The Full Belmonte, 8/11/2022
“Americans grappling with historic levels of inflation are finally getting some relief at the gas pump. For the first time since March, the national average price for regular gasoline dropped below $4 a gallon today, according to AAA. This comes after gas prices hit a record high of $5.02 in June, largely due to soaring global oil prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The steady decline in gas prices has been driven by multiple factors, including recession fears that have knocked down oil prices and the fact that some people cut back on driving when gas prices spiked above $5 a gallon. Despite the decrease, gas prices still remain 25% higher than this time last year.” Read more at CNN
Donald Trump departs Trump Tower on Wednesday on his way to the New York attorney general's office for a deposition in a civil investigation. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/AP
“Former President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions from the New York attorney general at a scheduled deposition on Wednesday. Trump was to be deposed by lawyers from New York Attorney General Letitia James' office as part of a more than three-year civil investigation into the Trump Organization's finances. The scheduled deposition comes during an extraordinary legal week for Trump. On Monday, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, his primary residence in Florida, in connection with an investigation into the handling of classified documents. And on Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled against his efforts to block a House committee from obtaining his tax returns.” Read more at CNN
“Former President Trump invoked the Fifth American more than 440 times during a four-hour deposition yesterday with lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James, NBC News reports.
The only question Trump answered was his name, Trump attorney Ron Fischetti told NBC.” Read more at Axios
Mar-a-Lago yesterday. Photo: Steve Helber/AP
“‘Someone familiar with the stored papers’ told the feds there might be more classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes in January, The Wall Street Journal reports(subscription).
‘Justice Department officials had doubts that the Trump team was being truthful regarding what material remained at the property,’ The Journal adds.” Read more at Axios
“Three people died and 39 homes were damaged on Wednesday after a massive house explosion in Evansville, Indiana. Eleven of those 39 homes were left inhabitable, Fire Department Chief Mike Connelly said, adding there could be additional victims upon the completion of their search. An investigation of the incident and what caused the explosion is underway. Photos from the scene showed damaged homes and piles of debris. A structural collapse team was called in to survey buildings and to make sure that all gas and electric circuits ‘had integrity,’ the chief said. Evansville is about 3 hours southwest of Indianapolis.
Home explosion in Evansville, Indiana, kills at least threeMike Fetscher, Courier & Press
“Suspect in killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque denies crimes
After he was pulled over by New Mexico police, the suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque denied any connection to the crimes that shook the city and its small Muslim community – and told authorities he was so unnerved by the violence that he was driving to Houston to look for a new home, court documents said. Police have said they are gathering evidence in two additional cases before charges are filed. Read more
•Background: Here's what we know about investigation into a possible link among the killings of four Muslim men.” Read more at USA Today
Altaf Hussein cries over the grave of his brother Aftab at Fairview Memorial Park in Albuquerque, N.M., on Aug. 5. A funeral service was held for Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, 27, at the Islamic Center of New Mexico. Both men were fatally shot near their homes six days apart.Chancey Bush/AP
“Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday directed the Internal Revenue Service not to use any of the new funding allocated in the Democrats' new health care and climate bill to increase the number of audits of Americans making less than $400,000 a year, according to a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by CNN. The letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig comes amid attacks from Republicans that the $80 billion the Inflation Reduction Act would give to the IRS over the next 10 years would result in more middle-class Americans and small businesses getting audited. The Biden administration, however, has repeatedly said the IRS would focus on increased enforcement activity on high-wealth taxpayers and large corporations.” Read more at CNN
© Associated Press / Susan Walsh | President Biden and his family depart for a weeklong vacation in Kiawah Island, S.C., on Wednesday.
With a spring in his step, Biden heads for vacation
“President Biden got another sliver of positive news on Wednesday as inflation dipped to 8.5 percent in July after hitting a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June, highlighted by falling gas prices that finally is giving consumers some relief.
The Associated Press: U.S. inflation slips from 40-year peak but remains high.
The news was welcome given that Dow Jones economists had been expecting an uptick of 0.2 percent in inflation from June to July. In addition, the consumer price index was unchanged on a monthly basis, according to the Department of Labor (The Hill).
July core inflation, which includes all goods sans food and energy, stayed even at 5.9 percent. The totality of the news was also reflected on Wall Street where stocks jumped across the board (CNBC).
The easing of inflation is continuing a trend for Biden, who is reveling in recent good news, including narrow passage by the Senate on Sunday of a $740 billion measure focused on prescription drug pricing, health care costs and climate change. In total, the news has helped flip the script for Biden and allowed him the rare chance to go on offense with less than three months until the midterm elections.
Political observers tell The Hill’s Amie Parnes that the president has one card that needs to be played: talking about the robust jobs market in the country.
‘It’s truly the greatest jobs market in the history of our country.’ said Tony Fratto, an economic policy consultant who served as White house deputy press secretary under the former President George W. Bush. ‘They cannot win on inflation because it’s there and people are upset about it so if you can’t win the argument, change the subject.’
‘It’s communications 101…. And this isn’t that hard to do. These are alley-oop dunks,’ he added.
Veterans: Biden kept up that good news on Wednesday as he signed into law a bill expanding benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxins during war and are suffering illnesses. The PACT Act expands presumption of service connections for a number of conditions related to toxic exposure — meaning veterans don’t have to prove their illness was service-connected.
‘This is the most significant law our nation has ever passed to help millions of veterans who are exposed to toxic substances during the military services,’ Biden said in emotional remarks from the East Room (The Hill and The Associated Press).
The new law is also personal for the president, whose elder son Beau Bidendied of brain cancer in 2015, years after deploying to Iraq in 2008. The president, who made the hazards of military base burn pits and resulting illnesses a priority during his State of the Union address in March, linked his son’s cancer to military deployment with the Delaware National Guard (The Associated Press).
‘I was going to get this done, come hell or high water,’ Biden said.
Lost pay: U.S. workers without paid sick leave during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic lost an estimated $28 billion in wages, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Urban Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It found that work absences due to illness, child care or other family matters increased by 50 percent when compared to the previous two years. Most absences were due to a worker’s personal illness. Women were 40 percent more likely to miss work without pay, while they were also among several groups — including self-employed, Black and Hispanic workers — who experienced the biggest increase in missed days (The Hill).
Trade: The administration is rethinking whether to scrap some tariffs on Chinese goods or potentially impose others in the wake of Beijing’s Taiwan response, putting aside options for now, Reuters reports. Biden has not reached a decision.” Read more at The Hill
Screenshot: MSNBC
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough talks with Jon Stewart on the White House lawn yesterday after the signing ceremony for the PACT Act, the biggest expansion of veterans' health benefits since the Agent Orange Act of 1991 — 31 years ago.
The PACT Act, which passed both chambers with overwhelmingbipartisan support, expands federal health care services for millions of veterans who served at military bases where toxic smoke billowed from huge ‘burn pits.’
Fact sheet on the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.” Read more at Axios
In the East Room yesterday, President Biden hands a pen to Brielle Robinson, daughter of the late Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson, after signing the PACT Act expansion of veterans' health benefits. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“President Biden will go on offense against Republicans' drumbeat about rising prices by arguing the GOP has repeatedly sided with special interests — ‘pushing an extreme MAGA agenda that costs families,’ according to a White House memo shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: The GOP plans to try to make November's midterms a ‘gas and groceries’ election — all about inflation. Biden can't undo the pain families have felt as everyday prices skyrocketed. So this is his inflation jujitsu — using Republicans' force against them.
🔭 Zoom out: Biden is expected to sign Democrats' climate-health-tax bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, soon after House passage, expected late this week. Biden, Vice President Harris and the cabinet then will fan out across the country with this message.
The White House believes the bill puts Democrats in a position of strength heading into Labor Day.
The memo — from White House communications director Kate Bedingfield and senior adviser Anita Dunn — argues that Biden's wins have dealt blows to a parade of entrenched interests.
Among the targets: the pharmaceutical industry, big corporations, the gun lobby and oil and gas companies.
'This is the choice before the American people," the memo concludes. ‘President Biden and Congressional Democrats taking on special interests for you and your family. Or Congressional Republicans' extreme, MAGA agenda that serves the wealthiest, corporations and themselves.’
Between the lines: The special-interest messaging attempts to counter the narrative that Democrats are becoming the party of the economic elite, Axios' Sophia Cai points out.
It's a message that Democrats running in swing states — including Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina — are already embracing, in an effort to win back rural and working-class votes Dems lost in 2020.
Both parties are now fighting for the working-class mantel.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy argues: "President Biden and House Democrats’ radical policies have caused inflation to soar to a 40-year high. They’ve pushed out-of-touch policies that have caused energy prices to rise and real wages to go down."
Abortion opponents in Kansas react to the news that the anti-abortion referendum had failed, 2 August 2022. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP
“In the leadup to the US supreme court overturning Roe v Wade and thus scrapping federal abortion protection, Republican lawmakers across the country maintained an uncompromising rallying cry against abortions, vowing to implement a sweeping wave of restrictions in their states.
However, since the highest court in the US overturned the ruling, many Republican leaders and officials have become more hesitant – or have even gone silent – over the exact type of bans they promised to enact.
As Republicans move towards an election season rife with internal disagreements within their own party and mixed public opinions on exceptions in abortion bans such as instances of rape and incest, many rightwing lawmakers are finding it increasingly difficult to implement cohesive abortion policies.” Read more at The Guardian
More than 200 Starbucks stores around the US have won their union votes, with dozens of stores currently waiting for their election votes. Photograph: Joshua Bessex/AP
“Workers at Starbucks have held over 55 different strikes in at least 17 states in the US in recent months over the company’s aggressive opposition to a wave of unionization.
According to an estimate by Starbucks Workers United, the strikes have cost Starbucks over $375,000 in lost revenue. The union created a $1m strike fund in June 2022 to support Starbucks workers through their strikes and several relief funds have been established for strikes and to support workers who have lost their jobs.
Starbucks employees have alleged over 75 workers have been fired in retaliation for union organizing this year, and hundreds of allegations of misconduct by Starbucks related to the union campaign are currently under review at the National Labor Relations Board, including claims of shutting down stores to bust unions, firing workers and intimidating and threatening workers from unionizing. Starbucks has denied all allegations.” Read more at The Guardian
“NEW YORK — Chipotle Mexican Grill will pay $20 million to current and former workers at its New York City restaurants for violating city labor laws, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.
According to investigators, Chipotle's violations of the city's Fair Workweek law included failing to post work schedules 14 days in advance, pay a premium for schedule changes and offer available shifts to current employees before hiring new employees.
The settlement between the city and the California-based fast-food chain covers about 13,000 employees who worked at the chain's New York City outlets between 2017 and this year. It is the result of an investigation by the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection into complaints filed by 160 Chipotle workers and Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, city officials said.” Read more at USA Today
“Blast impact | Russia lost nine combat aircraft in blasts that shook an airbase in Crimea, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. Russia has denied Ukrainian strikes caused Tuesday’s explosions, blaming them on munitions detonating amid safety lapses, while aides to Zelenskiy have hinted at Kyiv’s involvement. Satellite imagery showed apparently extensive damage at the base used by Russia to support its invasion.
Follow our rolling coverage of the war here.” Read more at Bloomberg
A satellite image shows destroyed Russian aircraft at Saky airbase. Source: Planet Labs PBC
“Differing counts | Depending on which Kenyan newspaper you read, either former Prime Minister Raila Odinga or Deputy President William Ruto is ahead in provisional counts in Tuesday’s presidential election in the east African nation. While the electoral authority hasn't yet announced official results, Amnesty International and three other civil society organizations warned that disinformation on social-media platforms by camps allied to Odinga and Ruto threatens the integrity of the vote.” Read more at Bloomberg
Election officials count votes in Nairobi on Tuesday. Photographer: Michele Spatari/Bloomberg
“Radical rhetoric | President Jair Bolsonaro is stepping up aggressive rhetoric before Brazil’s general election, a strategy likely to rally his radical base. Trailing former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in polls, Bolsonaro called on supporters to arm themselves and continued to press conspiracy theories about the electronic voting system, insinuating he could mimic Trump by trying to overturn the ballot if he loses.” Read more at Bloomberg
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared victory against Covid-19 and ordered a lifting of maximum anti-epidemic measures that were imposed in May, state media said today. North Korea has not revealed how many confirmed infections of the virus it has found and has not reported any new suspected cases since July 29. The World Health Organization has cast doubt on North Korea's claims, saying last month it believed the situation was getting worse, not better, amid an absence of independent data. Analysts say the victory declaration by the authoritarian North could be a prelude to restoring trade hampered by border lockdowns and other restrictions. Observers have also said it may clear the way for North Korea to conduct a nuclear weapon test for the first time since 2017.” Read more at CNN
Image caption, The massive wildfire has been raging for two days in the Gironde region
“More than 1,000 firefighters are battling a ‘monster’ wildfire in south-western France that has already destroyed nearly 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of forest, officials say.
The raging blaze near the city of Bordeaux has gutted a number of homes and forced 10,000 residents to flee.
‘It's an ogre, it's a monster,’ firefighter representative Gregory Allione told France's RTL Radio.
Strong winds and high temperatures are hampering the firefighting operation.
President Emmanuel Macron announced that Austria, Germany, Greece, Poland and Romania ‘are coming to aid’ France in battling the blaze. ‘European solidarity at work!’ he tweeted.
This summer France and a number of other European countries have seen a wave of deadly wildfires, triggered by record temperatures and droughts across the continent.
More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the heat in Portugal and Spain.
In the UK, an amber extreme heat warning has now come into force, with temperatures forecast to hit 37C (99F) in some areas over the next four days. The heatwave will probably affect health, transport and working conditions, the authorities warn.” Read more at BBC
:South Korea's capital Seoul will move to phase out semi-basement flats after two women and a teenager died during flooding earlier this week.
The tiny flats, featured in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, are usually rented out to people on low incomes.
Seoul will no longer give out permits to construct such homes from this week on and will gradually convert existing apartments, officials said.
This comes after the city was hit by the heaviest rains in 80 years.
As of Wednesday, at least 11 people were confirmed dead or missing as a result of the floods, which have gone on for three days.
On Monday night, two sisters in their 40s and a 13-year-old girl were found dead in their flooded semi-basement flat.” Read more at BBC
People sit by the Seine during the annual Paris Plages summer event last month. The area is generally considered safe for tourists. Photograph: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images
“A 23-year-old man has been charged and remanded in custody after an American tourist was raped in a public toilet in the centre of Paris, in a case that has caused shock in the busy riverside area that was considered safe.
The woman, 27, was out with her partner on Saturday night by the River Seine in the heart of Paris’s tourist district, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral and Paris’s city hall.
The riverside promenade is the focal point for Paris’s Right Bank summer event, Paris Plages, and is busy both during the day and at night, with tourists and Parisians out for a drink in the evening or picnicking by the river.
Shortly after 1am, the woman stopped to use a public toilet near the Louis-Philippe bridge in the fourth arrondissement. The toilet, not far from local bars, is considered safe and well maintained. It was part of new facilities put in place six years ago when the riverside area became car-free.
The local paper Le Parisien reported that the woman’s partner waited for her but grew concerned she was taking a long time. He approached the toilet and heard crying, then found his partner being attacked.
Security guards in the area came to help and police arrested the man, who lives in Asnières-sur-Seine, outside Paris. In initial police interviews, he denied rape and said the woman had consented.
The woman was immediately taken to a Paris hospital. After giving evidence to the police, she and her partner flew back to the US.” Read more at The Guardian
“Lives Lived: Days after Sept. 11, the C.I.A. asked Gary Schroen to postpone his retirement and lead a team into Afghanistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden. Schroen died at 80.” Read more at New York Times
Data: Company filings. Chart: Jared Whalen/Axios
“Disney now has 221 million global subscriptions across all its streaming offerings — passing Netflix, which had 220.7 million global subscribers last quarter, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer reports.” Read more at Axios
Chet White, UK Athletics
“While the rest of his teammates are soaking up the sun on a team trip to paradise, Kentucky’s Congolese basketball star Oscar Tshiebwe is packing an all-out NIL blitz into one week in the Bahamas.
Why? The reigning national player of the year is restricted in what he can do stateside on a student visa. So with the program’s blessing, he took things international. The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker has the incredible details of Tshiebwe’s business trip:
He has NIL obligations every day, including photoshoots, ad reads and merchandise signings and did promotional work for four different companies before he even unpacked his suitcase on day one.
He has about 2,000 Topps trading cards and a stack of other memorabilia in his hotel room that he’ll have to sign.
Tshiebwe stands to make about $500,000 in seven days — bringing his total NIL earnings to about $2.75 million, a source told Tucker.
Tshiebwe was able to make about $20,000 a month in apparel sales alone in the U.S. through a loophole. His first big purchase was a house for his mom. Now, he wants to use earnings to help thousands of kids in the Congo.
This type of trip, however, is a temporary holdover as Tshiebwe has applied to change his visa status to a type granted to international celebrities. But it's a microcosm of what could come — both for Tshiebwe and the rest of the big men eschewing the NBA Draft for lucrative college careers.” Read more at The Athletic
The first issue of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ comic-book series, published in 1963, and seen here at auction in 2004. The character debuted in 1962. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Spider-Man — the underestimated smartypants who, after a quick change into head-to-toe spandex, becomes a force for good — turned 60 this week.
Why it matters: Spider-Man's classic costume, with a wide-eyed and web-patterned mask, is a key ingredient to the character's appeal across race, gender and nationality. Almost anyone can imagine themselves behind it as this everyman, AP's Aaron Morrison writes.
Created by the late Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, "your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" appeared in comics as early as June 1962.
The canon date of his debut is Aug. 10, 1962, in Marvel's Amazing Fantasy #15.” Read more at Axios