The Full Belmonte, 6/22/2023
This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions shows the company's Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP/File)
SEARCH AND RESCUE
Search for the missing Titanic submersible nears the critical 96-hour mark for oxygen supply
“The race against time to find a submersible that disappeared on its way to the Titanic wreckage site entered a new phase Thursday morning as the final hours of oxygen possibly left on board the tiny vessel ticked off the clock. Read more.
Why this matters:
Rescuers have rushed more ships and vessels to the site, hoping the underwater sounds detected for a second straight day might help narrow the search. The area being searched is twice the size of Connecticut in waters as deep as 13,200 feet.” [AP News]
Adam Schiff
© The Associated Press / John Minchillo | Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in New York in April.
“The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, a key lawmaker in Democrats’ congressional investigations into former President Donald Trump. The resolution accuses Schiff of misleading the American people while pursuing the congressional investigation into Russia and the Trump campaign as the then-chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and for actions Schiff took leading up to the former president’s first impeachment. Schiff, who is running for a Senate seat in California, has dismissed the allegations as ‘false and defamatory.’” [CNN]
Supreme Court
“The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider a bill on Supreme Court ethics following a ProPublica report that Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet — even though the businessman later repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Wednesday his committee will mark up a bill after lawmakers return from their July 4 recess. The new report adds to the growing list of ethics questions surrounding the court, which have become a key focus of congressional Democrats. In a highly unusual move, Alito preemptively disputed the ProPublica report before it was published Tuesday night, authoring an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he acknowledged knowing billionaire Paul Singer but downplayed their relationship.” [CNN]
Capitol rioter who shocked police officer with stun gun is sentenced to over 12 years in prison
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
FILE - Rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez, a California man who drove a stun gun into a police officer's neck during one of the most violent clashes of the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 12 years in prison. Rodriguez yelled, “Trump won!” as he was led out of the courtroom where U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced him to 12 years and seven months behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
“WASHINGTON (AP) — A California man who drove a stun gun into a police officer’s neck during one of the most violent clashes of the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 12 years in prison.
Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez yelled, “Trump won!” as he was led out of the courtroom where U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced him to 12 years and seven months behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Only two other Jan. 6 defendants have received longer prison terms so far after hundreds of sentencings for Capitol riot cases.
The judge said Rodriguez, 40, was ‘a one-man army of hate, attacking police and destroying property’ at the Capitol.
‘You showed up in (Washington) D.C. spoiling for a fight,’ Jackson said. ‘You can’t blame what you did once you got there on anyone but yourself.’
Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone ’s body camera captured him screaming out in pain after Rodriguez shocked him with a stun gun while he was surrounded by a mob….” Read more at AP News
New law protects pregnant workers
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
“A new federal law protecting the rights of pregnant workers takes effect next Tuesday:
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a major advancement for the rights of pregnant workers — the first such breakthrough in more than four decades, Emily Peck writes for Axios Markets.
Why it matters: The law has the potential to increase women's labor force participation over the long term.
The act, signed by President Biden last year, requires employers with more than 15 employees to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers, as well as those recovering from childbirth and those who need to pump breast milk at work.
For example, a pregnant warehouse worker might need light duty if a doctor has restricted how much weight the employee can lift.
A retail worker may need extra bathroom breaks or to carry a bottle of water on the store floor.
A cashier might ask to sit on a stool while working.
Employers can claim a ‘hardship’ exemption if they truly can't make anything work.” [Axios]
The U.S. is getting older and more diverse.
“The numbers: The median age inched up by 0.2 years to 38.9 over the past year, according to estimates released yesterday by the Census Bureau.
What’s behind this trend? People in the baby boomer generation and their children are aging, and birthrates continue to decline. Net immigration also increased.
What else? The Hispanic, AAPI and Black populations all increased, while the number of White people declined.”
Read this story at Washington Post
ABORTION
Where the US stands on abortion
“One year ago Saturday, the Supreme Court stripped away constitutional protections for abortion, leaving the question to the states. Today we take a look into how access, laws and politics have been upended since the ruling.
Where things stand:
Bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy are in effect in 14 states. States with new bans or restrictions that have taken effect in the past year are home to more than 25 million women of child-bearing age.
Georgia restricts abortion access when cardiac activity is detected and Nebraska restricts access at 12 weeks; similar measures are in laws but not yet enforced in Florida and North Carolina.
Access to abortion pills remains unchanged for now, according to the most recent Supreme Court ruling.
Florida, Tennessee and other states have wrestled with what kind of exceptions to bans there should be in cases of rape or incest and to protect the health of the woman.
California, New York, Colorado and most other Democrat-controlled states are positioning themselves as abortion safe havens.
America’s religious leaders remain sharply divided over abortion.” [AP News}
Moscow court upholds ruling to detain US journalist Evan Gershkovich until August
“A court in Moscow has upheld an earlier ruling to keep Evan Gerhskovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia on espionage charges, in detention until late August, rejecting the journalist’s appeal. The 31-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip. A Moscow court agreed last month to keep him in custody until Aug. 30. Defense lawyers challenged the decision, but the Moscow City Court rejected the appeal on Thursday. Gershkovich and his employer have denied he spied in Russia. The U.S. government has declared him to be wrongfully detained and demanded his immediate release.” [USA Today]
US journalist Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing at The Moscow City Court in Moscow on June 22, 2023.
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA, AFP via Getty Images
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for a private dinner yesterday. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
Why Biden is ready to look past Modi’s issues for a state visit
“This week, President Joe Biden is honoring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a state visit despite differences between the two countries over Russia’s war in Ukraine and human rights challenges. Read more.
Why this matters:
India is the world’s most populous nation and one of the fastest growing economies. Biden has made clear that U.S. ties to India reflect a ‘defining relationship’ that he hopes will be central to tackling challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence and China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
India considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War era with key cooperation in defense, oil, nuclear energy and space exploration. But recently, the partnership has become complicated as Moscow builds closer ties with India’s rival, China, in part due to the war in Ukraine.” [AP News]
”Colombia is searching for dog who helped find children in the Amazon
With a powerful snout and pointy ears, Wilson became a national hero in Colombia when he helped the military find four children who survived a plane crash and were lost in the Amazon jungle for 40 days. The Belgian Shepherd went missing during the search and is the target of another sophisticated rescue operation.” [AP News]
Gang Wars
A woman cries at the court morgue of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on June 21 after recognizing her daughter among the inmates killed at the Women’s Center for Social Adaptation.Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty Images
“Tragedy struck Honduras on Tuesday when at least 46 women were killed in a prison riot in Tamara, roughly 30 miles northwest of the capital. The unrest was sparked by fighting between two powerful rival gangs within the prison, Barrio 18 and MS-13; the two gangs are kept in separate cellblocks, but members of Barrio 18 reportedly opened the cellblock housing the rival MS-13 gang members and attacked them, setting fire to a cell and shooting and stabbing the inmates using guns and machetes that had been smuggled in.
Locals indicate that the inmates had warned of an impending assault, but prison authorities had simply ignored their concerns. Honduran President Xiomara Castro confirmed such fears on Tuesday, saying the street gangs appeared to have planned the riot and that prison authorities likely allowed the assault to occur. Julissa Villanueva, head of Honduras’s penal system, suggested the riot was a response to recent government efforts to crack down on illegal activity inside the country’s prisons. Most of these, including the women’s prison targeted Tuesday, are controlled by gangs. ‘We will not back down,’ Villanueva warned in an aired announcement.
Since Castro became president in January 2022, her government has focused on combatting corruption, gang violence, and human rights abuses. This culminated in the establishment of emergency powers, beginning in November 2022, to fight the country’s rising number of extortion cases. Under these powers, which were most recently extended until late May, Castro suspended some constitutional rights—including restricting freedom of movement and assembly, as well as allowing home searches and arrests without a warrant—across 123 local districts and deployed soldiers to fight criminal gangs.
However, gang violence continues to plague the Central American nation. Between 2004 and 2018, around 191,000 people were displaced by gang violence in Honduras, Human Rights Watch reported. In April, the Norwegian Refugee Council further warned of armed conflict, issuing a report detailing ‘war-like levels of violence’ caused by street gangs. ‘The arrival of Xiomara Castro’s government a year ago represented a historic opportunity to change the course of the nation and revindicate human rights,’ Erika Guevara-Rosas, the Americas director at Amnesty International, said in January of this year, ‘but there has been insufficient change to address the grave crisis facing the Honduran population.’” [Foreign Policy]
“Sanctions hit Myanmar. Human rights issues continued to dominate the U.S. agenda on Wednesday following the Treasury Department’s announcement of new sanctions on Myanmar’s ruling military junta, known as the Tatmadaw. The sanctions target Myanmar’s defense ministry as well as two banks—state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and the Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank—which are used by junta members to buy arms from other countries. According to the U.S. Treasury, Myanmar’s Tatmadaw has relied on foreign actors, such as Russian entities, to buy materials that support its ‘brutal repression’ of political dissidents and skirt Western trade barriers.
Washington has repeatedly used economic punishments to denounce the Tatmadaw’s human rights abuses, including its ethnic cleansing campaign against the country’s Rohingya minority population, which the Biden administration formally declared a genocide in March 2022. The United States also houses Myanmar’s National Unity Government, the body that most international actors recognize as Myanmar’s legitimate governing coalition, FP’s Robbie Gramer and journalist Mary Yang reported.” [Foreign Policy]
Paris police look at gas leak as possible cause of explosion and fire that injured 24
By ANGELA CHARLTON and ALEX TURNBULL
Firemen use a water canon as they fight a blaze Wednesday, June 21, 2023 in Paris. Firefighters fought a blaze on Paris' Left Bank that is sent smoke soaring over the domed Pantheon monument and prompted evacuation of buildings in the neighborhood, police said. Local media cited witnesses describing a large explosion preceding the fire, and saying that part of a building collapsed. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
“PARIS (AP) — A strong explosion rocked a building in Paris’ Left Bank on Wednesday, injuring at least 24 people, igniting a fire that sent smoke soaring over the French capital’s monuments and prompting an evacuation of other properties, authorities said. Police were investigating suspicions that a gas leak caused the blast.
The facade of the building in the 5th arrondissement collapsed, and officials said rescuers were searching for two people who might be trapped inside. The explosion happened near the historic Val de Grace military hospital, in one of the most upscale neighborhoods of the French capital.
Some 270 firefighters were involved in putting out the flames and 70 emergency vehicles were sent to the scene. The fire was contained but not yet extinguished Wednesday evening, as Paris bars and restaurants celebrated the summer solstice with a citywide annual music festival….” Read more at AP News
“A trial begins in Brasilia today over charges that former President Jair Bolsonaro abused the powers of office by making false election claims. The case is the first of 15 he will face as a result of his frequent claims that voting was rigged against him, assertions that helped feed the polarization that resulted in riots in the capital. Bolsonaro, who retains a large support in Brazil, could be banned from office for eight years if found guilty.
Read how Brazil’s central bank threw a bucket of cold water on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s economic team and its expectations of clear signs of an imminent monetary easing cycle.” [Bloomberg]
“A rainbow win. Many Estonians are waving rainbow flags following the country’s legalization of same-sex marriage on Tuesday. The bill, which amends the country’s Family Law Act, allows any two adults to marry ‘regardless of their gender.’ The new legislation also grants same-sex couples the right to adopt children. ‘This is a decision that does not take anything away from anyone but gives something important to many,’ Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.
Tuesday’s parliamentary decision makes Estonia the first Baltic country to legalize same-sex marriage. While much of Western Europe has adopted LGBTQ protections already, many nations in Central and Eastern Europe, having spent years under Soviet control, continue to deny their citizens these rights. ‘My message [to Central Europe] is that it’s a difficult fight, but marriage and love is something that you have to promote,’ Kallas added. The new law will go into effect next year.” [Foreign Policy]
“Tensions between ultra-Orthodox and secular Israelis have never been higher, Ethan Bronner and Gwen Ackerman report. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition includes a record seven ultra-Orthodox ministers. Once preoccupied solely with matters affecting their own, elected officials representing the Haredim, as they’re called, are now advocating policies that affect all of society, including limits on the Supreme Court, gender segregation in public places and rollbacks on LGBTQ protections.” [Bloomberg]
The West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit. Photographer: Ariel Schalit/AP Photo
A gas explosion at a restaurant in China killed at least 31 people.
“The latest: Seven other people were injured yesterday, according to state media. The restaurant is on a busy street in Yinchuan, the capital of a northwestern region.
What happened? The blast was reportedly caused by a gas leak. Workers were replacing a broken valve when it exploded.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Odds and Ends
“Time to add Ocomtun to your travel bucket list. The newly discovered ancient Mayan city is located in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and includes large pyramid-like buildings, numerous altars, lots of stone columns, and even a ball court. According to local archaeologists, Ocomtun was likely an important Mayan city center between 250 and 1000 AD.” [Foreign Policy]
Amazon has claimed more than 200 million paid Prime members worldwide.
PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The FTC sued Amazon, alleging it duped millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime and made it difficult to cancel their memberships.
“For years, Amazon let people sign up for the $139 annual subscription service with one or two clicks, but created a ‘four-page, six-click, fifteen-option cancellation process’ known internally as ‘the Iliad Flow,’ the FTC said—a reference to Homer’s epic about the arduous Trojan War. Amazon revamped its Prime cancellation process for some subscribers in April, shortly before the FTC filed the case, the agency said. The company called the allegations false and said it looks forward to proving its case in court. In August, Amazon complained about the FTC’s probe and accused the agency of making excessive and unreasonable demands on founder Jeff Bezos and company executives.” [Wall Street Journal]
AI models flunk guardrails
Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
“Stanford and Harvard researchers warn that leading AI models are woefully non-compliant with proposed AI standards out of the European Union, Axios global tech correspondent Ryan Heath reports.
The House Science Committee today will probe AI executives on how to develop the technology ‘towards the national interest.’
Why it matters: Leading AI companies have expressed openness to regulation. But they don't come close to following the first democratic rules for AI foundation models, drafted by EU officials and lawmakers.” [Axios]
The NBA draft is tonight.
“What to watch: The San Antonio Spurs are expected to take Victor Wembanyama with the first pick. The 7-foot-4 Frenchman is the most exciting prospect since LeBron James.
How to watch: The draft starts at 8 p.m. Eastern. It will air on ABC and ESPN.”
Read this story at Washington Post