(Bloomberg) — This week, the world watched as former President Donald Trump surrendered in Atlanta on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. A polarizing mugshot of Trump was released shortly thereafter, along with mugshots of other case defendants, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell. Trump didn’t hesitate to capitalize on the image, and soon after posted it on X for the first time since 2021 with a link to a political fundraising page.
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But before that, he skipped the first Republican presidential debate for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Trump attributed the decision to his high position in the polls, where his supporters have signaled even stronger approval since his legal woes escalated. Eight other GOP candidates gathered in Milwaukee on Wednesday, eager to meet the former president. But a bitter spat between former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy signaled a deep divide between the party’s foreign policy views as criticism mounted over whether the US should continue sending aid to Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man who led the uprising that posed the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nearly quarter-century rule, is presumed dead after he was listed on board a plane that crashed on Wednesday. According to Russia’s aviation authority, all 10 passengers on board were killed. US officials said initial assessments indicated the plane carrying Prigozhin may have been destroyed by a bomb, although the Kremlin denounced US officials’ allegations that he was the victim of an assassination that may have been sanctioned by Putin. Was. Now, all eyes are on the Kremlin and the Wagner Group to see what happens next. Putin was too busy to attend the G20 summit in India next month, the Kremlin said after a virtual appearance at the BRICS emerging economies meeting in South Africa this week.
As Putin’s war on Ukraine escalates, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reiterated his country’s commitment to Kiev. “We always knew it was going to be a long process,” Trudeau told Bloomberg TV. “Certainly from the talks we’ve had in the G7 and in NATO, we’re prepared for a war that will take as long as it takes, because we can’t let Russia win and we shouldn’t.” Read more from the interview here.
In the US, the world’s top central bankers gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium – and hopefully, have your bingo cards ready. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said policymakers are ready to raise interest rates further if needed, while also indicating they could keep rates steady at the next FOMC meeting in September as investors expect . The message remained consistent with Powell’s throughout this year: his focus is on restoring price stability, and plans to tighten further if necessary to get the country back to 2% inflation. “It is extremely important that inflation expectations remain stable at 2%,” ECB President Christine Lagarde told Bloomberg TV. Still, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Fed probably needs to raise interest rates at least once, adding that not enough attention is being paid to the effects of the US fiscal deficit.
As labor issues heat up this summer, the United Auto Workers allowed union leaders to call a strike against the biggest US carmakers if they fail to agree on a new contract before Sept. Sets the stage for the difficult talks of the week. The UAW president indicated that if Ford, General Motors and Stellantis did not give up more ground, the union might strike all three companies instead of just one. Hollywood writers are still stuck in negotiations after a group representing studios released details of its latest proposal and hit back at major media companies.
One problem facing workers is the lack of affordable housing in the US, where construction has long been focused on single-family homes and large apartment buildings. To combat this, states such as Oregon, California and Maine have effectively eliminated single-family zoning, amending regulations to allow the construction of duplexes, triplexes and other multifamily units, while Arizona and Rhode Lawmakers in the island have introduced similar legislation this year. President Joe Biden is also pushing for more moderate housing with a plan that rewards areas that implement zoning reforms.
This summer has been extremely hot, and America is still increasingly feeling the consequences of devastating climate change. Now, this week’s scorching heat is testing the Texas power grid as triple-digit temperatures continue to drive up power consumption. In addition, Hawaii state and local municipal bonds have written off all their 2023 gains over the past three weeks after the catastrophic Maui wildfires served as a fresh reminder of climate risk in the $4 trillion market for state and local debt. Is. The FBI released a valid list of 388 people still missing after the tragedy. Meanwhile, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz is urging visitors to visit South Maui as the tourism-dependent state seeks to rebuild. Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow with a look at the week ahead.
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