The Full Belmonte, 6/24/2023
June 24, 2023
I’m turning over today’s newsletter to the latest developments on the unfolding crisis in Russia. — Melissa Kirsch
By the staff of The Morning
Good morning. A Russian mercenary leader claimed he controls a military headquarters in southern Russia, and Vladimir Putin vowed to take action.
Wagner fighters in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, today.Reuters
Standoff
“A long-running feud over the invasion of Ukraine between the Russian military and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s private Wagner military group, escalated into an open confrontation over the past day.
Prigozhin accused Russia of attacking his soldiers and appeared to challenge one of President Vladimir Putin’s main justifications for the war, and Russian generals in turn accused him of trying to mount a coup against Putin.
Prighozin (pronounced pree-GOH-zhin) claimed he had control of Russia’s southern military headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don, near the front lines of the war in Ukraine where his fighters had been operating. Video showed him entering the headquarters’ courtyard.
Prighozin’s moves set up the biggest challenge to Putin’s authority since he invaded of Ukraine early last year. Putin promised ‘decisive actions,’ and Russian security forces scrambled to regain control in the country’s south.
Events unfolded rapidly:
Prighozin stepped up his criticisms of the Russian military in videos posted to social media yesterday. He said Russian troops had attacked Wagner encampments and killed ‘a huge number of fighters.’ His claims could not be verified, but he promised to bring soldiers into Russia in retaliation.
Troops widely believed to be Wagner forces surrounded the military headquarters in Rostov, and tanks drove down the city’s streets, videos showed. Soldiers were also seen in other key places, like the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the region.
Signs of active fighting were also visible near the western Russian city of Voronezh, according to videos posted online, including helicopters and a destroyed truck along the road. Reports said that Wagner fighters had entered the region.
Prighozin declared that his forces were headed to Moscow. ‘We are going farther,’ he said. ‘We will go to the end.’
Russia military armored vehicles were deployed on the streets of Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, and Russia was moving convoys of military equipment on a major highway linking the two cities.
Russian security forces appeared to have also raided a Wagner building in St. Petersburg.
Putin vowed ‘to stabilize the situation in Rostov-on-Don.’ He also called Wagner’s actions a treasonous, armed rebellion. Prighozin rejected the allegations.
The key figures
Prighozin: Though he has complained for months about Russia’s military brass, his accusations were a significant turnabout. Prighozin is a businessman who became rich through his ties to Putin, winning lucrative government contracts while building the Wagner mercenary force. (Read more about him from The Times’s Moscow bureau chief, Anton Troianovski.)
Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Saturday. Source: Prigozhin Press Service/AP Photo
Putin: His quick public address was a sign of the seriousness of the situation. He prefers to exert power behind the scenes until the outcome is clear, The Times’s Steven Lee Myers wrote. Putin also acknowledged some success by Prighozin, saying that the functioning of Rostov, a city of a million people, had ‘essentially been blocked.’
The generals: Prighozin’s feud with the Russian generals grew out of the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which his forces led on the Russian side. He accused the defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the country’s most senior general, Valery Gerasimov, of treason. He said they deliberately withheld ammunition and supplies from Wagner while their troops failed repeatedly in the war.
Ukraine: ‘Russia’s weakness is obvious,’ President Volodymyr Zelensky said. But his country was still mired in violence. Russian forces fired more than 20 missiles at Kyiv this morning, killing at least three people.
What’s next
The British military described the crisis as the ‘most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times’ and said: ‘Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out.’
Supreme Court hands Biden a rare win on immigration enforcement, deportations
“WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed President Joe Biden a rare win Friday in a major immigration case, ruling that Republican officials in two states who challenged the president's effort to prioritize some unauthorized immigrants for arrest and detention over others did not have standing to sue.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for a five-justice majority that included Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett, wrote an opinion that agreed with the final outcome but for different reasons.
Justice Samul Alito dissented.
The states, Kavanaugh wrote, ‘want a federal court to order the executive branch to alter its arrest policies so as to make more arrests. Federal courts have not traditionally entertained that kind of lawsuit; indeed, the states cite no precedent for a lawsuit like this.’
What was the latest Biden immigration case about?
◾ At issue in U.S. v. Texas was a Biden memorandum from 2021 that focused enforcement on immigrants who pose a threat to national security, public safety, or who recently crossed the border. The administration says it wanted to prioritize those immigrants because it doesn't have the resources to remove everyone in the country illegally. Texas and Louisiana said federal law gives Biden less discretion to pick and choose enforcement targets.
◾ Kavanaugh wrote that states don't have a stake in whether the federal government prosecutes more or less immigrants. ‘After all,’ he wrote, ‘the executive branch must prioritize its enforcement efforts. That is because the executive branch invariably lacks the resources to arrest and prosecute every violator of every law.’
◾ In his dissent, Alito wrote that Biden's policy ‘inflicts substantial harm on the state and its residents by releasing illegal aliens with criminal convictions for serious crimes.’” [USA Today]
Vessels searching for the Titan submersible earlier this week, in a satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies.
PHOTO: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Officials are gearing up for an international investigation into the Titanic submersible implosion that killed five people.
“They’re putting together a timeline of the craft’s journey, which ended with it in pieces about 1,600 feet from the 1912 shipwreck. A top secret U.S. Navy system detected a possible implosion shortly after the vessel went missing Sunday. Robotic vehicles discovered the debris yesterday, ending an urgent dayslong search to find the passengers alive. The most likely scenario was that the extreme pressure of the deep sea destroyed the craft’s hull, causing instantaneous death, experts said.” [Wall Street Journal]
McCarthy backs effort to expunge Trump impeachments
BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL AND MIKE LILLIS
“Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is throwing his weight behind the conservative effort to expunge the two impeachments of former President Trump, saying Trump’s behavior didn’t rise to a level that merited either punishment, and he would like to eradicate both votes from history.
Leaving the Capitol on Friday ahead of a long holiday recess, the Speaker said he supports erasing the pair of impeachments because, he argued, one ‘was not based on true facts’ and the other was ‘on the basis of no due process.’”
Read the full story here [The Hill]
3M will pay $10 billion over "forever chemicals"
E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“3M on Thursday reached a tentative $10.3 billion deal to settle claims that its production of PFAS — a class of “forever chemicals” — contaminated US water systems.” [Vox / Benji Jones]
“PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) help materials repel heat, grease, and water. They’re known as forever chemicals because they don’t break down naturally and have been linked to cancer and environmental degradation.” [Vox][Associated Press / John Flesher]
“The chemical company will pay water providers over 13 years to help public water providers test for and treat PFAS contamination.” [Vox] [USA Today / Natalie Neysa Alund]
“The settlement means 3M won’t face trial after a Florida city sued it for polluting its water supply while manufacturing firefighting foams.” [Vox] [Grist / Zoya Teirstein]
“However, a judge must approve the settlement, which does not admit 3M’s liability. The company said it would stop producing PFAS by the end of 2025.” [Vox][Axios / Rebecca Falconer]
Special counsel Jack Smith requests delay in Trump classified documents trial
BY JARED GANS
“Special counsel Jack Smith has requested a delay in the classified and sensitive documents trial of former President Trump from August to December.
Smith on Friday filed a request or the start date for the trial be set for Dec. 11, which would be about four months after the initial Aug. 14 date that Judge Aileen Cannon set on Tuesday.”
Read the full story here [The Hill]
Graham says Biden impeachment without due process would be ‘dead on arrival’
BY JARED GANS
“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said an effort to impeach President Biden now lacking due process would be ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate.
Graham said during a Friday appearance on ‘The Hill’ on NewsNation that Republicans argued that Democrats did not give former President Trump the right to due process during the impeachment proceedings against him in 2019 and 2021, and he does not believe anyone should be impeached without a hearing being held.
Read the full story here [The Hill]
Pence: Democrats are trying to ‘bully’ Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas
BY ALEXANDER BOLTON
“Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is running for president in 2024, said Democrats and their allies on the left are trying to ‘bully’ conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas because they are angry over the court’s ideological balance.
Pence made his comments in response to reports by ProPublica that Alito and Thomas failed to disclose private plane trips and luxury vacations paid for by wealthy conservative donors, which Democrats say is a violation of the 1978 Ethics in Government Act.”
Read the full story here [The Hill]
“It’s been one year since the Republican-appointee controlled Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old federal right for American women to end a pregnancy. With a 6-3 supermajority, the court is aggressively reshaping US law and dismissing long-held precedent as public confidence in the institution plummets. Before its terms ends, the high court is set to decide on university affirmative action, student-loan relief and the rules for federal elections. In all three cases, legal observers warn the GOP appointees may again dictate seismic rightward shifts. Making matters worse for the court’s credibility, ethics scandals involving its most conservative members—Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas—have illustrated how easily benefits can be conferred on members of the court, often by interested parties, with no recourse for the public.” [Bloomberg]
Clarence Thomas Photographer: Brooks Kraft/Corbis Historical
Work from home is winning
Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Axios Visuals
“With the pandemic long behind us, evidence continues to mount that working from home will be a lasting feature of the American economy, Axios Markets co-author Matt Phillips writes.
Why it matters: It's hard to overstate the importance of the fact that more than one-third of American workers aren't schlepping into the workplace each day.
Newly vacant office space, surging demand for housing and massive shifts in consumption patterns — suppressing spending at the businesses that cater to office districts — are just a few of the big economic changes that can be traced to the WFH revolution.
By the numbers: The Bureau of Labor Statistics' annual survey on American time use provides some of the most authoritative readings on the trend.
Nearly 35% of American workers worked from home on an average day last year, up from just 22% a decade earlier.
Yes, but: Peak work from home — nearly 40% in 2021 — may be behind us.
Between the lines: The work-from-home trend is far more pronounced among those with college degrees, of whom about 54% work from home on an average day, according to BLS.
Share this story.” [Axios]
Pedestrian deaths reach 40-year high
Data: Governors Highway Safety Association. Chart: Axios Visuals
“Pedestrian deaths in the U.S. are the highest they've been in more than 40 years, Axios' Sam Baker writes from new estimates by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The report puts much of the blame on Americans buying bigger cars, which are more likely to kill cyclists or pedestrians in a crash.
By the numbers: Drivers struck and killed at least 7,500 pedestrians last year. The group projects those totals will climb past 8,100 as more data is finalized.
That would make 2022 the deadliest year for pedestrians since 1980.
Deaths have been rising since 2010, and the trend got significantly worse during the pandemic.
The big picture: A lot of roads simply aren't safe to walk on.
Most pedestrian deaths don't happen in intersections — and they're much more common on roads that don't have sidewalks.
Speeding is a major factor, especially on smaller roads.
Share this story.” [Axios]
Mascots from Philadelphia sports teams cross over the repaired section of I-95 as the highway reopened today. Photo: Joe Lamberti/AP
“Traffic is flowing in both directions of Philadelphia's I-95, 12 days after a deadly tanker fire and collapse forced the closure of one of the East Coast's most well-traveled highways. Go deeper.” [Axios]
“Starbucks workers at unionized stores went on strike starting today over the company's stance on in-store Pride decorations. Go deeper.” [Axios]
“The heat wave scorching much of Texas and parts of New Mexico is forecast to worsen and last into the week of July 4th. Go deeper.” [Axios]
“Raw But Ready to Fight: Ukraine Sends National Guard to Front
Even with new weapons and training from allies in the US and Europe, Ukraine’s forces are struggling to advance against Russian troops that have spent months digging into defensive positions across the territory. Marc Champion reports on how Kyiv is turning to its National Guard to counter a new Russian push in the east.” [Bloomberg]
“Biden’s ‘Dictator’ Xi Riff Undercuts Painstaking China Diplomacy
A day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left China with a joint commitment to ease tensions with Beijing, Biden undercut him with an off-the-cuff remarks likening Xi to a ‘dictator’ and appearing to question the Chinese leader’s control over the country and the military. As Peter Martin writes, the comments risk wiping away the symbolic progress from talks that both sides described the previous day as candid and constructive.
The European Union and its member states are edging closer to the US strategy of avoiding over-dependence on China and curtailing the advance of its military capabilities.” [Bloomberg]
“As West Battles China, a Trade Ally Tries to Keep Both Doors Open
A burgeoning industrial zone outside the Moroccan city of Tangier powered by investment from companies from Europe, the Middle East, China, Japan and the US offers a prime example of how the North African nation is trying to navigate an increasingly polarized world, as Brendan Murray reports.” [Bloomberg]
“Silicon Valley CEOs Get Biden, Modi Pitch to Invest in India
Biden and Modi met with some of the most powerful executives in Silicon Valley at the White House on Friday, as they sought to boost economic cooperation on artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. Justin Sink and Jennifer Jacobs write that Washington is increasingly courting India as a key ballast against China.” [Bloomberg]
Modi and Biden during a state dinner at the White House. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
“Sunak Risks Failing on His Five Key UK Pledges at Halfway Point
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set five pledges he said would be the test of his performance: halve inflation, expand the economy, reduce the national debt, shrink National Health Service waiting lists and stop migrants crossing the English Channel. So far, Alex Wickham and Andrew Atkinson write, he is failing to meet his targets.” [Bloomberg]
“Five Takeaways From Paris Summit to Fix Global Climate Finance
More than 40 world leaders spent two days in Paris discussing how to overhaul the global financial system to tackle climate change. Akshat Rathi and Natasha White outline five key outcomes.” [Bloomberg]
Preserving the Status Quo
An employee of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal arranges ballots during preparations for the upcoming general elections in Guatemala City on June 20.Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images
“On Sunday, around 9.2 million eligible voters in Guatemala will cast their ballots for president, Congress, local positions, and 20 seats in the Central American Parliament. Officially, 22 individuals are presidential contenders. However, in reality, only three predetermined candidates are in the running; the country’s congressionally chosen electoral court has disqualified any serious candidate who could challenge the status quo, which favors the country’s political and business elites. ‘These elections are a trial by fire to see if we can continue to call Guatemala a democracy,’ Juan Pappier, deputy director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera.
Leading in the polls at 21.3 percent is the National Unity of Hope party’s Sandra Torres, a former first lady who hopes to expand social welfare programs, such as cash transfers to the poor. Torres was arrested in 2019 for violating campaign finance laws, but a judge dismissed her case in 2022—just in time for her to kick-start her presidential campaign. Following Torres at 13.4 percent is Edmond Mulet, a conservative former diplomat who wants to expand internet access, invest in education, and provide free medicines. But Mulet already has two strikes against him (both of which he’s denied): In the 1980s, he was involved in an illegal child adoption operation that took infants from their families and sent them abroad, and he has been accused of persecuting journalists and prosecutors. In third place sits Zury Ríos of the Valor party. You may recognize her as the daughter of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, who was convicted of genocide in 2013. Apart from promoting tough-on-crime policies and blunting anti-corruption initiatives, Ríos is known for denying that Guatemala’s genocide ever happened.
Under Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, other leading opposition candidates have been barred from the race. Giammattei himself cannot run for reelection under constitutional law. However, FP’s Catherine Osborn writes in Latin America Brief that ‘the entrenched financial and political elites that Giammattei represents extend far beyond his party, and that their influence on institutions like the courts appears to be neutralizing any true threats to the political status quo.’ Until a month ago, businessman Carlos Pineda was leading the polls. But the country’s electoral court suspended his run following political accusations that his party violated procedures. Other barred candidates include Thelma Cabrera, a leftist Mayan Mam focused on enhancing Indigenous rights, and Roberto Arzú, a right-wing politician who hopes to take down the current establishment.
In Guatemala’s system, a candidate must secure a simple majority to win; otherwise, the top two candidates will hold a runoff, scheduled for Aug. 20—which is what polls currently predict will happen. But no matter who wins, Osborn notes, the electoral court’s legal tactics to veto legitimate candidates has already resulted in a vote that ‘lacks electoral integrity.’” [Foreign Policy]
“Zambia’s big ‘I owe you.’ Thanks to a breakthrough deal, Zambia is finally getting a financial break. The southern African nation struck a deal on Friday to restructure the $6.3 billion it owes to foreign governments. Now, Zambia will have 20 years to pay off its debts, including a three-year period where only payments on interest are due. The International Monetary Fund will also provide Zambia with $188 million as part of a $1.3 billion aid package agreed to in September 2022. The debt restructuring framework, backed by the G-20, is a test for other countries caught in a spiral of poor finances following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Zambia became the first African country to default on its loans. Its largest creditor is China, with $4.1 billion owed to its central bank. Under pressure from France, where the deal was struck, China agreed to stop holding up Zambia’s debt relief; French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping are both keen to establish stronger economic ties, seen during Macron’s visit to Beijing in April.” [Foreign Policy]
“Turkey Demands Sweden Expel Kurd Suspects Before NATO Entry
Turkey wants Sweden to begin extraditing or expelling suspected Kurdish separatists before next month’s summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to help win its support to join the security alliance, Selcan Hacaoglu reports.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plan to meet as early as next month in Ankara as they try to improve their long-frosty relations, sources say.” [Bloomberg]
Ultra-Orthodox Move From Margins to Center of Israeli Politics
”Netanyahu’s far-right coalition includes a record seven ultra-Orthodox ministers, Ethan Bronner and Gwen Ackerman report. 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]
“Mass Immigration Gives Canada an Edge in Global Race for Labor
As industrialized countries around the world confront declining birth rates and aging workforces, Canada is at the forefront of betting on immigration to stave off economic decline. Randy Thanthong-Knight reports that for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration, the experiment is a way to broaden the labor market as global competition for skilled workers intensifies.” [Bloomberg]
GAME OF THE WEEKEND
L.S.U. pitcher Paul Skenes.John Peterson/Associated Press
“L.S.U. vs. Florida, College World Series finals: L.S.U. began the season as the favorite to win the title, and it reached the final with a walk-off home run to beat the No. 1 seed, Wake Forest. Unfortunately for L.S.U., the team’s ace starter, Paul Skenes, may not be available for the finals after going eight innings in the last game. ‘Give Florida the edge for the simple fact that the Gators have their pitching rotation set up for a three-game series,’ The Athletic’s Mitch Light writes. 7 p.m. Eastern tonight on ESPN.
Related: Florida’s Jac Caglianone hit 31 home runs — tied for first in the N.C.A.A. — and his fastball regularly hits 99 miles per hour, earning comparisons to the M.L.B. phenom Shohei Ohtani, Jeff Passan writes at ESPN.” [New York Times]
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Craig Blankenhorn/Max
“‘And Just Like That …’ is back and so is its over-the-top fashion, Times journalists write. Read a recap of the first two episodes.
The International African American Museum opens next week in Charleston, S.C. It’s the first of its kind to fully incorporate the Afro-Atlantic world, The Times’s Holland Cotter writes.
‘Once Upon a One More Time,’ a jukebox musical of Britney Spears hits, opened on Broadway this week. Our critic calls it entertaining, if hampered by jumbled storytelling.
Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist who co-wrote musicals including ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and ‘Fiorello!,’ died at 99. His lyrics were models of humor, elegance and compassion, Jesse Green writes.
Reddit users’ protests stood out from other online uprisings because they showed the power of the site’s community.
Body paint and lying facedown for an hour: what it was like being Margo Robbie’s body double for ‘Barbie.’
Wes Anderson’s secret weapon: His grip, Sanjay Sami, who makes his trademark camera movements possible.
The editor Robert Gottlieb, who died last week, quietly played a major role in fostering American dance.
A drag show in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, took its inspiration from Gwyneth Paltrow. See the best looks.
Bookforum, a literary magazine that closed in December, will be back in print in August.” [New York Times]
The post office at the end of the world
”The world's most remote post office is on Antarctica’s Goudier Island and it's currently run by a team of four women -- and a lot of penguins. Postmaster Clare Ballantyne, base leader Lucy Bruzzone, wildlife monitor Mairi Hilton and shop manager Natalie Corbett beat out thousands of others for the yearlong position, which led them some 8,000 miles away from their homes in the UK to the tiny island on the western side of the Antarctic peninsula. Luckily, they aren't wanting for company. The island is also populated by more than a thousand Gentoo penguins. As part of their jobs, the women keep count of the penguins, and the scientific data they gather on the Gentoos’ breeding patterns is part of a decadeslong study of the colony.”
Read the whole story here. [CNN]
A Sikh superhero
”If you could make a new version of an American superhero, what would it look like? For cartoonist Vishavjit Singh, maybe it would look a little like him: an American Sikh, with a turban and a beard and a patriotism as powerful as any other. In 2013, Singh donned a Captain America outfit for a photoshoot, and it was a bit of a revelation. A stranger came up and hugged him. Police officers took photos with him and firefighters offered him a ride on their truck. He even got pulled into a wedding. In short, a Sikh Captain America seemed to resonate with people, and Singh saw the power such an image could hold at combating prejudice and preconceptions. His latest creation is ‘American Sikh,’ an animated short film he co-directed with Ryan Westra. The film, one of several animated shorts selected by Whoopi Goldberg, premiered this month at the Tribeca Film Festival and tells the story of how Singh came to adopt his alter ego. Singh's message is simple: A Sikh Captain America is just as American as any other kind.
Read the whole story here. [CNN]
Slow and steady wins the race
”Three thousand pea-sized snails were recently sent on a 3,000-mile journey from a zoo in the north of England to Bermuda. Call it a snail holiday, or call it a historic effort at reviving the critically endangered species. Lesser Bermuda land snails originate from their namesake archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, and a number of threats over the last five decades have reduced populations of the species significantly. Since 2017, a breeding program at the Chester Zoo has been building their numbers back up, and now they're heading back to hopefully repopulate their home. Only time will tell how successful the reintroduction will be, but scientists assume progress will move at, well, a snail’s pace. Still, there's plenty of hope: They've already seen success reintroducing the species’ larger cousin, the greater Bermudan land snail.”
Read the whole story here. [CNN]