The Full Belmonte, 12/22/2023
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health officials say
“The Israeli military campaign in Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in history. The war in Gaza has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, health officials in the Hamas-run territory said Friday, a new reflection of the staggering cost of Israel’s offensive as pressure grows to scale it back. Read more.
Recent developments:
In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol and, by some measures, the destruction has outpaced Allied bombings of Germany during World War II. The campaign has also killed more civilians than the U.S.-led coalition did in its three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.
The figure, amounting to nearly 1% of the territory’s prewar population, is just one measure of the devastation wrought by the conflict, which over 11 weeks has displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s people and leveled wide swaths of the tiny coastal enclave.
The United Nations says more than a half-million people in Gaza are starving because not enough food has entered the besieged territory. That’s roughly one in four people. The extent of the population’s hunger eclipsed even the near famines in Afghanistan and Yemen of recent years, according to figures in the report.” [AP News]
Trump transformed the Supreme Court. Now the justices could decide his political and legal future
“Donald Trump touts his transformation of the U.S. Supreme Court as one of his presidency’s greatest accomplishments. Now his legal and political future may lie in the hands of the court he pushed to the right. Read more.
Why this matters:
The outcomes of the legal fights could dictate whether the Republican presidential primary front-runner stands trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and whether he has a shot to retake to the White House next November.
With three Trump-appointed justices leading a conservative majority, the court is being thrust into the middle of two cases carrying enormous political implications just weeks before the first votes in the Iowa caucuses.” [AP News]
Trump on tape
Image: The Detroit News
“Former President Trump pressured two members of the Wayne County (Mich.) Board of Canvassers not to certify the 2020 election, Detroit News state politics reporter Craig Mauger writes, citing audio recordings.
Why it matters: Trump's false claims of voter fraud in Detroit and his allies' efforts to overturn Michigan's election results in 2020 play a major role in his indictment on charges related to Jan. 6, Axios' Sareen Habeshian reports.
In a phone call on Nov. 17, 2020, Trump told GOP Wayne County canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann they'd look ‘terrible’ if they signed documents certifying the election after initially voting against it, according to The Detroit News.
‘We've got to fight for our country,’ Trump said on the recording. ‘We can't let these people take our country away from us.’
The Trump campaign told Axios: ‘All of President Trump's actions were taken in furtherance of his duty as President of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential Election.’” [Axios]
A blockbuster new story reveals a call when Donald Trump tried to convince two Michigan Republicans not to certify the 2020 election results. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
“ANOTHER ‘PERFECT’ PHONE CALL? — Stop us if you’ve heard this before. Then-President DONALD TRUMP personally pressured election officials not to certify the 2020 presidential election.
No, we’re not talking about Georgia.
Last night, Craig Mauger of the Detroit News published a blockbuster story reporting that Trump tried to convince two Republicans on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers not to add their John Hancocks to the certification of the heavily Democratic county’s 2020 election results — and Mauger has receipts to back it up.
The reporter got his hands on audio from a Nov. 17, 2020, phone call that took place within 30 minutes of a Wayne County Board of Canvassers meeting. On the call, Trump reportedly insisted to officials MONICA PALMER and WILLIAM HARTMANN that it’d look ‘terrible’ if they signed. The two Republicans had voted earlier to approve the certification after they’d initially voted against the move.
What Trump reportedly said: ‘We’ve got to fight for our country … We can’t let these people take our country away from us. … Everybody knows Detroit is crooked as hell.’
Also on the call? RNC Chair (and fellow Michigander herself) RONNA McDANIEL, a Wayne County resident who reportedly told the two officials: ‘Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.’
As Mauger writes, ‘Palmer and Hartmann left the canvassers meeting without signing the official statement of votes for Wayne County, and the following day, they unsuccessfully attempted to rescind their votes in favor of certification, filing legal affidavits claiming they were pressured.’
If this is giving you deja vu, we can’t blame you. We’ve already seen how recordings such as these can have serious legal implications: Trump is facing charges in Georgia for pressuring officials there to ‘find’ him more than 11,000 votes so he could be declared the winner in the Peach State. He’s also facing criminal conspiracy charges at the federal level for trying to overturn the election.
We reached out to Michigan AG DANA NESSEL and her team last night to see if they, too, will bring charges against Trump. No response yet. But the office has been investigating efforts to upend the 2020 election results for a while now.
Meanwhile, you can expect this news to roil the political world.According to CNN’s Zachary Cohen, the recording ‘was NOT among the materials handed over to [special counsel] JACK SMITH by the Michigan Secretary of State’s office.’” [POLITICO]
Border crisis
“President Joe Biden is ramping up the pressure on Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to help with the migrant crisis at the US southern border. In a call between the two on Thursday, the presidents agreed that ‘additional enforcement actions are urgently needed’ to reopen ports on the US-Mexico border where a migrant surge has strained federal resources and led to port closures, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. Over recent days, more than 10,000 migrants have unlawfully crossed the US-Mexico border daily — numbers not seen since days before the lifting of a Covid-era restriction known as Title 42 that allowed authorities to turn back migrants at the border.” [CNN]
Historic downpours, evacuations in SoCal
Evacuations amid widespread flooding.
“A slow-moving Pacific storm prompted evacuations Thursday in cities and beach towns along California's southern coast as streets were submerged beneath floodwaters.
•The cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme — both in Ventura County, west of Los Angeles — issued evacuation orders for some coastal areas and at least one shelter was opened for residents fleeing their homes. •Authorities asked residents to stay off the roads due to widespread flooding. National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford told the LA Times that ‘the frequency of this kind of event is on the order of once in every thousand years.’” [USA Today]
Cecily Willis checks in on her two cats, Roz and Daphne, while holding her dog, Truman, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. They evacuated their Port Hueneme home around 5 a.m. after waking up to 5 inches of water in their bedroom.
BRIAN J. VARELA/THE STAR
Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy after $146 million verdict
“Rudy Giuliani has filed for bankruptcy less than a week after a jury ordered him to pay $146 million for defaming two former Georgia election workers.
The move also comes a day after the judge in the case ordered Giuliani to immediately begin paying out the damages, saying those election workers have ‘good cause’ to believe Giuliani will try to avoid paying them.
Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and longtime ally of Donald Trump, said he had between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities and $1 million to $10 million in assets, according to his bankruptcy filing.
‘The filing should be a surprise to no one,’ a Giuliani spokesman said. ‘No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount.’
An attorney for the election workers called the filing ‘unsurprising,’ and said it ‘will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani’s debt.’” [NBC News]
Plagiarism claims against Harvard president boost GOP's anti-higher ed efforts
“Conservatives are escalating their attacks on colleges and universities, which they have long painted as environments that stoke far-left ideology. A disastrous congressional hearing this month centered on how several elite colleges are handling antisemitism on campus. Many academics say the attacks are the latest battle in a larger conservative-led war on higher education – especially against Ivy League schools. The latest target is Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard, who now faces allegations that she plagiarized others’ work over the course of her yearslong academic career.” Read more at USA Today
Harvard President Claudine Gay, left, speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Colon cancer is rising in young Americans. It’s not clear why.
“In the past three decades, incidence of the disease has risen significantly among people younger than 50, many of whom have no obvious risk factors, such as a genetic predisposition.”
Read more at Washington Post
Half of US has very high or high flu activity ahead of holidays
“Flu is ramping up across the country just as millions hit the road for holiday celebrations. While influenza activity across the U.S. isn't currently at abnormal levels, travelers may want to take some precautions. More than half of the states – especially in the South – have reported high or very high flu activity as of the week ending Dec. 9, according to the CDC. In the western part of the U.S. flu ‘really peaks off the 25th of December, and then (goes) up in the new year,’ said Dr. Francesca Torriani of the University of California San Diego Health. Read more
•COVID variant JN.1 is on the rise this holiday season: Current symptoms to look out for.” [USA Today]
Biden plots S.C. push
Biden speaks in Milwaukee on Wednesday. Photo: Jovanny Hernandez/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Reuters
“President Biden's re-election campaign plans a January push in South Carolina to drive turnout and boost the overall campaign ahead of the Democratic primary on Feb. 3, Axios' Alex Thompson reports.
Why it matters: It's a shift for the Biden campaign, which has focused mostly on general election battlegrounds.
What's happening: Biden's team needs to show a unified, enthusiastic party in the state that turned around his 2020 candidacy.
Surrogates could include Democrats with their own future presidential ambitions, who'll see a dual benefit in campaigning in the state.
Between the lines: This is the first time the Palmetto State has been Dems' first primary. South Carolina Democrats want to show muscle so they can maintain pole position in future cycles.
Vice President Harris will visit Myrtle Beach in the first week of January to speak at an annual women's retreat of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest historically Black denomination in the U.S.
Harris will kick off the year by meeting Jan. 3 in Las Vegas with members of the casino workers' Culinary Union, which confers one of the most powerful endorsements in Nevada Democratic politics.
The Biden campaign recently hired a South Carolina leadership team.” [Axios]
Border closings cost billions
Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photos: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP, Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Partial closures at key U.S.-Mexico border crossings are costing billions in trade and causing chaos and political fallout:
The massive influx has led Customs and Border Protection to divert resources from busy crossings in Arizona and Texas, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.
After railway operations in Eagle Pass and El Paso, Texas, were temporarily suspended this month to send officers to process migrants, businesses reported a drop in traffic and damage to local economies.
Eagle Pass and El Paso account for $33.95 billion in trade — just shy of 36% of all cross-border rail traffic to and from Mexico, according to the Texas Association of Business.
The closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry in Arizona led gas stations and restaurants on both sides of the border to cut hours. Some businesses are even contemplating closing temporarily, the Arizona Republic reports.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) sharply criticized the Biden administration over the closure, calling it a ‘bad decision.’
What we're watching: A complete border shutdown, as proposed by former President Trump and other GOP candidates, could cost the U.S. billions of dollars in trade.
Food and fuel chains would be disrupted. Auto parts would likely become scarce. In less than a month, Americans may run out of avocados.
Mexico, which is currently experiencing economic growth, would likely be thrown into disarray — which could spark more migration.” [Axios]
Gaza faces famine if war doesn't end, UN says
“‘No-one in Gaza is safe from starvation’, UN World Food Programme executive director Cindy McCain said. Credit: Reuters
Fighting is continuing in Gaza, with Israeli bombardments across the territory - and Hamas firing rockets towards south and central Israel. In the Strip, the humanitarian situation keeps deteriorating. A quarter of Gazan households are currently facing extreme hunger, according to the UN World Food Programme, which says only 10% of the food needed for Palestinians is entering the territory. Its boss, Cindy McCain, said Gaza was facing a very serious threat of famine if the war continued, and called for ‘an immediate humanitarian ceasefire’. But despite ongoing talks in Cairo, this looks unlikely in the short term. Hamas has ruled out any more hostage releases until Israel agrees to end the war, as opposed to a temporary truce. The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected a permanent ceasefire. In New York, the UN Security Council's latest draft resolution was toned down ahead of its vote – delayed again to today. It no longer calls for a ‘sustainable cessation of hostilities’, but for creating the conditions for one. This new version, crucially, is supported by the US.” [BBC]
“The U.S. has granted political asylum to the wife of murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the paper reported.” [NBC News]
“The hottest year on record, wars with no end in sight, multiple mass shootings, deepening polarization: 2023 won’t be easy to forget.
The explosion of violence between Israel and the Palestinians — ignited by the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and fueled by Israel’s retaliation in Gaza — was the latest catastrophe for a world already weary of the bloody stalemate that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become.
The shocks of climate change continue to spread, with flooding killing thousands in Libya, drought entering a third year in the Horn of Africa and deadly wildfires ravaging Hawaii.
A rare mass shooting in Prague yesterday left the Czech people stunned, but such incidents remain all-too common in North America.
Politically, Europe is seeing the rise of the kind of right-wing populism that’s flourishing in the US, with migration and environmentalism among the flashpoints.
There was some better news as the US and China saw their rivalry swing from confrontation to pledges of more cooperation on military communications and the opioid crisis.
And the COP28 climate summit ended with a deal committing the world to transition away from fossil fuels for the first time.
There was diplomatic momentum in the Middle East, with something of a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States edging closer to a relationship with Israel — until its pummeling of Gaza.
That conflict has been so traumatizing that it sparked huge protests and unleashed a wave of antisemitism and Islamophobia.
With the atmosphere increasingly febrile, concerned eyes are turning to next year’s US election.
Donald Trump, seeking to retake the White House from Joe Biden, is stoking anti-immigrant sentiment that aggravates tensions.
Europe is meanwhile shifting further to the insular right. Taiwan’s January election may reignite US-China enmity.
Whatever else 2024 brings, the odds are it involves even greater turmoil.” — Karl Maier [Bloomberg]
Buildings destroyed by an Israeli airstrike near the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Wednesday. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg
“The Czech Republic is in mourning after a student went on a shooting rampage at the Charles University in central Prague yesterday, leaving 15 dead. Gun crime is rare in the central European country, and Prime Minister Petr Fiala expressed the nation’s shock at the worst shooting in its history, in which the assailant also died.” [Bloomberg]
Charles University students are evacuated by police in Prague. Photographer: Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images
“US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns has been shuttling across the Middle East to help secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. An Arabic speaker, Burns has quickly gained a reputation among Arab governments as the key US interlocutor in the current crisis, sources say.” [Bloomberg]
”U.S., China Militaries Start Talking Again After a Dangerous Rupture - The Pentagon’s top officer spoke with his Chinese counterpart, restoring dialogue after a 16-month rupture during which the U.S. said China’s forces conducted dangerous intercepts of American and allied planes and ships.” [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. drone strike kills mastermind of 2020 attack on Kenyan base that killed three Americans, Somali official says
“After an attack by al Qaida-linked militants on the Manda Bay base in 2020, the U.S. government put a $10 million bounty on the head of Moalim Ayman. The drone strike occurred in the al-Shabaab stronghold of Jilib in Somalia.”
Read more at Washington Post
“Wives, mothers and girlfriends of Russian soldiers have begun protests calling on the Kremlin to bring their men back from the war in Ukraine more than a year after 300,000 draftees were summoned to fight. While the number involved now is relatively small, the movement risks embarrassing the Kremlin as President Vladimir Putin prepares for elections in March.” [Bloomberg]
“Politics in Thailand this year have been eventful, with a general election ending nearly a decade of military-backed rule and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra setting foot in the Southeast Asian country for the first time in 15 years. The fate of a mega cash handout program will be a key test for the new government of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, while his grand promise of uprooting junta-era legacies is yet to materialize.” [Bloomberg]
“The US signaled it may support a resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would increase aid flowing to Gaza after drawn out negotiations had threatened to defeat the measure.” [Bloomberg]
“The UK economy unexpectedly shrank in the third quarter, raising the prospect that Britain is in recession heading into a probable election year, with the governing Conservatives far behind in the polls.” [Bloomberg]
“Angola announced it’s leaving OPEC after 16 years of membership amid a dispute over oil production quotas, while the cartel tries to buoy global prices.” [Bloomberg]
Today's WorldView
By Ishaan Tharoor
with Sammy Westfall
The crises that may get worse in 2024
Members of a Sudanese family who fled the conflict in the Darfur region sit beside their belongings while waiting to be registered by the United Nations refugee agency after crossing into Chad in July. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
“Readers of Today’s WorldView may agree that it’s been a grim year. In Ukraine, a grinding counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion lurched into a bleak stalemate. In the Middle East, a decades-old conflict exploded into an unprecedented, high-intensity war in the Gaza Strip. The bulk of the territory’s inhabitants have been driven from their homes, some 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in a matter of weeks, and a quarter of Gaza’s population is ‘starving,’ according to the United Nations, which warned Thursday that the risk of famine in the territory is “increasing each day.”
‘It doesn’t get any worse,’ Arif Husain, chief economist for the United Nations World Food Program, told reporters. ‘I have never seen something at the scale that is happening in Gaza. And at this speed.’
While these two wars consumed the attention of major global news outlets (and this daily newsletter) for much of 2023, other crises smoldered on. In Sudan and Myanmar, ruinous civil wars, marked by myriad atrocities and reports of war crimes, are collapsing already dysfunctional states and provoking spiraling humanitarian crises. Over a wide swath of sub-Saharan Africa, coups and power grabs roiled the region. Social instability and post-pandemic economic pressures fueled surges in migration across the world.
2023 will probably be the hottest year on record, with heat waves scourging every continent, accompanied by other extreme climactic events. Droughts and floods were both more acute — the most viscerally shocking moment came arguably in September, when heavy rains led to the failure of dams and flash floods that killed more than 11,000 in northeastern Libya. ‘This disaster is of mythic proportions,’ a Libyan health official told my colleagues at the time.
In the face of such calamity, one would hope that the new year would bring better news. But, as your humble harbinger of bad tidings, I have to apologize: There’s a lot that can go wrong in 2024, and many crises that will get worse.
The war in Gaza is reaching a dangerous tipping point. While Israeli officials vow a long campaign, the current fighting is pushing Gaza’s 2.2 million people to the brink. The territory is the deadliest place in the world to be a civilian. Before Oct. 7, when the militant group Hamas launched its strike on southern Israel, 80 percent of Gaza’s population required humanitarian assistance. Now, everyone does, and barely a trickle of what’s needed is getting into the besieged territory. Aid organizations and myriad world leaders are calling for a cease-fire and a surge of relief aid into Gaza. But absent a cessation of hostilities, the war could convulse the region, bringing in anti-Israel factions based in Lebanon and Syria, and spawning an unprecedented flow of Palestinian refugees into Egypt.
In its annual ‘emergency watch list’ published this month, the International Rescue Committee ranked the conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as the second most glaring crisis to watch in 2024. The first was the far-less-discussed civil war in Sudan, where eight months of fighting between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have left more than half the country in need of humanitarian aid and forced some 6 million people from their homes. Some 19 million children are without education as the conflict has shuttered thousands of schools.
‘Sudan has become the world’s largest displacement crisis,’ the IRC’s Elshafie Mohamed Ahmed said in the report. ‘The ability to deliver aid is hindered by the lack of humanitarian access and funds. The ethnic, tribal and regional polarization of the current war is further threatening the limited access currently available.’
Africa is home to the bulk of the other potential hot spots, as listed by the IRC. Three ‘coup belt’ nations in West Africa — the junta-led states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — are all in the rankings. The Burkinabe military is floundering in the face of a surge in Islamist militancy, with renegade factions controlling more than half the country. In Mali and Niger, where similar dynamics are on show, growing food insecurity and the drying up of foreign aid are plunging millions toward greater peril.
The IRC’s 10 ‘watch list’ nations account for 86 percent of all people in humanitarian need globally. Lurking behind the political instability consuming these societies is the specter of a warming planet, as droughts and other climate shocks affect some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. ‘What were once separate circles of crisis are now a Venn diagram with an expanding intersection,’ wrote IRC President David Miliband. ‘Three decades ago, 44% of conflicts happened in climate-vulnerable states. Now that figure is 67%.’
The Biden administration has most successfully held the line in shoring up Western support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression. But its scope for action will be constrained in a divisive election year, and even Washington’s capacity to fund Kyiv is in doubt — let alone its ability to get its arms around myriad crises elsewhere, from Somalia to Afghanistan to gang-dominated Haiti, teetering on the verge of state collapse.
In Asia, an election in Taiwan may be marked by new provocations from China at a time when the Biden administration is trying to bring some stability to its relationship with Beijing. But the biggest conflagration could take place in Myanmar, where the ruling junta is reeling from an offensive launched by a coalition of rebel militias and seeing mounting desertion in its ranks.
The current trajectory, however, ‘does not point towards a near-term regime collapse on the battlefield, absent unforeseen developments,’ noted Morgan Michaels, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. ‘Myanmar is instead headed towards a new phase of the conflict, marked by a weakened but still dangerous regime, more intense violence and greater uncertainty.’” [Washington Post]
Bristol Myers to Buy Karuna Therapeutics for $14 Billion
“Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to buy Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion in a deal that will raise its bet on psychiatric and neurological drugs.”
READ MORE at Wall Street Journal
Frequent-flyer probe
Passengers wait at Dulles yesterday. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
“The Transportation Department is scrutinizing the frequent-flyer programs of major U.S. airlines for potential deceptive or unfair practices,Reuters' David Shepardson reports.
The DOT has been meeting in recent weeks with passenger airlines to discuss the popular loyalty programs — including transparency practices when booking award tickets, transferability of miles and notice given before making changes.
Another key issue is the devaluation of frequent-flyer miles, which makes it harder to book rewards.
‘We plan to carefully review complaints regarding loyalty programs, and exercise our authority to investigate airlines for unfair and deceptive practices that hurt travelers as warranted,’ a department spokesperson said. ‘DOT officials are actively meeting with U.S. airlines and gathering more information.’
The backdrop: Congress also has questioned frequent-flyer programs.
In October, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) asked the Transportation Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about ‘troubling reports’ about the programs, including the devaluation of points.” [Axios]
”IRS Offers Deal to Employers Who Regret Claiming Pandemic Tax Credit - The Internal Revenue Service will accept 80% repayment of the employee retention tax credit, or ERC, in exchange for amnesty from civil penalties.” [Wall Street Journal]
Why everyone got '23 wrong
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
“Last year at this time, most economists, many journalists and a lot of regular Americans felt certain the U.S. was headed into recession. They were wrong.
The U.S. economy failed to fail in 2023 — one of the year's biggest and happiest surprises, Axios Markets co-author Emily Peck writes.
Flashback: Many economists and finance experts believed the Fed's battle to tame high inflation with rapid interest rate hikes would trigger high unemployment and a recession, as it had in the '70s.
Instead, the economy grew.
The unemployment rate stayed low, as the job market cooled but remained strong.
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told Axios: ‘Given the strength of the economy, inflation has come down more than I expected. ... The economy appears stronger than would have been a best guess.’
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said earlier this month in Mexico City that economists who predicted high unemployment would be needed to tame inflation ‘are eating their words.’
Reality check: The Fed's rate hikes did trigger pain in many parts of the economy.
The real estate market is now, to put it technically, a mess. A lot of tech workers lost their jobs.
Last spring, there was a mini-banking crisis, as high rates exposed weaknesses at some financial institutions.
But the hurt in certain sectors didn't spread to the ‘real economy’ — the realm in which regular Americans work and spend.
Most of us kept working and spending.” [Axios]
Charted: Merry markets
Data: Factset. Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals
“Reflecting the economy's surprise strength and stability, stock indexes are at or near all-time highs.
The S&P 500 is within 1% of its all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after setting a record last week, is nearing another one.” [Axios]
“The company that operates Pornhub admitted that it had profited for years from content that depicted sex trafficking victims.” [New York Times]
Dodgers agree to monster deal with Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto
“Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the most coveted free agent arm this winter, is signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to two high-ranking officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations. The officials spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the deal is not yet official. Yamamoto will be signing a 12-year, $325 million deal with L.A. that includes a $50 million signing bonus. It's the second monster signing the Dodgers have made this offseason, following Shohei Ohtani's historic $700 million deal.” Read more at USA Today
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is signing a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yukihito Taguchi, USA TODAY Sports
“A bad run: The Pistons fell to the Jazz for their 25th straight loss, one shy of tying the N.B.A. single-season record.” [New York Times]
Vin Diesel accused of sexual battery in new lawsuit
“‘Fast & Furious’ star Vin Diesel has been accused of sexual battery and creating a hostile work environment in a lawsuit filed by a former assistant.” [CNN]
“Lives Lived: Robert Solow won the 1987 Nobel Prize in economics for his theory that technological advances have been the primary drivers of U.S. economic growth. He died at 99.” [New York Times]