The Full Belmonte, 3/30/2024
THE LATEST NEWS
A Hight electric truck. Mark Abramson for The New York Times
“The Biden administration announced pollution rules meant to increase sales of electric or other zero-emission heavy vehicles, like school buses, ambulances and R.V.s.” [New York Times]
“With inflation still running slightly above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said he was in no hurry to cut interest rates.” [New York Times]
“Germany is Israel’s second-largest arms supplier and sees supporting it as a way to atone for the Holocaust. But as deaths mount in Gaza, German officials have begun to change their tone.” [New York Times]
“A federal judge ordered New Jersey to redesign its primary election ballot. Andy Kim, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, had challenged the old design, which gave preferential placement to local leaders’ preferred candidates.” [New York Times]
“The F.D.A. warned that Impella heart pumps, which are used as temporary implants, have been linked to 49 deaths and dozens of injuries.” [New York Times]
Democrats seek boost from abortion ballot measures in key battlegrounds
© Allison Robbert/The Hill
“Democrats see efforts to get abortion on the ballot in key battleground states across the country as a way to boost turnout and energize their base amid signs of low voter enthusiasm for this year's presidential race.
Abortion-related measures are already on the ballot in Maryland and New York — a state seen as central to both parties’ efforts to win control of the House — while similar efforts are underway in states like Arizona, Florida and Montana.”
Read the full story here at The Hill
Hush money prosecutors say gag order covers judge’s daughter after Trump attacks
“Manhattan prosecutors and former President Trump are sparring over the scope of the gag order imposed on the former president in his hush money criminal case less than three weeks out from the start of trial.
The former president has continued to direct his rage at Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter in social media posts after Merchan this week refused to delay Trump’s trial and approved prosecutors’ request to gag him.”
Read the full story here at The Hill
Trump appeals ruling keeping Fani Willis on Georgia case
“Former President Trump urged a state appeals court to review a judge’s decision allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) to remain on Trump’s Georgia 2020 election racketeering case.
Judge Scott McAfee earlier this month ruled Willis’s once-romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade created an appearance of a conflict but allowed the district attorney to move ahead with her prosecution once Wade resigned.”
Federal judge blasts Trump’s attacks on judges, warns against tyranny
BY LAUREN IRWIN
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton is criticizing former President Trump’s attacks on the judges involved in his criminal cases, most recently his hush money trial, warning that undermining an independent judiciary risks sliding the country toward tyranny.
Walton joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to discuss Trump’s aggressive remarks about the families of his perceived foes in his various legal battles.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Scaramucci on why more in GOP don’t oppose Trump: ‘They probably don’t like death threats’
“Anthony Scaramucci, who spent a short amount of time as White House communications director under former President Trump, said more Republicans don’t speak up about their opposition to Trump due to not wanting threats to their life.
‘Well, they probably don’t like death threats, Nicolle, I think we could probably start there,’ Scaramucci told MSNBC’s ‘Deadline: White House’ host Nicolle Wallace Thursday when she asked him about why some of those who have interacted with Trump directly find it hard to speak up about the ‘danger’ he poses.”
Read the full story here at The Hill
Biden campaign woos Haley voters in new ad: ‘Join us’
“President Biden’s reelection campaign released an ad Friday that focuses on courting supporters of Republican Nikki Haley while also bashing former President Trump for pushing away her backers.
The ad, first reported by The Washington Post, is a 30-second spot that includes the various times Trump has criticized Haley, including calling her ‘birdbrain’ and ‘not presidential material.’” [The Hill]
Airstrikes Against Hezbollah
An Israeli Air Force fighter jet flies over the southern Lebanon border on March 27.Jalaa Marey/AFP
“The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out its deadliest operation in Syria’s Aleppo province in years on Friday. IDF airstrikes killed more than 42 people, including Hezbollah members and Syrian soldiers, and injured dozens more, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A security official told Reuters that one of the Hezbollah fighters killed was believed to be a local field commander. A Hezbollah weapons depot was reportedly among the targets hit.
Israel did not comment on its alleged role in the attack. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani accused Israel of using attacks on Syria as part of a ‘blatant and desperate attempt’ to expand the Israel-Hamas war. Iran is a major backer of both Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria since that country’s civil war began in 2011, striking key infrastructure, including international airports, in Damascus and Aleppo to try to disrupt weapons deliveries to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxy groups active in the country that violently oppose Israel. In the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Hezbollah dramatically increased its rocket attacks from Lebanon over the border into northern Israel, killing around 12 Israeli troops and half a dozen civilians so far and prompting the evacuation of more than 60,000 Israelis.
In response, Israel’s strikes in both Lebanon and Syria have grown deadlier, even forcing Iran to withdraw some of its top officers from Syria. Earlier this month, Israeli officials said the IDF has hit more than 4,500 Hezbollah locations in Syria and Lebanon, killing over 300 militants, since Oct. 7. On Tuesday, alleged Israeli airstrikes in eastern Syria killed several people, including a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an engineer with the World Health Organization.
In a separate strike on Friday, Israeli forces said they killed Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, a deputy Hezbollah commander, near Bazouriye, Lebanon. Naim helped oversee the group’s rocket and missiles unit and was reportedly responsible for conducting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians.
Hezbollah officials have previously suggested that they would stop firing on Israel if a cease-fire in Gaza was reached. However, Israeli and U.S. officials have said a halt in fighting would not automatically extend to Lebanon.” [Foreign Policy]
“365 days behind bars. Friday marked one year since Russian authorities detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Last year, he was accused of espionage while on a reporting trip in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, a claim that the Wall Street Journal and the United States government both deny. On Tuesday, a Russian court extended Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention for another three months. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
‘Evan’s case is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law,’ U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said. ‘It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends.’
Also this week, Russian forces escalated attacks in Ukraine against Kyiv’s thermal power infrastructure. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power provider, said three of its energy stations were damaged in large-scale overnight attacks on Thursday that included dozens of Russian missiles and at least 60 explosive drones launched. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of targeting two dams on Thursday to repeat ‘the ecological disaster in the Kherson region,’ referring to catastrophic flooding last year caused by the collapse of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam.” [Foreign Policy]
“RFA leaves Hong Kong. Radio Free Asia (RFA), a U.S. government-funded but editorially independent news agency, announced on Friday that it will close its office in Hong Kong due to concerns over the region’s recently passed national security law. Hong Kong’s law raises ‘serious questions about our ability to operate in safety,’ RFA President Bay Fang said, specifically after Hong Kong officials called the RFA a ‘foreign force.’
Hong Kong enacted its second national security law, known as Article 23, last Saturday to target alleged foreign interference. The law gives local officials more authority to investigate accusations of selling state secrets and ‘external interference.’ Local officials accused the agency of scaremongering, but press freedom activists said the law increases the risks for journalists working there.
After China imposed a similar national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, several local pro-democracy news outlets, including Apple Daily and Stand News, shuttered operations. Apple Daily’s publisher, Jimmy Lai, is currently on trial on national security charges, and two former top Stand News editors are on trial on charges of sedition.” [Foreign Policy]
“Choosing Istanbul’s next mayor. Turkey is set to hold local elections on Sunday that experts believe could foretell the nation’s presidential future. Among the races is a bid to determine Istanbul’s next mayor. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has endorsed former Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum for the role. Yet analysts predict that incumbent Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the center-left Republican People’s Party will win.
If Imamoglu is reelected, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party will not just lose a pivotal seat in government. An opposition victory would also pave the way for Imamoglu to run for president in 2028—signaling a major change for the right wing’s decadeslong hold on power.” [Foreign Policy]
“Humanitarian aid to Gaza. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel on Thursday to take all necessary and effective action to enable the delivery of food supplies to Gaza. ‘The court observes that Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine … but that famine is setting in,’ the court’s justices said.
The new measures were part of a South Africa-filed case accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel said it is working to expand humanitarian access into the region via land, sea, and air deliveries. Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the ruling did not go far enough, calling for the court to order Israel to immediately end its operations in Gaza. The ICJ’s orders are legally binding, but the body lacks an enforcement mechanism.” [Foreign Policy]
“With Easter on the horizon, Norwegians are scrambling to hoard eggs for the holiday. But with supermarkets in Norway running low on supplies, many people are crossing into neighboring Sweden to stock up. On Tuesday, Sweden’s Maxi-Mat food store ran out of eggs, and the nearby Nordby Supermarket limited purchases to three 20-packs per home. ‘It’s far cheaper than you get in Norway—if you can get eggs in Norway at all, that is,’ said Stale Lovheim, the head of the Nordby shopping center. Despite the high demand, though, the Easter Bunny appears to be on schedule.” [Foreign Policy]
“Wall Street may be impatient for interest rates to start falling, but the messaging from US Federal Reserve officials has been consistent. ‘We don’t need to be in a hurry,’ Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated Friday. He spoke right after the central bank’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation showed prices continuing to cool—0.3% in February—while remaining high enough to keep Powell tied to his favorite strategy: caution. ‘The fact that the US economy is growing at such a solid pace, the fact that the labor market is still very, very strong, gives us the chance to just be a little more confident about inflation coming down before we take the important step of cutting rates,’ Powell said. Indeed, the latest numbers are reassuring strategists that the American economy is holding up just fine after a two-year rate-hiking campaign. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending exceeded all estimates on the heels of the biggest gain in wages in over a year, according to the report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. ‘Central bankers can afford to wait before reducing benchmark interest rates,’ Jonathan Levin writes in Bloomberg Opinion.
When it comes to stocks, traders this week continued to ignore warnings of a growing artificial intelligence-fueled tech bubble that could pop at any time. Equities kept moving higher this week, hitting a record in the final stretch of a quarter that saw the market surge more than 10%. ‘The S&P 500 continues to defy all of the naysayers,’ said Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance. ‘Investors are more impressed with the state of the economy and the resilient consumer than they are worried about Fed rate cuts being pushed of farther into the future.’” [Bloomberg]
“Who will pay for the billions of dollars in damage caused by the container ship crash that toppled Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people? The first order of business will be a salvage operation to refloat and remove the ship, the Dali. US President Joe Biden said the federal government should rebuild the bridge and directed authorities to ‘move heaven and earth’ to reopen Baltimore’s port as soon as possible. The price tag—rerouting cargo to other ports as well as the cost of loss of life, property and business—could be among the largest-ever marine insurance payouts, according to Lloyds of London. John Authers writes in Bloomberg Opinion that the accident has underscored the difficulty of paying for infrastructure, in particular the longstanding problem of attracting private investors to big projects.” [Bloomberg]
Collapsed sections of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rest on the Dali in Baltimore harbor. Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images North America
“Xi Jinping met with American business leaders in Beijing this week, including Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman and Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon, as the Chinese leader scrambles to restore confidence in his faltering economy. China’s protracted property downturn is eroding the balance sheets of the nation’s largest state banks as their bad loans pile up. And in some ways Xi is hurting his own cause: His attacks on bankers as ‘hedonists’ because of their lavish lifestyles are fueling a brain drain.” [Bloomberg]
“FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing billions of dollars from customers, one of the largest frauds in history and a case that came to symbolize the malfeasance many see at the heart of the crypto craze. Evidence from his trial suggests fraud was built into FTX from the very beginning. The court’s sentence may also set the tone for others accused of crimes involving digital assets, such as former Celsius Network Chief Executive Officer Alex Mashinsky, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon and Binance Holdings founder Changpeng Zhao. The three former associates of Bankman-Fried who turned on him will soon learn their fates as well.” [Bloomberg]
Sam Bankman-Fried Photographer: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg
“New York City’s planned surcharge for cars entering Manhattan’s central business district won a key approval. The congestion pricing plan, the first in the US, would charge most cars $15 for entering the borough south of 60th Street during peak times. Private bus operators, including those that travel to the wealthy summer enclave of the Hamptons, would be exempt. But Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey, who calls the plan a ‘blatant cash grab’ that will cost his constituents dearly, said the fight over the toll is far from over.” [Bloomberg]
“Luxury watchmaker Favre Leuba plans to unveil more than two dozen timepieces later this year, priced as much as $26,489, as part of a brand relaunch that seeks to expand beyond its majority Indian consumer base. Major hotel chains including Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide Holdings are on track to more than double their footprint across Africa amid a boom in tourism on the continent. And here’s the good, the bad and the robotic when it comes to the $345,000McLaren 750S Spider.” [Bloomberg]
The 2024 McLaren 750S Spider Photographer: Hannah Elliott/Bloomberg
Hard for undocumented immigrants to vote
Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photos: Joe Raedle, Erik McGregor/LightRocket, Conrad Williams, Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images
“Former President Trump often claims that big waves of immigrants who aren't U.S. citizens are voting in our elections — and influencing outcomes — with Democrats' blessing. They're not.
Why it matters: There's no evidence such voting has ever happened on any significant scale. But the conspiracy theories live on, fueled by Trump, Elon Musk and others who keep injecting hard-to-imagine scenarios into the debate over border security, Axios' Stef W. Kight writes.
Reality check: Non-citizen immigrants are barred by law from voting in federal elections. The very few who try it typically do so by accident, and are caught. The penalties can be severe, and include prison time or deportation.
"The stakes are really, really high. And it's really easy to figure out that you did it," Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Brennan Center Voting Rights Program, told Axios.
Undocumented immigrants in particular are widely known to steer clear of giving out personal information or registering for anything involving U.S. and state governments, out of fear of facing arrest or deportation.
Some have even avoided public services they're entitled to, such as food stamps or housing benefits.
Between the lines: It's theoretically possible for a foreigner to first lie about their citizenship status to register to vote, then commit a federal crime by voting.
Voters typically are required to provide some kind of proof of identity to register to vote, such as a driver's license. Not all of those ID methods require citizenship.
But voter registration and voting records are both recorded, making it easy to catch non-citizens at various points in the voting process.
The big picture: States are required to regularly vet and update voter rolls, to look for anyone who isn't eligible.” [Axios]
Weekend starts early
Data: ActivTrak. Chart: Axios Visuals
“Pandemic-era conversations about four-day workweeks have quieted down, but U.S. workers are logging off earlier and earlier on Fridays.
Why it matters: COVID's disruptions to the way we work — like lighter Fridays when working remotely — have staying power, Axios' Erica Pandey writes.
By the numbers: Quitting time has been shifting earlier throughout the week, and it's especially early on Friday, according to an analysis of 75,000 workers at 816 companies by the workplace analytics firm ActivTrak.
Friday sign-off times have moved up from around 5 p.m. at the start of 2021 to around 4 p.m. now.
Monday-Thursday sign-offs have also shifted earlier, possibly because more workers are commuting to and from offices rather than letting remote work bleed into the evening, The Wall Street Journal's Vanessa Fuhrmans notes.” [Axios]
AI drawing board: $100B data center
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
“OpenAI and Microsoft are making plans for a data center costing up to $100 billion to power OpenAI's artificial intelligence ambitions, The Information's Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati report.
Why it matters: The project would be 100 times more expensive than some of today's biggest data centers, spotlighting how much cash it will take to build the AI future.
Zoom in: The proposed data center would house a supercomputer, dubbed Stargate, with millions of specialized chips.
What to watch: While the project isn't finalized, it's a sign of how far ahead Microsoft and OpenAI are thinking, Gardizy and Efrati note.
Microsoft has already pledged $13 billion to OpenAI and would be funding this new project too.
In exchange, the tech giant is the only company with a license to use the tech behind GPT-4.
OpenAI referred questions to Microsoft. Microsoft told Axios: ‘Microsoft has demonstrated its ability to build pioneering AI infrastructure used to train and deploy the world's leading AI models.’
‘We are always planning for the next generation of infrastructure innovations needed to continue pushing the frontier of AI capability.’” [Axios]
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Music
Rhiannon Giddens plays banjo and viola on Beyoncé’s new album. Her own work sheds light on the Black roots of folk music. Serena Brown for The New York Times
“Beyoncé released “Cowboy Carter.” The 27-track album features a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” and contributions from Miley Cyrus. Read about the guests and the behind-the-scenes figures on the album.
Shakira performed a pop-up show in Times Square. The performance was quick, but it took months of planning.
Eleanor Collins, regarded as Canada’s “first lady” of jazz, died at 104. In 1955, she became the first Black person to host a television program in the country.
Film and TV
Louis Gossett Jr., who was the first Black performer to win an Oscar for best supporting actor and who also won an Emmy for “Roots,” died at 87.
Martin Scorsese has agreed to host a documentary series about Christian saints for Fox New Media’s streaming service, Fox Nation.
ABC’s “The Bachelorette” cast the first Asian American lead in the show’s more than 20-year history.
A prop door from the movie “Titanic,” on which the character Rose floated, sold at auction for over $700,000.
Other Big Stories
Paris’s Musée d’Orsay is celebrating the 150th anniversary of impressionism with an exhibition.
Some South Korean activists want to replace a Japanese variety of cherry tree with a variety they say is native to South Korea. But the science is messy.
The British Museum, facing a theft scandal and calls for the return of objects in its collection to their countries of origin, named the art historian Nicholas Cullinan as its new director.
Kim Kardashian claimed that Donald Judd, the minimalist artist, designed her office furniture. Judd’s foundation says he didn’t and has sued her for making false claims.” [New York Times]
“Diamond in the rough: “Divorce rings,” which signal a new beginning after a marriage ends, are having a moment.” [New York Times]
Men's March Madness highlights: Friday's Sweet 16 scores, best NCAA Tournament moments
“Men’s March Madness continued Friday night with the second slate of Sweet 16 games. Two top seeds were in action, highlighting the four-game set. No. 1 Purdue rolled No. 5 Gonzaga but No. 1 Houston wasn't so lucky. The Cougars lost star Jamal Shead to injury and then lost the game to No. 4 Duke.
No. 11 NC State upset No. 2 Marquette to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986 and No. 2 Tennessee fought off No. 3 Creighton to earn the program's second Elite Eight berth.
Men's NCAA Tournament games are airing and streaming across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.
Men's March Madness NCAA Tournament schedule
Here is the complete schedule for Saturday's Elite Eight games.
March Madness scores today
Duke win sets up Elite Eight showdown with ACC rival
DALLAS — It will be an all-ACC affair in the South Regional for a spot in the Final Four.
Duke, the No. 4 seed, knocked off top-seeded Houston at American Airlines Center 54-51 on Friday in a game that was marred by an injury to Big 12 player of the year Jamal Shead.
Duke advances to the Elite Eight where it will face conference rival NC State, a team it has already played twice this month.
Though Duke is no stranger to deep NCAA men's tournament runs, this is a breakthrough win for the program’s current iteration under 36-year-old coach Jon Scheyer, who replaced the legendary Mike Krzyzewski before last season.
While Duke has done plenty of winning in two years under Scheyer, it had not lived up to the sky-high expectations that were set when he landed the nation’s top recruiting class right out of the gate and added another crop of five-star prospects in his second year.
That narrative now changes to some degree with this win over Houston: A tough, physical, senior-laden team that went 32-5 overall this season and 15-3 in the Big 12, which was widely considered the nation’s deepest conference.
But the nature of the victory is unlikely to silence all Duke skeptics — and will surely leave Houston wondering what might have been. — Dan Wolken
Final: No. 2 Tennessee 82, No. 3 Creighton 75
DETROIT − Rick Barnes gave two brisk claps of his hands and a quick shout of encouragement.
Josiah-Jordan James made his way to the free-throw line and the moment was felt: Tennessee basketball and Barnes got the breakthrough they've waited for Friday.
The Vols are going to the Elite Eight, pressing within a game of the program's first Final Four and vanquishing all the third-round sadness of the past. Tennessee crushed Creighton with its defense, then proved its mettle in the deepest moments to win 82-75 at Little Caesars Arena to reach the Elite Eight for the second time in program history.
Dalton Knecht led No. 2 Tennessee (27-8) with 24 points. Josiah-Jordan James had 17 to eliminate No. 3 Creighton (25-10). The Vols will face No. 1 Purdue on Sunday. — Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel, USA TODAY Network
Final: No. 4 Duke 54, No. 1 Houston 51
Duke is headed to the Elite Eight for the first time since Mike Krzyzewski retired as the Blue Devils' coach.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils did it in rugged fashion, beating the top-seeded Houston Cougars, 54-51.
Houston was forced to play without its star guard, Jamal Shead, who suffered a severely sprained ankle toward the end of the first half. At the time, Houston led by six points. The Cougars failed to regain the momentum without their dynamic leader.
Duke, now under the direction of third-year coach Jon Scheyer, will play NC State Sunday in the Elite Eight. The Blue Devils were there last in 2022 under the direction of Krzyzewski.” — Josh Peter [USA Today]
Women’s March Madness highlights: Texas' suffocating defense overwhelms Gonzaga
“The women’s NCAA tournament rolled into the Sweet 16 with four games on Friday, including two top seeds in action. Undefeated No. 1 South Carolina fought off a challenge from No. 4 Indiana, while No. 1 Texas rolled past No. 4 Gonzaga in the final game of the night. No. 2 Notre Dame fell to No. 3 Oregon State amid controversy in the first game of the day. And No. 3 NC State will be joining its men's team in the Elite Eight after knocking off No. 2 Stanford.
Women’s March Madness games are airing and streaming across ESPN’s family of channels.” [USA Today]