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  • To a defiant Biden, the 2024 race is up to the voters

    To a defiant Biden, the 2024 race is up to the voters

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    WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — To a defiant President Joe Biden, the 2024 election is up to the public — not the Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the chorus of Democratic voices calling for him to step aside is growing, from donors, strategists, lawmakers and their constituents who say he should bow out.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Democratic Party has not fallen in line behind President Joe Biden even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasn’t too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years

    • With no public schedule on Saturday, the president and his aides were taking a step back from the fervor over the past few days. But Biden will head out campaigning again on Sunday in Philadelphia

    • Most Democrats have stayed quieter in recent days, allowing the president’s team the space to show them — and Americans — he is up for the job with the rallies, interview and flurry of public events

    • But Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, without breaking with Biden at this point, are pulling together meetings with members in the next few days to discuss options

    The party has not fallen in line behind him even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasn’t too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years.

    On Saturday, a fifth Democratic lawmaker said openly that Biden should not run again. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota said that after what she saw and heard in the debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, and Biden’s “lack of a forceful response” afterward, he should step aside “and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”

    Craig posted one of the Democrats’ key suburban wins in the 2018 midterms and could be a barometer for districts that were vital for Biden in 2020.

    With no public schedule on Saturday, the president and his aides were taking a step back from  the fervor over the past few days. But Biden will head out campaigning again on Sunday in Philadelphia. And this coming week, the U.S. is hosting the NATO summit and the president is to hold a news conference.

    Vice President Kamala Harris planned to campaign Saturday in New Orleans.

    The president’s ABC interview on Friday night stirred carefully worded expressions of disappointment from the party’s ranks, and worse from those who spoke anonymously. Ten days into the crisis moment of the Biden-Trump debate, Biden is dug in.

    With the Democratic convention approaching and just four months to Election Day, neither camp in the party can much afford this internecine drama much longer. But it is bound to drag on until Biden steps aside or Democrats realize he won’t and learn to contain their concerns about the president’s chances against Trump.

    Even within the White House there were concerns the ABC interview wasn’t enough to turn the page.

    Campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez has been texting lawmakers and administration officials are encouraging them not to go public with their concerns about the race and the president’s electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the situation.

    Most Democrats have stayed quieter in recent days, allowing the president’s team the space to show them — and Americans — he is up for the job with the rallies, interview and flurry of public events.

    But Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, without breaking with Biden at this point, are pulling together meetings with members in the next few days to discuss options. It was clear that discontent among Democrats on Capitol Hill has not subsided, and privately many would prefer to see the president not run.

    Many lawmakers are hearing from constituents at home and fielding questions. One senator was working to get others together to ask him to step aside.

    Yet some senior lawmakers were now trying to bring the party behind their presumptive nominee. “Biden is who our country needs,” Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, who had raised questions about Biden in the aftermath of the debate, said after the interview.

    Following the interview, a Democratic donor reported that many of the fellow donors he spoke with were furious, particularly because the president declined to acknowledge the effects his aging. Many of those donors are seeking a change in leadership at the top of the ticket, said the person, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

    Biden roundly swatted away calls Friday to step away from the race, telling voters at a Wisconsin rally, reporters outside Air Force One and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he was not going anywhere.

    “Completely ruling that out,” he told reporters the rally.

    Biden dismissed those who were calling for his ouster, instead saying he’d spoken with 20 lawmakers and they had all encouraged him to stay in the race.

    Concern about Biden’s fitness for another four years has been persistent. In an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, fully 77% of U.S. adults said Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. Not only did 89% of Republicans say that, but so did 69% of Democrats. His approval rating stands at 38%.

    Biden has dismissed the polling, citing as evidence his 2020 surge to the nomination and win over Trump, after initially faltering, and the 2022 midterm elections, when polls suggested Republicans would sweep but didn’t, largely in part over the issue of abortion rights.

    “I don’t buy that,” when he was reminded that he was behind in the polls. “I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me.”

    At times, Biden rambled during the interview, which ABC said aired in full and without edits. Asked how he might turn the race around, Biden argued that one key would be large and energetic rallies like the one he held Friday in Wisconsin. When reminded that Trump routinely draws larger crowds, the president laid into his opponent.

    “Trump is a pathological liar,” Biden said, accusing Trump of bungling the federal response to the COVID pandemic and failing to create jobs. “You ever see something that Trump did that benefited someone else and not him?”

    Republicans, though, are squarely behind their candidate, and support for Trump, who at 78 is three years younger than Biden, has been growing.

    And that’s despite Trump’s 34 felony convictions in a hush money trial, that he was found liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and that his businesses were found to have engaged in fraud.

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    Associated Press

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  • To a defiant Biden, the 2024 race is up to the voters

    To a defiant Biden, the 2024 race is up to the voters

    [ad_1]

    WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — To a defiant President Joe Biden, the 2024 election is up to the public — not the Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the chorus of Democratic voices calling for him to step aside is growing, from donors, strategists, lawmakers and their constituents who say he should bow out.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Democratic Party has not fallen in line behind President Joe Biden even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasn’t too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years

    • With no public schedule on Saturday, the president and his aides were taking a step back from the fervor over the past few days. But Biden will head out campaigning again on Sunday in Philadelphia

    • Most Democrats have stayed quieter in recent days, allowing the president’s team the space to show them — and Americans — he is up for the job with the rallies, interview and flurry of public events

    • But Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, without breaking with Biden at this point, are pulling together meetings with members in the next few days to discuss options

    The party has not fallen in line behind him even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasn’t too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years.

    On Saturday, a fifth Democratic lawmaker said openly that Biden should not run again. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota said that after what she saw and heard in the debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, and Biden’s “lack of a forceful response” afterward, he should step aside “and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”

    Craig posted one of the Democrats’ key suburban wins in the 2018 midterms and could be a barometer for districts that were vital for Biden in 2020.

    With no public schedule on Saturday, the president and his aides were taking a step back from  the fervor over the past few days. But Biden will head out campaigning again on Sunday in Philadelphia. And this coming week, the U.S. is hosting the NATO summit and the president is to hold a news conference.

    Vice President Kamala Harris planned to campaign Saturday in New Orleans.

    The president’s ABC interview on Friday night stirred carefully worded expressions of disappointment from the party’s ranks, and worse from those who spoke anonymously. Ten days into the crisis moment of the Biden-Trump debate, Biden is dug in.

    With the Democratic convention approaching and just four months to Election Day, neither camp in the party can much afford this internecine drama much longer. But it is bound to drag on until Biden steps aside or Democrats realize he won’t and learn to contain their concerns about the president’s chances against Trump.

    Even within the White House there were concerns the ABC interview wasn’t enough to turn the page.

    Campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez has been texting lawmakers and administration officials are encouraging them not to go public with their concerns about the race and the president’s electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the situation.

    Most Democrats have stayed quieter in recent days, allowing the president’s team the space to show them — and Americans — he is up for the job with the rallies, interview and flurry of public events.

    But Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, without breaking with Biden at this point, are pulling together meetings with members in the next few days to discuss options. It was clear that discontent among Democrats on Capitol Hill has not subsided, and privately many would prefer to see the president not run.

    Many lawmakers are hearing from constituents at home and fielding questions. One senator was working to get others together to ask him to step aside.

    Yet some senior lawmakers were now trying to bring the party behind their presumptive nominee. “Biden is who our country needs,” Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, who had raised questions about Biden in the aftermath of the debate, said after the interview.

    Following the interview, a Democratic donor reported that many of the fellow donors he spoke with were furious, particularly because the president declined to acknowledge the effects his aging. Many of those donors are seeking a change in leadership at the top of the ticket, said the person, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

    Biden roundly swatted away calls Friday to step away from the race, telling voters at a Wisconsin rally, reporters outside Air Force One and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he was not going anywhere.

    “Completely ruling that out,” he told reporters the rally.

    Biden dismissed those who were calling for his ouster, instead saying he’d spoken with 20 lawmakers and they had all encouraged him to stay in the race.

    Concern about Biden’s fitness for another four years has been persistent. In an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, fully 77% of U.S. adults said Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. Not only did 89% of Republicans say that, but so did 69% of Democrats. His approval rating stands at 38%.

    Biden has dismissed the polling, citing as evidence his 2020 surge to the nomination and win over Trump, after initially faltering, and the 2022 midterm elections, when polls suggested Republicans would sweep but didn’t, largely in part over the issue of abortion rights.

    “I don’t buy that,” when he was reminded that he was behind in the polls. “I don’t think anybody’s more qualified to be president or win this race than me.”

    At times, Biden rambled during the interview, which ABC said aired in full and without edits. Asked how he might turn the race around, Biden argued that one key would be large and energetic rallies like the one he held Friday in Wisconsin. When reminded that Trump routinely draws larger crowds, the president laid into his opponent.

    “Trump is a pathological liar,” Biden said, accusing Trump of bungling the federal response to the COVID pandemic and failing to create jobs. “You ever see something that Trump did that benefited someone else and not him?”

    Republicans, though, are squarely behind their candidate, and support for Trump, who at 78 is three years younger than Biden, has been growing.

    And that’s despite Trump’s 34 felony convictions in a hush money trial, that he was found liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and that his businesses were found to have engaged in fraud.

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    Associated Press

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  • Reformist President-elect Pezeshkian promises to serve all Iranians

    Reformist President-elect Pezeshkian promises to serve all Iranians

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.

    What You Need To Know

    • Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili
    • A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election. 
    • Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign
    • The United States has criticized Iran’s presidential election as neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republic’s stance on human rights



    Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian’s modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.

    A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election. Overall, Iran’s Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognized monitors.

    Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator.

    “Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our cooperation,” Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X, still banned in Iran. “The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy and trust. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path. Do not leave me alone.”

    Pezeshkian’s win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war, Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk. Pezeshkian’s victory also wasn’t a rout of Jalili, meaning he’ll have to carefully navigate Iran’s internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post.

    The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country’s Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran’s economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.

    Government officials up to Khameni, the supreme leader, predicted higher turnout as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers. However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran saw light traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets.

    Authorities put turnout in Friday’s vote at 49.6%, still historically low for an Iranian presidential election. They counted 607,575 voided votes — which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates.

    “I don’t expect anything from him — I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners,” said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian. “I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow.”

    Taher Khalili, a Kurdish-origin Iranian who runs a small tailor shop in Tehran, offered another reason to be hopeful while handing out candy to passersby.

    “In the end, someone from my hometown and the west of Iran came to power,” Khalili said. “I hope he will make economy better for small businesses.”

    Pezeshkian, who speaks Azeri, Farsi and Kurdish, campaigned on outreach to Iran’s many ethnicities. He represents the first president from western Iran in decades — something people hope will aid the county as those in the western part are considered more tolerant because of the ethnic and religious diversity in their area.

    The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups armed by Tehran — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

    Iran is also enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so. And while Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, whichever man ends up winning the presidency could bend the country’s foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which has reached a detente with Iran, sent his congratulations to Pezeshkian that stressed his “keenness to develop and deepen the relations that bring our two countries and peoples together.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has relied on Iranian-made drones in his war on Ukraine, similarly congratulated Pezeshkian.

    The United States on Saturday criticized Iran’s presidential election as neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republic’s stance on human rights.

    Responding to a query from The Associated Press, the State Department said it would continue to use diplomacy with Tehran “when it advances American interests.”

    “The elections in Iran were not free or fair. As a result, a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all,” the State Department said. “We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Iran’s direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.”

    It added: “The elections will not have a significant impact on our approach to Iran, either. Our concerns about Iran’s behavior are unchanged.”

    Meanwhile Saturday, Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed to ‘serve all Iranians’ in a victory speech.

    Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate, spoke Saturday at the the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, addressing journalists in a chaotic event.

    “In this election, I didn’t give you false promises. I did not lie,” the heart surgeon said. “It’s been many years after the revolution that we come to the podium, we make promises and we fail to fulfill them. This is the biggest problem we have.”

    The campaign also repeatedly touched on what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden’s administration, though there’s been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran’s nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.

    Though identifying with reformists and relative moderates within Iran’s theocracy during the campaign, Pezeshkian at the same time honored Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on one occasion wearing its uniform to parliament. He repeatedly criticized the United States and praised the Guard for shooting down an American drone in 2019, saying it “delivered a strong punch in the mouth of the Americans and proved to them that our country will not surrender.”

    More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.

    The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.

    Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

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    Associated Press

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  • Reformist President-elect Pezeshkian promises to serve all Iranians

    Reformist President-elect Pezeshkian promises to serve all Iranians

    [ad_1]

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.

    What You Need To Know

    • Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili
    • A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election. 
    • Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign
    • The United States has criticized Iran’s presidential election as neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republic’s stance on human rights



    Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Iran’s Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkian’s modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.

    A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalili’s 13.5 million in Friday’s election. Overall, Iran’s Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognized monitors.

    Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator.

    “Dear people of Iran, the elections are over and this is just the beginning of our cooperation,” Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X, still banned in Iran. “The difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy and trust. I extend my hand to you and I swear on my honor that I will not leave you alone on this path. Do not leave me alone.”

    Pezeshkian’s win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war, Iran’s advancing nuclear program, and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk. Pezeshkian’s victory also wasn’t a rout of Jalili, meaning he’ll have to carefully navigate Iran’s internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post.

    The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country’s Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran’s economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.

    Government officials up to Khameni, the supreme leader, predicted higher turnout as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers. However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran saw light traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets.

    Authorities put turnout in Friday’s vote at 49.6%, still historically low for an Iranian presidential election. They counted 607,575 voided votes — which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates.

    “I don’t expect anything from him — I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners,” said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian. “I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow.”

    Taher Khalili, a Kurdish-origin Iranian who runs a small tailor shop in Tehran, offered another reason to be hopeful while handing out candy to passersby.

    “In the end, someone from my hometown and the west of Iran came to power,” Khalili said. “I hope he will make economy better for small businesses.”

    Pezeshkian, who speaks Azeri, Farsi and Kurdish, campaigned on outreach to Iran’s many ethnicities. He represents the first president from western Iran in decades — something people hope will aid the county as those in the western part are considered more tolerant because of the ethnic and religious diversity in their area.

    The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups armed by Tehran — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

    Iran is also enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so. And while Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, whichever man ends up winning the presidency could bend the country’s foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.

    Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which has reached a detente with Iran, sent his congratulations to Pezeshkian that stressed his “keenness to develop and deepen the relations that bring our two countries and peoples together.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has relied on Iranian-made drones in his war on Ukraine, similarly congratulated Pezeshkian.

    The United States on Saturday criticized Iran’s presidential election as neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republic’s stance on human rights.

    Responding to a query from The Associated Press, the State Department said it would continue to use diplomacy with Tehran “when it advances American interests.”

    “The elections in Iran were not free or fair. As a result, a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all,” the State Department said. “We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Iran’s direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.”

    It added: “The elections will not have a significant impact on our approach to Iran, either. Our concerns about Iran’s behavior are unchanged.”

    Meanwhile Saturday, Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed to ‘serve all Iranians’ in a victory speech.

    Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate, spoke Saturday at the the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, addressing journalists in a chaotic event.

    “In this election, I didn’t give you false promises. I did not lie,” the heart surgeon said. “It’s been many years after the revolution that we come to the podium, we make promises and we fail to fulfill them. This is the biggest problem we have.”

    The campaign also repeatedly touched on what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden’s administration, though there’s been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran’s nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.

    Though identifying with reformists and relative moderates within Iran’s theocracy during the campaign, Pezeshkian at the same time honored Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on one occasion wearing its uniform to parliament. He repeatedly criticized the United States and praised the Guard for shooting down an American drone in 2019, saying it “delivered a strong punch in the mouth of the Americans and proved to them that our country will not surrender.”

    More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.

    The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.

    Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

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    Associated Press

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  • Hamas clears the way for a possible cease-fire after dropping key demand

    Hamas clears the way for a possible cease-fire after dropping key demand

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    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — Hamas has given initial approval for a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel give an up-front commitment for a complete end to the war, a Hamas and an Egyptian official said Saturday.

    What You Need To Know

    • A Hamas and an Egyptian official said Saturday that Hamas has given initial approval for a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel give an up-front commitment for a complete end to the war

    • The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washington’s phased deal will first include a “full and complete” six-week cease-fire that would see the release of a number of hostages, including women, older people and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners

    • The Hamas representative told The Associated Press the group’s approval came after it received “verbal commitments and guarantees” from the mediators that the war won’t be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent cease-fire is reached

    • Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Washington

    The apparent compromise by the militant group — which controlled Gaza before triggering the war with an Oct. 7 attack on Israel — could help deliver the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks on ending a devastating nine months of fighting. But all sides cautioned that a deal is still not guaranteed.

    The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washington’s phased deal will first include a “full and complete” six-week cease-fire that would see the release of a number of hostages, including women, older people and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During the 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the officials said.

    Over that period, Hamas, Israel and mediators would negotiate the terms of the second phase that could see the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, the officials said. In return, Israel would free additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The third phase would see the return of any remaining hostages, including bodies of dead captives, and the start of a yearslong reconstruction project.

    Hamas still wants “written guarantees” from mediators that Israel will continue to negotiate a permanent cease-fire deal once the first phase goes into effect, the officials said.

    The Hamas representative told The Associated Press the group’s approval came after it received “verbal commitments and guarantees” from the mediators that the war won’t be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent cease-fire is reached.

    “Now we want these guarantees on paper,” he said.

    Months of on-again off-again cease-fire talks have stumbled over Hamas’ demand that any deal include a complete end to the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to pause the fighting but not end it until Israel reaches its goals of destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and returning all hostages held by the militant group.

    Hamas has expressed concern Israel will restart the war after the hostages are released. Israeli officials have said they are worried Hamas will draw out the talks and the initial cease-fire indefinitely, without releasing all the hostages.

    Netanyahu’s office did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Washington. On Friday, the Israeli prime minister confirmed that the Mossad spy agency’s chief had paid a lightning visit to Qatar, a key mediator. But his office said “gaps between the parties” remained.

    Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas’ October attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages — about a third of them now thought to be dead.

    Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The offensive has caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, according to international officials.

    In line with previous proposals, the deal would see around 600 trucks of humanitarian aid entering Gaza daily — including 50 fuel trucks — with half of them bound for the hard-hit northern of the enclave, the two officials said. Following Israel’s assault on the southernmost city of Rafah, aid supplies entering Gaza have been reduced to a trickle.

    Israel’s ariel bombardment in Gaza continued.

    The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said four police officers were killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday in Rafah. The ministry, which oversees civilian police, said the officers were killed during foot patrol securing properties. It said eight other police officers were wounded. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions.

    In Deir al-Balah, prayers were held for 12 Palestinians, including five children and two women, killed in three separate strikes in central Gaza on Friday and Saturday, according to hospital officials. The bodies were taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where AP journalists counted them.

    Two of those killed in a strike that hit the Mughazi refugee camp Friday were employees with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the organization’s director of communications told the AP. Juliette Touma said a total of 194 workers with the agency have been killed since October.

    Earlier this week, an Israeli evacuation order in the southern city of Khan Younis and the surrounding areas affected about 250,000 Palestinians. Many headed to an Israeli-declared “safe zone” centered on the Muwasi coastal area or Deir al-Balah.

    Ground fighting has raged in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood for the past two weeks, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Many have sheltered in the Yarmouk Sports Stadium, one of the strip’s largest soccer arenas.

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    Associated Press

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  • Power adapters for popular sound machine recalled for shock hazard

    Power adapters for popular sound machine recalled for shock hazard

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    The power adapter for a popular sound machine is being recalled, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced this week.

    Adapters sold with Hatch Rest 1st Generation devices can lose their plastic housings when removed from a power outlet and poses a shock hazard to consumers.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall for Hatch Rest 1st Generation sound machine power adapters

    • The adapters can lose their plastic housings when removed from a power outlet and poses a shock hazard to consumers

    • The recall affects about 919,000 devices in the U.S. sold between 2019 and 2022

    • Hatch said the recall affects the power adapter only, not the device, and is providing replacement power cords to impacted customers


    About 919,400 devices in the U.S., and 44,352 in Canada, are affected.

    On its website, Hatch said it had issued a voluntary recall for the power adapters that were issued with the 1st generation devices sold between 2019 and 2022.

    “This recall is specific to power adapters issued by Jiangsu Chenyang Electron Co.,” the company said.

    The recall applies to the power adapter only, not the device.

    “Once a replacement power adapter is issued, the Hatch Rest 1st Generation device is safe to continue using.”

    Hatch said it is no longer sourcing its power adapters from Jiangsu Chenyang Electron Co.

    “All current power adapter manufacturing partners have exceeded industry safety standards,” it said.

    Hatch is offering a free power cord to its impacted customers.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Ohio ticket wins $139.3 million Powerball jackpot

    Ohio ticket wins $139.3 million Powerball jackpot

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    Someone in Ohio is having a very nice holiday weekend, having won the Powerball jackpot prize of $139.3 million Wednesday, according to a Powerball press release.

    What You Need To Know

    • An Ohio ticket won the Powerball jackpot prize of $139.3 million Wednesday

    • The winning numbers were 02, 26, 33, 55, 57 and red Powerball 22

    • This was the fifth jackpot won this year

    The winning numbers were 02, 26, 33, 55, 57 and red Powerball 22. There was also a 2x multiplier in play.

    This was the fifth jackpot won this year, according to the release, with the last one being won in June in New Jersey for $222.6 million.

    The winner of the ticket is now faced with the choice many dream of. Do they take a one-time payment of $66.5 million or do they take $139.3 million spread across 29 annual payments? Those prices are, of course, before taxes are taken out.

    In total, this drawing saw 388,650 winners to some degree. Three tickets won $1 million, and five won $50,000.

    “The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9,” the release reads. “The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.”

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    Cody Thompson

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  • Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

    Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

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    President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance last week rocked the political world. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance shook the political world 
    • As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy
    • During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada
    • The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” appearing to address calls for the president to do more unscripted events without a teleprompter 


    As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy, the campaign noted in a new memo. The ads will run in battleground states around high viewership events, particularly the season premiere of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” the Olympics Games and the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee later this month.

    The campaign is also looking to take on concerns raised by some Democrats following Biden’s performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta, including that he needs to get out in front of voters on the campaign trail to show stamina and participate in more unscripted events. 

    After hitting Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania over the weekend – two stops added to his schedule in the wake of the debate – in July, the president will also set off on a swing through the southwest battlegrounds. During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada. The four White House principals, a group that also includes the vice president, second gentleman and first lady, will travel to every battleground state this month. 

    The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” pointing to the president’s stop at a Waffle House to pick up food after last week’s debate as an example.  

    The incumbent president’s performance in the first general election debate of the 2024 cycle, in which he appeared to be low energy and at times stumble and lose his train of thought sparked a chorus of calls from some in the Democratic party for Biden to engage more with the press and rely less on the teleprompter – a tool he uses in nearly all speeches at the White House and on the campaign trail – to show voters last Thursday was just one “bad night,” as his team as consistently framed it. 

    The president’s reelection campaign will also spend $17 million on its efforts to reach voters on the ground in battleground states, setting a goal of knocking on more than 3 million doors over July and August. 

    It all comes as the fallout from the debate for the Biden camp escalated this week, with three House Democrats now officially calling on the president to pull out of the race while other Democratic lawmakers stepped up their willingness to question Biden’s place as the party’s nominee this November. 

    The Biden team has been in clean up mode, with the White House announcing new public events on the president’s schedule, including a sit-down interview with ABC on Friday and a solo press conference next week, and Biden calling key congressional allies and convening Democratic governors for a meeting earlier this week. 

    At the White House’s Fourth of July celebration on Thursday, the president declared that he wasn’t going anywhere in terms of the race in response to something shouted by a supporter in attendance.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

    Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

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    President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance last week rocked the political world. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance shook the political world 
    • As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy
    • During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada
    • The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” appearing to address calls for the president to do more unscripted events without a teleprompter 


    As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy, the campaign noted in a new memo. The ads will run in battleground states around high viewership events, particularly the season premiere of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” the Olympics Games and the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee later this month.

    The campaign is also looking to take on concerns raised by some Democrats following Biden’s performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta, including that he needs to get out in front of voters on the campaign trail to show stamina and participate in more unscripted events. 

    After hitting Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania over the weekend – two stops added to his schedule in the wake of the debate – in July, the president will also set off on a swing through the southwest battlegrounds. During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada. The four White House principals, a group that also includes the vice president, second gentleman and first lady, will travel to every battleground state this month. 

    The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” pointing to the president’s stop at a Waffle House to pick up food after last week’s debate as an example.  

    The incumbent president’s performance in the first general election debate of the 2024 cycle, in which he appeared to be low energy and at times stumble and lose his train of thought sparked a chorus of calls from some in the Democratic party for Biden to engage more with the press and rely less on the teleprompter – a tool he uses in nearly all speeches at the White House and on the campaign trail – to show voters last Thursday was just one “bad night,” as his team as consistently framed it. 

    The president’s reelection campaign will also spend $17 million on its efforts to reach voters on the ground in battleground states, setting a goal of knocking on more than 3 million doors over July and August. 

    It all comes as the fallout from the debate for the Biden camp escalated this week, with three House Democrats now officially calling on the president to pull out of the race while other Democratic lawmakers stepped up their willingness to question Biden’s place as the party’s nominee this November. 

    The Biden team has been in clean up mode, with the White House announcing new public events on the president’s schedule, including a sit-down interview with ABC on Friday and a solo press conference next week, and Biden calling key congressional allies and convening Democratic governors for a meeting earlier this week. 

    At the White House’s Fourth of July celebration on Thursday, the president declared that he wasn’t going anywhere in terms of the race in response to something shouted by a supporter in attendance.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Shootings on July Fourth leave 14 injured in Chicago, 1 dead in Philadelphia

    Shootings on July Fourth leave 14 injured in Chicago, 1 dead in Philadelphia

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    A drive-by shooting in a Philadelphia neighborhood on the Fourth of July left a 19-year-old man dead and injured seven others, while police in Chicago were investigating two mass shootings that wounded 14 people early Friday.

    No arrests were made in any of the mass shootings, police said.

    What You Need To Know

    • A drive-by shooting in a Philadelphia neighborhood on the Fourth of July has left one person dead and injured seven others

    • Police in Chicago are investigating two mass shootings that wounded 14

    • Police say none of the injuries are considered life-threatening and no arrests have been made

    • In Philadelphia, officers saw someone lying on a street and realized they had been shot Thursday night; aditional officers soon arrived and found more victims


    The Fourth of July historically is one of the nation’s deadliest days of the year. A flurry of shootings around the Fourth of July a year ago left more than a dozen people dead and over 60 wounded. And a year before that, a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade left seven people dead near Chicago.

    Violence and mass shootings often increase in the summer months, with more people gathering for social events, teens out of school and hotter temperatures.

    Four teens among those injured in Philadelphia shooting

    Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Philadelphia officers on routine patrol saw someone lying on a street and realized they had been shot. Additional officers soon arrived and they found more victims.

    Police said the victims were gathered together when a man riding in a passing car fired several shots at the group. It’s not yet known what sparked the shooting.

    The wounded victims — three men, three juvenile males and a juvenile female, who ranged in age from 14 to 23 — were being treated at hospitals for various injuries that were not considered life-threatening, and all were in stable condition.

    Separate gun incidents in Chicago wound 14

    A day after a Fourth of July shooting killed two women and an 8-year-old boy in Chicago, police were investigating two other mass shootings that wounded 14 people in the city early Friday.

    Chicago police said eight people were shot in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood shortly after midnight during an exchange of gunfire between two people who fled the scene. All of the shooting victims — five women and three men ranging in age from 18 to 74 — were reported in good or fair condition.

    About 90 minutes later, a shooting in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood wounded six people — three men and two women ages 18 to 25, and a 15-year-old boy, police said. All six were reported in good and fair condition. Police said preliminary findings suggest that shooting also involved an exchange of gunfire between two people who ran from the scene.

    Friday’s shootings followed a Thursday morning shooting in a home on Chicago’s south side that killed two women, ages 45 and 24, and wounded three boys, ages 8, 7 and 5. The 8-year-old boy died from his wounds later Thursday, police said.

    Deputy Chief Don Jerome said two vehicles pulled up and multiple people got out and fired shots at the home. Multiple shell casings from both a rifle and a handgun were found at the scene, he said.

    Police continue investigating all three shootings and have announced no arrests.

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    Associated Press

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  • Officers who defended the Capitol fight Jan. 6 falsehoods

    Officers who defended the Capitol fight Jan. 6 falsehoods

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    Former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell is mostly recovered from the brutal assaults he endured from Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. But not completely. His shoulder still has limited endurance and there are screws and a metal plate holding his right foot together after bone fusion surgery.

    Emotional recovery has been more difficult. Gonell struggled when he heard that former Trump visited Capitol Hill last month and received what he called a “hero’s welcome” from the Republican lawmakers Gonell had protected that day, and when Trump falsely told millions of viewers in last week’s debate that many of the violent rioters, his supporters, “were ushered in by the police.”

    Trump’s Capitol Hill visit was a “triggering mechanism for my PTSD,” says Gonell, who retired from the force in 2022 due to his injuries and has recently participated in several campaign events for President Joe Biden. “We did what we had to do to keep those elected officials safe, and instead of siding with us, the officers, they have sided with a person who put their lives at risk.”

     

    What You Need To Know

    • Three and a half years after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump still falsely claims the 2020 election was stolen and has promised that if he wins the presidency again he will pardon his supporters who violently beat police and broke into the building to try and overturn the legitimate results

    • To counter lies about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, officers who were there that day are working with President Joe Biden’s campaign, attending events in swing states to try and make sure that voters don’t forget

    • The role is an unusual transition for officers who once protected members of Congress and are used to keeping their political views to themselves

    • The officers were widely praised after Jan. 6, but their criticism of Trump in recent years has made them less popular with some Republicans; when former Capitol Police Officers Aquilino Gonell and Harry Dunn visited the Pennsylvania legislature this spring, some Republicans booed them



     

    Three and a half years after the Capitol attack, Trump still falsely claims the 2020 election was stolen. He has promised that if he wins the presidency again he will pardon his supporters who violently beat police and broke into the Capitol to try and overturn the legitimate results. To counter the misinformation, Gonell and two of his fellow officers who were there that day are working with Biden’s campaign, attending events in swing states to try and make sure that voters don’t forget.

    “I’m a living primary source about an important day in American history,” says Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who became a recognizable face shortly after the attack when a video of him being crushed between two doors went viral. “So I try to make that count, and make it so that people hear the truth from someone who was there.”

    Along with former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, Hodges and Gonell are telling audiences about what they went through that day and trying to lay out the contrast between Biden and Trump. It’s an unusual transition for law enforcement officers who once protected members of Congress and are used to keeping their political views to themselves.

    “I’m really an introvert, and I’m not someone to seek a microphone or an audience,” says Hodges, who testified along with Gonell and Dunn at the House Jan. 6 panel’s first hearing in 2021. “But I’m in this unique position where people will listen to what I say about an important issue. So I feel a moral obligation to do so.”

    At recent events in Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, they stood with local officials and said that Trump is a danger to the country after trying to overturn Biden’s legitimate election.

    “Three and a half years later, the fight for democracy still continues,” Dunn recently told a group of voters in Arizona, flanked by a handful of politically active Democratic veterans in Phoenix. “It still goes on. Donald Trump is still that threat. His deranged, self-centered, obsessive quest for power is the reason violent insurrectionists assaulted my coworkers and I.”

    The officers have also aggressively pushed back on Trump’s comments at the debate, where he falsely said that there were a “relatively small” group of protesters and that the police let them enter the Capitol. More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot, and police were bloodied and injured — some seriously — as they struggled to prevent more from getting in.

    Dunn, who recently lost his own bid for a congressional seat in Maryland, said after the debate that Trump’s comments were “a slap in the face, but it’s what we have come to expect from Donald Trump.”

    And the officers said they are still supporting Biden, even after he failed to push back on many of Trump’s false claims about Jan. 6 and received widespread criticism for his weak showing at the debate.

    “He could have been a little more forceful, but I’ll take the person who doesn’t send a mob to kill me and my colleagues over the other person,” said Gonell, who published a book last year about his experience. “Every single day I’m reminded of that horrible day. Every time I put my shoes on, I see my scar.”

    Gonell was caught in the worst of the fighting on the Capitol’s west front as Trump’s supporters protesting his defeat violently tried to push past him and his fellow officers. At one point he was pulled under the crowd and lost oxygen to the point that he thought he would die.

    Hodges was nearby, trapped in the heavy golden doors in the center of the Capitol’s west front as rioters beat him bloody. A video of his guttural scream as he tried to escape went viral and was played at Democrats’ impeachment trial in the weeks after the attack.

    Dunn, who has said he was targeted with racial slurs by Trump’s supporters during the fighting, says it has been good to travel out of the Washington area, his hometown, and talk to people who may not be watching cable news every day as he campaigns for Biden. There’s a lot they don’t know about what happened on Jan. 6, he says.

    “Being able to have somebody who was there bring firsthand experience and facts retelling the story, it’s very beneficial,” Dunn said,

    The officers were widely praised after Jan. 6, but their criticism of Trump in recent years has made them less popular with some Republicans. When Gonell and Dunn visited the Pennsylvania legislature this spring, some Republicans booed them.

    But they are unbowed by the criticism, and have continued to try and bring more attention to their stories. Gonell was outside the Supreme Court on Monday as the justices ruled on whether Trump has immunity for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and criticized the justices for sending the federal case back to a lower court. The decision effectively ends any prospects that Trump could be tried before the November election.

    On Friday, the court limited a federal obstruction law that has been used to charge some Capitol riot defendants.

    “Every single time that the Supreme Court or any other court says that some of these people shouldn’t be held accountable, it’s a disgrace,” Gonell said.

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    Associated Press

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  • Wall Street sticks near its records as yields slide after jobs report

    Wall Street sticks near its records as yields slide after jobs report

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    U.S. stocks are sticking near their records Friday following a highly anticipated report on the job market that showed the economy add 206,000 jobs last month.

    The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in its first trading after the Fourth of July holiday, following two straight days where it set all-time highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 94 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.4% to its own record.

    What You Need To Know

    • U.S. stocks are sticking near their records Friday following a highly anticipated report on the job market that showed the economy add 206,000 jobs last month
    • The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged Friday

    • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%

    • Treasury yields sank following the nuanced U.S. jobs report, which reinforced belief on Wall Street that the U.S. economy’s growth is slowing and that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year


    The action was a bit more decisive in the bond market, where Treasury yields sank following the nuanced U.S. jobs report. Employers hired more workers last month than economists expected, but the number was still a slowdown from May’s hiring. Plus, the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked higher, and the U.S. government said hiring in earlier months was lower than it had previously indicated.

    Altogether, the data reinforced belief on Wall Street that the U.S. economy’s growth is slowing under the weight of high interest rates. That’s precisely what investors want to see, because a slowdown would keep a lid on inflation and could push the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its main interest rate.

    The question is whether the Federal Reserve can time its next moves precisely, where it lowers rates early and significantly enough to keep the slowdown from sliding into a recession but not so much that it allows inflation to regain strength and take off again.

    The clearest takeaway from the jobs report for traders was that it would help push the Fed to cut its main interest rate later this year, likely in September. The two-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.63% from 4.71% late Wednesday.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, fell to 4.31% from 4.36%.

    Friday’s jobs report follows a mass of data showing a slowdown across the U.S. economy. Reports earlier this week said business activity in both the U.S. services and manufacturing sectors contracted last month, turning in weaker readings than economists expected. And U.S. shoppers at the lower end of the income spectrum have been showing how difficult it is to keep up with still-rising prices, as balances owed on credit cards swell.

    “What matters for long-term investors is whether fears of a recession become a reality,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “We think it’s unlikely we’ll see a recession this year or next, but that doesn’t mean the markets won’t fear one.”

    On Wall Street, gold miner Newmont rose 1.4% for one of the bigger gains in the S&P 500. It benefited from a 0.7% tick higher for the price of gold, which usually benefits from falling interest rates. That’s because bonds paying high yields can pull investors away from gold, which pays its holders nothing.

    Modest gains for some big, influential stocks also helped support the market, even though the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 fell. Apple rose 1.5%, and Microsoft added 1.2%.

    Amazon rose 1% after the announcement of a deal where the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue will buy Neiman Marcus Group for $2.65 billion. Amazon will hold a minority stake in the deal.

    On the losing end of Wall Street were companies tied closely to cryptocurrency activity, as bitcoin tumbled below $56,000 from nearly $63,000 early this week. The cryptocurrency’s value is back to where it was in February.

    Coinbase Global fell 4.6%, and Robinhood Markets dropped 2.9%.

    In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5% after U.K. voters ushered in a new regime by throwing out Conservatives in this week’s national election.

    The United Kingdom experienced a run of turbulent years during Conservative rule that left many voters pessimistic about their country’s future. The U.K.’s exit from the European Union followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine battered the economy. Rising poverty and cuts to state services have led to gripes about “Broken Britain.”

    Germany’s DAX rose 0.2% after the government agreed on a budget for 2025 and a stimulus package for Europe’s largest economy, ending a monthslong squabble that threatened to upend Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition.

    The disagreements had fueled speculation that the already unpopular government could collapse and prompt a snap parliamentary election in which Germany could follow other European countries by swinging toward the political right.

    In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 topped 41,000 early Friday to rise above its record closing level set on Thursday, but it ended the day marginally lower.

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    Associated Press

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  • Miki Sudo wins women’s division of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest

    Miki Sudo wins women’s division of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest

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    Miki Sudo has won her 10th women’s title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.

    The defending champion scarfed down 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes, crushing the 39 1/2 hot dogs that she ate last year and also beating her personal best of 48 1/2. The 51 hot dogs is a new world record for women.

    She defeated 14 competitors from around the world, including 28-year-old Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, who came in second after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Ebihara was also the runner-up in 2023.

    ESPN will broadcast the men’s division at approximately 12:20 p.m

    Competitors have come from over a dozen states and five continents, with prospects from Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic vying for the coveted title in men’s and women’s divisions and $10,000 prize money.

    But this year, the event’s biggest star, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, will be chowing down 1,900 miles (3,000 km) away.

    Chestnut, who won 16 out of the previous 17 contests, isn’t attending the competition over a sponsorship tiff. Instead, he’ll compete against soldiers at a U.S. Army base in El Paso later in the day.

    That leaves the traditional Brooklyn event wide open for a new men’s winner, with eaters from around the world competing on America’s Independence Day to see how many hot dogs they can eat in 10 minutes.

    Thousands of fans flock each year to the event held outside the original Nathan’s location in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, a beachfront destination with amusement parks and a carnivalesque summer culture..

    Last year, Chestnut, of Indiana, chewed his way to the title by downing 62 dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The record, which he set in 2021, is 76.

    Ahead of the event, ESPN said it would focus on two Americans with dedicated camera shots: Sudo and Massachusetts high school teacher Geoffrey Esper in the men’s division.

    Esper came second last year with 49 dogs and buns, though his personal best is 51.

    Chestnut was initially disinvited from the event over a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a company that specializes in plant-based meat substitutes.

    Major League Eating, which organizes the Nathan’s Famous contest, has since said it walked back the ban, but Chestnut decided to spend the holiday with the troops anyway.

    Chestnut said he wouldn’t return to the Coney Island contest without an apology.

    The event at the Fort Bliss army base in El Paso, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET, will use traditional franks, with Chestnut attempting to out-eat four soldiers in five minutes.

    Even though he won’t be eating their vegan products, Impossible Foods is promoting Chestnut’s YouTube livestream of the exhibition by flying airplanes with banners over Los Angeles and Miami. The company will also donate to an organization supporting military families based on the number of hot dogs eaten at the event, a spokesperson said.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden hosts Democratic governors amid debate fallout

    Biden hosts Democratic governors amid debate fallout

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    President Joe Biden on Wednesday held a high-stakes meeting with more than 20 Democratic governors as fallout from his disappointing debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta – and the White House’s effort to push past it – intensifies. 

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul emerged from the meeting declaring that Biden was “in it to win it.”

    “And all of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher,” she continued. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden met with more than 20 Democratic governors as fallout from his disappointing debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta – and the White House’s effort to push past it – intensifies 
    • The meeting, set to take place Wednesday night, will mark Biden and the White House’s latest push to assuage concerns about the president’s candidacy and place at the top of the Democratic party following the debate 
    • Earlier on Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined a call with campaign staff and Chief of Staff Jeff Zients held a call with White House staff
    • It comes just a day after Democratic concerns over Biden’s reelection bid began to escalate in public, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becoming the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for the president to step out of the 2024 race


    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters outside the West Wing that a “path to victory in November is the number one priority,” saying the president has had “our backs” and “the governors have his back.” 

    “We’re worried because the threat of a Trump presidency is not theoretical,” he said. “We’ve served with Donald Trump as president and the threats to our nation were real.”

    Asked if the president was fit for office, Walz said “Yes, fit for office.” 

    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, however, acknowledged the party was “behind.” 

    “We know we have work to do,” Moore told reporters. “We know that as we’re standing right here, we’re behind.” 

    Moore called the meeting “honest” and “candid,” adding the governors told the president about the concerns they are hearing from people on the ground. 

    “We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth,” he said. 

    A readout of the convening from the Biden campaign said the president “reiterated his determination to defeat the existential threat of Donald Trump at the ballot box in November and sought the advice and expertise of Democratic governors.” 

    “All participants reiterated their shared commitment to do everything possible to make sure President Biden and Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump in November,” the statement continued. 

    The meeting, which took place Wednesday night, marked Biden and the White House’s latest push to assuage concerns about the president’s candidacy and place at the top of the Democratic party following the debate.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined a call with campaign staff, in which he assured them he is staying in the race and thanked his team for their work, a source familiar with the campaign told Spectrum News. 

    “I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win because when Democrats unite, we will always win,” the source said Biden told staff on the call. 

    Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, meanwhile, held a call with all White House staff on Wednesday  in which he acknowledged that the last few days have been “challenging” and stressed the importance of “coming together,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. 

    Biden and Harris also had a private lunch together at the White House on Wednesday. 

    The meeting comes just a day after Democratic concerns over Biden’s reelection bid began to escalate in public, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becoming the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for the president to step out of the 2024 race. On Wednesday, a second House Democrat, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, formally urged Biden to step away as well. Several others publicly sharpened their questions on Biden’s candidacy and two House Democrats said Biden would lose to Trump in November. 

    By Wednesday afternoon, Jean-Pierre confirmed Biden had spoken with Congressional leaders and allies – something he did not do immediately after the debate – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Democratic South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Clyburn is credited with helping Biden win the Democratic nomination in 2020. 

    And in what has been seen as an effort to address a concern expressed by some Democratic allies of the president – that Biden needs to do more unscripted events and interact with the press more frequently – the White House announced several new events added to the president’s schedule, including campaign trips to two battleground states, a sit-down interview with ABC and a solo press conference at next week’s NATO summit. 

    Many of the governors who attended Wednesday’s meeting are acting as surrogates for Biden on the campaign trail and some have been floated as potential candidates if the president were to step out of the race.  

    Democratic governors that attended in person on Wednesday included California’s Gavin Newsom, Delaware’s John Carney, Illinois’s JB Pritzker, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Massachusetts’ Maura Healey, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Rhode Island’s Dan McKee. More than a dozen attended virtually.

    Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was also in attendance on Wednesday. Hochul, Walz and Moore were the only governors who came to speak with reporters after the meeting. 

    One Democratic governor, Tony Evers, from the key battleground state of Wisconsin – where Biden is campaigning on Friday – told Spectrum News he did not plan on joining the meeting.

    Spectrum News’ Charlotte Scott contributed to this report. 

     

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    Taylor Popielarz

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  • Israeli strike kills another senior Hezbollah commander

    Israeli strike kills another senior Hezbollah commander

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    An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions between the two sides continue to boil, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press.

    The strike near the southern coastal city of Tyre took place as global diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent weeks to prevent escalating clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military from spiraling into an all-out war that could possibly lead to a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.

    What You Need To Know

    • An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon has killed a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions continue to boil

    • The strike Wednesday near the southern coastal city of Tyre took place as global diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent weeks to prevent clashes between Hezbollah and the Israel from spiraling into an all-out war

    • Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who went by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre, was the most senior official from the Iran-backed group to be killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who was killed in an airstrike June 11

    • Naameh led the Aziz Unit, a division that operates along Lebanon’s southern border


    A Hezbollah statement identified the killed commander as Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who went by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre. A Hezbollah official speaking anonymously in line with regulations, said he was head of the group’s Aziz Unit, one of three regional divisions in southern Lebanon.

    This picture released by Hezbollah media relations office, shows a portrait of Hezbollah commander Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike that hit his car, in the southern costal town of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Hezbollah Media Relations Office via AP)

    Nasser is the most senior official from the Iran-backed group killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who was killed in an airstrike June 11. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech honoring Abdullah said he played a pivotal role on the front line since clashes began on Oct. 8 leading the Nasr Unit.

    Hezbollah said in response to the killing of Nasser, it launched Falaq rockets with heavy warheads targeting the headquarters of the Israeli military’s 769th Brigade in Kiryat Shmona, as well as 100 salvos of Katyusha rockets targeting the headquarters of Israel’s 210th division and the Kilaa air base in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

    The group also shared footage of Nasser taking part in what they said was an operation at an Israeli military outpost in southern Lebanon in 1999 back when it was under occupation.

    In a video circulated by local media, residents rushed toward a charred vehicle with a large plume of smoke. Civil Defense said its first responders transported an unnamed wounded person to a hospital.

    The Israeli military acknowledged the attack, saying that Nasser alongside Abdullah are “two of the most significant Hezbollah” militants in southern Lebanon. It said Nasser led attacks from southwestern Lebanon.

    Hezbollah launched rockets on northern Israel a day after a Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel in October, leading to limited clashes along the tense border. The attacks have since gradually escalated, with Hezbollah introducing new weapons in their attacks and Israel striking deeper into Lebanon.

    The group maintains that it will stop its attacks once there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Until then, it says it will continue with its attacks to pile pressure on Israel and the international community. Israeli officials have threatened to launch a larger military operation should Hezbollah not stop its attacks.

    Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that Israel cannot expect the group’s attacks to remain limited should it launch a military operation within Lebanon, even if it aims to keep the conflict below the threshold of all-out war. Allies, including thousands of Iran-backed militiamen in Iraq, have offered to join Hezbollah on the front lines.

    Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since October have killed over 450 people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but the dead also include more than 80 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed since the war in Gaza began. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the tense frontier have been displaced in the monthslong war.

    Senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Amos Hochstein, who has been shuttling between Lebanon and Israel, is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron’s Lebanon envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris on Wednesday as part of his ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

    French officials had invited Hochstein to the French capital to discuss the latest developments in their ongoing diplomatic scrambles, according to administration officials.

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    Associated Press

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  • Israeli strike kills another senior Hezbollah commander

    Israeli strike kills another senior Hezbollah commander

    [ad_1]

    An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions between the two sides continue to boil, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press.

    The strike near the southern coastal city of Tyre took place as global diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent weeks to prevent escalating clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military from spiraling into an all-out war that could possibly lead to a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.

    What You Need To Know

    • An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon has killed a senior Hezbollah commander as tensions continue to boil

    • The strike Wednesday near the southern coastal city of Tyre took place as global diplomatic efforts have intensified in recent weeks to prevent clashes between Hezbollah and the Israel from spiraling into an all-out war

    • Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who went by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre, was the most senior official from the Iran-backed group to be killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who was killed in an airstrike June 11

    • Naameh led the Aziz Unit, a division that operates along Lebanon’s southern border


    A Hezbollah statement identified the killed commander as Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who went by the name “Abu Naameh,” his nom de guerre. A Hezbollah official speaking anonymously in line with regulations, said he was head of the group’s Aziz Unit, one of three regional divisions in southern Lebanon.

    This picture released by Hezbollah media relations office, shows a portrait of Hezbollah commander Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike that hit his car, in the southern costal town of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Hezbollah Media Relations Office via AP)

    Nasser is the most senior official from the Iran-backed group killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who was killed in an airstrike June 11. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech honoring Abdullah said he played a pivotal role on the front line since clashes began on Oct. 8 leading the Nasr Unit.

    Hezbollah said in response to the killing of Nasser, it launched Falaq rockets with heavy warheads targeting the headquarters of the Israeli military’s 769th Brigade in Kiryat Shmona, as well as 100 salvos of Katyusha rockets targeting the headquarters of Israel’s 210th division and the Kilaa air base in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

    The group also shared footage of Nasser taking part in what they said was an operation at an Israeli military outpost in southern Lebanon in 1999 back when it was under occupation.

    In a video circulated by local media, residents rushed toward a charred vehicle with a large plume of smoke. Civil Defense said its first responders transported an unnamed wounded person to a hospital.

    The Israeli military acknowledged the attack, saying that Nasser alongside Abdullah are “two of the most significant Hezbollah” militants in southern Lebanon. It said Nasser led attacks from southwestern Lebanon.

    Hezbollah launched rockets on northern Israel a day after a Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel in October, leading to limited clashes along the tense border. The attacks have since gradually escalated, with Hezbollah introducing new weapons in their attacks and Israel striking deeper into Lebanon.

    The group maintains that it will stop its attacks once there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. Until then, it says it will continue with its attacks to pile pressure on Israel and the international community. Israeli officials have threatened to launch a larger military operation should Hezbollah not stop its attacks.

    Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that Israel cannot expect the group’s attacks to remain limited should it launch a military operation within Lebanon, even if it aims to keep the conflict below the threshold of all-out war. Allies, including thousands of Iran-backed militiamen in Iraq, have offered to join Hezbollah on the front lines.

    Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since October have killed over 450 people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but the dead also include more than 80 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed since the war in Gaza began. Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the tense frontier have been displaced in the monthslong war.

    Senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Amos Hochstein, who has been shuttling between Lebanon and Israel, is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron’s Lebanon envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris on Wednesday as part of his ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

    French officials had invited Hochstein to the French capital to discuss the latest developments in their ongoing diplomatic scrambles, according to administration officials.

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    Associated Press

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  • Study: COVID infections increase brain, gut and lung issues

    Study: COVID infections increase brain, gut and lung issues

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    People infected with COVID-19 have a higher risk of brain, gut and lung issues three years later, according to a study published in the medical journal Nature Medicine.

    While health problems resulting from a COVID-19 infection fell each year, they remained elevated for people who were hospitalized with a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

    What You Need To Know

    • People infected with COVID-19 have a higher risk of brain, gut and lung issues three years later, according to a study published in the medical journal, Nature Medicine

    • Those who had been hospitalized for COVID had a higher death rate compared with those who had not been hospitalized or who had never contracted the virus

    • Hospitalized COVID patients were at higher risk for more health issues than those who had COVID but were not hospitalized, including cardiovascular and coagulation issues, as well as fatigue and mental problems

    • Health risks resulting from a COVID infection fell each year


    For their study, researchers looked at 135,161 U.S. veterans who had been infected with COVID-19 and compared them with more than 5 million patients in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs system who had not been infected. Of the enrollees who were infected with COVID, 15% had been hospitalized.

    All of the patients were enrolled in the study between March and December 2020, before COVID vaccines were available and when the first strain of COVID-19 was dominant. For the next three years, the patients were evaluated for death and disease risk.

    The researchers found those who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 had a higher death rate compared with those who had not been hospitalized or who had never contracted the virus three years later. But it also found that regardless of whether a person was hospitalized, those infected with COVID remained at higher risk for gastrointestinal, neurologic and pulmonary problems three years later.

    People who had been hospitalized were at higher risk for even more issues three years later, including cardiovascular and coagulation problems, as well as fatigue and mental issues.

    Those who had been hospitalized had 8.4 times more health loss compared with those who had COVID but didn’t need to go to the hospital.

    “The explanation may be related, in part, to the vulnerability of people who develop severe COVID-19 with respect to more co-existing medical conditions, immune system dysfunction or genetic predisposition,” the researchers said.

    They said other studies have found a link between severe COVID infections and persistent health risks in various tissues and organ systems, suggesting “that severity of acute infection is a key driver of the expression of long-term adverse health outcomes.”

    The researchers noted that longer-term studies will be necessary to learn how infected individuals’ health risk trajectories evolve.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Study: COVID infections increase brain, gut and lung issues

    Study: COVID infections increase brain, gut and lung issues

    [ad_1]

    People infected with COVID-19 have a higher risk of brain, gut and lung issues three years later, according to a study published in the medical journal Nature Medicine.

    While health problems resulting from a COVID-19 infection fell each year, they remained elevated for people who were hospitalized with a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

    What You Need To Know

    • People infected with COVID-19 have a higher risk of brain, gut and lung issues three years later, according to a study published in the medical journal, Nature Medicine

    • Those who had been hospitalized for COVID had a higher death rate compared with those who had not been hospitalized or who had never contracted the virus

    • Hospitalized COVID patients were at higher risk for more health issues than those who had COVID but were not hospitalized, including cardiovascular and coagulation issues, as well as fatigue and mental problems

    • Health risks resulting from a COVID infection fell each year


    For their study, researchers looked at 135,161 U.S. veterans who had been infected with COVID-19 and compared them with more than 5 million patients in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs system who had not been infected. Of the enrollees who were infected with COVID, 15% had been hospitalized.

    All of the patients were enrolled in the study between March and December 2020, before COVID vaccines were available and when the first strain of COVID-19 was dominant. For the next three years, the patients were evaluated for death and disease risk.

    The researchers found those who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 had a higher death rate compared with those who had not been hospitalized or who had never contracted the virus three years later. But it also found that regardless of whether a person was hospitalized, those infected with COVID remained at higher risk for gastrointestinal, neurologic and pulmonary problems three years later.

    People who had been hospitalized were at higher risk for even more issues three years later, including cardiovascular and coagulation problems, as well as fatigue and mental issues.

    Those who had been hospitalized had 8.4 times more health loss compared with those who had COVID but didn’t need to go to the hospital.

    “The explanation may be related, in part, to the vulnerability of people who develop severe COVID-19 with respect to more co-existing medical conditions, immune system dysfunction or genetic predisposition,” the researchers said.

    They said other studies have found a link between severe COVID infections and persistent health risks in various tissues and organ systems, suggesting “that severity of acute infection is a key driver of the expression of long-term adverse health outcomes.”

    The researchers noted that longer-term studies will be necessary to learn how infected individuals’ health risk trajectories evolve.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Not yet time to cut rates

    Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Not yet time to cut rates

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    Inflation in the United States is slowing again after higher readings earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, while adding that more such evidence would be needed before the Fed would cut interest rates.

    After some persistently high inflation reports at the start of 2024, Powell said, the data for April and May “do suggest we are getting back on a disinflationary path.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Inflation in the United States is slowing again after higher readings earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said

    • He added that more such evidence would be needed before the Fed would cut interest rates

    • After some persistently high inflation reports at the start of 2024, Powell said, the data for April and May “do suggest we are getting back on a disinflationary path”

    • Speaking in a panel discussion at a monetary policy conference in Sintra, Portugal, Powell said Fed officials still want to see annual price growth slow further toward their 2% target before they would feel confident of having fully defeated high inflation


    Speaking in a panel discussion at the European Central Bank’s monetary policy conference in Sintra, Portugal, Powell said Fed officials still want to see annual price growth slow further toward their 2% target before they would feel confident of having fully defeated high inflation.

    “We just want to understand that the levels that we’re seeing are a true reading of underlying inflation,” he added.

    Powell also acknowledged that the Fed is treading a fine line as it weighs when to cut its benchmark interest rate, which it raised 11 times from March 2022 through July 2023 to its current level of 5.3%. The rate hikes were intended to curb the worst streak of inflation in four decades by slowing borrowing and spending by consumers and businesses. Inflation did tumble from its peak in 2022 yet still remains elevated.

    If the Fed cuts rates too soon, Powell cautioned, inflation could re-accelerate, forcing the policymakers to reverse course and impose punishing rate hikes. But if the Fed waits too long to reduce borrowing costs, it risks weakening the economy so much as to potentially cause a recession.

    “Getting the balance on monetary policy right during this critical period — that’s really what I think about in the wee hours,” Powell said in response to a question about his top worries.

    On Friday, the government reported that consumer prices, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, were unchanged from April to May, the mildest such reading in more than four years. And compared with a year earlier, inflation dropped to just 2.6% in May, from 2.7% in April, the government said.

    Excluding volatile food and energy costs, “core” prices also barely rose from April to May. On a year-over-year basis, core inflation fell to 2.6% from 2.8% in April. The latest inflation figures were a sharp improvement from early this year.

    In his appearance Tuesday, Powell said the U.S. economy and job market remain fundamentally healthy, which means the Fed can take its time in deciding when rate cuts are appropriate. Most economists think the Fed’s first rate cut will occur in September, with potentially another cut to follow by year’s end.

    The Fed chair also said the job market is “cooling off appropriately,” which likely means that it won’t heighten inflationary pressures through rapid wage gains.

    “It doesn’t look like it’s heating up or presenting a big problem for inflation going forward,” Powell said of the job market. “It looks like it’s doing just what you would want it to do, which is to cool off over time.”

    Powell declined to signal any time frame for a rate cut. Investors are betting that there is nearly a 70% chance for a reduction at the Fed’s meeting in September.

    Fed officials have expressed a range of views on inflation and interest-rate policy since their last meeting a little over two weeks ago.

    John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and vice chair of the central bank’s rate-setting committee, said last week, “I am confident that we at the Fed are on a path to achieving our 2% inflation goal on a sustained basis.”

    Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed, cautioned last week, though, that it was “hard to know if we are truly on track to sustainable price stability.”

    In his appearance Tuesday in Portugal, Powell spoke at a panel along with Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, and Roberto Campos Neto, the head of Brazil’s central bank.

    The ECB has already made a quarter-point cut to its key rate this year, with inflation in the 20-nation eurozone having sunk from above 10% to just 2.5%.

    In her remarks Tuesday, though, Lagarde reiterated that the ECB is not on any “predetermined path” and that its recent rate cut “would be followed by further review of data.”

    Such comments have led many analysts to conclude that the ECB’s next rate cut won’t occur until September at the earliest.

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    Associated Press

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  • New Labor Department rules for overtime pay take effect

    New Labor Department rules for overtime pay take effect

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    Millions of workers will be eligible for overtime pay under a new Department of Labor rule that took effect Monday.

    The majority of salaried workers who earn less than $844 weekly can now be compensated for working more than 40 hours per week.

    What You Need To Know

    • Starting Monday, about 1 million workers who make less than $43,888 annually are eligible for overtime

    • The majority of salaried workers who earn less than $844 weekly can now be compensated for working more than 40 hours per week

    • Starting next year, the protections will extend to 3 million workers when the overtime threshold increases to $58,656 annually, or $1,128 per week

    • In April, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized a rule about minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administration and professional employees


    “A hard day’s work should lead to a fair day’s pay,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday.

    Effective July 1, the overtime protections extend to 1 million workers who make less than $43,888 a year. The previous threshold was a weekly salary of $684 or less or an annual salary of $35,568.

    Starting next year, the protections will extend to 3 million workers when the overtime threshold increases to $58,656 annually, or $1,128 per week.

    “That means higher paychecks and more time with family for millions of Americans,” the president said.

    In April, the U.S. Department of Labor finalized a rule about minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administration and professional employees. The rule increases standard salary levels and total annual compensation levels for highly compensated employees.

    Under the new rule, the total yearly compensation for highly compensated employees who are exempt from overtime pay also increases from $107,432 to $132,964. Next January, it increases again to $151,164 annually.

    Starting January 1, 2025, the department will use a different methodology to calculate the salary and compensation levels, which will be updated every three years to incorporate up-to-date earnings information.

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    Susan Carpenter

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