Inflation drops to 3% and Biden hopes to turn a weakness with voters into a strength
WASHINGTON (AP) — The politics of inflation took a sharp turn Wednesday with a report showing consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since the early months of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Republicans have hammered Biden over the cost of groceries, gasoline, utilities and more, saying his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package and push for electric vehicles were responsible for pushing inflation to a four-decade high. The GOP argument has resonated with voters, but the report on consumer prices for June suggests that inflation has eased dramatically without any of the job losses that some economists and Republican leaders said would occur.
Prices have risen just 3% from a year ago, compared with 9.1% in June 2022, and it's the lowest reading since March 2021.
Unlike a year ago, inflation is mainly coming from a government measure of shelter based on what it would cost to rent a home. This makes the inflation argument somewhat nuanced as data from AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of the national electorate, shows that the majority of voters last year — 83% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats — own their homes and are largely insulated from higher rental prices.
Biden's team was quick to seize on the inflation report as proof that its policies are delivering results. Defying expectations that Federal Reserve efforts to combat inflation would cause layoffs, the unemployment rate is healthy at 3.6%.
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Suspect in Larry Nassar stabbing said ex-doctor made lewd remark watching Wimbledon, AP source says
WASHINGTON (AP) — A prisoner suspected of stabbing Larry Nassar at a federal penitentiary in Florida said the disgraced former sports doctor provoked the attack by making a lewd comment while they were watching a Wimbledon tennis match on TV, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The inmate, identified as Shane McMillan, was previously convicted of assaulting a correctional officer at a federal penitentiary in Louisiana in 2006 and attempting to stab another inmate to death at the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado in 2011, court records show.
McMillan attacked Nassar in his cell Sunday with a makeshift weapon, stabbing him multiple times in the neck, chest and back before four other inmates rushed in and pulled him off of Nassar, according to the person familiar with the matter.
Correctional officers assigned to the unit at the United States Penitentiary Coleman responded to Nassar's cell and performed what officials said were life-saving measures. He was taken to a hospital, where he remained in stable condition Wednesday with injuries including a collapsed lung.
Cell doors on most federal prison units are typically open during the day, letting prisoners move around freely within the facility. Because Nassar was attacked in his cell, the incident was not captured on surveillance cameras which only point at common areas and corridors.
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Ukraine wins G7 security pledges, but NATO membership remains elusive
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed fresh pledges of weapons and ammunition to fight Russia's invasion along with longer-term security commitments from the West on Wednesday even as he expressed disappointment over the lack of a clear path for his country to join NATO as the alliance wrapped up its annual summit.
“The Ukrainian delegation is bringing home a significant security victory for the Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children,” he said while flanked by U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders from the Group of Seven most powerful democratic nations.
A joint declaration issued by the G7 lays the groundwork for each nation to negotiate agreements to help Ukraine bolster its military over the long term. Zelenskyy described the initiative as a bridge toward eventual NATO membership and a deterrent against Russia.
"We will not waver,” Biden vowed after the summit in Lithuania ended. “I mean that. Our commitment to Ukraine will not weaken. We will stand for freedom today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.”
The Ukrainian and American presidents also met privately along with their advisers, and Biden acknowledged that Zelenskyy is sometimes “frustrated” by the pace of military assistance.
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Pence would ban abortions when pregnancies aren't viable. His GOP rivals won't say if they agree
NEW YORK (AP) — In a Republican presidential field full of candidates opposed to abortion rights, Mike Pence stands out in his embrace of the cause.
The former vice president, who is seeking the White House in 2024, is the only major candidate who supports a federal ban on abortion at six weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant. He has advocated pulling from the market a widely used abortion pill that has a better safety record than penicillin and Viagra. And he's implored his Republican rivals to back a 15-week federal ban as a minimum national standard, which several have not done.
In a recent interview, Pence went even further, saying abortion should be banned when a pregnancy isn't viable. Such a standard would force women to carry pregnancies to term even when doctors have determined there is no chance a baby will survive outside the womb.
“I’m pro-life. I don’t apologize for it,” Pence said in the interview. “I just have heard so many stories over the years of courageous women and families who were told that their unborn child would not go to term or would not survive. And then they had a healthy pregnancy and a healthy delivery."
Doctors disputed Pence’s characterization, saying there are conditions that are always incompatible with life and others where the chance of survival is so slim that most patients, when previously given the choice, concluded that continuing the pregnancy wasn't worth the suffering, grief or risk.
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Tornado touches down near Chicago's O'Hare airport, disrupting hundreds of flights
CHICAGO (AP) — A tornado touched down Wednesday evening near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, prompting passengers to take shelter and disrupting hundreds of flights. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
A confirmed tornado was on the ground around 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Chicago.
“This tornado has been touching the ground intermittently so far and is moving east. There are additional circulations along the line south of O’Hare. Seek shelter if in the warned area," it said.
By 8 p.m. the weather service said the Chicago forecast area was “currently tornado warning free." It said the storm was moving east toward Michigan, where tornado warnings were issued.
Video from TV stations showed hundreds of people taking shelter in an O’Hare concourse. Some 169 flights were canceled and nearly 500 were delayed, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.
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Hollywood actors agree to mediation, but strike may be unavoidable
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Unionized Hollywood actors on the verge of a strike have agreed to allow a last-minute intervention from federal mediators but say they doubt a deal will be reached by a negotiation deadline late Wednesday.
“We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” the Screen Actors Guild -American Federation of Radio and Television Artists said in a statement Tuesday night.
The actors could join the already striking Writers Guild of America and grind the already slowed production process to a halt if no agreement is reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The sides agreed to an extension before the original contract expiration date on June 30, resetting it to Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
Issues on the table in negotiations include the unregulated use of artificial intelligence and effects on residual pay brought on by the streaming ecosystem that has emerged in recent years.
“People are standing up and saying this doesn’t really work, and people need to be paid fairly,” Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, who was nominated for her first Emmy Award Wednesday for playing Tammy Wynette in “George & Tammy," told The Associated Press. “It is very clear that there are certain streamers that have really kind of changed the way we work and the way that we have worked, and the contracts really haven’t caught up to the innovation that’s happened."
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Messi mania engulfs Miami ahead of Argentine soccer superstar's arrival
MIAMI (AP) — A hamburger and drink combination called the Lionel Messi. A huge sketch of the soccer star’s smiling face on a restaurant wall beside a viral meme from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A beer with a pink label matching the color of the Inter Miami jersey he will wear.
Wherever you turn in Miami these days something reminds you of the imminent arrival of the Argentine soccer legend.
There is no hiding the euphoria generated by Messi in Miami as he begins the new Major League Soccer phase of his career in one of the most Latino cities in the United States. But his arrival is also bringing a note of sadness as fans know that at age 36 he is nearing the end of his career.
Messi announced on June 7 that he will play for Inter Miami in a move that is expected to revitalize soccer in the United States and South Florida with one of the sporting world’s best-known figures. More than 100,000 Argentines live in Miami, which will host World Cup matches in 2026.
The seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, the soccer world's most prestigious individual award, is coming off two years with Paris Saint-Germain and is expected to make his Inter Miami debut against Mexican team Cruz Azul on July 21.
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Snow shovels in hand, volunteers help Vermont communities clear the mud from epic floods
ANDOVER, Vt. (AP) — Volunteers pulled out their snow shovels Wednesday to clear inches of mud after torrential rain and flooding inundated communities across Vermont, trapping people in homes, closing roadways and littering streets and businesses with debris.
The water drained off most streets in the state capital of Montpelier, where the swollen Winooski River flooded basements and ground floors, destroying merchandise and furniture across the picturesque downtown. Other communities cleaned up as well from historic floods that were more destructive than Tropical Storm Irene in many places. Dozens of roads remained closed, and thousands of homes and businesses are damaged.
But with people still being rescued, high water still blocking some roads and new flash flood warnings issued with more rain on the way, the crisis is far from over, according to state Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison.
“Vermonters, keep your guard up, and do not take chances,” she said.
Morrison said urban search and swift water rescue teams came to the aid of least 32 people and numerous animals Tuesday night in northern Vermont's Lamoille County, bringing the total to more than 200 rescues since Sunday, and more than 100 evacuations.
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3 tax prep firms shared 'extraordinarily sensitive' data about taxpayers with Meta, lawmakers say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three large tax preparation firms sent “extraordinarily sensitive” information on tens of millions of taxpayers to Facebook parent company Meta over the course of at least two years, a group of congressional Democrats reported on Wednesday.
They say some of that data was then used by Meta to create targeted advertising to its own users, other companies, and to train Meta's algorithms.
The Democrats' report urges federal agencies to investigate and potentially go to court over the wealth of information that H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer shared with the social media giant.
In a letter to the heads of the IRS, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the IRS watchdog, seven lawmakers say their findings “reveal a shocking breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms.”
Their report said highly personal and financial information about sources of taxpayers' income, tax deductions and exemptions was made accessible to Meta as taxpayers used the tax software to prepare their taxes.
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Indigenous women in Canada forcibly sterilized decades after other rich countries stopped
TORONTO (AP) — Decades after many other rich countries stopped forcibly sterilizing Indigenous women, numerous activists, doctors, politicians and at least five class-action lawsuits say the practice has not ended in Canada.
A Senate report last year concluded “this horrific practice is not confined to the past, but clearly is continuing today.” In May, a doctor was penalized for forcibly sterilizing an Indigenous woman in 2019.
Indigenous leaders say the country has yet to fully reckon with its troubled colonial past — or put a stop to a decades-long practice that is considered a type of genocide.
There are no solid estimates on how many women are still being sterilized against their will or without their knowledge, but Indigenous experts say they regularly hear complaints about it. Sen. Yvonne Boyer, whose office is collecting the limited data available, says at least 12,000 women have been affected since the 1970s.
“Whenever I speak to an Indigenous community, I am swamped with women telling me that forced sterilization happened to them,” Boyer, who has Indigenous Metis heritage, told The Associated Press.
The Associated Press
