Wednesday, July 12, 2023

7/12 WAKE-UP CALL: Zellensky Fumes Over No NATO Membership

Zellensky realizes he's alone in the crowd

NATO declined to offer Ukraine a clear path to membership, instead offering financial and political support that it said would boost Kyiv’s bid to join. Some NATO members have balked at providing a timeline or checklist for joining. President Biden has said that Ukraine isn’t ready for membership and that offering specifics risked conflict with Russia, potentially even a world war. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called NATO an aggressor and blamed it for causing the war in Ukraine. Kyiv considers membership crucial to stopping Moscow’s future attacks after the current hostilities end. More than 15 years ago, the bloc first offered Ukraine a promise of membership.

➤BIDEN SKIPS NATO DINNER: President Biden raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he skipped the NATO leadership summit’s opening dinner in Lithuania’s capital, with White House staff citing a — relatively — action-packed schedule for the 80-year-old commander-in-chief. Asked why the president gave the meal a miss, a US official said that Biden “has four full days of official business and is preparing for a big speech tomorrow in addition to another day at the summit.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken took Biden’s place at the dinner, which brings together heads of state and government from all 31 NATO member countries. The snub comes after Biden spent Saturday relaxing on the beach near his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., which some critics were quick to point out Tuesday evening.

➤MISCROSOFT CLEARED FOR ACTIVISION DEAL: Microsoft can close its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a federal judge ruled. That is a major setback to the Biden administration’s attempt to rein in big mergers. The FTC had sought an injunction to prevent the two companies from completing their megadeal—combining Microsoft’s Xbox videogaming business with the publisher of popular franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush—before the agency began a separate process to challenge it in August. Microsoft shares were little changed after the ruling; Activision shares rose 10%.

➤BOA FINED $250M:  Bank of America has been ordered to pay $250 million in fines and customer compensation for deceptive practices that harmed "hundreds of thousands of consumers," according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The federal regulator on Tuesday said the bank withheld credit card rewards, illegally double-dipped on fees and opened accounts without consent. It’s one of the highest financial penalties in years against the country’s second-largest bank, which was also ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over unlawful garnishments and $225 million in fines for "botched" state unemployment benefit disbursements in 2022.  The latest penalty includes $90 million to the CFPB and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The bank must also pay $80.4 million in consumer redress on top of the $23 million it had already paid to customers denied rewards bonuses.


🎒BACK-TO-SCHOOL SPENDING EXPECTED TO DIP: Back-to-school spending is expected to fall for the first time in nine years as shoppers across all income levels pull back on non-essential purchases and prioritize necessities amid sticky inflation, according to a Deloitte report on Wednesday. Consumers are expected to spend 10% less this year, with average spend per child falling to $597, while the overall back-to-school market is projected to shrink to $31.2 billion, compared with $34.4 billion in 2022, the report said.

➤THESE ARE THE MOST STRESSED CITIES IN AMERICA: In a survey of America's 182 largest cities, one is particularly stressed: Cleveland. WalletHub examined factors like work stress, job security, unemployment, financial stress, family stress, childcare costs, health, and safety. Other pressed metroplexes include Detroit, Baltimore, Birmingham, and Philadelphia. New Orleans came in 13th place, Las Vegas in 21st, and New York in 38th. Where should you go for chill vibes? South Burlington, Vermont and Fremont, California are the least stressed cities in the nation. 

➤TITAN PASSENGERS KNEW: The passengers that died on the Titan submersible would have been aware of the impending catastrophe for a minute before the implosion, an expert has said. Spanish submarine expert José Luis Martín suggested the submersible lost stability due to an electrical failure that left it without propulsion, causing it to fall towards the seabed 'like an arrow vertically' with its porthole facing down. He estimated that the sub began freefalling at a depth of around 5,600 feet and fell 'as if it were a stone and without any control' for about 3,000 feet until at around 8,600 feet it 'popped like a balloon' due to the rapidly changing pressure.

➤MANSON KILLER PAROLED: Leslie Van Houten Van Houten, the youngest member of the Charlie Manson cult, 'was released to parole supervision' and driven to transitional housing, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The convicted killer, 73, is expected to spend about a year in transitional housing, learning basic skills such as how to go to the grocery store and get a debit card, according to her attorney Nancy Tetreault. Van Houten was serving a life sentence for helping Charles Manson´s followers carry out the 1969 killings of Leno LaBianca, a grocer in Los Angeles, and his wife, Rosemary. Her release comes just four days after Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom announced he would not fight a state appeals court ruling that Van Houten should be granted parole. He said it was unlikely the state Supreme Court would consider an appeal.

➤COSTNER SOCKED WITH CHILD SUPPORT: Kevin Costner is on the hook for six-digit monthly payments after a judge ruled on a tentative child support arrangement. The 68-year-old Yellowstone has been ordered to pay his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner, 49, a whopping $129,755 per month in child support payments. That means the figure is considerably more than double what Costner had originally offered his ex, though it is also only a little over half of what she had been asking for.

⚾MLB ALL-STAR GAME: Elias Díaz hit a two-run homer off Felix Bautista in the eighth inning, and the National League snapped a nine-game losing streak in the All-Star Game with a memorable 3-2 win over the American League. The NL won for the first time since an 8-0 victory in 2012 in Kansas City thanks to Díaz, a catcher who became the first Rockies player to win the All-Star MVP award. 'This means a lot to me, to my family,' he said. 'Being in the ASG for me is amazing.'

⚾SEATTLE WANTS OHTANI: The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes have officially begun. The starting pitcher — who leads the majors in home runs and OPS — is set to hit the free agent market upon season's end, and his deal is probably going to break the bank. Of course, 30 teams want him on their team, but the Seattle Mariners fans really let him know they really want him.


⚾MLBPA WANTS BASEBALL TO SOFTEN PITCH TIMER BEFORE PLAYOFFS: The Major League Baseball Players Association would like the league to soften the pitch timer rule as the 2023 season approaches the playoffs, but commissioner Rob Manfred is leaning toward keeping the current one in place. "I don't think there are too many folks that want to have a new rule affect a game in a pennant chase or in the playoffs," MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said Tuesday. "There are adjustments that can be beneficial."

➤MURDER-SUICIDE HITS FAMILY OF NASCAR DRIVER: Jimmie Johnson’s mother-in-law shot herself just as police arrived at her home — moments after she killed her husband and grandson, disturbing police body camera footage reveals officers approaching the Muskogee, Oklahoma home where Johnson’s father-in-law Jack Janway, 69, and 68-year-old mother-in-law Terry Janway were found shot dead on June 26 along with their 11-year-old grandson. After seeing Jack Janway’s arm sticking out from underneath a blanket in a hallway through a window, armed police officers open the front door and announce their presence, the video shows.  A single gunshot rings out as they enter. Investigators determined the gunshot came from Terry, who committed suicide. She was found unresponsive on the couch with a gun beside her, cops said. Jack Janway was also discovered dead from a gunshot wound and police quickly removed his body from the residence. 

➤FLOODING DEVASTATION IN VERMONT: A day after torrential downpours triggered deadly flash floods in New York’s Hudson Valley, the deluge continued in Vermont, where the storm caused catastrophic flooding that drew comparisons to the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Irene more than a decade ago. Parts of Vermont saw two months’ worth of rain in a matter of hours, overwhelming river valleys and threatening communities across the state.

“Make no mistake, the flooding we have seen is historic and catastrophic, surpassing levels seen during Tropical Storm Irene,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said at a press briefing on Tuesday morning. “I know thousands of Vermonters have lost homes, businesses and more. The devastation is far-reaching.”]

🌞ARIZONA BAKES IN SUMMER HEAT: Arizonians cannot seem to beat the heat as the state finds itself in the midst of a 110F-plus heatwave that is on the cusp of breaking some state records. In Phoenix, residents have seen temperatures in the triple digits every day since June 13 and forecasters say that the heat is not going anywhere any time soon.  The National Weather Service is predicting that temps upwards of 110 degrees Fahrenheit will remain through at least the next two weeks. While experts say the current heat wave has not been as aggressive as those in the past, but it's length could make it the longest in the area's history. Videos posted to TikTok show the extent of the blazing heat as one person showed themselves cooking an egg in the summer heat and another showed their car's thermometer reading at 117 degrees Fahrenheit. 'My skin hurts. My plants are suffering. Why do I live here?' the TikTok's creator wrote.


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