The Full Belmonte, 9/23/2022
Judge asks Trump’s team for proof that FBI planted documents at Mar-a-Lago
Special master also asked for a certified list of property seized by the FBI from the ‘winter White House’
Reuters
“A US judge reviewing records seized from Donald Trump’s Florida home asked the former president’s lawyers on Thursday to provide any evidence casting doubt on the integrity of the documents. Trump has previously made unsubstantiated claims the documents were planted by FBI agents.
Senior federal judge Raymond Dearie, appointed by another judge to vet the documents to assess whether some should be withheld from investigators as privileged, also asked the justice department to certify by Monday a detailed property inventory of materials the FBI seized in the court-approved 8 August search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Dearie asked Trump’s lawyers to submit by 30 September a list of specific items in that inventory ‘that plaintiff asserts were not seized from the premises’. Dearie also asked them to submit any corrections to the government’s list by that date, including items they believe were seized at Mar-a-Lago but not listed in the inventory.
‘This submission shall be [Trump’s] final opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness and accuracy of the detailed property inventory,’ wrote Dearie, serving as an independent arbiter known as a special master.
The search was conducted as part of a federal criminal investigation into whether Trump illegally retained documents from the White House and tried to obstruct a probe when he left office in January 2021 after his failed 2020 re-election bid.
Trump has called the investigation politically motivated. He has also claimed, without providing evidence, both that he had declassified any documents found at Mar-a-Lago and that the FBI planted documents.
On Trump’s request, US district judge Aileen Cannon appointed Dearie to vet the materials. The justice department has said more than 11,000 documents were seized, including about 100 documents marked as classified.
A federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the justice department can resume reviewing those classified records in its criminal investigation. The Atlanta-based 11th US circuit court of appeals also precluded Dearie from vetting those documents marked classified.” Read more at The Guardian
Hurricane Fiona
“Canadians are bracing for what could be the strongest storm to ever hit their country's coast. Hurricane Fiona, which already battered the Caribbean, is now forecast to brush by Bermuda today before slamming into eastern Canada on Saturday morning. Residents in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are being warned to prepare for Fiona's impact. The Category 4 storm, which has already claimed the lives of at least five people and knocked out power for millions this week, will bring damaging winds, high waves and heavy rainfall that may lead to prolonged power outages, local officials said. Several schools, government offices and other businesses in the region have closed today in preparation for the storm.” Read more at CNN
Pandemic fraud
“More than $45 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits may have been fraudulently paid to criminals between March 2020 and April 2022, the US Department of Labor said in a memo on Thursday. This is the latest report to identify widespread schemes to steal money from a variety of federal relief programs after Congress enacted an expansion of the program to help Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic. It's also a big jump from the $16 billion figure estimated in June 2021. Fraud skyrocketed when state unemployment agencies were overwhelmed with record numbers of claims and relaxed some requirements in an effort to get the money out the door quickly to those who had lost their jobs. Within five months, more than 57 million people filed claims for unemployment benefits.” Read more at CNN
Air travel
“Boeing has agreed to pay $200 million for misleading the public about the safety of its 737 Max plane following two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that, following an October 2018 crash of a Lion Air 737 Max jet that killed 189 people, Boeing and then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg knew that part of the plane's flight control system posed an ongoing safety concern -- yet told the public that it was safe to fly. After a March 2019 fatal 737 Max crash, the SEC alleges that Boeing and Muilenburg knowingly misled the public about ‘slips’ and ‘gaps’ in the certification process of that flight control system. Elsewhere in the aviation industry, American Airlines recently announced it will ban an unruly passenger for life after the individual punched a flight attendant.” Read more at CNN
Immigration
“A Democratic lawmaker in Florida is suing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to stop him from transporting more migrants from the southern border, arguing last week's flights to Martha's Vineyard violated state law. State Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Miami Democrat, says DeSantis illegally misspent taxpayer dollars by flying about 50 migrants from San Antonio to the Massachusetts island. DeSantis has vowed to transport more migrants from the border, and previously told reporters that the flights to Martha's Vineyard were ‘just the beginning.’ DeSantis said the action was paid for with $12 million that was allocated in the state budget, and he promised to use ‘every penny.’” Read more at CNN
DeSantis to face trial for suspension of prosecutor who defied abortion ban law
Andrew Warren, a Democrat, sued Florida governor for suspension after saying he would not enforce new 15-week abortion law
“A Florida prosecutor suspended by Ron DeSantis for defying a new 15-week abortion law says a federal judge’s decision to send his reinstatement appeal to trial means a reckoning is coming for the state’s Republican governor.
Andrew Warren, a Democrat, was removed as Hillsborough county state attorney on 4 August after saying he would not enforce the abortion ban or prosecute providers of gender transition treatment for young people.
DeSantis cited Warren’s alleged ‘woke agenda’ in reasons for his decision.
At a hearing in Tallahassee on Monday, Judge Robert Hinkle denied motions from DeSantis to dismiss Warren’s lawsuit, and another by Warren seeking an immediate return to office, instead requesting their differences be settled at a trial in the coming weeks.”
“The governor now has to answer it to a court of law where facts matter and where you have to tell the truth,” Warren said in an interview with the Guardian.
“It’s a victory for the truth. A federal judge has ruled that the governor has to come into court to explain the reasons behind my suspension, to show that it wasn’t political, to show that it wasn’t in violation of my free speech rights, to show that it wasn’t in violation of the voters’ rights to have the state attorney of their choice.”
The closely watched case is expected to give clarity to DeSantis’s power to purge elected officials who disagree with him. In recent weeks, the governor has also removed four members of a school board in Broward county that defied him over Covid-19 mask mandates.
‘The governor is entrusted by the people of Florida to utilize his constitutional powers and may suspend elected officials in Florida who refuse to enforce the law,’ DeSantis’s office said in a statement following Monday’s hearing.
Critics, however, have accused the governor of selective application of the principle. The Orlando Sentinel noted that DeSantis has taken no action against so-called ‘constitutional’ sheriffs who say they won’t enforce certain gun laws.
But he did act in 2019, suspending the Broward county sheriff, Scott Israel, a Democrat, for ‘neglect of duty’.” Read more at The Guardian
Alarm as Koch bankrolls dozens of election denier candidates
Election watchdogs say Koch’s about face after pledging change following January 6 is disturbing given the threats to democracy
“Fossil fuel giant Koch Industries has poured over $1m into backing – directly and indirectly – dozens of House and Senate candidates who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s win on 6 January 2021.
Koch, which is controlled by multibillionaire Charles Koch, boasts a corporate Pac that has donated $607,000 to the campaigns or leadership Pacs of 52 election deniers since January 2021, making Koch’s Pac the top corporate funder of members who opposed the election results, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign spending.
In addition, the Super Pac Americans for Prosperity Action to which Koch Industries has given over $6m since January 2021, has backed some election deniers with advertising and other communications support, as well as a few candidates Donald Trump has endorsed who tried to help him overturn the 2020 election, or raised doubts about the final results.” Read more at The Guardian
Breyer warns justices that some opinions could ‘bite you in the back’ in exclusive interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace
By Devan Cole, CNN
“Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is warning his colleagues against ‘writing too rigidly’ in their opinions, saying that such decisions could ‘bite you in the back’ in a world that is constantly changing.
In a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace on ‘Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,’ which debuted Friday on HBOMax and airs Sunday night on CNN, Breyer also bemoaned his position in the court’s minority liberal bloc during his final year on the bench, addressed the court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade and spoke about the ongoing controversy regarding Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas.
Breyer said it was a ‘very frustrating’ spot to be in as he found himself in dissent in a number of historically consequential cases where he said the majority side (conservatives – although the retired justice did not use that description) was unwilling to bend.” Read more at CNN
House GOP's fall fight
Leader McCarthy and Speaker Pelosi talk Wednesday in Washington before a National Cathedral memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
“House Republicans will roll out a four-part ‘Commitment to America’ today — to the delight of Democrats, who see plenty to campaign against, Axios' Andrew Solender and Alayna Treene report.
The four parts are: ‘An economy that's strong ... A nation that's safe ... A future that's free ... A government that's accountable.’
Why it matters: This is vaguer and smaller than the GOP's aggressive ‘Contract with America’ of 1994. This plan aims to give Republicans a unified message for the final stretch to Nov. 8.
State of play: Dems seized on a GOP pledge to ‘protect the lives of unborn children and their mothers’ — as well as sections on ballot access, and taking aim at Democrats' drug pricing law.” Read more at Axios
Indiana judge temporarily blocks state's near-total abortion ban, one week after it took effect
“A county judge in Indiana issued a preliminary injunction Thursday that brings a temporary halt to Indiana's abortion ban. Special Judge Kelsey B. Hanlon wrote in her ruling that although abortion was not legal at the time that the Indiana Constitution was written, language contained in the document suggests that there is "a reasonable likelihood" that decisions about family planning ― including whether to carry a pregnancy to term ― are protected. Read more
•Montana update: A ''born alive'' abortion bill could mean prison, $50K fines for health care providers.•From Wisconsin: Gov. Tony Evers called on lawmakers to take first steps to put abortion access question in front of voters.” Read more at USA Today
Abortion-rights protesters fill the Indiana Statehouse corridors outside legislative chambers as lawmakers vote to concur on a near-total abortion ban.Arleigh Rodgers, AP
'Hitler moustache' Capitol rioter sentenced to four years
By Sam Cabral
BBC News, Washington
Image caption, Prosecutors said Timothy Hale-Cusanelli sported a Hitler-style moustache at work
“A former US Army reservist and alleged Nazi sympathiser has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in last year's Capitol riots.
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, 32, was a Navy contractor who held a government security clearance when he joined the storming of Congress in January 2021.
A jury convicted him in May on five counts, including a felony charge for obstruction of an official proceeding.
More than 900 people have been charged over their involvement in the attack.
Hale-Cusanelli, who was the seventh riot defendant to go on trial, is among a handful of accused who were on active duty in the military when he joined other Trump supporters in raiding Congress as it met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Prosecutors said he openly espoused white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies, even sporting an Adolf Hitler-style moustache at work, and hoped for a second US civil war.
They added that, over the course of an internal Navy probe into Hale-Cusanelli, 34 of his colleagues said he held ‘extremist or radical views pertaining to the Jewish people, minorities and women’.” Read more at BBC
Democratic Firms Targeted By Project Veritas Win Lawsuit
“A jury on Thursday ruled against Project Veritas in a federal civil case over the methods used by the conservative group in a sting operation targeting a Democratic political consulting firm. Democracy Partners was awarded $120,000 in damages after the jury found that Project Veritas had violated wiretapping laws and fraudulently misrepresented itself. The group and its founder, James O’Keefe, had argued that its operatives were journalists engaged in legitimate news gathering. But the jury found that an operation carried out by a former employee, Allison Maass, ‘breached a fiduciary duty’ after she secured an internship at Democracy Partners under false pretenses. Using secret recordings and other materials, Project Veritas then released videos which Democracy Partners said were designed to embarrass Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump’s election chances.” (Daily Beast) Read more at New York Times
Murders are declining, but other crimes are still disrupting American life.
New York will install security cameras on subway cars.Karsten Moran for The New York Times
A shift in crime
“For the last two years, murders and shootings increased in the U.S., while many other types of crime remained flat or fell. So far in 2022, the trends have reversed.
It’s a confusing combination. The worst forms of crime have been moving in a different direction from other forms of crime. Both developments have big implications for everyday life: The decline in murder is saving lives, but the rise of street crime has created widespread anxiety and problems in many parts of the U.S.
On the New York City subway, the transit authority announced this week that it was installing two security cameras on every car to reassure riders who have avoided the trains because of rising crime rates. ‘You think Big Brother is watching you on the subway?’ Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday. ‘You’re absolutely right. That is our intent.’
What explains the dueling crime trends? Today’s newsletter tries to offer some answers.
A drop in murders
First, the good news: Murders in major cities have fallen by 4 percent so far in 2022, compared with the same period in 2021. Shootings nationwide have fallen 2 percent. The decreases are not enough to undo the large increases in 2020 and 2021; the murder rate is still 30 percent above its 2019 level. But the spike appears to have peaked last year.
The 2021 and 2022 rates are estimates.Source: AH Datalytics, F.B.I.
That’s not entirely surprising. Some of the forces that seemed to have pushed murders and shootings up are now easing (as I explained in a newsletter last month).
Covid disrupted services that helped keep people safe, like policing and addiction treatment programs. The pandemic also closed down schools, which left teenagers idle and stressed. This year, however, the virus’s impact on daily rhythms has waned; the slow return of normalcy has probably helped reduce violent crime.
Another factor is the fallout from George Floyd’s murder in 2020. The horror of his killing damaged police-community relations and made more people skeptical of working with law enforcement. Floyd’s murder probably also contributed to what scholars call ‘legal cynicism’: When people lose confidence in law enforcement, they are more likely to resolve conflicts through their own means, including violence, instead of the criminal justice system. With more time since Floyd’s death, those effects have also receded.
In that sense, the 2020-21 murder spike looks somewhat like a previous jump in murders in 2015 and 2016. That increase also occurred after protests over police violence, including the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. And the trend started to reverse within three years.
Crime and inflation
But there’s also bad news in the recent trends: Many other types of crime, particularly property offenses, are rising. Thefts and robberies in major cities increased by around 20 percent in the first half of 2022, after falling or plateauing the previous two years, the Council on Criminal Justice found.
Several factors explain the increases, experts said. A big one is inflation.
America’s last major crime wave, from the 1960s through the early ’90s, happened alongside a rise in inflation for much of the same time period. That likely was not a coincidence, said Richard Rosenfeld, whose research has linked crime and inflation.
How can inflation lead to more crime? For one, there is a direct link: People might try to get around higher prices by stealing. But a bigger dynamic is also at play, Rosenfeld said: Higher prices can push people to seek cheaper — and potentially stolen — goods at gray markets, such as pawn shops. These purchases effectively boost demand for stolen goods, enticing more thieves and robbers.
Another potential link between crime and inflation is that rising prices can cause broader social distress and discord. When people feel they can no longer afford what they could before, they can lose faith in institutions, particularly the government, and in the direction of their lives. Those people can then lash out, sometimes through crime. (That dynamic helped explain the crime surge that began in the 1960s, some experts believe.)
All of this can eventually lead to more serious crimes, too. Robberies sometimes escalate into murders. Disputes at markets for stolen goods can turn violent. Social discord likely fueled the recent spike in shootings (as my colleague David Leonhardt has explained).
In 2022, inflation does not seem to be leading to more shootings and murders — a sign that the other forces, like the receding of Covid, may be even stronger.
Inflation is obviously not the only cause of the increase in property crimes. As Covid has eased, people are spending more time outside their homes and in more situations where they can be stolen from or robbed, said Anna Harvey, a public safety researcher at New York University. And in response to the spikes in murders and shootings, the police may have shifted resources away from nonviolent crimes, allowing more of those offenses to happen unchecked.
The bottom line
Crime is complicated and multifaceted. A lot of the public discussion and reporting around crime focuses on what the police and the criminal justice system can do. But while law enforcement can play an important role in reducing crime, there are also often deeper problems that the police can’t address — like Covid, social discord and inflation.
Related: The House passed bipartisan legislation to fund local police departments. The votes split moderate and progressive Democrats.” Read more at New York Times
American power crisis
Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
“Even after several years of political and legal battles over how to revive its economy and fix basic utilities, Puerto Rico continues to careen from crisis to crisis.
Why it matters: The U.S. territory and its 3 million residents are caught in a financial and infrastructure quagmire with a steep human cost — including a 41% poverty rate, Axios' Nathan Bomey writes.
What's happening: Puerto Rico's entire power grid — which has been in bankruptcy for the last half-decade — went down after Hurricane Fiona ripped through on Sunday.
Only about 32% of Puerto Rico residents had power restored by yesterday. About 3 in 4 were without clean water.
‘Even relatively minor storms can shut down the power grid,’ said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, which advocates for debt relief for Puerto Rico.
University of Puerto Rico economist José Caraballo-Cueto tells Axios: ‘It's not just the electrical grid — it's also the sewers, it’s also the streets, highways, bridges, schools.’
Flashback: Control of the island's grid was transferred last year to a private operator, LUMA Energy, in hopes of improving the dilapidated system.
LUMA ‘has failed miserably,’ Caraballo-Cueto says, noting that the switch has led to rate spikes and more blackouts.
What we're watching: Debate persists, both in Washington and San Juan, over whether the island would be better off if it won statehood — a longstanding goal for Democrats and progressives.” Read more at Axios
Union approval highest in 57 years
Data: Gallup. Chart: Madison Dong/Axios Visuals
“71% of Americans approve of labor unions — the highest reading since 1965, according to Gallup.
Approval is 89% for Ds ... 56% for Rs.
Why it matters: Retail, warehouse and fast-food workers — empowered by the tight labor market — have made union inroads at Starbucks, Amazon and Chipotle.”
Biden officials may try to oust World Bank head
Activists outside World Bank headquarters in Washington yesterday. Photo: Kevin Wolf via AP
“Biden officials have considered trying to oust World Bank President David Malpass, a Trump administration holdover who has waffled on climate, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.
Malpass was already on thin ice. Then this week, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, he dodged when asked if humans cause climate change.
That set off international calls for his resignation.
He went into damage control yesterday, saying on CNN: ‘I'm not a denier.’
Malpass' botched response provides ammunition to aides who want President Biden to spend political capital to attempt to remove him.
But officials are unsure if the U.S. could orchestrate the ouster. Malpass was confirmed by the bank's board of executive directors, which the White House doesn't control.
The intrigue: Among potential replacements discussed by some Biden officials are former Vice President Al Gore and former Secretary of State John Kerry, now Biden's climate envoy.
Other possibilities include former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Raj Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation.” Read more at Axios
U.K.’s Sweeping Tax Cuts Send Pound Tumbling, Yields Higher
Government to cut payroll taxes, freeze corporation tax, ditch banker-bonus cap and spend billions to subsidize energy bills
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled a package of tax cuts on Friday.PHOTO: HANDOUT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
“LONDON—The British government unveiled the biggest tax cuts since the early 1970s in a bold bet to jolt the U.K.’s inflation-stricken economy into growth, prompting a slide in the pound and a jump in government bond yields.
In one of the largest shifts in British economic policy in decades, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng said the government would cut payroll taxes, freeze corporation tax, ditch a cap on banker bonuses and spend billions to subsidize energy bills over the next two years.
Mr. Kwarteng, appointed by new Prime Minister Liz Truss after she took over from Boris Johnson, said the U.K. had become stuck in a vicious cycle whereby low growth produced less revenue that led to rising taxes to pay for public services, which in turn hurt growth further.
‘This cycle of stagnation has led to the tax burden being forecast to reach the highest levels since the late 1940s,’ said Mr. Kwarteng. ‘We are determined to break that cycle. We need a new approach for a new era focused on growth.’
The new measures, however, caused anxiety among investors about the sustainability of U.K. finances. ‘This is the biggest tax cutting event since 1972,’ said Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an economic think tank.
The pound, which had already fallen by nearly a fifth this year against the dollar, slid another 1.5% Friday to $1.110, hitting a fresh 37-year low. U.K. borrowing costs rose quickly, with yields on both short-term and longer-term government bonds shooting up by more than a third of a percentage point, a massive jump in bond-market terms. The 10-year U.K. government bond yielded 3.8%, shooting higher than the U.S. equivalent for the first time in several years.
The large tax cuts are a sharp change in direction for a Conservative government that has long championed its reputation for cautiously managing the nation’s finances and balancing the books. The package of subsidies and tax cuts—which will be largely funded by borrowing—will cost more than 150 billion pounds, equivalent to $169 billion, over the next couple of years, analysts say, in what amounts to a big play by Ms. Truss to jump-start the economy. The government said it would borrow an additional £72.4 billion to fund the package.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Google Sees Russia Coordinating With Hackers in Cyberattacks Tied to Ukraine War
‘We have never previously observed such a volume of cyberattacks, variety of threat actors, and coordination of effort,’ report says; some U.S. institutions have been targeted
Google’s Mandiant cybersecurity group has seen possible coordination between the Kremlin and online activists.PHOTO: GABBY JONES/BLOOMBERG NEWS
“A growing body of evidence suggests that pro-Russian hackers and online activists are working with the country’s military intelligence agency, according to researchers at Google.
Western officials and security experts are interested in the possible Kremlin links because it would help explain Moscow’s intentions both inside and outside Ukraine despite recent military setbacks that prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to announce a mobilization push.
Officials in the U.S. and Europe have warned throughout the war that Russian hackers could lash out against Ukraine’s allies by targeting critical infrastructure and governments with cyberattacks, but so far that has largely failed to materialize.
Over the past few months, Google’s Mandiant cybersecurity group has observed apparent coordination between pro-Russian hacking groups—ostensibly comprising patriotic citizen hackers—and cyber break-ins by Russia’s military intelligence agency, or GRU. In four instances, Mandiant says it observed hacking activity linked to the GRU in which malicious ‘wiper’ software was installed on a victim’s network.
The initial wiper software caused disruption by destroying computer systems across the organization. Then, the hacktivists entered the picture. After each of these hacks—within 24 hours of the wiping—the hacktivist organizations have published data stolen from the same organizations.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Ukraine
“Occupied parts of Ukraine are voting in ‘sham’ referendums today on joining Russia. The referendums, which are illegal under international law, have been widely condemned by the West as illegitimate. Such a move could provide Moscow with a pretext to escalate its faltering invasion, which has seen Ukraine regain thousands of square miles of territory this month. The European Union has said it won't recognize the results and has indicated it is preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia. On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin backed the referendums in a recent address to the nation. Separately, long lines of traffic were reported at several of Russia's major land borders, as Russian citizens attempt to flee the newly announced ‘partial mobilization.’” Read more at CNN
“Giorgia Meloni, a 45-year-old firebrand with scant experience in government, is widely expected to become Italy’s first female leader after elections Sunday that are likely to deliver a strong majority to a right-wing coalition.
Investors have taken her reassuring statements — on Italy’s precarious public finances, on its role in the European Union, on continued support for Ukraine — at face value. The cost of Italian debt has hardly changed in response to the prospect of Meloni replacing Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank, as prime minister.
Key reading:
Giorgia Meloni Makes Markets Edgy, But Italy Wants Her in Charge
Italy’s Welcome Gift to Meloni Will Be Worse Economic Outlook
Guide to What Italy Election Will Mean for Financial Markets
Yet, as Chiara Albanese writes, the question remains: who is Giorgia Meloni?
Her political career started as a 15-year-old activist for Italy’s post-fascist party in a working-class area of Rome. She was a lawmaker at 29 and a junior minister at 31. All the while, she built a network of contacts in business, finance and academia.
Like many European populists, Meloni opposes immigration and wants to curtail the rights of the LGBTQ community. Yet she says her view of Russia — she welcomed President Vladimir Putin’s re-election in 2018 — has been transformed by the invasion of Ukraine, and she’s now in the pro-NATO camp.
This doesn’t mean she’ll turn easily into a mainstream conservative. She’s no fan of the EU: “The party for Europe is over,” she shouted at a recent rally of Brothers of Italy, a group that traces its origins to Benito Mussolini’s fascist movement.
And Meloni is an admirer of Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who’s retained power since 2010 at the cost of gutting democracy in his country.
Given Italy’s stature within the EU, that’s a troubling precedent for Brussels as the bloc wrestles with crises sparked by Putin’s war.” — Alessandro Speciale Read more at Bloomberg
Meloni at a rally in Caserta on Sept. 18. Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg
US sanctions Iranian morality police after woman's death
“The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police after the death of a woman who'd been accused of wearing her Islamic headgear too loosely. Thursday's sanctions came after at least nine protesters died in clashes with Iranian security forces since violence erupted over the weekend. The Treasury says the Iranian officials oversee organizations that use violence to suppress peaceful protesters, political dissidents and women’s rights activists. The morality police say 22-year-old Mahsa Amini violated Iran's conservative dress code and died in custody of a heart attack.” Read more at USA Today
•Iran's president backs out of Christiane Amanpour interview after she refuses to wear headscarf.
Iranian Kurds set a headscarf on fire during a march in a park in the Iraq Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya on September 19, 2022, against the killing of of Mahsa Amini, a woman in Iran who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police".Shwan Mohammed AFP via Getty Images
“British consumers have just a week left to spend the last $12.4 billion of old paper banknotes that remain in circulation before the cash ceases to become legal tender. The end of the £20 and £50 notes will complete the transition to new polymer versions, and all those carrying a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II can still be used, the Bank of England said.” Read more at Bloomberg
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Global inequality declines
Data: Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2022; Chart: Axios Visuals
“Discussions of global wealth inequality often concentrate on the top 1% or even 0.01%. But the big picture — driven by the rise in Chinese wealth — is that wealth inequality has been steadily decreasing for nearly all of this century, Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon writes.
Why it matters: China used to be a poor country. As it became richer, it narrowed the size of the ‘between countries’ wealth gap.
Data: Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2022; Chart: Axios Visuals
The bottom half of the U.S. wealth distribution is lots richer now than pre-pandemic, Felix adds.
What happened: Student loan payments were paused. Stimulus checks poured in. Housing and stock-market wealth rose fast.” Read more at Axios
“South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol gave a disaster-class in diplomacy Wednesday when a hot mic caught him calling U.S. lawmakers ‘idiots.’ Yoon made the comment after meeting with President Joe Biden at the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York City, where Biden committed $6 billion from the U.S. to support the public health campaign. The funding, which requires congressional sign-off, would go toward tackling global health issues including AIDS and malaria. ‘It would be so humiliating for Biden if these idiots don’t pass it in Congress,’ Yoon was heard saying to aides as they departed the event. Yoon’s spokesperson later said that he didn’t actually say ‘Biden,’ instead using a similar sounding Korean word, claiming that he was referring to South Korea’s parliament instead of the U.S. Congress.” (Daily Beast) Read it at Washington Post
“Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s longest-serving prime minister, said Thursday that Vladimir Putin was forced to attack Ukraine after Volodymyr Zelensky “increased the attacks of his forces” against Russian troops in the Donbas region. Berlusconi made the comments after his final campaign rally in central Rome where he has aligned with far-right politicians Giorgia Meloniand Matteo Salvini, who are polling to win elections on Sunday. Berlusconi told a popular television program that Putin was ‘pushed by the Russian people, his party and his ministers to invent this special operation.’ He added that Putin had planned to finish up the invasion within a week, and that his goal was to ‘replace Zelensky's government with a government of decent people.’ Concern has grown that a center right victory in Italy would put Italy’s support for Ukraine in jeopardy.” (Daily Beast) Read it at Wanted in Rome
Hilary Mantel, Prize-Winning Author of Historical Fiction, Dies at 70
The two-time Booker Prize-winning author was known for “Wolf Hall” and two other novels based on the life of Thomas Cromwell.
Sept. 23, 2022, 6:51 a.m. ET
“Hilary Mantel, the British author of ‘Wolf Hall,’ ‘Bring Up the Bodies’ and ‘The Mirror and the Light,’ her trilogy based on the life of Thomas Cromwell, died on Thursday at a hospital in Exeter, England. She was 70.
Her death, from a stroke, was confirmed by Bill Hamilton, her longtime literary agent. ‘She had so many great novels ahead of her,’ Mr. Hamilton said, adding that Ms. Mantel had been working on one at the time of her death. ‘It’s just an enormous loss to literature,’ he added.
Ms. Mantel was one of Britain’s most decorated novelists. She twice won the Booker Prize, the country’s prestigious literary award, for ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring Up the Bodies,’ both of which went on to sell millions of copies. In 2020, she was also longlisted for the same prize for ‘The Mirror and the Light.’” Read more at New York Times
Big catches for Amazon, Apple
‘Thursday Night Football’ sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung interviews Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on Sept. 15. Photo: Jason Hanna for Amazon Sports
“An impressive 13 million people watched Amazon Prime's debut ‘Thursday Night Football’ game last week between the Kansas City Chiefs and the L.A. Chargers, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.
Why it matters: Ratings for the game — the first Amazon streamed exclusively — show Americans will keep watching the NFL, even if it's not on regular TV.
Amazon says the audience was younger: The average viewer was 46, compared to the average NFL viewer the same week on linear TV — 53.
Amazon said in a memo obtained by CNBC that the game drew a record number of signups for Amazon Prime over a three-hour period.
Between the lines: The game drew more eyeballs than the Thursday night game that aired during the same week last year between Washington and the New York Giants.
Photo: Jason Hanna for Amazon Sports`
Apple Music will sponsor the halftime show at Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 12, the NFL announced last night.
120 million+ viewers watched this year's halftime show live.
Why it matters: Apple Music replaces Pepsi as sponsor, in a deal the NFL shopped for about $50 million, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).
Apple and the NFL are wrangling over pricing for the NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market package. The NFL wants as much as $2.5 billion — $1 billion more than it now gets from DirecTV, The Times said.” Read more at Axios
“Lives Lived: Maarten Schmidt was the first astronomer to identify a quasar, then among the farthest known objects from Earth, opening new questions about the universe’s evolution. Schmidt died at 92.” Read more at New York Times