Friday, December 30, 2022

Wake-Up Call: Sirens Blare In Ukraine


Residents of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv were urged to head to air raid shelters early on Friday as sirens wailed across the city, a day after Russia carried out the biggest aerial assault since it started the war in February.  Shortly after 2.00 a.m. Kyiv's city government issued an alert on its Telegram messaging app channel about the air raid sirens and called on residents to proceed to shelters. Olekskiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv region, said on Telegram that an "attack by drones" was under way.


➤WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION: Ten months into Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, overwhelming evidence shows the Kremlin’s troops have waged total war, with disregard for international laws governing the treatment of civilians and conduct on the battlefield. Ukraine is investigating more than 58,000 potential Russian war crimes — killings, kidnappings, indiscriminate bombings and sexual assaults. Reporting by The Associated Press and “Frontline,” recorded in a public database, has independently verified more than 600 incidents that appear to violate the laws of war. Some of those attacks were massacres that killed dozens or hundreds of civilians and as a totality it could account for thousands of individual war crimes. As Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, told the AP, “Ukraine is a crime scene.”

➤YOUR WALLET COULD BE IN FOR TROUBLE: President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill that will keep the federal government operating through the end of the federal budget year in September 2023, and provide tens of billions of dollars in new aid to Ukraine for its fight against the Russian military. Biden had until late Friday to sign the bill to avoid a partial government shutdown. The Democratic-controlled House passed the bill 225-201, mostly along party lines, just before Christmas. The House vote came a day after the Senate, also led by Democrats, voted 68-29 to pass the bill with significantly more Republican support. Biden had said passage was proof that Republicans and Democrats can work together.

Daily Mail US (12/30/22)
➤MAJOR ENERGY TAXES GOING INTO EFFECT: The Inflation Reduction Act includes three major energy taxes that are expected to increase household energy bills. One is a regressive tax on American oil and gas development, estimated to increase taxes by $6.5 billion. Democrats are proposing a 16.4 cents-per-barrel tax on crude oil likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher gas prices. It would shred President Biden's promise not to raise taxes for Americans making less than $400,000 per year. US inflation is 7.1% for 12 months to November 2022 after rising 7.7% previously. The taxes include additions on resources such as coal, natural gas and crude oil with additional taxes on corporations and stocks. Ultimately, it could see hikes on home energy bills, household coasts and affect the amount people are able to save in their 401Ks, IRAs and pension plans.

➤'22 SAW HUGE INCREASE IN MORTGAGE RATES: U.S. mortgage rates recorded their largest increase in any calendar year in 2022, a consequence of the Fed’s aggressive inflation-taming moves. The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.42% from 6.27% last week, according to mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac’s lenders survey. It was 3.11% at the same time last year. Meanwhile, filings for U.S. unemployment benefits rose only modestly last week and held near pre-pandemic levels, the Labor Department said; that suggests the labor market remains historically tight. U.S. stocks rallied, with the S&P 500 up 1.7%, the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1%.

➤IS TRAVEL HELL OVER? Southwest Airlines said it expects to return to normal operations Friday after more than a week of widespread flight cancellations that started with a winter storm and spiraled out of control because of a breakdown with staffing technology. If Thursday turns out to be the last day of the Southwest crisis, it will be marked by about 2,350 canceled flights, nearly 60% of the airline’s schedule. Southwest declined to say how many people have been affected, but it is likely that far more than 1 million have had a flight canceled.

➤SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER ARRESTED: Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania after police raided his luxury home in connection to a human trafficking investigation. The prolific social media personality, 36, had his villa searched by police on Thursday, Romanian outlet Libertatea reported. Andrew - who was detained alongside his brother Tristan - will face questioning by the country's organized crime and terrorism unit, the outlet said. The raid is believed to be the result of his online spat with Greta Thunberg - after he posed alongside a Romanian pizza box, which proved to authorities that he was still in the country. Tate's home was also raided in April this year as part of a human trafficking investigation. He has previously said that '40 percent' of the reason he moved to Romania was because the police were less likely to pursue any sexual assault allegations against him. Chicago-born Tate has been branded 'the king of toxic masculinity' for his online diatribes against women - which have gained him notoriety and millions of followers in the last year.

➤SCIENTOLOGY LEADER MISSING: Prosecutors trying to serve David Miscavige with a federal child trafficking lawsuit say that the mysterious leader of Scientology is 'nowhere to be found.' Authorities have attempted to serve papers to Miscavige, 62, on 27 different occasions over the course of four months in the Clearwater-area in Florida and in Los Angeles, reports the Tampa Bay Times. When lawyers appeared at Scientology properties and asked security guards about Miscavige's whereabouts, the guards said that they were clueless. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have even hired a private investigator in an attempt to track him down. At one point, lawyers  even took the direct route and sent an Instagram message to the church's official account to ask about Miscavige. The lawsuit being filed by former church members, husband and wife, Gawain and Laura Baxter and Valeska Paris. The trio say that they were forced into labor on Scientology boats as children after signing a one billion-year contract in exchange for little or no money. Paris left the church in 2009 and Gawain and Laura Baxter left in 2012.

➤PAKISTAN COURT FREES CONVICTED RAPIST AFTER ‘AGREEMENT’ TO MARRY HIS VICTIM:  A 23-year-old Pakistani man sentenced to life in prison after raping a 36-year-old deaf woman was set free under the agreement he would marry his rape victim. The woman gave birth to a child following the rape which led to an outside Sharia court—made up of elderly men who embrace a highly patriarchal interpretation of Islamic law—to get the rapist acquitted in the High Court. The new settlement likely happened because the taboo topic of childbirth outside of marriage is not talked about or looked at through the lens of sexual assault victims. Advocates warn about the precedent that is set when rape is normalized in places where sexual violent and victim-blaming is common.

Daily Mail US 12/30/22
➤HUNTER'S STRIPPER MOM WANTS BIDEN NAME: Lunden Alexis Roberts - a stripper and the mother of one of Hunter Biden 's five children - has asked a court in Arkansas to change her daughter's last name to Biden. The Biden family, including Hunter, has reportedly never met Navy. She was born in August 2018 to Roberts, a stripper at a club Hunter used to frequent. A name change petition was filed Tuesday by Roberts after Hunter, the president's oldest son, asked to have child support payments adjusted in September because his 'financial circumstances' had undergone a 'substantial, material change.' She is Hunter's fourth of five children who was conceived while he was still in a relationship with Hallie Biden, his brother Beau Biden's widow, who he got together with after her husband died of brain cancer in 2015. Clinton Lancaster, Roberts' attorney, said that Navy would 'benefit from carrying the Biden family name,' adding that the name is 'now synonymous with being well educated, successful, financially acute, and politically powerful.'

➤MORE TROUBLE FOR CRYPTO INVESTORS: There’s more trouble looming for investors in cryptocurrency. The Winklevoss twins, kingpins of the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, are being sued by two disgruntled investors who accuse them of fraud. The complaint alleges that the twins marketed interest-bearing accounts on Gemini without alerting customers of the risks. Gemini is trying to recover $900 million in customer funds that are being held by its lending partner. The suit alleges that accountholders have been refused withdrawals. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss famously sued Facebook, claiming the idea for the site was theirs.


🏈THURSDAY’S NFL SCORE: Dallas Cowboys 27, Tennessee Titans 13


✞A SPORTS LEGEND PASSES: Pelé, the first global hero in sports, has died in Brazil at the age of 82. He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, but his nickname Pelé has been synonymous with soccer since he made a dazzling debut for Brazil at the 1958 World Cup at age 17. He went on to win three World Cups, still a record. A wake for Pelé will be held at the headquarters of the Santos Football Club in São Paulo, Brazil, where he got his start.


⚾JEAN SEGURA SIGNS WITH MIAMI: Former Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Jean Segura has reportedly signed a two-year, 17-million deal with the Miami Marlins. He’s an 11-year veteran of Major League Baseball and a two-time All-Star.

🏀PACERS’ HIELD DOES NOT WASTE TIME: Buddy Hield of the Indiana Pacers grabbed a jump ball and made a three-point shot in the first three seconds of last night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. ESPN’s stats team says that set a record for the quickest three-pointer in modern basketball history. The Pacers won the game 135-126.

🏀NBA SUSPENDS 11 PLAYERS FOR COURT BRAWL: The NBA on Thursday suspended 11 players for their involvement in the Pistons-Magic fight on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.  Three players were ejected in the brawl, including Orlando’s Mortiz Wagner for a flagrant foul that sparked the incident, while Detroit’s Killian Hayes and Hamadou Diallo were punished for their actions during the brawl.  Wagner appeared to push Hayes out of bounds, which Hayes responded to with a sucker punch, which may have knocked Wagner out.

 According to Wojnarowski, Hayes is suspended for three games, Wagner for two, and Diallo for one. On top of the three ejected players, eight more were given one-game suspensions for leaving the bench. Cole Anthony, RJ Hampton, Gary Harris, Kevon Harris, Admiral Schofield, Franz Wagner, Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr., all Magic players, rounded out the list.



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