The Full Belmonte, 2/8/2023
Earthquake
“The death toll from the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has surpassed 11,000, according to authorities. Aid agencies and emergency workers say that number will likely increase with many people still trapped under the rubble. Meanwhile, freezing weather conditions are further endangering survivors as more than 100 aftershocks have struck the region since the initial magnitude 7.8 quake. ‘We are racing with time,’ a spokesperson for the charity organization Oxfam told CNN. Temperatures are already bitterly low but are forecast to fall several degrees below zero today in some parts of the region. Scattered showers and snow are also expected to continue, putting the lives of those trapped underneath the rubble -- who have already gone days without food and water -- at risk of hypothermia.” [CNN]
'We’ve been sent here to finish the job'
Biden tells Americans economy is roaring back, spars with GOP over debt
“In his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden took credit for what he said was the country's economic revival while pushing an agenda of reducing prescription drug costs, protecting abortion rights and banning assault weapons.
In a preview of an expected reelection campaign announcement,he noted that the unemployment rate was at a 50-year low while inflation has been easing. ‘We’ve been sent here to finish the job,’ Biden said, invoking a phrase he used several times in his speech.
•Blue-collar pitch: Promoting his economic plan, Biden assured Americans that he wants to invest in ‘places and people that have been forgotten,’ arguing that ‘too many people have been left behind or treated like they’re invisible.’
•Abortion; Ukraine; teacher pay; trafficking of fentanyl: Biden stressed bipartisanship and touched on a range of his administration's accomplishments so far and also mapped out his priorities for the next two years.
•The president prompted protests from Republicans when he repeated his accusation that the GOP was trying to cut Social Security Medicare entitlements. When the protests continued, Biden said he wasn’t arguing that all Republicans back reviewing entitlement programs every five years. ‘But it’s being proposed,’ he said.” [USA Today]
GOP reacts to 2023 State of the Union address
“While President Joe Biden called for bipartisanship in his State of the Union address, Republicans made clear they will try to thwart him on any number of contentious issues – from the Biden debt ceiling plan to his re-election prospects in 2024. Read more about the official Republican response to Biden's address and click here to see more photos from the 2023 State of the Union address.” [USA Today]
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, yells in the chambers as President Joe Biden speaks during the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington.
Josh Morgan, USA TODAY
Loooong address
President Biden spoke for 73 minutes — 10 minutes longer than last year.
On average, measured in words, Biden's addresses are the longest in modern history:
Data: U.C. Santa Barbara and The White House. Chart: Axios Visuals
GOP response: "normal or crazy"
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last night. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ridiculed President Biden as ‘unfit to serve as commander in chief’ as she delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union.
Sanders, who was White House press secretary for two years under President Trump, contrasted Biden and the ‘new generation of Republican leadership,’ Axios' Sareen Habeshian writes.
‘At 40, I'm the youngest governor in the country,’ she said from the governor's mansion in Little Rock. ‘At 80, he's the oldest president in American history.’
Sanders said: ‘The dividing line in America is no longer right or left. The choice is between normal or crazy.’” [Axios]
The U.S. trade deficit set a record in 2022.
“Imports exceeded exports by $948.1 billion, up 12.2% from 2021, the Commerce Department said. Last year, global demand dropped amid high inflation, climbing interest rates, disruptions due to the Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, home-buying companies are stuck with hundreds of houses as surging mortgage rates slow demand. On the jobs front, a tight labor market means migrant workers in the U.S. are seeing better pay and working conditions, and Washington, D.C., has more tech job openings than—you’d better snuggle deep into your hoodie—Silicon Valley.” [Wall Street Journal]
Ex-Memphis police officer took a photo of Tyre Nichols after beating, document says
“MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One of the Memphis officers charged in the beating and death of Tyre Nichols took a picture of him as he was handcuffed and leaning against the side of a police car and sent it to multiple people, a statement of charges for the incident said.
Former officer Demetrius Haley texted a photo to at least five people, according to the statement, which was sent by the Memphis Police Department in its request to have Haley and former officers Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills, and Emmitt Martin III decertified. The statement was obtained through a public records request.” Read more at USA Today
Tyre Nichols' parents, Rodney and RowVaughn Wells, were invited to the State of the Union by U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus. The camera focused on the Wells several times throughout Biden's remarks.
AP
Balloon part of vast surveillance program
Photo: U.S. Navy via AP
Above: In a U.S. Navy photo, sailors recover wreckage of the China spy balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Sunday.
“The U.S. intelligence community has linked the balloon shot down to a vast surveillance program run by China's People's Liberation Army, The Washington Post reports.
The balloons have ‘collected information on military assets in countries and areas of emerging strategic interest to China including Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines,’ The Post writes.
Officials say the PLA airships have been spotted over five continents.
‘What the Chinese have done is taken an unbelievably old technology, and basically married it with modern communications and observation capabilities,’ an official told the Post. ‘It's a massive effort.’” [Axios]
House G.O.P. Leads Constitution Read-Aloud, Seeking an Edge on Patriotism
A 43-minute recitation of the document fulfilled a promise Republicans made last year, and followed several acts of performative patriotism since they assumed control of the House.
“WASHINGTON — Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed during his party’s campaign to win control of the House that things would be different when Republicans took over, with new policies on the agenda, new people in charge and ‘something that hasn’t been done in years’: a new ritual of reading every single word of the Constitution aloud from the floor on Day 1.
That did not happen. On Day 1, Mr. McCarthy was embarking on an epic negotiation to win over right-wing holdouts in what would become a grueling, 15-ballot election to become speaker, preparing a broad set of concessions he would ultimately make to win the post. And he has been slow to get started on the ambitious policy agenda Republicans have laid out.
But on Tuesday, 35 days after the dawn of their majority and hours before President Biden was set to give his State of the Union address in the chamber, Republicans stood one by one for a 43-minute recitation of the document. It was the latest in a string of symbolic actions the party has taken — many of them aimed at signaling patriotism and a devotion to the nation’s founding principles — to show that the House is under new management.
As conspicuous shows of patriotism go, it was fairly dry stuff. Mr. McCarthy kicked off the proceedings with little fanfare….” Read more at New York Times
FedEx, Southwest and 'potential catastrophe'
“The FedEx and Southwest Airlines flights that nearly collided at an Austin airport over the weekend came within 100 feet of each other, federal investigators say. The FedEx plane was attempting to land on the same runway the Southwest Airlines flight was scheduled to depart from before the FedEx flight aborted its landing. Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CNN she was proud of the the FedEx flight crew and pilot for avoiding the collision, while also telling Reuters the Southwest Airlines pilots would not have known what was going on. “They saved, in my view, 128 people from a potential catastrophe," Homendy said. Read more at USA Today
•FAA proposes fining United Airlines $1.15 million for allegedly removing fire safety check. [USA Today]
A Southwest Airlines passenger jet takes off from Chicago's Midway Airport. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Charles Rex Arbogast, AP
“Lawmakers in Tennessee are advancing a bill that would restrict drag show performances, and other state legislatures are following suit. It's the latest in a wave of anti-drag legislation that will threaten the LGBTQ community as well as businesses, critics say.” [NPR]
Gallup: Just 2 in 10 U.S. employees have work `best friend’
This image provided by Catalina María Gomez Caycedo shows Aleena Rupani, from left, Catalina María Gomez Caycedo, Henry Crabtree, and Michael Watkins in Crabtree's London flat. The close friends met through their work at a software company with workers scattered around the globe. A recent Gallup survey says just 2 in 10 adult U.S. employees say they have a best friend at work. (Catalina María Gomez Caycedo via AP).
“NEW YORK (AP) — Crystal Powers began a new job remotely in February 2022 as a medical records supervisor. She has yet to meet two of the five people who report to her in person and has found it challenging to bond with her fellow managers online.
‘I was used to that face-to-face of going into people’s cubicles and talking with them one-on-one. It just doesn’t translate as well to a remote environment,’ said the 42-year-old Powers, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
Just 2 in 10 adult U.S. employees say they definitely have a ‘best friend’ at work, according to a quarterly Gallup survey done in June 2022. The percentage under age 35 dropped by 3 points when compared to pre-pandemic 2019, to 21% from 24%, said Gallup workplace and well-being researcher Jim Harter. There was no such change for workers 35 and up, he said.
Having a best friend at work has become even more important since the dramatic rise in remote and hybrid employment, Harter said….” Read more at AP News
Zelenskyy visits UK for first time since Russia’s invasion
By JILL LAWLESS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a media conference after the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
“LONDON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a rare trip out of his country Wednesday, daring to visit Britain in a bid for more advanced weapons as Kyiv braces for an expected Russian offensive and hatches its own plans to retake land held by Moscow’s forces.
Zelenskyy arrived on a Royal Air Force plane at London Stansted airport north of the U.K. capital. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greeted him on the tarmac, tweeting a photo of him embracing the Ukrainian leader.
It’s his first trip to the U.K. since Russia’s invasion began nearly a year ago and only his second confirmed journey outside Ukraine during the war.
A large convoy of vehicles left the airport shortly after the plane landed for the drive to central London, where Zelenskyy will hold talks with Sunak at Downing Street.
Zelenskyy will also address Parliament and meet with King Charles III and U.K. military chiefs during his visit….” Read more at AP News
Brexit was a ‘colossal mistake.’ So says former Tory Prime Minister John Major, who noted that while he isn’t a ‘significant Europhile,’ he believes the UK was stronger when it was in the EU. [Bloomberg]
John Major Photographer: House of Commons/PA Wire
“Lost property | China’s ambassador to France said the US should return debris from the balloon it shot down because it belongs to Beijing. Lu Shaye’s remarks are the first time China has officially expressed a desire for the US to return the balloon it downed off South Carolina. US Navy divers are now trying to retrieve its parts.
Xi told top officials that China’s successful development shows there is another way to modernize, as he rejected any need to ‘Westernize.’
Xi appears to be recalibrating his hardline approach to Taiwan, wooing opposition leaders ahead of the island’s presidential election next year.” [Bloomberg]
Turkey Imposes State of Emergency in South
Following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the country in the early hours of Monday morning, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency in the 10 worst-affected provinces.
“At time of writing, the death toll was just over 11,000. There has also been economic fallout; after a 7 percent drop on Wednesday and an overall 16 percent slump since the earthquake, Turkey’s stock exchange halted trading.
Erdogan said that the state of emergency was needed so that rescue work could be ‘carried out quickly,’ although he was short on details. Erdogan is clearly conscious of history; after a devastating 1999 earthquake, the government’s slow response doomed then-Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, paving the way for Erdogan’s rise. In an effort to avoid that fate, the president has sought to appear at the forefront of relief efforts.
However, the collapse of thousands of buildings in southern cities that saw widespread construction growth during Erdogan’s tenure—driven by companies close to the government—could, according to Politico, end up making the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) look bad for not enforcing more stringent building standards.
If the state of emergency does indeed lift after three months, it will end shortly before Turkey’s May 14 elections. The last state of emergency in Turkey, which was put in place in 2016 after a failed coup attempt, lasted two years.
Meanwhile, in northwest Syria, there is a different challenge: how to get aid to the people who live there? The areas hit by the earthquake include millions of people already displaced by civil war. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has requested that European countries send aid, but for over a decade, since the Syrian civil war began, the Syrian government has been accused of withholding aid from areas controlled by the opposition.
As Charles Lister argues in FP, ‘The regime has a consistent, decadelong track record of manipulating, diverting, stealing, and spoiling humanitarian aid’ and the only border crossing Syria and Russia had allowed for international aid access is now closed due to earthquake damage.
‘With the response in its infancy the need for humanitarian aid is stark,’ International Rescue Committee (IRC) Syria Country Director Tanya Evans said in a statement. ‘In this time of increased need it is critical that the levels of aid crossing also increase at pace too.’” [Foreign Policy]
“India’s Congress Party calls for an investigation. Protesters from India’s opposition parties are calling for an investigation into the Adani Group, and specifically into allegations made by a U.S. short-selling firm, Hindenburg Research, which has accused the company of fraudulent practices. The Adani Group has denied wrongdoing. Members of India’s opposition Congress Party have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to investigate in various ways across the country.
In Delhi, Congress Party members threw fake currency notes in the air. Some burned a suitcase covered with images of Modi and Gautam Adani, head of the Adani Group. In Mumbai and Chennai, they protested outside office buildings. So far, however, protests against the Adani Group are not widespread and are mostly limited to political opposition and the financial sector.” [Foreign Policy]
“Blinken reportedly asked Israel and PA to ‘pause.’ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to ‘pause’ certain actions, Axios reports. This included Israeli ‘settlement activity, the demolitions of Palestinian homes and evictions of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.’
The United States also reportedly asked the Palestinian Authority to resume security cooperation and pause further steps against Israel at the United Nations and in other international forums. The Israeli side reportedly said it could stop some but not all of the requested activity, while the Palestinians reportedly said they would ‘pause’ if it would be mutual.” [Foreign Policy]
“A murdered candidate was elected mayor in Ecuador. Omar Menéndez was shot dead by gunmen mere hours before polls opened for his mayoral race in Puerto López. The 41-year-old won. A teenager was also killed in the attack; the motive is still being investigated. A member of Menéndez’s party is expected to replace him.
Crime, believed to be connected to increasingly influential drug gangs, is escalating in Ecuador. This attack comes just two weeks after a different mayoral candidate was shot and killed in the coastal town of Salinas. A proposal to change the constitution so that criminals could be extradited to maximum security jails in the United States was also put to voters this week, but it failed, with 51 percent of voters casting their ballots against it.” [Foreign Policy]
“Russia hits more civilian targets. Ukrainian authorities have said that Russia has hit a hospital and five apartment buildings in the town of Vovchansk in the country’s northeast. Russia also continued shelling of the mining town of Vuhledar. Ukraine also said this week saw the deadliest 24 hours of the war thus far.
Meanwhile, Russia said that western countries providing arms to Ukraine effectively constituted NATO involvement, and that they could lead to ‘unpredictable’ escalation. ‘The U.S. and its allies are trying to prolong the conflict as much as possible,’ said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Russia invaded Ukraine almost a year ago—an anniversary Ukraine has warned Russia is planning to mark with an intensified offensive.” [Foreign Policy]
Study: 15 million people live under threat of glacial floods
FILE - Chunks of ice break off the Perito Moreno Glacier, in Lake Argentina, at Los Glaciares National Park, near El Calafate, in Argentina's Patagonia region, March 10, 2016. As glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, 15 million people across the globe live under the threat of a sudden and deadly outburst flood, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Francisco Munoz, File)
“As glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, 15 million people across the globe live under the threat of a sudden and deadly outburst flood, a new study finds.
More than half of those living in the shadow of the disaster called glacial lake outburst floods are in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru and China, according to a study in Tuesday’s Nature Communications. A second study, awaiting publication in a peer-reviewed journal, catalogs more than 150 glacial flood outbursts in history and recent times.
It’s a threat Americans and Europeans rarely think about, but 1 million people live within just 6 miles (10 kilometers) of potentially unstable glacial-fed lakes, the study calculated.
One of the more devastating floods was in Peru in 1941 and it killed between 1,800 and 6,000 people. A 2020 glacial lake outburst flood in British Columbia, Canada, caused a tsunami of water about 330 feet (100 meters) high, but no one was hurt. A 2017 glacial outburst flood in Nepal, triggered by a landslide, was captured on video by German climbers. Alaska’s Mendenhall glacier has had annual small glacial outburst floods in what the National Weather Service calls ‘suicide basin,’ since 2011, according to study lead author Caroline Taylor, a researcher at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom…” Read more at AP News
Unveiling of a seismic technology
CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., yesterday. Photo: Jeffrey Dastin/Reuters
“While half of search queries can be answered perfectly well with a few web links, Microsoft is betting big that AI-powered responses can better address the other half — potentially giving its Bing search engine a fresh chance to take on Google, Axios' Ina Fried writes.
‘Half of the 10 billion queries are going unanswered today, or at least without very good answers,’ longtime Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi told Axios in an interview yesterday.
Why it matters: For every 1% of search market share Microsoft takes, $2 billion in annual ad dollars flow the company's way, Casey Newton's Platformer newsletter notes from a Microsoft investor call yesterday.
Microsoft detailed its plans yesterday to add a more powerful version of the AI engine behind ChatGPT to both Bing and the Edge web browser.
Microsoft says it has tuned OpenAI's latest engine for search, and is using internally developed AI tools to improve standard Bing results.
The new Bing is in a limited public preview now, with plans to open up deeper access to millions of users in the coming weeks.
The big picture: Any profound change to the search business has the potential to upend the lucrative economics that have built Google's empire.
That business has grown up around the idea that there are multiple answers to any question and search engines deliver a mix of links, including ones paid for by advertisers.
How it works: Unlike ChatGPT, Microsoft is offering citations with its answers, allowing people to fact-check the AI-powered answers they receive. That could also make the shift in search results more palatable to the publishers whose information Bing is relying on.
Mehdi said Microsoft is using Bing's vast knowledge of the Web to make answers more reliable than those served up by ChatGPT, helping to address a key shortcoming — that it can be confidently wrong.
Reality check: Google on Monday previewed its own plans to add AI to its search results — as well as a homegrown ChatGPT rival — and is holding an event today to announce other search improvements.” [Axios]
“The greening of Republican-led states in Midwest America is accelerating. Ohio and Indiana, long dependent on coal power, are on the verge of solar-farm booms so staggering that their respective buildouts between now and 2027 may vie with Nevada’s and trail only those of California and Texas. The low cost of solar power and the promise of construction and manufacturing jobs are winning over communities that may not be predisposed to the climate benefits.” [Bloomberg]
Doral Renewables Mammoth North Solar plant in Starke County, Indiana, under construction last year. Source: Doral Renewables
LeBron James breaks NBA’s all-time scoring record
“LeBron James is the NBA’s king of scoring. The Lakers star became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 career points, on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The record-setting points, his 35th and 36th of the game, came on a fadeaway mid-range jumper with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter. As sons Bronny and Bryce and daughter Zhuri looked on, James set one of sport's most hallowed records, one Abdul-Jabbar had held for nearly 40 years.” Read more at USA Today
LeBron James tosses powder in the air prior to playing the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Ashley Landis, AP
“LeBron James scored his 38,388th career point Tuesday night in Los Angeles, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer, Axios Sports' Jeff Tracy writes.
Why King James is a unicorn: Some guys are scorers. Some are distributors. Some are defensive savants. Some are great teammates. LeBron is all of those things at once.
Breaking it down: James reached the staggering sum by combining three critical factors better than any player in league history.
Longevity: He's one of just 10 players to play in at least 20 seasons, which fellow top-five members Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant also did. Karl Malone played in 19. So the only real outlier is Michael Jordan — 15 seasons.
Consistent excellence: James has the fifth-highest career points per game average in NBA history (27.22). He's looking as strong as ever in year 20, ranking seventh in the league this season.
Durability: He's rarely missed time to injury, logging the third-most regular-season minutes and by far the most playoff minutes all-time.” [Axios]
LeBron James in L.A. last night after he broke the record. Photo: Harry How/Getty Images
The top 5:
LeBron James: 38,390 points
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387
Karl Malone: 36,928
Kobe Bryant: 33,643
Michael Jordan: 32,292
Gustavo Dudamel conducting.Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
New York’s new maestro
“Gustavo Dudamel will be the next music director of the New York Philharmonic. Dudamel was born in Venezuela and took over the Los Angeles Philharmonic when he was 26. When he arrives in New York in 2026, he’ll oversee an ensemble associated with famous maestros like Leonard Bernstein and Arturo Toscanini.
Dudamel is the rare classical artist to break into the mainstream. He has appeared in a Super Bowl halftime show and was an inspiration for the Amazon series ‘Mozart in the Jungle.’” [New York Times]
Disney cuts Simpsons ‘forced labor’ episode in Hong Kong
Characters pose at premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" in Springfield, Vt., in 2007. Photo: AP
“Disney removed an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ from its streaming service in Hong Kong that includes a mention of ‘forced labor camps’ in China, Axios' Sara Fischer confirms.
Why it matters: It comes at a critical time for relations between Disney and the ruling Chinese Communist Party — and it's the latest sign of deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong.
In the episode — ‘One Angry Lisa,’ which first aired on TV in October — Marge Simpson takes a virtual spin class. The instructor, in front of a virtual background of the Great Wall of China, says:
‘Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.’” [Axios]