The Full Belmonte, 11/30/2022
Senate passes same-sex marriage protections
The bill now heads to the House, where Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the chamber will take it up as soon as next week.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, center, joins Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to talk about Democrat efforts to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
11/29/2022 01:14 PM EST
“The Senate passed legislation Tuesday to enshrine same-sex marriage protections in federal law, bringing the bill a critical step closer to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Senators spent months negotiating adding language to the bill related to religious liberty, a bid to attract the necessary 10 GOP votes to break a filibuster. The legislation still needs to clear the House, a likely easy lift since a previous version was approved by nearly 50 House Republicans and all Democrats.
A total of 12 Republicans voted with all Democrats in support of the bill. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indicated Tuesday that the House would take up the Senate version as soon as next week.
The legislation, led by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), would ensure that the federal government recognizes a same-sex marriage, as well as interracial marriage, even if a couple moves to a state that doesn’t do so. In addition, the bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman and passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin in 1996.
‘This is something that many people in the LGBT community would not have expected just a decade ago, it really shows how much has changed in our country, this is a really historic milestone,’ Sinema said in an interview. ‘It builds off of years and years of work of folks who have been talking for decades about ensuring that all couples have the same protections and also making sure that we’re respecting all Americans’ religious freedoms.’
Before Thanksgiving, a total of 12 Senate Republicans supported advancing the legislation, after negotiators included language in the bill that stated it would not impact provisions from a 1993 religious freedom law. That law prohibits the government from placing a substantial burden on an individual’s right to religious liberty. The bill also clarifies that non-profit religious groups would not see their tax treatment change and would not have to perform marriage services. Those changes won the backing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Although the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage in 2015, proponents of the bill argue that the legislation will provide more certainty to same-sex and interracial couples. Democratic lawmakers were particularly keen to act after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in Dobbs questioned the Court’s previous rulings, including on same-sex marriage.” Read more at POLITICO
Congress has 10 days to avert a rail strike
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
“President Joe Biden has asked congressional leaders to prevent a looming rail workers’ strike that could upend the US economy.” [Vox] Read more at New York Times / Michael D. Shear
“Biden urged lawmakers to force rail workers to accept a tentative agreement that his administration negotiated in September. Without intervention, a strike could begin on December 9.” [Vox] Read more at ABC News
“The Railway Labor Act gives Congress broad powers to avert rail strikes, including by assigning negotiators, devising contract terms, and mandating workers accept contracts.” [Vox] Read more at Vox / Li Zhou
“Four of 12 rail unions have rejected the latest agreement, which provides a 24 percent pay increase over five years, because it doesn’t include paid sick leave. Rail workers currently are given zero days sick leave.” [Vox] Read more at Reuters / David Shepardson and Lisa Baertlein
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the House would vote Wednesday to adopt the agreement without any changes. Senate leadership said it would act as soon as possible, though some lawmakers are calling for sick leave to be included in the bill.” [Vox] Read more at NBC / Shannon Pettypiece
“Rail unions criticized Biden’s actions on Tuesday, and said pressuring Congress would not help worker conditions.” [Vox] Read more at CNBC / Lori Ann LaRocco
Oath Keepers’ Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for a violent plot to overturn President Joe Biden’s election, handing the Justice Department a major victory in its massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
A Washington, D.C., jury found Rhodes guilty of sedition after three days of deliberations in the nearly two-month-long trial that showcased the far-right extremist group’s efforts to keep Republican Donald Trump in the White House at all costs.
Rhodes was acquitted of two other conspiracy charges. A co-defendant — Kelly Meggs, who led the antigovernment group’s Florida chapter — was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, while three other associates were cleared of that charge. Jurors found all five defendants guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding: Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.
The verdict, while mixed, marks a significant milestone for the Justice Department and is likely to clear the path for prosecutors to move ahead at full steam in upcoming trials of other extremists accused of sedition.
Rhodes and Meggs are the first people in nearly three decades to be found guilty at trial of seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War-era charge that can be difficult to prove. The offense calls for up to 20 years behind bars.” Read more at AP News
US courts ruling in favor of justice department turns legal tide on Trump
The ex-president’s supporters will no longer be able to avoid testifying before grand juries in Washington DC and Georgia
Peter Stone in Washington
Tue 29 Nov 2022 05.00 EST
“A spate of major court rulings rejecting claims of executive privilege and other arguments by Donald Trump and his top allies are boosting investigations by the US justice department (DoJ) and a special Georgia grand jury into whether the former US president broke laws as he sought to overturn the 2020 election results.
Former prosecutors say the upshot of these court rulings is that key Trump backers and ex-administration lawyers – such as ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows and legal adviser John Eastman – can no longer stave off testifying before grand juries in DC and Georgia. They are wanted for questioning about their knowledge of – or active roles in – Trump’s crusade to stop Joe Biden from taking office by leveling false charges of fraud.
Due to a number of court decisions, Meadows, Eastman, Senator Lindsey Graham and others must testify before a special Georgia grand jury working with the Fulton county district attorney focused on the intense drive by Trump and top loyalists to pressure the Georgia secretary of state and other officials to thwart Biden’s victory there.
Similarly, court rulings have meant that top Trump lawyers such as former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who opposed Trump’s zealous drive to overturn the 2020 election, had to testify without invoking executive privilege before a DC grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to block Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory.
On another legal front, some high level courts have ruled adversely for Trump regarding the hundreds of classified documents he took to his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago when he left office, thus helping an inquiry into whether he broke laws by holding onto papers that should have been sent to the National Archives.” Read more at The Guardian
Walmart Sued by Employee Who Says She Complained About Gunman
A lawsuit claims the retailer was warned months ago about “threatening” behavior by the worker who the police say opened fire in the store last week.
Nov. 29, 2022
“A woman who survived the shooting that killed six employees at a Walmart store in Chesapeake, Va., last week has sued the retailer, saying she warned it months ago of “bullying, threatening and harassing” behavior by the person identified by police as the gunman.
Donya Prioleau, an employee in the Chesapeake Walmart, said in her lawsuit filed on Tuesday that she had lodged a formal complaint against the man, who was a supervisor in the store, after he repeatedly made bizarre and inappropriate comments to her.
Ms. Prioleau’s mother even visited the store in September to warn managers about the employee’s behavior because she was “very concerned for her daughter’s safety,” according to the lawsuit. But she was told that nothing could be done because he was “liked by management,” the lawsuit said.
“We are reviewing the complaint and will be responding as appropriate with the court,” a Walmart spokesman, Randy Hargrove, said in a statement.” Read more at New York Times
Twitter nixed its Covid-19 misinformation policy, saying it would no longer limit the spread of incorrect information about the pandemic.
“Under Elon Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, the company has loosened moderation guidelines. Other social-media companies such as TikTok, Snap and Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, have strategies in place to remove or control Covid misstatements.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
New Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Positive Results but Side Effects
The drug from Eisai and Biogen slowed cognitive decline in study volunteers, but many had brain bleeds, swelling or other side effects
Eisai, which is leading the development of lecanemab, has said it plans to seek full approval using the new study data. PHOTO: KRIS TRIPPLAAR/SIPA USA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nov. 29, 2022 7:50 pm ET
“Researchers released new details from a study of a closely watched drug for Alzheimer’s disease on Tuesday, shedding more light on the drug’s risks and benefits as U.S. health regulators weigh approving it.
Eisai Co. and Biogen Inc.’s drug, called lecanemab, slowed cognitive decline by 27% compared with a placebo over 18 months in a study of more than 1,700 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday.
The drug’s effect was moderate, and was associated with swelling and bleeding in the brain, the researchers said. They recommended further, longer study of the drug.
Some 17.3% of patients taking lecanemab had signs of brain bleeding, compared with 9% in the placebo group. Brain swelling occurred in 12.6% of people getting the drug, versus 1.7% who got placebos.
The study data have been eagerly anticipated by Alzheimer’s researchers since Eisai disclosed high-level results in September, raising the hopes of doctors and patients that a new treatment proven to help Alzheimer’s patients is on the horizon.
The companies have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to conditionally approve lecanemab based on an earlier study showing that the drug reduced levels of a protein in the brain called amyloid associated with Alzheimer’s. The agency is expected to make a decision by Jan. 6.
Eisai, which is leading the development of lecanemab, has said it plans to seek full approval using the new study data.
Some doctors said the latest data are likely good enough to support approval because the drug met the goals of the study, but questioned whether the drug’s effectiveness is strong enough to outweigh its potential harms for real-world use.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, condemned Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist, without directly criticizing Trump for dining with him.” Read more at New York Times
McCarthy's math problem
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters after a White House meeting yesterday. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy met yesterday with key members of his conference — including several right-wing detractors — as part of an intensifying effort to cobble together the votes he needs to become speaker, Axios' Andrew Solender reports.
Why it matters: McCarthy is at risk of a humiliating and potentially career-ending defeat with just five weeks until the Jan. 3 speaker election.
Several members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus are still publicly vowing to deny him crucial votes.
What we're hearing: The Great Compromise might be to ditch McCarthy and accept his No. 2, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), as replacement.
What's happening: McCarthy will need a majority of voting members to elect him speaker. With a House Republican majority of just five or six seats, he will only be able to afford a handful of defections.
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) told Axios he's a firm ‘no’ on McCarthy after previously leaving wiggle room: ‘I will be voting for an alternative candidate. I will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy.’
In addition to Good, Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Ralph Norman (R-N.C.) have said they're hard ‘no.’ Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) has also voiced firm opposition.
McCarthy told reporters yesterday he won't drop out if he fails on the first vote. He promised a floor fight even if the process goes into multiple ballots: ‘At the end of the day, we’ll get there.’
Conservative radio powerhouse Mark Levin is lighting up House Republicans — by name — for opposing McCarthy. On his show yesterday, he called them ‘boneheads’ and ‘saboteurs.’” Read more at Axios
'24 watch: Nikki Haley might challenge Trump
Nikki Haley speaks at Clemson University in South Carolina yesterday. Photo: Meg Kinnard/AP
“Nikki Haley — UN ambassador under former President Trump, and former South Carolina governor — signaled she's open to challenging him in 2024, after previously saying she wouldn't.
‘We are taking the holidays to kind of look at what the situation is,’ she said at a Turning Point USA event at Clemson University. ‘If we decide to get into it, we'll put 1,000% in, and we'll finish it.’
Top Trump ally Taylor Budowich tweeted back: ‘It is unfortunate to see politicians who Pres. Trump made relevant use '24 as life support for their political career.’” Read more at Axios
China vows crackdown on ‘hostile forces’ as public tests Xi
“BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to ‘resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces,’ following the largest street demonstrations in decades staged by citizens fed up with strict anti-virus restrictions.
The statement from the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission released late Tuesday comes amid a massive show of force by security services to deter a recurrence of the protests that broke out over the weekend in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and several other cities.
While it did not directly address the protests, the statement serves as a reminder of the party’s determination to enforce its rule.
Hundreds of SUVs, vans and armored vehicles with flashing lights were parked along city streets Wednesday while police and paramilitary forces conducted random ID checks and searched people’s mobile phones for photos, banned apps or other potential evidence that they had taken part in the demonstrations.” Read more at AP News
“Ukraine assistance | The US will keep money and weapons flowing to Ukraine after the Republicans take control of the House in January, GOP Representative Michael McCaul said, playing down concerns that lawmakers in his party who advocate a halt in funding will succeed. McCaul, who will take over chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he expects the Biden administration’s request for almost $40 billion in Ukraine funding to pass both chambers.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Ukraine should be free to strike military sites inside Russia as Vladimir Putin continues a campaign to destroy his neighbor’s critical infrastructure, and with it the ability of civilians to survive the winter, Latvia’s foreign minister said. His statement, in which he said allies should not fear escalation, comes as NATO continues to take great pains not to send Kyiv weapons that could provoke a direct confrontation with Moscow. The Biden administration meanwhile is weighing whether to label Russia’s Wagner Group, a mercenary outfit run by Putin aide Yevgeny Prigozhin, a foreign terrorist organization—part of US efforts to handicap the group’s attacks inside Ukraine and its growing presence in Africa.” Read more at Bloomberg
Yevgeny Prigozhin Photographer: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Former President Jiang Zemin, who guided China’s rise, dies
By JOE McDONALD
“BEIJING (AP) — Former President Jiang Zemin, who led China out of isolation after the army crushed the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989 and supported economic reforms that led to a decade of explosive growth, died Wednesday. He was 96.
Jiang died of leukemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai, where he was a former mayor and Communist Party secretary, state TV and the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
A surprise choice to lead a divided Communist Party after the 1989 turmoil, Jiang saw China through history-making changes including a revival of market-oriented reforms, the return of Hong Kong from British rule in 1997 and Beijing’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Even as China opened to the outside, Jiang’s government stamped out dissent. It jailed human rights, labor and pro-democracy activists and banned the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which the ruling party saw as a threat to its monopoly on power.
Jiang gave up his last official title in 2004 but remained a force behind the scenes in the wrangling that led to the rise of current President Xi Jinping, who took power in 2012.
Xi has tightened political control, crushed China’s little remaining dissent and reasserted the dominance of state industry.
Rumors that Jiang might be in declining health spread after he missed a ruling party congress in October at which Xi, China’s most powerful figure since at least the 1980s, broke with tradition and awarded himself a third five-year term as leader.
Jiang was on the verge of retirement as Shanghai party leader in 1989 when he was drafted by then-paramount leader leader Deng Xiaoping to pull together the party and nation. He succeeded Zhao Ziyang, who was dismissed by Deng due to his sympathy for the student-led Tiananmen Square protesters and was held under house arrest until his 2005 death.
In 13 years as party general secretary, China’s most powerful post, Jiang guided the country’s rise to economic power by welcoming capitalists into the ruling party and pulling in foreign investment after China joined the WTO. China passed Germany and then Japan to become the second-largest economy after the United States.
Jiang captured a political prize when Beijing was picked as the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics after failing in an earlier bid.
A former soap factory manager, Jiang capped his career with the communist era’s first orderly succession, handing over his post as party leader in 2002 to Hu Jintao, who also took the ceremonial title of president the following year.
Jiang tried to hold onto influence by staying on as chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls the party’s military wing, the 2 million-member People’s Liberation Army. He gave up that post in 2004 following complaints he might divide the government.
Even after he left office, Jiang had influence over promotions through his network of proteges.
He was said to be frustrated that Deng had picked Hu as the next leader, blocking Jiang from installing his own successor. But Jiang was considered successful in elevating allies to the party’s seven-member Standing Committee, China’s inner circle of power, when Xi became leader in 2012.” Read more at AP News
Egyptians call on British Museum to return Rosetta Stone
By JACK B. JEFFERY
This undated photo provided by the British Museum, shows the Rosetta Stone, the centerpiece of a new exhibition at London’s largest museum titled, ‘Hieroglyphs unlocking ancient Egypt,’ celebrating the 200th anniversary of the stone's decipherment, at the British Museum, in London. Thousands of Egyptians are demanding that the British Museum return the Rosetta stone. The bilingual carvings on the stone proved to be the breakthrough in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics after being unearthed by colonialists in Egypt in 1799. (The British Museum via AP)
CAIRO (AP) — The debate over who owns ancient artifacts has been an increasing challenge to museums across Europe and America, and the spotlight has fallen on the most visited piece in the British Museum: The Rosetta Stone.
The inscriptions on the dark grey granite slab became the seminal breakthrough in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics after it was taken from Egypt by forces of the British empire in 1801.
Now, as Britain’s largest museum marks the 200-year anniversary of the decipherment of hieroglyphics, thousands of Egyptians are demanding the stone’s return.
‘The British Museum’s holding of the stone is a symbol of Western cultural violence against Egypt,’ said Monica Hanna, dean at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, and organizer of one of two petitions calling for the stone’s return.
The acquisition of the Rosetta Stone was tied up in the imperial battles between Britain and France. After Napoleon Bonaparte’s military occupation of Egypt, French scientists uncovered the stone in 1799 in the northern town of Rashid, known by the French as Rosetta. When British forces defeated the French in Egypt, the stone and over a dozen other antiquities were handed over to the British under the terms of an 1801 surrender deal between the generals of the two sides.
It has remained in the British Museum since.
Hanna’s petition, with 4,200 signatures, says the stone was seized illegally and constitutes a ‘spoil of war.’ The claim is echoed in a near identical petition by Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister for antiquities affairs, which has more than 100,000 signatures. Hawass argues that Egypt had no say in the 1801 agreement.
The British Museum refutes this. In a statement, the Museum said the 1801 treaty includes the signature of a representative of Egypt. It refers to an Ottoman admiral who fought alongside the British against the French. The Ottoman sultan in Istanbul was nominally the ruler of Egypt at the time of Napoleon’s invasion.
The Museum also said Egypt’s government has not submitted a request for its return. It added that there are 28 known copies of the same engraved decree and 21 of them remain in Egypt.
The contention over the original stone copy stems from its unrivaled significance to Egyptology. Carved in the 2nd century B.C., the slab contains three translations of a decree relating to a settlement between the then-ruling Ptolemies and a sect of Egyptian priests. The first inscription is in classic hieroglyphics, the next is in a simplified hieroglyphic script known as Demotic, and the third is in Ancient Greek.
Through knowledge of the latter, academics were able to decipher the hieroglyphic symbols, with French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion eventually cracking the language in 1822.” Read more at AP News
“First censure | Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison became the nation’s first leader to be censured by Parliament over his decision to secretly be sworn into five ministries in 2020 and 2021. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described his predecessor’s actions as ‘an abuse of power and a trashing of our democracy,’ while Morrison said the move was necessary to deal with the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Dynastic debut | Kim Jong Un’s ‘most beloved’ daughter has suddenly been featured in North Korean state media alongside her father, recently in a photo op to celebrate the successful launch of the country’s most powerful ballistic missile. Her age and name remain a mystery. But the events sent clear signals to the local public and the world: First, the Kim regime is here to stay. Second, the ruling family won’t be bargaining away its nuclear arsenal any time soon.” Read more at Bloomberg
Kim Jong Un with his daughter following the launch of Hwasong-17 ICBM. Photographer: AP Photo/KCNA via KNS
“Cyberattackers crippled systems at one of India’s most prominent hospitals for a week, forcing the institution to operate a raft of key medical services and labs manually.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has turned once-welcome Russian oligarchs into sanctioned pariahs, and the number of frozen properties in and around the UK capital has exploded: Their combined value is more than £2 billion ($2.1 billion), and maybe much more, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. As Jack Sidders reports, a swath of the finest residential and commercial addresses in a city once jokingly known as ‘Londongrad’ is now trapped in limbo.” Read more at Bloomberg
14 Cornhill, opposite the Bank of England, whose main tenant is sanctioned Russian bank VTB. Photographer: Aisha S Gani/Bloomberg
Musk is waging war on Apple. Republicans are joining in.
Elon Musk attacked Apple’s practices in a series of tweets Monday. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)
“New Twitter owner Elon Musk escalated his attacks against Apple on Monday, accusing the tech giant of scaling back advertising on the platform and of threatening to pull it from its App Store.
Joining him in his battle against the behemoth? Congressional Republicans.
In a flurry of tweets, Musk questioned whether Apple hates ‘free speech’ for ‘mostly’ halting its Twitter advertising, accused the company of censoring developers and likened the tech giant’s grip on the app store market to a monopoly.
Musk also claimed Apple had ‘threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store’ without explanation and sharply criticized the 30 percent commission fee it takes from many developers. By doing so, Musk waged war on Twitter’s top advertiser, as my colleagues Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill reported.
Apple did not return a request for comment. But when asked about the prospect of removing Twitter from the Apple App Store in a Nov. 15 interview, CEO Tim Cook replied, ‘They say that they are going to continue to moderate and so … I count on them to do that.’
Musk’s tweets resonated with Republicans on Capitol Hill, who hammered Apple last year for suspending right-leaning social network Parler over concerns about its content moderation efforts and some of whom have backed bills to rein in the tech giant’s app store practices.
Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), the top Republican on the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee, called Apple’s purported threat to yank Twitter ‘unacceptable’ and said it ‘makes the case for the Open App Markets Act.’
The proposal, which has advanced out of committee in the House and Senate but has yet to clear either chamber, would prohibit major app store providers from requiring that developers carry their payment processing systems and from giving their own apps preferential treatment.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), the lead Republican sponsor of the bill in the chamber, said in a statement to The Technology 202 that ‘Apple’s alleged threat to remove Twitter from its App Store further proves we must rein in big tech.’
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who is leading the bill in the House, echoed the sentiment:
The jabs could foreshadow greater scrutiny of Apple and Google for moderation practices managing their app stores, particularly next Congress in a GOP-controlled House.
Last year, House Republicans railed against the two tech giants over their treatment of Parler, a right-leaning social network that bills itself as the ‘global free speech app’ and that became a popular hub for 2020 election deniers. Both Apple and Google eventually reinstated Parler to their app stores, but in their tech accountability platform for next Congress, House GOP leaders signaled their desire to keep probing the app store issues by vowing to ‘[e]xplore Apple and Google’s app store policies, including how their decisions to remove or host certain apps limits or increases consumer choice.’
Musk’s allegations are likely to revive GOP complaints that Apple is targeting social networks with more lax content moderation policies and squelching free speech.” Read more at Washington Post
U.S. advances
Team USA midfielder Weston McKennie celebrates the goal that put them into the knockout stage at the World Cup in Qatar. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
“The U.S. beat Iran 1-0 today to finish second in Group B behind England.
Team USA will play Team Netherlands on Saturday.
️ Christian Pulisic, who scored the winning goal, was taken to a hospital for an abdominal injury, according to the U.S. Soccer Federation.” Read more at Axios
1 stage thing: Long "Phantom" goodbye
Ben Crawford during a performance of "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway. Photo: Matthew Murphy/The Publicity Office via AP
“The "Phantom of the Opera" — Broadway's longest-running show — got a spike in ticket sales after announcing the end was nigh. So the show announced the run will extend an extra eight weeks, to April 16.
The closing of "Phantom" — a fixture on Broadway since 1988 — will mean the longest-running-show crown will go to "Chicago," which opened in 1996. "The Lion King," playing since 1997, is next.” Read more at Axios
Top tunes of '22
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
“Apple Music came out ahead of Spotify Wrapped this holiday season, Axios' Herb Scribner reports.
‘Stay’ by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber is the platform's top global song of the year.
Bad Bunny — who secured Apple Music’s 2022 Artist of the Yearaward — became the first Latin artist to have the biggest album of the year on the platform.
Other top songs from Apple Music's global chart included:
‘As It Was’ by Harry Styles
‘Wait For U’ by Future featuring Drake and Tems
‘Super Gremlin ‘by Kodak Black
‘Easy on Me’ by Adele
‘Heat Waves’ by Glass Animals” Read more at Axios