Voters remain gloomy despite recent economic gains
A new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll suggests voters’ views of the economy are baked in.
Today's Liberal News
U.S. economy returned to growth last quarter, expanding 2.6 percent
Housing investment, though, plunged at a 26 percent annual pace, hammered by surging mortgage rates.
Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara Is at Center of Growing European Parliament Bribery Scandal
A corruption scandal involving Qatar and Morocco is rocking the European Union, with authorities in Belgium earlier this month raiding the homes and offices of multiple European Parliament lawmakers for allegedly accepting bribes from the two governments. The raids recovered hundreds of thousands of euros in cash. Among those arrested was European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili, who in the lead-up to the World Cup repeatedly defended Qatar against critics.
Judge Orders Philly DA to Disclose All Evidence in Mumia Abu-Jamal Case. Could It Lead to New Trial?
Supporters of imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal are celebrating a decision by a Philadelphia judge on Friday to order the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to share all of its files on the case with Abu-Jamal’s defense team. Judge Lucretia Clemons gave prosecutors and the defense 60 days to review the files, including many that Abu-Jamal’s team has never seen.
Zelensky Knows the Clock Is Ticking
When Volodymyr Zelensky arrives in Washington—his first time leaving Ukraine since the Russian invasion last winter—he will find a city that is even more obsessed with itself than usual. The Republicans are about to take over the House with a tiny majority and a passel of empowered kooks, and a congressional committee has recommended that a former president of the United States be prosecuted for an attempt to defeat the constitutional transfer of power.
Report: Jan. 6 probe now ‘extensively cooperating’ with Justice Department
The Jan. 6 committee is sharing more of its records and transcripts freely with the Justice Department after it received a letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith requesting the committee’s documents, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday.
According to the Washington, D.C.-based news outlet, Special Counsel Smith issued the request on Dec. 5. A committee spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
After badly losing Twitter confidence poll, Musk says only $8 subscribers should be able to vote
It’s time to check in on Elon Musk’s retooling of Twitter into his own personal fiefdom and—oh. Oh, that’s not good. Yikes.
Things are going from bad to worse for the man who spent $44 billion in an attempt to return anti-vax and pro-insurrection conspiracy theorists to the nation’s tersest social network.
Ukraine update: Zelenskyy goes to Bakhmut, ‘the most beautiful words for our comrades in America’
UPDATE: Wednesday, Dec 21, 2022 · 12:07:43 AM +00:00
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kos
Woah, this is the first trip Zelenskyy will make out of Ukraine since the war began.
NEWS w/ @ChristopherJM @JamesPoliti: @ZelenskyyUa expected to visit the White House and Congress on Wednesday in his first trip since Russia invaded Ukraine https://t.
Oh, no. Anything but a ‘tit for tat’ with Republicans over Trump’s taxes
The New York Times is once again giving the stellar parody Twitter account New York Times Pitchbot a run for its money. The Times (the real one) is up with an article fretting about the implications of House Democrats possibly releasing information about Donald Trump’s tax returns, which “risks a tit for tat with Republicans.
Turns out, putting LGBTQ characters in a Hallmark holiday movie gives you a Hallmark holiday movie
The last couple of years have seen the major producers of TV holiday movies start coming out with movies centering on LGBTQ characters.
RNC Challenger Attacking High-Dollar Consultants Despite Being One Herself
Harmeet Dhillon hopes to unseat RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel and is attacking the party’s consultants — despite raking in $1.3 million over the past four years.
Millions To Lose Medicaid Coverage Under Congress’ Plan
Millions of people who enrolled in Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic could start to lose their insurance plans by April 1.
US Asks Supreme Court To End Asylum Limits, With A Short Delay
The Biden administration requested the high court end the pandemic-era Title 42 only after Christmas, after justices ruled to temporarily keep it in place.
Homophobic Protesters Target Home Of New York City Council Member
“There were really awful anti-gay messages calling me a pedophile, a sexual predator, and a groomer,” Erik Bottcher told HuffPost.
Republicans Rage Against Potential Disclosure Of Trump Tax Returns
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) called tax disclosure “a dangerous new weapon.” But Republicans have deployed it themselves and could do so again.
Against Skiing
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you about some of the funniest things that happened in politics this year. Today, though, I would like to offer a break from current events. Sorry in advance, skiers. I hope you are too busy skiing to read this newsletter.
‘No One Wants to Talk About Mortality’
Joanna Hogg is probably the most understated filmmaker to currently have an entire cinematic universe revolving around her. The British director emerged with her 2007 debut feature, Unrelated, which had an autobiographical tinge, and went on to make two other brilliantly quiet interpersonal dramas, Archipelago and Exhibition. But it was with 2019’s The Souvenir that Hogg began to build out an interconnected series that blurs the line between fiction and memoir.
First post-Roe spending bill includes no funding boost for family planning, angering groups
With Republicans taking the House majority next year, progressives had framed the bill as a critical opportunity.
Megan Thee Stallion Is the Victim, Not the Defendant
Daystar Peterson, the performer known as Tory Lanez, is on trial in Los Angeles after he allegedly shot fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion in both of her feet two years ago. But in the court of public opinion, she is the person who’s really being judged.The critically acclaimed, top-selling artist, whose real name is Megan Pete, was injured in a July 2020 incident that began as she, Peterson, and others were driving away from a party.
We Haven’t Seen the Worst of Fake News
It was 2018, and the world as we knew it—or rather, how we knew it—teetered on a precipice. Against a rising drone of misinformation, The New York Times, the BBC, Good Morning America, and just about everyone else sounded the alarm over a new strain of fake but highly realistic videos. Using artificial intelligence, bad actors could manipulate someone’s voice and face in recorded footage almost like a virtual puppet and pass the product off as real.
“No One Is Above The Law”: Calls Grow for Trump to Be Charged to Avoid Another Coup Attempt
With the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol recommending criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, we speak with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a scholar of fascism and authoritarianism, and Robert Weissman, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
In Historic First, House Committee Urges DOJ to Criminally Charge Trump for Jan. 6 Insurrection
We feature excerpts from the final hearing of the House January 6 committee that resulted in Monday’s unanimous vote to recommend criminal charges against former President Donald Trump. The committee’s 18-month investigation determined that Trump intended to disrupt the results of the 2020 presidential election and played a central role in the U.S. Capitol insurrection. This marks the first time in U.S.
White House Covid doctor: Safe to gather, but …
During the holidays, “people are gathering, as they should,” White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Ashish Jha said.
Report: Intelligence agencies didn’t move fast enough to collect Covid data
The report by Democrats on the House Intelligence Community says the CIA and other spy agencies “took too long to pivot.
U.S. inflation slowed sharply to 7.1 percent over past 12 months
Even with last month’s further easing of inflation, the Federal Reserve plans to keep raising interest rates.
Fed jacks up rates again but Powell hints it might slow down
Inflation has cooled only slightly and job growth remains strong.
Voters remain gloomy despite recent economic gains
A new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll suggests voters’ views of the economy are baked in.
U.S. economy returned to growth last quarter, expanding 2.6 percent
Housing investment, though, plunged at a 26 percent annual pace, hammered by surging mortgage rates.
Biden, Like Trump Before Him, Derails Effort to End U.S. Support for Saudi War in Yemen
A new UNICEF report finds that over 11,000 children have been killed or injured in the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war in Yemen since 2015. A six-month ceasefire between warring parties expired in October. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders withdrew a Senate resolution Tuesday that would have ended U.S. support for the war, following pressure from the White House. Sanders said he would bring the resolution back if they could not reach an agreement.
Four criminal referrals for Trump; Jan. 6 probe releases executive summary of final report
For its final hearing, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department for former President Donald Trump, formally accusing him of four crimes, including aiding an insurrection.
In addition to the insurrection referral, the committee said it amassed sufficient evidence indicating Trump criminally obstructed the joint session of Congress on Jan.