The Full Belmonte, 2/10/2022
“Wall Street will be watching closely Thursday as the Labor Department releases its report on inflation for January . Economists are forecasting the report to show inflation rose to a four-decade high of 7.3%, the Associated Press reported. If prices continue their upward surge, it could increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to speed up its plans to raise interest rates in order to fight inflation. But if the Fed is forced to raise rates too quickly, it could cause a recession, which in turn could result in higher unemployment. Economists expect overall inflation to ease in coming months as gasoline and other energy prices continue to pull back. But core inflation – which excludes food and energy – is expected to drift higher before edging down.” Read more at USA Today
“The National Archives is asking the Department of Justice to investigate former President Trump’s handling of White House records. According to a source familiar with the matter, the Archives is seeking to review whether Trump violated the Presidential Records Act, which requires that all records created by presidents be turned over to the National Archives at the end of their administrations. Trump, however, routinely ripped up documents and brought nearly 15 boxes of records to his Mar-a-Lago estate after his term ended. Separately, the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection issued a subpoena yesterday to Peter Navarro, Trump’s one-time trade adviser, who has consistently defended efforts to overturn the 2020 election.” Read more at CNN
“Russia started its largest war games in years in neighboring Belarus today, a demonstration of military power near Ukraine as the West continues its diplomatic push to defuse tensions.
The U.S. and Europe are still trying to work out how much is ‘war’ and how much is ‘game’ in President Vladimir Putin’s strategy to obtain binding security guarantees from them against further NATO expansion.
Russia consistently denies it plans to invade Ukraine, with some Western nations estimating it has amassed nearly 130,000 troops close to the Ukrainian border.
Their concerns that things could spill into a conflict have brought a stream of Western leaders to Moscow on a scale unseen in years — French President Emmanuel Macron and the U.K.’s foreign and defense secretaries this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz next week — to seek a way out.
Officials from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are meeting in Berlin today for the so-called ‘Normandy Format’ talks — an attempt to revive the stalled Minsk peace accords on the conflict in eastern Ukraine between the government in Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists.
Putin has been on the move, too, recently traveling to Beijing and meeting his ally, President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics.
Russia and Belarus say their exercises are purely defensive and that troops will return to base when they end on Feb. 20. Ukraine has started military drills today in parallel.
As French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian noted today, what happens next ‘will be a very significant test’ of efforts to de-escalate this crisis.” — Anthony Halpin Read more at Bloomberg
“The White House has approved a plan for US troops to help Americans evacuate Ukraine if Russia invades, according to two US officials. Nearly 2,000 troops in the region are now setting up processing areas and temporary shelters inside Poland near Ukraine's border where Americans fleeing Ukraine could go for help while in transit. The US State Department has repeatedly said it would be wise for Americans to leave Ukraine, issuing strict travel advisories for Americans not to travel to the country and to be aware that Russia is planning for significant military action.” Read more at CNN
“New COVID cases are plunging all across America, and Omicron's death toll is also slowing down, Axios' Sam Baker and Kavya Behera report.
Why it matters: The U.S. is on its way out of this wave of the pandemic after less than two months.
The U.S. is now averaging roughly 240,000 new cases per day — a 61% drop over the past two weeks.
Deaths are still rising. But those increases are slowing considerably — a sign they soon may decline.
The U.S. is now averaging roughly 2,500 new deaths per day. Those deaths are almost entirely preventable with vaccines.” Read more at Axios
“Democratic governors in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Oregon and California, with Nevada expected today, are among a growing list of states opting to move forward without declarations of out-and-out victory over COVID-19 and while conceding the U.S. death toll is approaching 1 million people.
New York today drops its ‘mask or proof-of-vaccination’ indoor mandate for businesses, while Massachusetts will end its statewide school mask mandate on Feb. 28 (The Washington Post). New York Gov. Kathy Hochul(D) (pictured below) said the state’s mask requirement for schools will remain in place and be re-examined in early March (The New York Times).
In California, San Francisco will lift its indoor mask requirement on Wednesday. Only one Bay Area county, Santa Clara, will not follow suit next week because it believes the community transmission rate with omicron remains too high.
The Denver Post: Face coverings will no longer be required in Denver schools beginning Feb. 25.
The Providence Journal: Rhode Island will lift its indoor mask-or-proof-of-vaccination requirement on Friday, and possibly its school mask mandate on March 4.
Axios: Maryland and Washington, D.C., currently have the lowest COVID-19 case counts in the country, each with fewer than 30 cases per 100,000 people, on average.” Read more at The Hill
© Associated Press/Alex Brandon
“Anthony Fauci hinted at the political pressure and community-based exasperation afoot. ‘As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of COVID-19, which we are certainly heading out of, there will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus,’ he told the Financial Times.
The Associated Press: Under pressure to ease up, President Biden weighs new virus response.
As state mask rules end, school leaders are in the middle, caught in one of the most combustible issues of the pandemic (The Associated Press).
School superintendents generally prefer flexibility to make their own decisions on mask requirements based on infection numbers and vaccination rates, said Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association. ‘What we’ve seen in this country is that the pandemic and the level of infections is very much dependent on where you are,’ he said. ‘If you create a blanket situation that says everyone is going to have to do this, wear a mask or not wear a mask, you’re not taking into consideration the differences that exist within your own region.’ The complaints, however, come from all sides. ‘That’s why superintendents are leaving the profession in numbers because they’re caught in the middle. They’re damned if they do, they’re damned if they don’t,’ Domenech said.
The Hill: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky says there is no specific benchmark of COVID-19 case rates that warrants a change in its guidance.
The New York Times: The Biden administration remains cautious about easing masks and other COVID-19 safety measures.
The Washington Post: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House respects local governments’ decisions to issue guidance and mandates but backs experts’ advice and encourages Americans to do the same. Behind the scenes, the administration is working on new guidance for the next phase of life amid an ever-evolving, highly transmissible hazard that won’t be gone anytime soon.
The Washington Post: Norwegian Cruise Line announced that on March 1, it will drop its mask requirement from COVID-19 protocols.
At the outset of the pandemic, state and local officials had to invent coronavirus safety measures and restrictions on the fly while they pleaded with Washington to share expert guidance. It is no surprise that states, now years into a crisis, have antennae finely tuned to what markets will bear.
States have long histories of either launching or navigating initially controversial safety requirements imposed on freedom-loving, often skeptical citizens. Federal and state mandates have survived decades of protests and adaptations before finding grudging acceptance. Examples: seatbelts, child safety car seats, inoculation requirements to attend school, motorcycle helmets, smoking bans in public spaces and dog leash laws. Connecticut in 1901 was the first state to impose a motor vehicle speed limit (12 mph in cities and 15 mph on rural roads). By 1930, most states had followed with speed limits of their own.
> Vaccines: The Food and Drug Administration this month will make its recommendation on emergency-use authorization of COVID-19 vaccine doses for children younger than 5. If the government approves, an initial 10 million doses are expected to be ready for shipment, with the first batch available on Feb. 21 and the second on Feb. 25 (The Washington Post). … Congressional Democrats are calling for $17 billion in a pending federal funding package for fiscal 2022 specifically for global COVID-19 vaccine assistance, arguing that help now can constrain new variants from emerging worldwide. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) points to ‘extensive’ conversations with the administration, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) back additional global vaccine support (The Hill). … North Korea has not accepted any deliveries of COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX, so the country’s allotment has been cut (Reuters).
The United States has pledged to donate at least 1.1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine for global use before 2023. Of that total, 396 million doses have been delivered and 19.5 million have been shipped but not yet delivered as of Wednesday, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation tracker.
> Global infections: Omicron is so rapidly and slyly infectious that the number of global confirmed cases of COVID-19 exceeded 400 million this week just a month after hitting 300 million. That astonishing surge, likely an undercount, is but one of the challenges faced by world leaders who are contemplating how to ‘live with’ COVID-19 at the same time that public health officials warn of the inevitability of new variants. The race is still on worldwide to hike vaccination and booster rates among adults and children (The New York Times).
The New York Times: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he will soon present plans for lifting all COVID-19 restrictions in England, possibly weeks before an anticipated March 24 expiration date for restrictions. It was unclear whether or when such changes would apply to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which make their own coronavirus rules.” Read more at The Hill
“US Citizenship and Immigration Services has changed its mission statementto include words like ‘welcome’ and ‘respect.’ The agency's approach under the Biden administration diverges sharply from the Trump administration, which removed the phrase ‘nation of immigrants’ from the mission statement four years ago. That move prompted intense backlash from immigrant rights groups and other critics. The agency's new mission statement says it ‘upholds America's promise as a nation of welcome and possibility with fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve.’ The Biden administration also moved to stop using the term ‘illegal alien’ in public documents and speeches.” Read more at CNN
“Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that they were open to banning members of Congress from trading stocks.” Read more at New York Times
“J. Michelle Childs, a federal judge on Biden’s Supreme Court short list and a graduate of public schools, is getting bipartisan praise.” Read more at New York Times
“Violent threats against members of Congress surged after Trump became president.” Read more at New York Times
“The FDA is raising concerns about drugs developed in China. U.S. regulators question the quality of studies largely conducted there and whether their results can apply to patients here. The issue will come up tomorrow, when an agency advisory panel evaluates a lung-cancer immunotherapy that Eli Lilly developed in China and plans to sell at a lower price than similar drugs. Two Chinese drug-industry trade groups didn’t respond to requests for comment.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“A former casino executive was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for a bribery scheme to get his daughter into U.S.C.” Read more at New York Times
“Arrest warrants have been issued for two Dallas Police Department officers who shot civilians during Black Lives Matter protests in May 2020.” Read more at USA Today
“The Biden administration is going to prohibit states from charging premiums to low-income residents enrolled in Medicaid. Republicans had pushed for the fees, but research shows that they led to fewer low-income adults signing up for coverage and fewer re-enrolling.” Read more at NPR
“It’s been one of the greatest sources of tension between House Republicans and Democrats for a year now: a chamber-wide mandate requiring lawmakers to mask up before they vote — and steep fines if they refuse.
But now some House Democrats are following the lead of Democratic governors, calling for an end to mask mandates — even as their party imposes one in the House chamber. Charges of hypocrisy are in the air.
Last year, House Democrats enacted new rules that fine offenders (namely protesting Republicans) $500 the first time they fail to mask up, and $2,500 per infraction after that. The biggest scofflaws by far are Reps. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and ANDREW CLYDE (R-Ga.), who’ve each have had more than $100,000 withdrawn from their paychecks.
Several swing-district House Democrats, however, say it’s time to move on. On Wednesday, DCCC Chair SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-N.Y.) led the charge by tweeting that he agreed with his home-state Democratic Gov. KATHY HOCHUL’s decision to ditch mask mandates. ‘Give people their lives back,’ he wrote.
Within a few minutes, we got a text from a Republican aide asking if Maloney’s appeal would extend to lifting the mask mandate for the House floor. Turns out, some House Democrats are ready to say yes.
‘We follow the science and are our medical advisers, but I think the time will come sooner rather than later’ to end the House mask requirement, Rep. DAN KILDEE (D-Mich.) told Playbook. ‘I wish more of my colleagues were vaccinated, but … I think we will have to modify our approach to the pandemic as it changes. … Hopefully sometime this spring.’
Democratic Rep. SUSAN WILD, a frontliner from Pennsylvania, agreed. As a member of the House Ethics Committee that’s been tasked with enforcing Democrats’ mask fining policy, she’s been frustrated that so much of the panel’s work has been focused on this issue.
‘The Ethics Committee has sadly been turned into the mask police, and we’re spending way too much time on mask violation issues,’ she said. ‘When we come back [from recess] … in early March, unless there’s been some new strain or variant, I think it’s time to get rid of the masked mandate.’
Tensions between the two parties over the mask policy have reached a boiling point. Earlier this week, Rep. HAL ROGERS (R-Ky.) poked Rep. JOYCE BEATTY (D-Ohio) and told her to ‘kiss my ass’ when she insisted he wear a mask on the basement subway. (He later apologized.)” Read more at POLITICO
“Iran surprise | U.S. senators from both parties said they were stunnedabout Iran’s progress toward making a nuclear weapon as talks continue in Vienna to revive a 2015 agreement that would restore limits on those efforts. The Biden administration said a deal with Iran was now in sight, but the rapid advances in the Islamic Republic’s atomic program meant the window for reviving the accord is narrowing.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Champagne photo | The U.K. police said they would contact more than 50 people over gatherings at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office as a new photo emerged showing him near a champagne bottle at a lockdown-rule-breaking Christmas event. While many Conservative lawmakers are waiting for the results of the investigation before deciding whether to try to oust him, some things are going in his favor, including a Parliament recess starting later today.” Read more at Bloomberg
Protesters block a highway to the Blue Water Bridge border crossing — a key trade artery to the U.S. — in Ontario, Canada, yesterday. Photo: Carlos Osorio/Reuters
“A Department of Homeland Security bulletin warns law enforcement across the U.S. that a convoy of truckers protesting vaccine mandates, similar to protests in Canada, could begin soon in the U.S., CNN reports.
A DHS official told Yahoo News truckers could ‘follow the Canadian model and shut down Washington.’
The bulletin says DHS ‘has received reports of truck drivers planning to potentially block roads in major metropolitan cities in the United States in protest of, among other things, vaccine mandates for truck drivers.’
The Super Bowl is Sunday in L.A. The bulletin says the convoy could ‘begin in California as early as mid-February and arrive in Washington, DC, as late as mid-March, potentially impacting’ the game and President Biden's State of the Union address on March 1.” Read more at Axios
“Popular anger | Turkey’s main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, announced he won’t pay his electricity bills until the government reverses a 125% price hike announced last month, although he didn’t urge the public to do the same. Speaking from his home, he blamed the skyrocketing costs on utility privatizations that he said benefited President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s cronies.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The percentage of the world’s population living under some sort of democracy tumbled last year to 45.7% from 49.4% a year earlier, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2021.” Read more at Bloomberg
“Thursday has already been an action-packed day at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Team USA superstars Chloe Kim and Nathan Chen won gold medals in impressive fashion: Kim, 21, became the first woman in Olympic history to win more than one halfpipe snowboarding gold medal. And Chen, who has been the world's most dominant male figure skater for nearly four years, became the seventh American to win the men's individual competition. Meanwhile, a cloud hangs over the Russian team as the medal ceremony for the Olympic figure skating team competition was delayed by a positive drug test among the gold medal-winners. Kamila Valieva , the 15-year-old superstar who was expected to win the gold medal in women's figure skating, practiced as usual Thursday, hours after reports that she tested positive for a banned substance. Fans will also get chances Thursday to see a series of ice hockey games, curling matches and two men's snowboard finals, the halfpipe and the snowboard cross.” Read more at USA Today
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Chloe Kim won the gold medal in women's snowboard halfpipe — and made history in the process. USA TODAY
“Comedian Bob Saget, who was found dead in his Orlando, Florida, hotel room last month, died from head trauma, according to a statement from his family. Authorities determined Saget ‘accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep,’ the statement said, adding that no drugs or alcohol were involved. The chief medical examiner who completed the autopsy on Saget the day after he died also said there was no evidence of drug use or foul play. Saget, 65, was on a comedy tour at the time of his death.” Read more at CNN
“Lives Lived: Ashley Bryan brought diversity to children’s literature, writing and illustrating books that retold African folk tales. He died at 98.” Read more at New York Times
“‘There is no other’: Funk pioneer Betty Davis has died. She was 77.” Read more at NPR
Betty Davis poses for a portrait in 1976. Funk singer Betty Davis, ex-wife of jazz musician Miles Davis, has died at 77 years old. Davis died early Wednesday, Feb 9, 2022 in her hometown of Homestead, Pennsylvania, according to a press release. No cause of death has been given.Fin Costello, Redferns
“‘This is my 56-year-old body’: Brooke Shields posed topless in a Jordache jean ad campaign, reprising her role as a model for a denim campaign when she was 15.” Read more at USA Today
IAC/InterActiveCorp is set to shut down print editions of six magazines including EatingWell and Entertainment Weekly, resulting in about 200 job losses.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES FOR EATINGWELL & IFIC
“Say goodbye to print versions of Entertainment Weekly, InStyle and four other magazines.
Also going the digital-only route are EatingWell, Health, Parents and People en Español. Barry Diller’s media group, IAC/InterActiveCorp, acquired the titles as part of its acquisition of Iowa-based Meredith for $2.7 billion last year. The April issues of all six mags will be their final print editions. The change will cost about 200 jobs, though the company has an estimated 100 open positions it says it hopes to fill with people whose positions have been cut. Among the publisher’s 19 remaining print magazines are People, Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living; the company said it plans to enhance paper quality and trim sizes. ‘Naysayers will interpret this as another nail in print’s coffin,’ Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel said in a staff memo. ‘They couldn’t be more wrong.’ (Fun fact: The Wall Street Journal has a print edition.)” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“LinkedIn is having a moment—even among slim-résuméed Gen Zers.
The Microsoft-owned professional-networking platform certainly is benefitting from the many people who are quitting their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic and then looking to job-hunt. It’s also taking proactive steps to make its user experience more pleasant, CEO Ryan Roslansky tells WSJ columnist Joanna Stern. For example, LinkedIn is testing a no-politics setting, along with other options users can try out to avoid seeing content from certain people or pertaining to certain topics (Sick of hearing about NFTs? No problem!). Other new and upcoming features Stern recently checked out include a ‘creator mode,’ more video and audio events.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“PALU, Indonesia (AP) — A wild crocodile with a used motorcycle tire stuck around its neck for six years has finally been freed by an Indonesian bird catcher in a tireless effort that wildlife conservation officials hailed as a milestone Wednesday.
The 4.5-meter (14.8-foot) saltwater female crocodile has become an icon to the people in Palu, the capital city of Central Sulawesi. The beast was seen on the city’s river with the tire around its neck becoming increasingly tighter, running the risk of choking her.
Conservation officials were racing to rescue the crocodile since residents spotted the reptile in 2016, generating sympathy among residents and worldwide. In 2020, Australian crocodile wrangler Matthew Wright and American wildlife biologist Forrest Galante tried and failed to free the reptile.
In early January, 35-year-old bird catcher and trader Tili, who recently moved to the city, heard about the famous crocodile from his neighbors and determined to rescue the reptile after he saw her frequently sunbathing at a nearby estuary.” Read more at AP News