Good morning.
Joe Biden has issued a rallying cry for the preservation of democracy and a dark warning that America could face political violence as it barrels toward next week’s midterm elections.
The president used a primetime address on Wednesday to argue that Donald Trump’s “big lie” about the 2020 election being stolen had become “an article of faith” in the extreme wing of the Republican party.
Biden delivered his address to supporters in an ornate room at Washington’s Union station, which is within sight of the US Capitol which was stormed on 6 January last year by a mob of Trump supporters.
Behind him were eight US flags and a blue curtain – a less dramatic backdrop than the red and blue lights of his “Battle for the soul of the nation” speech at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall two months ago, where he spoke on similar themes.
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What did he say? Trump’s false claims about a stolen election have “fueled the dangerous rise of political violence and voter intimidation over the past two years,” Biden said. “We’re facing a defining moment. We must with one overwhelming, unified voice speak, as a country, and say there’s no place for voter intimidation or political violence in America.”
Fed announces sixth consecutive increase in US interest rates to fight inflation
The Federal Reserve stepped up its fight against a 40-year high in US inflation yesterday, announcing its fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point hike in interest rates but signaling that the pace of increases may soon slow.
With the cost of living crisis battering consumers and Joe Biden’s political fortunes, Fed officials have now imposed six rate rises in a row, the sharpest increase in interest rates since the 1980s, when inflation touched 14% and rates rose to nearly 20%.
The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, said there were “no grounds for complacency” but acknowledged that officials were considering the pace of rate rises as they assess their impact on the wider economy. “Even so, we still have some ways to go. And incoming data since our last meeting suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected,” he said.
The Fed’s latest increase brings the federal funds rate – which acts as a benchmark for everything from business loans to credit card and mortgage rates – to between 3.75% and 4%, after sitting at 0% for more than a year during the coronavirus pandemic.
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What did Powell say? “I’m pleased that we have moved as fast as we have. I don’t think we’ve overtightened,” he said. The Fed would, at some point, slow the pace of rate rises, he added, but it was “very premature to think about pausing”.
Top Trump adviser granted immunity for testifying in Mar-a-Lago papers case
Federal prosecutors examining Donald Trump’s unauthorized retention of highly sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago property will obtain testimony from his adviser Kash Patel, after granting Patel limited immunity from prosecution, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The immunity – a powerful tool that forces witnesses to testify on the promise that they will not be prosecuted for their statements or information derived from their statements – signals the importance of his testimony to the criminal investigation.
The justice department’s interest with Patel centers on his claims that the documents found at Mar-a-Lago were declassified, how the documents came to end up at the property, and how Trump’s aides and lawyers responded to requests for their return, the sources said.
The status of the documents is important because if prosecutors can prove that those seized by the FBI in August were not declassified, it could strengthen a potential obstruction case contending that Trump used the claims as an excuse for why he did not return records that had been subpoenaed.
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Why is Patel’s testimony important? As Patel is a close adviser to Trump – he maintains a personal relationship with the former president – who was also appointed as one of his representatives to the National Archives, the justice department is expected to ask Patel about the circumstances behind the documents being at Mar-a-Lago.
In other news …
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Two Iowa teenagers killed their high school Spanish teacher because of frustration over a bad grade, prosecutors said in court documents. Nohema Graber’s body was found in a park on 3 November 2021. She had been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Miller and Goodale were 16 at the time.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has hailed Russia’s turnaround in rejoining the UN-backed grain export deal, days after the Kremlin had threatened to pull out, as a “significant diplomatic outcome” for Ukraine and the “whole world”.
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Much of America’s pet food packaging could be contaminated with PFAS, “forever chemicals”, creating a potentially dangerous exposure to the toxic compounds for cats and dogs. PFAS are linked to a range of serious health problems such as cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and liver disease.
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A former airport security guard who is on death row in Bahrain for a crime he alleges he was tortured into confessing to has urged Pope Francis to call for his release during the pontiff’s visit to the Gulf state. Mohammed Ramadhan, who has been in prison for nine years, has asked the pontiff for help.
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The Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz formally received a sentence of life without parole on Wednesday after families of his 17 slain victims spent two days berating him as evil and a monster. Cruz watched intently as the judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced him to 17 life terms for the 2018 massacre.
Stat of the day: New York puts $4.2bn environmental bond act on the midterm ballot
New Yorkers heading to the polls this month have a chance to vote for a ballot measure that would fund up to $4.2bn for environmental improvement projects – including increasing flood resiliency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, electrifying school buses, and creating more green and open spaces. The proposal also aims to reach communities most affected by the climate crisis. If approved, it will allow the state to sell bonds in order to raise funds to finance several projects.
Don’t miss this: Can Twitter survive Elon Musk – or even thrive?
In the week since Elon Musk marched through the company’s San Francisco office holding a basin – so that he could tweet “let that sink in” – and nicknamed himself first “chief twit” and then “Twitter complaint hotline operator” (his actual title, according to internal systems, is boring old “chief executive officer”), the world’s richest man has done the corporate-takeover equivalent of flipping the table halfway through a game of chess. But can he make the platform matter again – or will it become a hellscape of hateful content and misinformation?
… or this: Sentenced to life for stealing $14 – ‘I needed help, but was given jail’
David Coulson, 55, did not see his family for the two decades he spent behind bars. But they were ready to welcome him home last month, starting with a surprise reunion. “I was just bawling and torn up, and my daughter runs up and hugs me and is like: ‘You big ol’ crybaby!’” he said. “The grandkids accepted me with open arms. It was like I never left.”
For the last 20 years, Coulson had been serving a life sentence, with little hope of ever coming home. His crime was stealing $14. At the time of the 2002 offense, in which he took loose change from an unlocked garage, Coulson, then 35, was living on the streets of Long Beach and deep in the throes of drug addiction. He was also struggling with mental illnesses.
Climate check: Europe’s climate warming at twice rate of global average, says report
Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average in the last 30 years, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The effects of this warming are already being seen, with droughts, wildfires and ice melts taking place across the continent. The European State of the Climate report warns that as the warming trend continues, exceptional heat, wildfires and floods will affect society, economies and ecosystems. From 1991 to 2021, temperatures in Europe have warmed at an average rate of about 0.5C a decade.
Last Thing: The one where Justin Trudeau gets his head kicked in by Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry’s memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing is an unflinching and often harrowing must-read for 90s pop-culture fans. But there are amusing bits. When he is a child, his single mother starts working as a press aide to the Canadian prime minister, Pierre Trudeau (Justin’s dad), remarries and moves briefly to Toronto, when 10-year-old Perry starts acting up, smoking, getting bad grades and even beating up young Justin Trudeau (“I decided to end my argument with him when he was put in charge of an entire army”).
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