace’ after he was ordered to answer questions under oath.
‘Now all I have to do is go through years more of legal nonsense in order to clear my name of her and her lawyer’s phony attacks on me. This can only happen to ‘Trump!’’ he said.
Trump’s legal team worked for years to delay his deposition in the lawsuit, which was filed when he was still president. A federal judge last week rejected Trump’s request for another delay, saying he couldn’t ‘run the clock out on plaintiff’s attempt to gain a remedy for what allegedly was a serious wrong’.
Carroll was to have been questioned by Trump’s lawyers last Friday. Neither her attorneys nor Trump’s have responded to questions about how that deposition went.
The lawyers haven’t disclosed whether the deposition was done in person or remotely, over video. Trump was in Florida on Wednesday. The lawsuit is being handled in a court in New York City.
Anything Trump said during his deposition could potentially be used as evidence in an upcoming civil trial. He hasn’t faced any criminal charges related to Carroll’s allegations and any prosecution is unlikely. The deadline for criminal charges over sexual assaults that occurred in the 1990s has long expired.
Similar legal deadlines also apply to civil lawsuits over sexual assault. As a result, Carroll chose to sue Trump for defamation over comments he made in 2019 when he denied any wrongdoing. She maintains his denials and attacks on her credibility and character damaged her reputation.
However, New York lawmakers recently gave survivors of sexual violence a one-year window to sue their attackers over old assaults. Carroll’s lawyer has told the court she intends to file such a suit against Trump after that window opens in late November.” Read more at The Guardian
Donald Trump Made Legal Claims of Election Fraud He Knew Were False, Judge Says
Findings came in a ruling that required attorney John Eastman to turn over communications to House investigators
A federal judge in California found former President Donald Trump and his attorneys knowingly made false claims about voter fraud in court.PHOTO: MATT YORK/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“A federal judge on Wednesday said former President Donald Trump knowingly made false claims of election fraud in court, in a ruling that required former Trump attorney John Eastman to turn over certain communications to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Mr. Eastman, a former law school dean at Chapman University who had advanced fringe legal theories to challenge the certification of the 2020 presidential-election results, filed a lawsuit last year seeking to stop the school from complying with a subpoena to hand over months of his emails and records to the Jan. 6 committee. Mr. Eastman said the communications were protected by attorney-client privilege.
Representatives for Mr. Trump didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Lawyers for Mr. Eastman didn’t respond to a request for comment. The judge, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, said Mr. Eastman must turn over the materials by Oct. 28. The ruling on Wednesday follows an earlier opinion by Judge Carter that concluded Mr. Trump and Mr. Eastman ‘more likely than not’ committed a felony in their efforts to block the 2020 election results. The judge said evidence appeared to show that the men ‘dishonestly conspired to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress’ the day of the Jan. 6 riot. The earlier ruling required Mr. Eastman to turn over other documents.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Donald Trump's legal team is weighing whether to allow federal agents to return to the former President's Florida residence, and potentially conduct a supervised search, to satisfy the Justice Department's demands that all sensitive government documents are returned, sources tell CNN. In private discussions with Trump's team as well as in court filings, the Justice Department has made clear that it believes Trump has not returned all White House documents marked as classified and that more government records remain missing. Trump is now facing multiple legal battles and contentious court proceedings which could make him more cooperative with the Justice Department in order to swiftly resolve the records issue, sources say.” Read more at CNN
Taxpayer group asks Supreme Court to weigh in on Biden's student loan forgiveness program
“A Wisconsin taxpayer group filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to temporarily block President Joe Biden's administration from implementing its student loan forgiveness program. The appeal from the Brown County Taxpayers Association is one of several percolating in federal courts attempting to stop the effort, which critics argue exceeds the Department of Education's authority. Because the case is arriving on the court's emergency "shadow docket" it could be decided relatively quickly – within a matter of days. If the high court rules that the group has standing to sue, that would send the case back down to a lower court to decide the questions raised by the lawsuit on the merits.” Read more at USA Today
•The application for Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is available: Here's what to know.
An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building, Nov. 2, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.Patrick Semansky, AP
Election deniers could make deep changes to Arizona voting
By JONATHAN J. COOPER and BOB CHRISTIE
“PHOENIX (AP) — Gathered at a table in the state Capitol a little less than two years ago, two Republicans and a Democrat took part in a ceremony prescribed by state law that made official Joe Biden’s 10,500-vote victory in Arizona’s 2020 presidential contest.
While sifting through pages, pen in hand and cameras rolling, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey stopped to silence the ‘hail to the chief’ ringtone on his cell phone. It was a call from President Donald Trump, who was in the midst of a frenetic fight to reverse the results of the election he had lost. Ducey continued signing the papers, in what some saw as a dramatic affirmation of democracy at work.
How a similar scene would play out in 2024 if the three Republicans running for the top statewide offices win in November is anyone’s guess. Each has said they would not have signed off on the 2020 results if they had held office at the time. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, and Mark Finchem, running for secretary of state, have signaled support for vastly overhauling election rules.
Lake, Finchem and Abraham Hamadeh, the attorney general nominee, are running for offices that play a central role in administering or certifying elections and earned Trump’s support by spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election.
‘When you have stolen, corrupt elections, you have serious consequences, even deadly consequences,’ Lake said in June while she was competing in the GOP primary. ‘And unfortunately, we had a stolen election, and we actually have an illegitimate president sitting in the White House.’
Multiple reviews in battleground states, including in Arizona, dozens of court cases and Trump’s own Department of Justice have found there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Despite that, Republican candidates up and down the ballot continue to deny the legitimacy of Biden’s election. Several are running for governor, secretary of state or attorney general in some of the battleground states where Trump disputed his loss, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada.
The possibility of those candidates winning in November raises questions about what they might do regarding elections and certification of results once in office, especially in regard to the 2024 presidential race. Arizona’s candidates for top statewide office offer a window into that possible future.” Read more at AP News
Billionaire Rick Caruso has spent $80m of own money on LA mayoral race, records show
In contrast to the real estate developer with a net worth of around $5.3bn, his opponent Karen Bass raised only $6m as of September
Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso has now poured more than $8ions being spent on the mayoral race and the humanitarian crisis of homelessness in the city.
The candidate’s big dollar spending also comes as the city’s political landscape has been rocked by a racism scandal that ousted the Latina president of the city council and has left two other council members facing furious calls to resign.
It’s not yet clear how residents’ anger over leaked audio of three Latino city council members disparaging Black and indigenous residents and talking in blunt terms about manipulating district lines to maintain their political power might affect overall voter turnout in the election, or Bass or Caruso’s chances of victory.
Recent polls show Bass still leading in the race, though Caruso is narrowing the gap. The survey, released by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies in early October, shows Bass leading by three percentage points among all registered voters and 15 percentage points of likely voters.
Asked about the criticisms of Caruso’s spending on the race, campaign spokesperson Peter Ragone said ‘Rick is not a career politician who has benefited from years of media attention.’ Read more at The Guardian
U.S. officials working on the government’s Covid plan made well-timed financial trades when the pandemic began
“According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, the trades were executed both when the markets fell and when they rose. About 240 federal officials at health agencies and at the Pentagon, a player in the vaccine rollout, reported owning a total of between $9 million and $28 million in stocks of drug, manufacturing and biotechnology companies that won Covid-related federal contracts in 2020 and 2021. The health agencies didn’t respond to requests for comment, and the Pentagon said that most of its employees don’t work on matters affecting large defense contractors or private companies’ finances and that it’s ‘committed to preventing conflicts of interest.’” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“COVID contributed to 1/4 of maternal deaths in the first two years of the pandemic, with Black pregnant women experiencing a mortality rate nearly 3x higher than white women, Axios' Sabrina Moreno reports.” Read more at Axios
Data: IRS; Table: Axios Visuals
“Congressional action from the Reagan era is about to provide some relief to taxpayers, Axios' Emily Peck and Herb Scribner report.
Federal tax brackets will be about 7% higher for the 2023 tax year (filed in 2024). The standard deduction is going up too.
Zoom out: The IRS adjusts tax brackets every year to ward off "bracket creep," when inflation pushes you into a too-high tax bracket.
The bracket adjustments are much higher than usual this year because of inflation.
Brackets weren't adjusted annually like this until Congress codified the annual inflation adjustments as part of the Reagan tax cuts in 1981.
Between the lines: This makes a bigger difference the more you earn.
The 10% marginal rate threshold is going from $10,275 to $11,000.
The 37% rate threshold is going from $539,901 to $578,126.” Read more at Axios
After bomb threats rattled HBCU, frustration with funding and no FBI word on arrests
“At least 57 bomb threats have targeted historically Black colleges and universities this year. But the FBI has not announced any arrests, frustrating many.
Sen. Chris Coons, a co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, said the threats are ‘rooted in a national legacy’ of church bombings assaults against Black Americans.
Although the Education Department is trying to meet schools’ campus security needs with federal grants, some in the HBCU community expressed frustration with the process.
North Carolina Central University officials have noticed a change in students since a January bomb threat at the historically Black university: more depression, anxiety, and distress.
‘With the recent bomb threats, we saw interruptions to how students felt safe and secure on our campus,’ said Charnequa Kennedy, director of the public liberal arts institution’s counseling center.
NCCU received the bomb threat at approximately 5:30 pm on Jan. 4. The campus went into lockdown. Students were relocated. The call to the university’s Durham campus was among at least half a dozen threats aimed at HBCUs that day.
By the end of Black History Month in February, bomb threats at historically Black colleges and universities had swelled to at least 57 — leaving administrators and students on edge and rekindling a history of violence aimed at Black students seeking educational advancement.
The FBI said in March that it was investigating six subjects in the bomb threat cases. But no arrests were made and the menacing behavior continued into the next school year.
Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to schools in March, as the White House launched a program for HBCUs whose learning environments were disrupted by threats, that the intimidation would not stand.
Harris, a graduate of Howard University — a private HBCU in Washington, D.C. — said the Biden administration would ‘do everything in our power’ to protect communities from hateful acts.
Seven months later, a handful of schools have been awarded funds, but others have expressed frustration with the federal grant application processes and limitations on using awarded monies. Many are worried about the lack of arrests and communication from federal authorities.” Read more at USA Today
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
“U.S. citizens aren't the only ones nervously waiting for the midterm elections. Ukrainians are as well. They're concerned about the possibility that Republicans will take control of the house. Last month, most House Republicans voted against a funding package that included billions earmarked for Ukraine.” Read more at NPR
“The good news: The drop in college enrollment is no longer as drastic as it was early on in the pandemic. The bad news: enrollment rates haven't exactly recovered, and colleges aren't making up any ground since the pandemic began.” Read more at NPR
“UCLA student Christian Secor has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He broke into the U.S. Capitol with hundreds of others, entered the Senate chamber with an antisemitic flag and sat in Mike Pence's chair.” Read more at NPR
Anonymous Sender Dumps Pages of Secret Kelly Loeffler Texts
“Revealing text message conversations after the 2020 election compiled in 59 pages of documents were anonymously sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spilling details of former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA). The text trove ‘offers a rare peek into Loeffler’s private deliberations during her final weeks in office as she fought to hold onto her Senate seat while Trump and his allies cast doubt over the election results,’ the newspaper reports. Among the notable texts are from Tricia Raffensperger, wife of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who sends Loeffler a pointed message blaming her for the death threats she and her family received after former President Donald Trump made false claims the election had been rigged in the state. ‘I hold you personally responsible for anything that happens to any of my family, from my husband , children and grandchildren,’ she wrote. A spokesman for Raffensperger confirmed the texts to The New York Times, which also received the messages, while Loeffler spokeswoman Caitlin O’Dea told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the messages were a ‘desperate attempt to distract voters 20 days from the election.’ The texts did not include any personal messages.” [The Daily Beast]
Read it at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Nestlé has issued a voluntary recall of its ready-to-bake refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough with fudge filling after some consumers found white plastic pieces inside.” Read more at NPR
“Parts of Florida hit hardest by Hurricane Ian are seeing nearly double the normal number of infections from a flesh-eating bacteria that thrives in brackish floodwaters.” Read more at NPR
“After being called out for flashing an honorary police badge at a debate, Herschel Walker's campaign is embracing the moment with plans to distribute 1,000 fake badges as a fundraising prop to highlight his support of the police.” Read more at NPR
“Michigan parents are upset over a mural painted by a high school student inside a teen health center at Grant Middle School. They say the ‘Stay Healthy’-themed artwork contains LGBTQ propaganda, a depiction of Satan and a message of witchcraft.” Read more at NPR
This mural is on the wall of the Child and Adolescent Health Center at Grant Middle School in Michigan.
Child and Adolescent Health Center, Grant Middle School
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in four parts of Ukraine claimed last month by Moscow
“It goes into effect tomorrow in the partially occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Martial law includes curfews, detention for up to 30 days of anyone, restrictions on movement, forced resettlement and the internment of citizens from any country deemed to be waging war against Russia, according to the government website.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Russia Blames ‘Malfunction’ for Missile Fired Near UK Plane
“Russian officials blamed a ‘technical malfunction’ after a Kremlin fighter jet fired a missile near a British military aircraft last month. The close call came on Sept. 29 when an unarmed RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft was carrying out a routine patrol in international airspace over the Black Sea. Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets shadowed the British plane, which isn’t unusual. ‘During that interaction, however, it transpired that one of the Su-27 aircraft released a missile in the vicinity of the RAF Rivet Joint beyond visual range,’ British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday. Wallace said the ‘potentially dangerous engagement’ led him to contact his Moscow counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, to ask for an explanation. The Russian authorities replied that an investigation found a ‘technical malfunction of the Su-27 fighter’ was to blame. News of the mishap comes after a Russian fighter jet crashed into a residential building near Ukraine on Monday, killing 13.” Read more at The Daily Beast
A view of Kyiv at dawn on Wednesday. Ukraine has introduced rolling blackouts following repeated attacks on its energy infrastructure.
“Ukraine has been forced to introduce rolling blackouts nationwide today after the country lost at least 40% of its power-generating capacity following days of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure targets. Ukraine's national energy company said Wednesday it needs to apply the restrictions on consumers in order to make the system ‘work in a balanced way.’ The announcement comes as Russia continues to inflict serious damage at power facilities with Iranian-supplied drones, officials said. Iran's Ambassador to the UN denied Wednesday that his country has supplied Russia with drones for use in the war. US officials, however, say they have ‘abundant evidence’ that Russia is using Iranian drones to strike Ukraine.” Read more at CNN
Macron Government Overrides France’s National Assembly to Pass Budget
Move conflicts with president’s pledge to govern as a consensus builder after losing his majority in the lower house of parliament.
French President Emmanuel Macron was unable to gather support from opposition lawmakers for the government’s 2023 budget. PHOTO: LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/SHUTTERSTOCK
“French President Emmanuel Macron’s government invoked rarely used powers Wednesday to override the National Assembly on a crucial budget vote, placing its pro-business agenda on a collision course with parliament.
The Macron government’s decision to invoke Article 49 of France’s constitution allowed it to bypass parliament and pass a budget bill for 2023. The move, however, collided with Mr. Macron’s pledge to govern as a consensus builder after losing his majority in June in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
Lawmakers with the NUPES—the left-leaning coalition of French socialists, communists and greens—said they would retaliate with a no-confidence motion that if successful would force the government to resign. The vote, however, is unlikely to pass because lawmakers from the conservative party Les Républicains and the far-right National Rally have said they won’t back a no-confidence vote put forward by the NUPES.
‘Opposition parties have all reaffirmed their determination to reject this text,’ said Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne speaking at the National Assembly on Wednesday. ‘It is our responsibility to give France a budget.’
The clash is a sign of the dire straits facing Mr. Macron in his second term in office. Social unrest is rising after Russia cut the flow of natural gas to Europe, sending energy prices soaring. More than 100,000 people took to the streets across the country on Tuesday to demand higher wages to cope with rising energy bills and broader inflation. The use of Article 49 risks adding fuel to the fire.
‘It’s like he’s doing his best to push people back to the streets,’ said Sylvie Pecard, a 59-year-old nurse, who took part in protests on Tuesday. The move, she says, shows Mr. Macron’s contempt for lawmakers and the people they represent.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
New Zealand farmers hit streets to protest cow-burp tax plan
By NICK PERRY
“WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Farmers across New Zealand took to the streets on their tractors Thursday to protest government plans to tax cow burps and other greenhouse gas emissions, although the rallies were smaller than many had expected.
Lobby group Groundswell New Zealand helped organize more than 50 protests in towns and cities across the country, the biggest involving a few dozen vehicles.
Last week, the government proposed a new farm levy as part of a plan to tackle climate change. The government said it would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products.
Because farming is so big in New Zealand — there are 10 million beef and dairy cattle and 26 million sheep, compared to just 5 million people — about half of all greenhouse gas emissions come from farms. Methane from burping cattle makes a particularly big contribution.” Read more at AP News
WHO Syria boss accused of corruption, fraud, abuse, AP finds
By MARIA CHENG
“LONDON (AP) — Staffers at the World Health Organization’s Syrian office have alleged that their boss mismanaged millions of dollars, plied government officials with gifts -- including computers, gold coins and cars -- and acted frivolously as COVID-19 swept the country.
More than 100 confidential documents, messages and other materials obtained by The Associated Press show WHO officials told investigators that the agency’s Syria representative, Dr. Akjemal Magtymova, engaged in abusive behavior, pressured WHO staff to sign contracts with high-ranking Syrian government politicians and consistently misspent WHO and donor funds.
Magtymova declined to respond to questions about the allegations, saying that she was ‘prohibited’ from sharing information ‘due to (her) obligations as a WHO staff member.’ She described the accusations as ‘defamatory.’
Complaints from at least a dozen personnel have triggered one of the biggest internal WHO probes in years, at times involving more than 20 investigators, according to staffers linked to the investigation.” Read more at AP News
Covid has made China’s surveillance state even more invasive
“Since the country’s leader Xi Jinping took control in 2012, Beijing has increased censorship of social media, expanded citizen monitoring and cracked down on private enterprise. Government tracking has reached new levels, including mandated Covid tests, forced quarantines and personal QR codes to trace people’s movements. But stricter controls are testing the faith of Chinese citizens in a government that no longer has the va-va-voom economic prospects that underpinned popular support for decades.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Hong Kong Offers Visas, Perks to Reverse Brain Drain After Losing 140,000 From Workforce
City’s chief executive aims to restore Hong Kong’s role as global hub after pandemic, political upheaval spurred exodus of talent
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee delivering his policy address Wednesday.PHOTO: TYRONE SIU/REUTERS
“HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s chief executive announced incentives to lure talent and companies to the city, seeking to reverse an outflow driven by years of stringent pandemic controls and political upheaval that have hurt its reputation as a global business capital.
John Lee, who took the city’s top office in July, unveiled plans to give two-year visas to high earners and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities, tax breaks to some foreign-property buyers who go on to become permanent residents and benefits to companies. Companies will also be able to hire mainland professionals more easily under the plans.
Hong Kong must be more ‘proactive and aggressive’ in competing for top workers and companies, Mr. Lee said in his first annual policy address on Wednesday, adding that about 140,000 people had left the city’s local workforce over the last two years. More than 60% of those were highly skilled, including those who had worked in management positions or had professional qualifications, according to the government.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
US citizen Anne Sacoolas pleads guilty to causing Harry Dunn’s death
British motorcyclist Harry Dunn died in a deadly August 2019 traffic collision outside RAF Croughton.
“Anne Sacoolas, the American woman accused of killing 19-year old British motorcyclist Harry Dunn in a traffic accident near a US military base, pleaded guilty to causing his death on Thursday, according to the UK’s PA Media news agency.
Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity claimed on her behalf and was able to leave the UK weeks after the deadly August 2019 traffic collision outside RAF Croughton, a US military base in England where her husband worked as a US diplomat.
Britain’s attempt to extradite Sacoolas to face charges of causing death by dangerous driving was declined by US authorities, and the incident has sparked some tension between the two countries.” Read more at CNN
How the ‘Black Death’ Left Its Genetic Mark on Future Generations
Scientists have discovered several genetic variants that protect Europeans from the bubonic plague — but also increase the risk of immune disorders.
“Many Europeans carry genetic mutations that protected their ancestors from the bubonic plague, scientists reported on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
When the Black Death struck Europe in 1348, the bacterial infection killed large swaths of people across the continent, driving the strongest pulse of natural selection yet measured in humans, the new study found.
It turns out that certain genetic variants made people far more likely to survive the plague. But this protection came with a price: People who inherit the plague-resistant mutations run a higher risk of immune disorders such as Crohn’s disease.
‘These are the unfortunate side effects of long-term selection for protection,’ said Hendrik Poinar, a geneticist at McMaster University in Canada and an author of the new study.” Read more at New York Times
Stars in a whole new light
Photo: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI via AP
“These are the Pillars of Creation in near-infrared-light view, Axios Space author Miriam Kramer reports.
Why it matters: This is one of the most hotly anticipated images released so far by the James Webb Space Telescope.
The pillars in this view of the Eagle Nebula are made of interstellar dust and gas that feed star formation.
Bright red globes just outside of that dust are newly formed stars, and the squiggly red areas are caused by material being blasted out from those temperamental, baby stars.” Read more at Axios