Yavapai College Womens Soccer Battles For Playoffs Signals AZ
Yavapai College Women’s Soccer Battles For Playoffs – Signals AZ https://digitalarizonanews.com/yavapai-college-womens-soccer-battles-for-playoffs-signals-az/
By Staff | on October 18, 2022
By D.J. Irwin, Coordinator of Athletic Communication
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In its final regular season game, the Yavapai College women’s soccer team is not only looking for a win, but a playoff berth as well. Standing in the way of the Roughriders are the No. 16-ranked Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes who will host YC on Tuesday, October 18, at 7 p.m. in Scottsdale, Arizona.
By Chris Henstra
A win for YC will clinch a playoff appearance in the regional championship match. A YC loss would require a Cochise loss (they faceoff against Paradise Valley on Tuesday) since the Roughriders own the tiebreaker with the Apaches.
The region championship match will take place in Yuma, Arizona, on Friday, October 28, against Arizona Western College.
The Fighting Artichokes
Ranked No. 16 in NJCAA DII, Scottsdale comes into its matchup with YC at 10-4 overall and 5-4 within the conference. After a 10-1 start (the lone loss being to Cochise), Scottsdale has dropped three contests in a row: 2-0 against Pima, 4-1 against Arizona Western, and 4-0 against Phoenix.
The Roughriders
YC comes into its regular-season finale with an overall record of 8-7 and conference record of 7-3. Last week, YC defeated Glendale 7-1 on the road, before falling 3-1 to No. 2-ranked Phoenix at home.
Back on September 3, the Roughriders hosted the Fighting Artichokes in Prescott Valley when they were ranked No. 13. After racing out to a 3-1 lead, the Roughriders saw Scottsdale rattle off five unanswered goals to take home the 6-3 victory.
Players To Watch
Sophomore defenders Destini Munoz and Miriam Zabibu will be crucial in stopping Scottsdale’s attack that gashed YC for six goals in the aforementioned previous matchup.
One Last Thing
Clinching a playoff berth on Tuesday would give the Roughriders two playoff appearances in the first two years of the program’s existence.
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AP News Summary At 7:32 P.m. EDT https://digitalarizonanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-732-p-m-edt/
Biden vows abortion legislation as top priority next year
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is promising that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that codifies Roe v. Wade — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress for Biden to sign abortion protections into law. In a speech designed to energize his party’s voters just three weeks before the November midterms, Biden said, “If you care about the right to choose, then you gotta vote.” Democrats tried repeatedly in this Congress to enshrine abortion rights into law, only to be thwarted by GOP filibusters and the unwillingness of their own members to change the Senate’s rules. That dynamic is likely to persist no matter what happens in the November elections.
Ukraine’s power, water supplies under Russian attack again
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Airstrikes cut power and water supplies to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. That’s part of what the country’s president called an expanding Russian campaign to drive the nation into the cold and dark and make peace talks impossible. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nearly a third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed in the past week, causing massive blackouts. The mayor of Zhytomyr said all of the city was without electricity and water after a double missile strike Tuesday on an energy facility. Authorities said missile strikes also hit an energy facility in Kyiv and severely damaged another in the south-central city of Dnipro.
Worry grows for Iran athlete who competed without her hijab
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An Iranian competitive climber has left South Korea after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation’s mandatory headscarf covering. Farsi-language media outside of Iran have warned that she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home. The decision by climber Elnaz Rekabi comes as protests sparked by the September death of a 22-year-old woman detained by the country’s morality police have entered a fifth week. Iran’s Embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” about Rekabi. A later Instagram post on Rekabi’s account claimed she “unintentionally” didn’t wear it and was rushed, though video of the event showed her relaxed at the time.
Biden to release 15M barrels from oil reserve, more possible
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations. That’s according to senior administration officials who spoke Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to outline Biden’s plans. He will also say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections. The strategic reserve now contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil, its lowest level since 1984.
Analyst acquitted at trial over discredited Trump dossier
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A jury has acquitted on all counts a think tank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about former President Donald Trump. The case decided Tuesday involving Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by Special Counsel John Durham as part of his probe into how the FBI conducted its own investigation into allegations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The first two cases ended in an acquittal and a guilty plea with a sentence of probation. It was the first of the three cases to delve deeply into the origins of the “Steele dossier.”
Everything to know to apply for student loan forgiveness
NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, announced in August, will cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower. The application process is now open, and the administration says the forms should take five minutes to complete. Borrowers who apply before mid-November should see forgiveness before Jan. 1, when payments on loans are scheduled to restart after a pause during the pandemic. Some Republican-led states have filed lawsuits to try to stop the cancellation, but the Biden administration says they’re confident the challenges won’t succeed.
Wisconsin Republican Michels walks back abortion pledge
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor is suggesting he does not support arresting doctors under the state’s near total ban on abortions. Tim Michels is locked in a tight race with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, with abortion a major issue. Michels’ position on abortion has been changing. He used to back the state’s near total ban, but now he supports exceptions for pregnancies arising from rape and incest. And at a Tuesday campaign appearance, he said “I will never arrest a doctor.” His spokesperson later walked back his comment, saying Michels is not a district attorney “or beat cop arresting anyone.”
’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson on trial on 3 rape charges
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Opening statements are set to begin soon in the trial of “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, who is charged with raping three women about 20 years ago. A Los Angeles County jury is expected to be seated as soon as Tuesday in the trial of the 46-year-old former star of the long-running sitcom. All three women say Masterson raped them at his home between 2001 and 2003. Masterson is a member of the Church of Scientology and all three women are former members, making the church likely to loom large during the trial.
Netflix rebounds from recent subscriber losses with 3Q gain
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix has reversed its recent subscriber losses with a summertime gain. Management is hoping to build upon the gains with the upcoming launch of a cheaper version of the video streaming service that will include ads for the first time. The Los Gatos, California, company disclosed Tuesday that it picked up 2.4 million subscribers during the July-September period, a comeback from a loss of 1.2 million customers during the first half of the year. The performance topped analyst estimates and enabled Netflix to at least temporarily reclaim the mantle as the world’s largest video streaming service ahead of Walt Disney Co.
Stanton, Judge bash Yanks to 5-1 win, into ALCS vs Astros
NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge staggered Cleveland with early homers, and the New York Yankees beat the Guardians 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their AL Division Series to set up another rematch with Houston for the pennant. Yankees manager Aaron Boone won his gamble by starting Nestor Cortes on three days’ rest over Jameson Taillon, making the late switch after Monday night’s rain caused a postponement. Cleveland manager Terry Francona stayed the course with Aaron Civale instead of switching to 2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber on short rest. Civale had trouble throwing strikes.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Danchenko Acquitted On All Counts In Durham Russia Probe
Danchenko Acquitted On All Counts In Durham Russia Probe https://digitalarizonanews.com/danchenko-acquitted-on-all-counts-in-durham-russia-probe/
However, Durham and his aides used the forum of the recent trials to air evidence of what they suggested was a failure by FBI personnel to pursue leads as they probed the sourcing of the Steele dossier, a compendium of allegations former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele assembled about links between Trump and Russia. Danchenko was Steele’s key source when compiling the dossier.
Durham’s open criticism of the FBI produced an unusual spectacle at the trial, as he and his team attacked the competence of FBI agents and analysts who were the prosecution’s key witnesses. The back-and-forth led to disclosures about senior investigators’ refusal to pursue inquiries that more junior FBI personnel thought were warranted, as well as ongoing efforts to discipline FBI personnel over issues related to the Trump-Russia investigation.
Durham could offer more disclosures in a forthcoming report, but the back-to-back courtroom defeats suggest he and his aides misjudged those cases and committed some of the same investigative gaffes they’ve decried in the original probe.
Danchenko managed to defeat the charges against him even though he declined to take the stand in his own defense and called no witnesses during the trial. His attorneys suggested to the jury that he was the victim of a politically inspired prosecution by Durham, who was tapped in 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr to look into how the Trump-Russia probe began and played out.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about nine hours over two days before returning their verdicts.
Danchenko initially showed little emotion as the successive “not guilty” verdicts were read aloud by a court clerk shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday. At least one member of the jury looked directly at him as the verdicts came down.
Danchenko glanced briefly at his wife, who began crying as the verdicts were delivered and was handed a box of tissues by a bailiff via one onlooker in the audience. Later, Danchenko teared up himself and embraced his attorneys.
Durham did not address reporters at the courthouse, but issued a written statement saying: “While we are disappointed in the outcome, we respect the jury’s decision and thank them for their service. I also want to recognize and thank the investigators and the prosecution team for their dedicated efforts in seeking truth and justice in this case.”
The four charges the jury considered all involve Danchenko’s statements about his dealings with Sergei Millian, who served in 2016 as head of the Russian American Chamber of Commerce.
Danchenko told the FBI that he received a call in July 2016 from an unidentified man who shared derogatory information about Trump. The Russian researcher said he believed the man was Millian and that the pair agreed to meet up in New York, but the man never showed.
Durham’s team said Danchenko never had contact with Millian and invented the entire story to cover for having told Steele that Millian was the source of a lurid story about Trump’s alleged actions at a Moscow hotel.
“There was no call with Millian and there was no call with any individual,” prosecutor Michael Keilty said in a closing statement for the Durham team. “It’s a not-to-be believed story.”
But the prosecutors found themselves in the difficult situation of having to prove a negative — that Millian never talked to Danchenko — and having to do so beyond a reasonable doubt.
Durham’s team suggested that the absence of Millian’s known phone numbers from call logs for Danchenko’s phone proved the two men never spoke, but the defense noted that people often speak via a variety of phone apps, such as WhatsApp and Signal.
They also noted that travel records showed Millian, who did not testify, arriving in New York from Asia on the night before the day Danchenko said he was supposed to meet the anonymous caller in New York.
Before the jury verdicts Tuesday, the criminal case against Danchenko had already proved to be difficult for Durham and his team. At the conclusion of the prosecution’s evidence on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga granted a defense motion to throw out one of the five false-statement charges the former think tank employee faced.
Durham had charged Danchenko with lying to the FBI when he said he never “talked” to public relations executive Charles Dolan about the compendium Trump’s political opponents paid Steele to compile about Trump’s ties to Russia. Many of the stories in the so-called Steele Dossier appear to be apocryphal and FBI personnel who testified at the trial said they were unable to corroborate any of it.
While there was proof at the trial that Danchenko emailed with Dolan about the dossier, there was no evidence the two men ever spoke. Durham’s team alleged the jury could find the emails amounted to talking, but Trenga- — an appointee of President George W. Bush — said it appeared Danchenko’s denial was literally true so the count had to be thrown out.
The prosecution of Danchenko on false-statement charges is the third criminal case brought by Durham’s team.
The first, against FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, netted a guilty plea from the lawyer for forging details in an email related to a surveillance application during the early stages of the Trump-Russia probe. Clinesmith, who said he altered the message to save himself time, got no jail time.
Jurors in Washington made short work of Durham’s second outing, a single-count false-statement charge against cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussmann for allegedly lying about his client when relaying to the FBI suspicions about computer links between Trump and Russia.
A prosecutor argued to jurors that the evidence of Sussmann’s guilt was “overwhelming,” but after a two-week trial, the jury took just six hours to acquit the Washington lawyer.
Shortly after the verdicts were received, Trenga called Danchenko to the lectern, saying “Your bond has been discharged and you’re free to go.” After that, the Russian national also began crying and embraced both of his defense attorneys, Stuart Sears and Danny Onorato.
In the wake of the verdicts, Onorato and Sears shook hands with Durham and his prosecutors, Keilty and Brittain Shaw.
“We’ve known all along that Mr. Danchenko was innocent. We’re happy now that the American public knows that as well,” Sears said outside the courthouse, flanked by his client. “We thank these jurors for their hard work and deliberation for reaching the right result.”
The defense lawyers declined to answer questions from reporters, while Durham never came to the cameras stationed in front of the courthouse and commented only in his written statement.
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Woman Shot By Tempe Police Rammed Patrol Cars Weeks Before In Gilbert Officers Say
Woman Shot By Tempe Police Rammed Patrol Cars Weeks Before In Gilbert, Officers Say https://digitalarizonanews.com/woman-shot-by-tempe-police-rammed-patrol-cars-weeks-before-in-gilbert-officers-say/
TEMPE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — The woman shot by police after allegedly ramming several Tempe patrol cars had done the same thing weeks before in Gilbert. Police say On Oct. 1, 33-year-old Kristina Duranceau was pulled over by Gilbert police driving a stolen car. During the incident, she also reportedly rammed several patrol cars, similar to Sunday’s run-in with police.
On Sunday at 10:30 p.m., Tempe officers tracked down a man driving a stolen Kia near Baseline Road and Priest Drive with Duranceau and a 49-year-old woman inside. As the driver pulled into the Mission Springs apartment complex nearby, officers tried to pull him over. He got out of the car and began running away, police said. He hasn’t been identified or found.
Investigators say Duranceau got out of the car but then climbed back in and got into the driver’s seat. She put the car in reverse, and an officer began shooting less-lethal rounds. Police say Duranceau hit the gas while in reverse, hitting the patrol car behind her. Officers began running away as she continued hitting the patrol cars. One officer then shot at Duranceau’s car and she drove toward another officer. Another officer then shot at the car, and Duranceau tried to drive away, hitting another car parked nearby. Duranceau’s car got stuck on the curb, and officers were able to box her in to prevent her from driving away. Police then got her out of the car and found she’d been shot several times.
She was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition after being shot several times. The 49-year-old woman inside the car wasn’t hurt and was later released by police. No officers were hurt. Duranceau will face charges once she’s released from the hospital, investigators say.
“This incident was a dynamic, rapidly evolving and fluid event which Kristina made it clear she was going to make every attempt to evade arrest, dsiregarding the safety of officers and the community,” said Sgt. Greg Bacon with Tempe police.
Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
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Scottish Singer-Songwriter Lewis Capaldi Coming To Phoenix In May 2023
Scottish Singer-Songwriter Lewis Capaldi Coming To Phoenix In May 2023 https://digitalarizonanews.com/scottish-singer-songwriter-lewis-capaldi-coming-to-phoenix-in-may-2023/
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi is coming to Phoenix’s Arizona Financial Theatre during his spring tour in 2023.
Tickets for the May 6 concert will go on sale on Friday at 12 p.m. Citi cardholders in the U.S. will be able to get tickets during a pre-sale starting Wednesday at 10 a.m., and Spotify pre-sale will start Thursday at 10 a.m.
Capaldi’s tour is celebrating his latest album, “Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent” which will be released on May 19. The album features James Bay of Bastille, includes work of super-producer Max Martin, and more. He was only the third artist this year to land a single at the No. 1 spot on the UK charts in its first week.
Lewis Capaldi’s 2023 North American Headline Tour Dates
March 30, 2023 – Nashville, TN: Grand Ole Opry House
April 1, 2023 – Atlanta, GA: Coca-Cola Roxy
April 2, 2023 – Washington, DC: The Anthem
April 4, 2023 – Philadelphia, PA: The Metropolitan Opera House
April 6, 2023 – New York, NY: Radio City Music Hall
April 10, 2023 – Boston, MA: MGM Music Hall at Fenway
April 11, 2023 – Laval, QC: Place Bell
April 14, 2023 – Toronto, ON: Coca-Cola Coliseum
April 15, 2023 – Detroit, MI: Masonic Temple Theatre
April 17, 2023 – Cincinnati, OH: The Andrew J Brady Music Center
April 19, 2023 – Chicago, IL: Aragon Ballroom
April 20, 2023 – Minneapolis, MN: The Armory
April 22, 2023 – Denver, CO: The Mission Ballroom
April 25, 2023 – Vancouver, BC: Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
April 26, 2023 – Seattle, WA: WaMu Theater
April 28, 2023 – Portland, OR: Theater of the Clouds
April 30, 2023 – Berkeley, CA: Greek Theatre
May 3, 2023 – Los Angeles, CA: Greek Theatre
May 6, 2023 – Phoenix, AZ: Arizona Financial Theatre
May 8, 2023 – Austin, TX: Moody Amphitheater
May 9, 2023 – Dallas, TX: South Side Ballroom
May 11, 2023 – Houston, TX: 713 Music Hall
To learn more about Capaldi and his music, click here.
Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
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Nord Stream 1: First Underwater Images Reveal Devastating Damage
Nord Stream 1: First Underwater Images Reveal Devastating Damage https://digitalarizonanews.com/nord-stream-1-first-underwater-images-reveal-devastating-damage/
The first underwater images taken of the ruptured Nord Stream 1 pipeline reveal the devastating damage caused by what Danish police have described as “powerful explosions” under the Baltic Sea.
Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday published photographs and film footage taken by an underwater drone at the site near the island of Bornholm where the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany ruptured on 26 September.
They appear to show long tears in the seabed near the concrete-reinforced steel pipe that was not merely cracked but torn apart in an act of suspected sabotage. At least 50 metres of the gas pipeline appeared to be missing, Expressen said.
Three separate investigations are currently trying to assess the full extent of the damage to the two twin pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, and collect evidence as to who was behind the sabotage.
A German government official on Monday confirmed there would be no joint investigations team working on clearing up the pipeline blast as initially envisioned, but three separate investigations carried out by Danish, Swedish and German authorities would coordinate closely.
According to German news magazine Der Spiegel, the offer of a joint investigation was rejected by the Swedish side, with a state prosecutor from the country telling Reuters that “there is some information in our investigation that is confidential because it is directly linked to national security”.
A preliminary investigation by Danish authorities established the leak had been caused by “powerful explosions”, Copenhagen police said in a statement on Tuesday.
The further investigation of the 26 September ruptures of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone would be handled jointly by Copenhagen police and Danish security services.
“It is still too early to say anything about the framework under which the international cooperation with eg Sweden and Germany will run, as it depends on several actors,” Copenhagen police said.
The underwater blasts, which were described as equal to “several hundred kilos of TNT”, destroyed both pipes of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom said in a statement on 3 October that it was still “technically possible” to transport gas through one of the four pipes, Nord Stream 2B.
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List Of Events To Celebrate And Honor Día De Los Muertos In The Valley
List Of Events To Celebrate And Honor Día De Los Muertos In The Valley https://digitalarizonanews.com/list-of-events-to-celebrate-and-honor-dia-de-los-muertos-in-the-valley/
List of events to celebrate life on ‘Day of the Dead’
Día De Los Muertos is a Mexican tradition that honors ancestors and loved ones that have died. Day of the Dead is observed in Mexico on November 1 and 2.
Posted at 3:53 PM, Oct 18, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-18 19:28:52-04
PHOENIX, AZ — Día De Los Muertos is a Mexican tradition that honors ancestors and loved ones that have died. Day of the Dead is observed in Mexico on November 1 and 2. Here’s our roundup of events and festivals in the Valley regarding this ancient ritual.
DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS FESTIVAL AT THE MESA ARTS CENTER
Cost: Free
When: October 22 – 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What to expect: artist demonstrations, food vendors will be on-site, family activities, an Altar contest, a Mercado Market Place, and more.
9TH ANNUAL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS
What to expect: “Experience the sights and sounds of catrinas, mariachi, ballet folklorico, a local artisan market, free kids’ activities, car show, food trucks, live entertainment by Carmela y Más and Danny Lux,” reads an event post by the festival host – Saint Mary’s Basilica.
Cost: Free, but a “non-perishable food [donation] is suggested, which benefits the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank,” says event officials.
When: Sunday, November 6, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Location: Saint Mary’s Basilica [231 N 3rd St] in Phoenix
11TH ANNUAL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS PHOENIX FESTIVAL
When: October 30 at 2 p.m.
Cost: Free
Event venue: Steele Indian School Park [300 E Indian School Rd]
The event will feature a community altar, face painting, art activities, an Artist Mercado Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli, Mariachi Rubor and more!
Click here to see the festival schedule.
2ND ANNUAL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS AT MOUNTAIN VIEW
According to the Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery’s website, families decorate their loved one’s altar, there will be food trucks on-site, folklorico dancers, mariachi, and more on the day of the event.
When: November 5 from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
You can reserve your space by calling (480) 605-1463 or click here.
Where: Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery [7900 E Main St.] in Mesa
“OFRENDA, A DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION”
The musical experience features the Mexican folk-dance company, Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles, and the musicians of Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar.
When: October 29 at 8 p.m. Cost: Tickets range from $40- $60
Where: The Vista Center for the Arts [15660 N Parkview Place] in Surprise
LAS CAFETERAS PRESENTS “HASTA LA MUERTE”
According to the City of Chandler, this is a “multi-dimensional performance filled with Zapateado, dance, song, altares y flores.”
When: October 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Chandler Center for the Arts [250 N. Arizona Ave.]
Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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White House Plans On Announcing Additional Oil Reserve Sales In Wake Of OPEC Cut | CNN Politics
White House Plans On Announcing Additional Oil Reserve Sales In Wake Of OPEC+ Cut | CNN Politics https://digitalarizonanews.com/white-house-plans-on-announcing-additional-oil-reserve-sales-in-wake-of-opec-cut-cnn-politics/
White House concerned about gas prices
03:04 – Source: CNN
CNN —
The Biden administration is planning to announce additional sales from the nation’s emergency oil stockpile as it seeks to counter market pressures created by the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production targets just three weeks from the midterm elections, according to two sources familiar with the decision.
President Joe Biden is likely to announce in the coming days an additional release of roughly 14 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as the US seeks to dampen gas prices and balance the market, marking the completion of the historic release program triggered in the Spring in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bloomberg first reported about the administration’s planned announcement.
“The price of gas is still too high, and we need to keep working to bring it down,” Biden said at an event in Los Angeles last week, adding that he planned to announce additional actions in the coming days.
RELATED: America’s emergency oil stockpile is at a 38-year low but it’s still got firepower left
Officials have weighed a series of options over the last several weeks, and the sources cautioned that the additional release and any other potential actions are not final until they are announced by Biden. The White House has also been working toward finalizing a proposal that would detail its plans to refill the emergency oil reserve, which currently sits at its lowest level in roughly four decades.
Biden’s planned action, however, would fulfill the administration’s announcement in March to release a historic 180 million barrels from the SPR over a six-month period to counter soaring energy prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The action, which has rolled out in regular sales over the last several months, combined with global economic concerns to help drive gas prices down for nearly three months straight.
US officials strategically slowed the size of sales as the six-month program neared its deadline in an effort to ease the market transition until the decision by OPEC+, which set off furious pushback from US officials and an intensive effort inside the administration to produce options to counter any resulting increase gas prices.
That included additional releases from the reserve, and officials have closely eyed Biden’s ability to trigger new releases within the bounds of the initial program as Election Day looms.
There has also been consideration to triggering an additional sale, mandated by Congress for the new fiscal year, one of the sources said. The new fiscal year started October 1, making an additional sale an option, the source said.
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How Will Kanye Elon And Trumps Social Media Moves Shake Out?
How Will Kanye, Elon, And Trump’s Social Media Moves Shake Out? https://digitalarizonanews.com/how-will-kanye-elon-and-trumps-social-media-moves-shake-out/
Elon Musk, who appears to be moving forward with his precarious deal to buy Twitter, seemed to be basking in the prospect of a changing social media landscape, with himself, Donald Trump, and Kanye West at the helm. On Tuesday, he shared a meme of their heads superimposed on the Three Musketeers: “In retrospect, it was inevitable,” he captioned the now deleted image. And in a since deleted tweet from Monday, Musk shared a meme depicting himself and West using Twitter and Parler to combine their powers: “Fun times ahead!”
West, a star rapper, producer, and fashion mogul who now goes by Ye, said Monday that he is planning to buy Parler, the minor Rebekah Mercer–funded social media network that launched in 2018 as a safe space for the Trump wing of the Republican Party, and has become an online home for anti-government militia groups, QAnon fanatics, and the like. The announcement came days after West himself was temporarily banned from Twitter for a series of antisemitic remarks. The news, while surprising, can be rationalized; George Farmer, the CEO of Parler’s parent company, is married to right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has been by West’s side throughout his yearslong evolution into a conservative champion. Owens seems to pop up whenever West sparks controversy. (Like earlier this month, when the two posed in “White Lives Matter” T-shirts during Paris Fashion Week or when Owens defended West saying he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” among other things.)
But more unclear is what will come of West’s ownership of Parler. Parler received roughly 1.3 million visits over the month of August, according to traffic-monitoring site Similarweb, a minuscule amount of traffic even in the already niche world of conservative social platforms, as noted by tech blogger Jay McKenzie. For comparison, data accumulated by Similiarweb showed Trump’s Truth Social—the Twitter alternative he founded after his expulsion from Twitter and Facebook—was up to 9 million visits the same month, and Gab, perhaps the most extreme Twitter alternative, logged 12.8 million in that span. On Parler, even the platform’s prospective owner has only accrued about 18,000 followers, despite being an A-list celebrity. (West has 31.5 million followers on Twitter.)
Moreover, Musk’s memes of the trio taking the internet by storm aside, if the Tesla and SpaceX CEO follows through with the Twitter deal and his promises to do away with some of the content restrictions that led conservatives to build their own platforms, would Parler have a raison d’être? Surely, West would find his way back onto Twitter if his old friend were running things.
The rationale behind Musk and Trump’s investments in social media seems clear as day: Both heavily depend on their online persona to boost their standing as celebrities. Musk’s tweets have even influenced the stock market and are instrumental in building the Tesla brand. Likewise, Trump needs a social media outlet to rebuild the online following that helped propel him to the White House in 2016.
Maybe, a celebrity face like West can turn around the Parler operation, but it seems far more likely that he will be stuck with a dud product—one he can at least use to shout into the online void without fear of reprisal. That said, the planned acquisition has seemingly strengthened West’s friendship with Trump. Pitching Parler as a safe space for those who have been “bullied by the thought police,” the rapper told Bloomberg News on Monday that he plans to have dinner with the former president to ask him to join the platform, despite it being an obvious competitor to Truth Social. While conservative platforms might only appeal to a small corner of the market—a corner that is far more crowded than it was a couple of years ago—a new Pew Research study found that some 15% of accounts on alternative social media sites like Gettr, Telegram, and Truth Social joined those networks after being suspended, banned, or demonetized by one of the mainstream platforms. So there is a notable number of social media exiles who remain reliant on Parler and Truth Social for their posting fix—at least until the Musk revolution comes to Twitter.
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Wheres The Beef?: Special Master Says Trumps Mar-A-Lago Records Claims Lack Substance
‘Where’s The Beef?’: Special Master Says Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Records Claims Lack Substance https://digitalarizonanews.com/wheres-the-beef-special-master-says-trumps-mar-a-lago-records-claims-lack-substance/
Donald Trump’s assertions of executive and attorney-client privilege over certain documents that the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort appeared to lack evidence sufficient for him to rule in the former US president’s favor, the special master reviewing the records suggested on Tuesday.
The special master, senior US district court judge Raymond Dearie, complained during a conference call in the case that the log of documents Trump is trying to withhold from the justice department did not give enough information about the validity of the privilege claims.
Dearie encouraged Trump’s lawyers to elaborate on why they believed the documents could be excluded from the justice department’s criminal investigation into the potential willful retention of national defense information, removal of government records and obstruction of justice.
“It’s a little perplexing as I go through the log,” Dearie said. “What’s the expression – ‘Where’s the beef?’ I need some beef.”
The discussion on the conference call was the latest development in the ongoing review that is examining whether any of the 11,000 documents without classified markings seized from Mar-a-Lago are legally privileged and cannot be used by prosecutors in the criminal investigation.
Trump sought the appointment of a special master and argued to US district court judge Aileen Cannon in Florida – a Trump appointee – that the justice department should not itself decide whether some of the documents were potentially protected by executive or attorney-client privilege.
The request was granted in an unprecedented ruling – partly because of Trump’s status as a former president, Cannon said – that also prevented federal investigators from examining both the 11,000 documents and an additional 103 documents bearing classified markings.
That prompted the justice department to seek to reverse elements of Cannon’s ruling in order to regain access to the 103 documents, which the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit granted and the US supreme court last week upheld over Trump’s objections.
The conference call touched only on privilege disagreements concerning a small subset of the seized materials that remains, for now, in the special master’s purview. The justice department has since appealed the appointment of the special master in its entirety.
The dispute could foreshadow what could be a messy argument between Trump’s lawyers seeking to limit what documents can be used in the criminal inquiry, and the justice department, which is trying to keep as many records in play.
The Guardian has previously reported that Trump is seeking to withhold from federal prosecutors letters and signing sheets with the National Archives, among a number of documents that were scooped up by the FBI that appear germane to the criminal investigation.
On the call, Dearie specifically asked Trump’s lawyers to give him a better sense of how one document, for instance, could both be subject to executive privilege – a designation applying to presidential records – and simultaneously be a non-governmental, personal document.
“Unless I’m wrong, and I’ve been wrong before, there’s certainly an incongruity there,” Dearie said, appearing to cast doubt on the notion that a document could carry both characterizations.
The special master also asked Trump’s lawyers to provide more details on documents they asserted were protected by attorney-client privilege, as he suggested that some of the documents in question had been seen by a third party, which would make the communications no longer confidential.
Dearie also grew frustrated that the two sides were unable to resolve more disagreements among themselves, at one stage criticizing the government for not saying whether one of the documents, concerning the 2017 special counsel investigation, had been sent to the justice department.
The conference call, however, did resolve why Trump’s legal team had been told at one stage that there could be 200,000 pages to examine but the actual number was 21,792 pages: a company hired to digitize the seized materials for the special master review had overestimated the page count.
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Moving Company Helps Phoenix Arizona Residents Relocate With Ease Digital Journal
Moving Company Helps Phoenix Arizona Residents Relocate With Ease – Digital Journal https://digitalarizonanews.com/moving-company-helps-phoenix-arizona-residents-relocate-with-ease-digital-journal/
Tempe, Arizona –
Phoenix, AZ residents in search of a reliable moving company are invited to get in touch with Poindexter Moving. The company provides fast, affordable moving assistance, making it much easier for customers to transfer all their items between locations. With their team of skilled, experienced movers, who have handled many different kinds of property over the years and who have a deep understanding of how best to take care of delicate items, Poindexter Moving is able to make the process as easy and stress-free as possible. Visit the following link for more: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/08/15/2498476/0/en/Phoenix-Moving-Company-Serves-Arizona-Residents-Businesses.html.
Poindexter Moving was founded on the belief that everyone has a right to have full control over the whole process of moving. In order to make this a reality, the company actively curates the service they offer, tailoring their services to the individual needs of each and every customer. The company is trusted by both homeowners and businesses thanks to the dedication to excellence displayed by their team of movers.
Referring to the company’s history and philosophy, Anthony Mullinax of Poindexter Moving says, “I started in the moving industry in 2009, and I instantly loved it! I worked for a few different companies over the years and decided there has to be a better way. So, in 2015, I co-founded Poindexter Moving, and we do things differently. I personally train every single one of my employees to ensure customer satisfaction. We have developed a system to custom tailor our services based on the customers wants and needs because we know everyone has different needs.”
At Poindexter Moving, they see it as their responsibility to make moving as simple as possible, offering a door-to-door service that the customer can make changes to as and when necessary. The company understands just how daunting a task moving can be, and they also understand just how easy it is to underestimate the amount of packing that needs to be done (and how early it needs to be done). Poindexter Moving’s movers are industry professionals who know how to accurately gauge the amount of time and work that will go into a particular moving job, and they use this knowledge and experience to make decisions that simplify the moving process for their customers.
The Phoenix AZ movers also believe that it is every customer’s right to be made fully aware of each and every cost associated with moving, which is why they make it a point to ensure that transparency is maintained at all times. They provide clear, affordable estimates of what each move will cost before getting started, and they quickly reach out to the customer if any changes become necessary along the way. They pride themselves on operating with honesty and integrity, and providing accurate pricing is just one of the ways in which they seek to ensure that their customers are aware of every important detail regarding their move.
“The process was great from start to finish,” says a 5-Star review from Launi C. “They came to the house, looked at everything I needed to move and gave me an estimate that day. The estimate they gave me was pretty amazing in comparison to others I had received. The moving crew showed up on time. My new house had stairs, and they put everything where it needed to go. They hustled the entire time, and I moved at the end of June when it was hot! They even finished the move within the estimated time frame. Everyone was very friendly, and I was seriously impressed with their work and service. I would definitely use them again and absolutely recommend them! Thank you, Poindexter Moving!”
Another review from Liz Q. says, “The guys communicated the entire time with us from the quote to the confirmation to showing up the day of the move. They were all super nice, very helpful and very careful with our furniture. They constantly asked how I wanted things wrapped and what worked best for me. All around great experience and very professional! Thank you!”
To learn more about the company, find them on Yelp! Customers are welcome to get in touch directly as well. The company can be reached via phone, email and so on.
###
For more information about Poindexter Moving, contact the company here:
Poindexter Moving
Anthony Mullinax
(480) 771-7632
[email protected]
1155 W 23rd St Suite 10 B, Tempe, AZ 85282
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Palestinian Government Still Pays Terrorists As U.S. Aid Dollars Flow
Palestinian Government Still Pays Terrorists As U.S. Aid Dollars Flow https://digitalarizonanews.com/palestinian-government-still-pays-terrorists-as-u-s-aid-dollars-flow/
National Security
Non-public State Department report confirms Palestinians are not living up to promises
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas / Getty Images
Adam Kredo • October 18, 2022 5:25 pm
The Palestinian government is still paying imprisoned terrorists stipends and inciting violence against Israel, even as the Biden administration provides nearly half a billion dollars in American taxpayer funds to the government, according to a non-public State Department report recently furnished to Congress.
The Palestinian Authority, which committed to stop these acts to receive new tranches of U.S. aid money, “continued payments to Palestinian prisoners who had committed acts of terrorism, as well as the families of so-called ‘martyrs’ who died while committing acts of terrorism,” according to the report, a copy of which was reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Official Palestinian government media organizations and social media accounts also “broadcast or published content praising or celebrating acts of violence.”
Details from the State Department report are likely to fuel congressional opposition to the Biden administration’s renewed funding of the Palestinian Authority, which almost immediately resumed when the Democratic administration entered office. U.S. aid was slashed by the Trump administration due to the Palestinian Authority’s support for terrorism, as well as a bipartisan U.S. law mandating that American aid be frozen until the Palestinian government ends its terrorist payment policy, also known as “pay-to-slay.” That law, the Taylor Force Act, was passed in 2018 and banned the State Department from allocating aid to the Palestinian government until it could certify that payments to terrorists and incitement against Israel ceased.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on its findings and compliance with the Taylor Force Act.
Information contained in the latest State Department report indicates the requirements for aid set forth under the law are not being met. Since April 2021, the United States has provided “over half a billion dollars in assistance for the Palestinians,” according to the State Department. In July, President Joe Biden announced that another $316 million would be awarded to “support the Palestinian people,” according to the White House.
“First, the administration tried to mislead Congress about Palestinian terrorists and payments to terrorists, which unfortunately worked long enough for them to move money to the Palestinian government,” one senior congressional official who works on Middle East issues told the Washington Free Beacon. “Now, they just don’t care.”
The State Department collected evidence showing that “elements of Palestinian leadership made individual statements that appeared to support violence,” according to the report. The Palestinian Authority’s “conventional media and social media also broadcast problematic comments and videos.” This occurred as Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas condemned a recent spate of terrorist attacks in Israel and “maintained a public position against incitement of violence and terrorism.”
Official Palestinian government media outlets were labeled as “inconsistent” in their enforcement of prohibitions on terror incitement, according to the State Department. Social media accounts affiliated with Abbas’s Fatah Party, for instance, have “featured content praising or condoning acts of violence.”
The Fatah Youth Movement at Najah University in the West Bank territory “praised the December 2021 killing” of an Israeli civilian as a “heroic operation,” according to the information compiled by the State Department. Palestine TV also broadcast footage of “a young girl at a primary school in Jenin” reciting a poem “asking God to banish the Jews from the region.”
In March, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, Wafa, posted a celebration on Facebook of terrorist Dalal al-Moghrabi, who killed 38 Israelis, including 13 children, in a 1978 attack. The outlet praised al-Moghrabi as “the icon of struggle and resistance,” according to the State Department.
The Biden administration has given more than $417 million in humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which is known to advocate against Israel, and terrorists have used its schools as a base of operations. The U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded some $75 million in humanitarian assistance, and $20.5 million was allocated for COVID relief and “Gaza recovery assistance,” according to the State Department.
Jonathan Schanzer, a regional expert and senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Palestinian Authority and its splinter groups are becoming increasingly polarized.
“Incitement continues unabated by the Palestinian Authority,” Schanzer told the Free Beacon. “In recent months, this has been accompanied by violent splinter factions of entities closely tied to the P.A. All of this could backfire rather badly on the P.A., which has not exactly been popular or stable. Washington has a duty to not only enforce its own policies. It has an obligation to preserve the system that it created, which now appears increasingly brittle.”
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Iran Agrees To Ship Missiles More Drones To Russia
Iran Agrees To Ship Missiles, More Drones To Russia https://digitalarizonanews.com/iran-agrees-to-ship-missiles-more-drones-to-russia/
Iran to sell more drones, missiles to Russia
West heavily criticises Iran over drones
Tehran under pressure from mass protests
Oct 18 (Reuters) – Iran has promised to provide Russia with surface to surface missiles, in addition to more drones, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told Reuters, a move that is likely to infuriate the United States and other Western powers.
A deal was agreed on Oct. 6 when Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, two senior officials from Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards and an official from the Supreme National Security Council visited Moscow for talks with Russia about the delivery of the weapons.
“The Russians had asked for more drones and those Iranian ballistic missiles with improved accuracy, particularly the Fateh and Zolfaghar missiles family,” said one of the Iranian diplomats, who was briefed about the trip.
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A Western official briefed on the matter confirmed it, saying there was an agreement in place between Iran and Russia to provide surface-to-surface short range ballistic missiles, including the Zolfaghar.
One of the drones Iran agreed to supply is the Shahed-136, a delta-winged weapon used as a “kamikaze” air-to-surface attack aircraft. It carries a small warhead that explodes on impact.
Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar are Iranian short-range surface to surface ballistic missiles capable of striking targets at distances of between 300 km and 700 km (186 and 435 miles).
The Iranian diplomat rejected assertions by Western officials that such transfers breach a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution.
“Where they are being used is not the seller’s issue. We do not take sides in the Ukraine crisis like the West. We want an end to the crisis through diplomatic means,” the diplomat said.
Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks. Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday dismissed as baseless reports of Iran supplying drones and other weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, while the Kremlin on Tuesday denied its forces had used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.
Asked if Russia had used Iranian drones in its campaign in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any information about their use.
“Russian equipment with Russian nomenclature is used,” he said. “All further questions should be directed to the Defence Ministry.”
The ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The appearance of Iranian missiles in addition to drones in Moscow’s arsenal in the war with Ukraine would raise tensions between Iran and the United States and other Western powers.
SHIPMENT ‘SOON, VERY SOON’
The U.S. State Department assessed that Iranian drones were used on Monday in a morning rush hour attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a U.S. official said. White House spokesperson Karinne Jean-Pierre also accused Tehran of lying when it said Iranian drones are not being used by Russia in Ukraine.
A European diplomat said it was his country’s assessment that Russia was finding it more difficult to produce weaponry for itself given the sanctions on its industrial sector and so was turning to imports from partners like Iran and North Korea.
“Drones and missiles are a logical next step,” said the European diplomat.
Asked about sales of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles to Russia, a senior U.S. military official said: “I don’t have anything to provide at this time in terms of whether or not that is accurate at this point.”
A view of drones during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on August 24, 2022. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Chafing under Western economic sanctions, Iran’s rulers are keen to strengthen strategic ties to Russia against an emerging, U.S.-backed Gulf Arab-Israeli bloc that could shift the Middle East balance of power further away from the Islamic Republic.
The top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami said last month some of the “world’s major powers” are willing to purchase military and defence equipment from Iran.
Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme leader, was reported by state media on Tuesday as saying that 22 countries want to buy Iranian drones.
Iran’s rulers are also under pressure from nationwide demonstrations which were ignited by the death in custody of a 22-year-old woman detained for “inappropriate attire”.
Several European Union states on Monday called for sanctions on Iran over its supply of drones to Russia, as the bloc agreed a separate set of sanctions over Tehran’s crackdown on unrest.
“They (Russians) wanted to buy hundreds of our missiles, even mid-range ones, but we told them that we can ship soon a few hundred of their demanded Zolfaghar and Fateh 110 short-range, surface to surface missiles,” said one of the security officials.
“I cannot give you the exact time, but soon, very soon those will be shipped in 2 to three shipments.”
An Eastern European official tracking Russia’s weapons activity said it was their understanding that this arms deal was happening, although he had no specific evidence to back it up. The official said that a decision had been taken by the Iranian and Russian leaders to proceed with the transfer.
Moscow had specifically asked for surface to surface short-range Fateh 110 and Zolfaghar missiles, and the shipment will happen in a maximum of 10 days, said another Iranian diplomat.
ATTACK DRONES
The stakes are high for Iran, which has been negotiating with Western states to revive a 2015 deal that would ease sanctions on Tehran in return for limits on its nuclear work.
The talks have deadlocked, and any disputes between Tehran and Western powers over arms sales to Russia or Iran’s crackdown on the unrest could weaken efforts to seal an accord.
The United States agrees with British and French assessments that Iran supplying drones to Russia would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 deal, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday.
The Western official, who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said that like the drones, missile transfers would also violate U.N. resolution 2231.
Several senior Iranian officials are outraged about “unjust” planned sanctions on Iran over its arms shipments to Russia, said the second diplomat.
In September, Tehran had refused a request by President Vladimir Putin for the supply of Iran’s sophisticated Arash 2 long-range attack drones, three Iranian officials told Reuters.
When asked the reason for the refusal, one of the officials cited several issues including “some technical problems”.
“Also the (Revolutionary) Guards’ commanders were worried that if Russia uses this Arash 2 drone in Ukraine, Americans may have access to our technology.”
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Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by William Maclean
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Stocks Rise As Corporate Earnings Again Beat Expectations
Stocks Rise As Corporate Earnings Again Beat Expectations https://digitalarizonanews.com/stocks-rise-as-corporate-earnings-again-beat-expectations/
Business|Stocks Rise as Corporate Earnings Again Beat Expectations
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/business/stocks-jump-corporate-earnings.html
Another batch of quarterly profits beat analyst expectations, but some warn that the rally could be short-lived, giving way to more selling.
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Oct. 18, 2022Updated 5:04 p.m. ET
Stocks rose for a second day on Tuesday, recording a small gain after a batch of better-than-expected earnings reports from big companies.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, adding to a 2.7 percent gain on Monday and pushing the index further into positive territory for the month.
Investors are watching companies that are reporting earnings this quarter to get a sense of how they are faring as worries grow about persistent inflation and a potential recession. Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson and Lockheed Martin reported quarterly profits that beat analysts’ expectations on Tuesday, a day after Bank of America, Charles Schwab and other bellwether firms reported surprisingly robust results. That was partly because forecasts had been lowered, given the economic jitters: Goldman’s third-quarter profit fell more than 40 percent from a year earlier.
The KBW Bank index, which tracks big banks, rose about 1.1 percent on Tuesday. The index is up 2.6 percent since Thursday, right before major banks began to report earnings. Still, the index is down about 23 percent since the beginning of the year.
Some analysts have cautioned against reading into the market gains, describing them as “bear market rallies” that will eventually give way to more selling. Even after big gains in three of the past four trading sessions, the S&P 500 is down more than 20 percent this year, the threshold for a bear market.
Our Coverage of the Investment World
The decline of the stock and bond markets this year has been painful, and it remains difficult to predict what is in store for the future.
A Bad Year for Bonds: This has been the most devastating time for bonds since at least 1926 — and maybe in centuries. But much of the damage is already behind us.
Discordant Views: Some investors just don’t see how the Federal Reserve can lower inflation without risking high unemployment. The Fed appears more optimistic.
Weathering the Storm: The rout in the stock and bond markets has been especially rough on people paying for college, retirement or a new home. Here is some advice.
College Savings: As the stock and bond markets wobble, 529 plans are taking a tumble. What’s a family to do? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but you have options.
“When you have bad news day after day and the market’s been down day after day, people will hang on to any good news they get and magnify it,” said Ed Cofrancesco, the chief executive of International Assets Advisory.
A survey of fund managers by Bank of America said the market might be poised for another bear market rally if U.S. Treasury yields, a benchmark for borrowing costs, stayed under 4 percent. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell just below that level on Tuesday and the two-year fell to 4.4 percent. Yields move inversely to prices.
The swings in markets have come as the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation have proved difficult, which has made another large increase in interest rates all but certain when the central bank’s policymakers next meet in early November. Central bankers were previously expected to discuss slowing the interest rate increases in November, but inflation data that have come in worse than anticipated makes it likely that any pivot won’t happen until later in the year.
The uncertainty around the Fed’s path for rates later this year and next, and the outlook for the economy, mean stocks could remain unsteady for some time.
“We do not believe the conditions are in place for a sustained rally,” Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in an email. “Economic growth will likely continue to slow into the start of the new year.”
Elsewhere, London’s FTSE 100 closed 0.2 percent higher, adding to Monday’s gains after Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor of the Exchequer, upended Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax cut plan. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rose 0.3 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed with gains of 1.8 percent and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.4 percent.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, fell 3.1 percent to about $83 a barrel on Tuesday. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 1.7 percent to $90 a barrel.
In currency markets, the pound fell 0.2 percent versus the dollar, to $1.13. The yen, which slid to its weakest level since July 1990 on Monday, gained 0.1 percent against the dollar.
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Analysis: Three Things To Know About Recent Men's Basketball Commit Zayden High
Analysis: Three Things To Know About Recent Men's Basketball Commit Zayden High https://digitalarizonanews.com/analysis-three-things-to-know-about-recent-mens-basketball-commit-zayden-high/
In the late hours of Sunday evening, Hubert Davis and the UNC men’s basketball program added another piece to their 2023 recruiting class with the commitment of Texas senior forward Zayden High.
High announced his decision on ESPN2, picking UNC over Arkansas, Michigan, Texas and Villanova. According to the 247Sports recruiting database, High — the No. 48 player in the country — is the second top-50 commit in the Tar Heels’ 2023 recruiting class, joining No. 19 combo guard Simeon Wilcher from New Jersey.
The 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward spent his first three seasons at Smithson Valley High School in Texas, averaging 21 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. He will play his final high school season at AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Ariz.
When he arrives in Chapel Hill next fall, High could be an immediate contributor to a team that will potentially lose a number of pieces from this year’s squad. Here are three things to know about High and what he could bring to the Tar Heels.
He’s a late bloomer
Just three years ago, High was an overlooked, undersized 6-foot-1 guard. Now, he’s being described as one of the biggest “late bloomers” in the country.
Following an eight-inch growth spurt since his first high school season, High has maintained many of his guard skills to dominate both inside and out. Despite his now-larger frame, High looks comfortable as a ball-handler and acts as a three-level scorer.
Still a mostly unknown commodity in April, High dominated the AAU’s EYBL Orlando circuit as a member of JL3 Elite, where he averaged 21.7 points and shot 57 percent from the floor. In a matchup with top prospect – and former UNC commit – GG Jackson, High recorded 27 points and eight rebounds. His play was even more impressive the following day, when he scored 31 points and drilled three 3-pointers in a loss to Team CP3.
After Jackson committed to UNC in late April, all of the Tar Heels’ roster spots were seemingly filled, which forced Davis and the coaching staff to break off High’s recruitment. But once Jackson announced his decision to reclassify before flipping his commitment to South Carolina weeks later, the Tar Heels devoted their attention back to High, who took his official visit in late September.
With a still-improving skillset, High could serve in a number of different roles when it’s finally time for him to take the floor for the Tar Heels.
Immediate floor spacer
Compared to its tried and tested approach from previous years, the UNC offense looked a little different last season.
Rather than relying on its traditional formula of having two big men occupy the low blocks, Brady Manek – best known for his shooting ability – spent the majority of the season at power forward, where he knocked down over 40 percent of his triples on six attempts per game. This spacing allowed guards Caleb Love and RJ Davis to attack the rim more aggressively and also gave center Armando Bacot more one-on-one looks inside the paint.
With graduate transfer Pete Nance expected to take on a similar “stretch four” role this season, High seems to be next in line to following Nance’s eventual departure.
When analyzing High’s tape in AAU play, most of his shooting success came from drive-and-kick situations, where he used his high, quick release to serve as an effective floor spacer, something that could benefit Wilcher and fellow athletic guard Seth Trimble as they try to work their way inside.
Despite shooting just below 30 percent from downtown throughout his high school career, High’s mechanics and quick-trigger mentality should bode better in college play. Playing with other high-level talents should provide more open looks, and in a more defined role, he can act as a specialist in catch-and-shoot and pick-and-pop offensive sets.
If given the opportunity to share the floor with current first-year forward Jalen Washington, who Davis called “the best shooting big man coming out of high school that I’ve ever seen,” the Tar Heels could deploy an entire lineup of shooters that can stretch out opposing defenses and create mismatches across the court.
Defensive versatility
While High was likely recruited for his offensive skillset, he has also shown potential to be a plus defender at the college level.
Using his long frame and solid footwork, High averaged 1.2 blocks per game during the Nike Peach Jam event, which is one of the top showcases in the country. Most of his defensive activity came from chase-down blocks, where he used his quickness to emerge from the weak side and meet defenders at the rim.
As he adjusts to bigger, more skilled opponents in the low post, High’s defensive impact will likely come from holding his ground as a switchable defender, where he will be tasked with slowing down ball-handlers who look to exploit him in pick-and-roll situations. Once he fully grows into his body, he could emerge as a viable option that could guard almost every position on the floor.
@hunternelson_1
@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com
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OdySea Aquarium’s Giant Pacific Octopus, Tako, Dies https://digitalarizonanews.com/odysea-aquariums-giant-pacific-octopus-tako-dies/
SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Tako, OdySea Aquarium’s Giant Pacific Octopus, has passed away after entering her final stage of life earlier this year, known as senescence.
“Tako was gentle, loving, and unique; she created special bonds with everyone who cared for her at OdySea Aquarium. The perfect ambassador for her species, Tako truly became the real ‘octopus teacher,’ inspiring people everywhere to care about octopuses. She touched many hearts, and we will feel her indelible mark for a long time to come,” said Dave Peranteau, Director of Animal Care, on Facebook post by the OdySea Aquarium.
TAKO MADE A SPECIAL BOND BEFORE SHE LEFT
Paige Hundley, an Animal Care Specialist II at OdySea, was Tako’s primary caretaker.
She began working at the aquarium about a month after Tako arrived in 2020. The pair grew close during the pandemic when the aquarium was not open to guests.
“It was just us. We were able to create that bond. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we’ve created a very, very close bond,” Hundley told ABC15 earlier this year.
OdySea Aquarium
Senescence, Hundley explained, is when a female octopus enters the last stage of its life. They lay anywhere between 10,000 to 70,000 eggs and spend the remainder of their lives taking care of them. That can be weeks to months, depending on the octopus’ health.
To read more about Tako her caretaker and “senescence,” click here.
Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Trump Dossier Source Acquitted In Federal Court https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-dossier-source-acquitted-in-federal-court/
By: The Associated Press & Scripps National
A Russian-born analyst who provided the bulk of the information for a flawed dossier about former President Donald Trump was acquitted on Tuesday in a federal court.
Igor Danchenko was accused of lying to the FBI about his own sources for the information he passed on to British spy Christopher Steele.
The “Steele dossier” contained numerous allegations about connections between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Kremlin, and also included allegations of salacious sexual activity that Trump supposedly engaged in at a Moscow hotel.
Prosecutors say Danchenko should have been more forthcoming about his own sources and that if he had done so, the FBI would not have treated the dossier as credulously as it did. As it turned out, the FBI used the allegations in the dossier to obtain a surveillance warrant against a Trump campaign staffer, Carter Page.
Danchenko is being prosecuted by Special Counsel John Durham, who was appointed by then-Attorney General William Barr to investigate any misconduct in the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign and its alleged ties to Russia. Danchenko is the third person to be prosecuted by Durham. It is the first of Durham’s cases that delves deeply into the origins of the dossier, which Trump derided as fake news and a political witch hunt.
Durham’s other two cases resulted in an acquittal and a guilty plea with a sentence of probation.
In the Danchenko trial, prosecutors say he lied when he told the FBI he obtained some of his information during an anonymous phone call from a man he believed to be Millian, a former head of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.
They say Danchenko lied when he told the FBI he never “talked” with a man named Charles Dolan about the allegations contained in the dossier.
Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Audiobook Features Talks Between Trump And Bob Woodward
Audiobook Features Talks Between Trump And Bob Woodward https://digitalarizonanews.com/audiobook-features-talks-between-trump-and-bob-woodward/
Former President Donald Trump pauses while speaking at a rally at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Jos Luis Villegas, Pool) (José Luis Villegas, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
NEW YORK – More than eight hours of conversations between Donald Trump and Bob Woodward will be released next week as an audiobook.
Simon & Schuster Audio announced Tuesday that “The Trump Tapes” will be published Oct. 25. Woodward, along with Washington Post colleague Robert Costa, interviewed Trump in 2016, when he was seeking the Republican nomination for president. Woodward then interviewed the then-president 19 times in 2019-2020 for his bestselling book on the Trump administration, “Rage.”
“I’m doing something here that I’ve never done before, presenting the lengthy, raw interviews of my work,” Woodward comments in the introduction. “I wanted to put as much of Trump’s voice, his own words, out there for the historical record so people can hear and make their own assessments.”
Former first lady Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Vice President Mike Pence are among those who stopped by while Woodward and the president were speaking. The audiobook also includes Woodward’s discussions with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and national security adviser Robert O’Brien.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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McCarthy Signals GOP-Led House Likely To Oppose More Aid To Ukraine
McCarthy Signals GOP-Led House Likely To Oppose More Aid To Ukraine https://digitalarizonanews.com/mccarthy-signals-gop-led-house-likely-to-oppose-more-aid-to-ukraine/
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is signaling that if Republicans win the House majority in next month’s midterm elections, the GOP is likely to oppose more aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Since the invasion in February the majority of congressional Republicans and Democrats have united in authorizing billions of dollars in U.S. military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv as a geopolitical and moral stand against Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
McCarthy, who could be House speaker if Republicans triumph, indicated that that could end in a GOP-led House.
“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” he recently told Punchbowl News. “They just won’t do it.”
McCarthy suggested that Americans want Congress to focus on issues closer to home.
“There’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically,” he said. “Not doing the border, and people begin to weigh that. Ukraine is important, but at the same time, it can’t be the only thing they do, and it can’t be a blank check.”
The United States has authorized upward of $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, with more than $18.2 billion in security assistance given since January 2021. The Senate voted to finalize more than $40 billion in new military and humanitarian assistance in May, with Republicans being the only lawmakers voting against that package — the largest investment in Ukraine thus far.
Eleven Republican senators and 57 House GOP members opposed the legislation, arguing that more needs to be done to account for how the money is spent and to trace weapons and equipment sent to the battlefield.
On Friday, the United States announced an additional $725 million in security assistance for Ukraine, including more ammunition for high mobility rocket systems, or HIMARS, as well as precision-guided artillery rounds, antitank weapons and Humvees, according to a Pentagon statement.
Although most of the congressional leadership, most notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have been steadfast in support for Ukraine, voters in several states in January could send Republicans to Washington who are eager to oppose aid. The number of those wary of foreign aid and adherents of former president Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda are expected to grow in the next Congress.
In September, J.D. Vance, the venture capitalist and author who is locked in a close race for a U.S. Senate seat representing Ohio, said he wants “the Ukrainians to be successful” but not because of continued U.S. funding.
“I do think that we have to get to a point, and this is where we do disagree, we’ve got to stop the money spigot to Ukraine eventually,” he told the ABC affiliate in Toledo. “We cannot fund a long-term military conflict that I think ultimately has diminishing returns for our own country.”
Vance added, “I think we’re at the point where we’ve given enough money in Ukraine, I really do. … The Europeans need to step up. And frankly, if the Ukrainians and the Europeans, more importantly, knew that America wasn’t going to foot the bill, they might actually step up.”
Europe has provided a significant amount of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
In Arizona, Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters criticized the additional funding for Ukraine in May, claiming that the money should be used instead to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Under Joe Biden, it’s always America last,” he said in a video he tweeted. “Let’s be clear about what this means. It means no cease-fire. It means another foreign war where we pay for everything. Many more thousands of people will die. There’s no resolution, no end in sight. The risk of course is that a proxy war can escalate into an all-out nuclear war between nuclear powers.”
In New Hampshire, Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc said last week that more spending is not the answer to improving conditions in Ukraine.
“We must hold the administration accountable,” he told New Hampshire’s ABC affiliate. “We just can’t print this money. It’s money we don’t have, and it’s equipment that’s being thrown at a problem without any strategy, without any policy, and it’s not going to get the job done.”
These Republicans could join Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who in May temporarily held up $40 billion of aid to Ukraine, saying, “you can’t save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy.”
Nevada Republican Senate nominee Adam Laxalt tweeted in May that the $40 billion U.S. aid to Ukraine was a “shockingly abhorrent proposal.”
The loudest voices on the right on the issue, such as Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, have been outspoken in questioning aid to Ukraine.
The Conservative Political Action Conference in September posted, then deleted, a tweet that echoed Kremlin language and called for a halt to “gift-giving to Ukraine.” It later issued a statement reaffirming its stance on U.S. assistance. “We must oppose Putin, but American taxpayers should not be shouldering the vast majority of the cost,” it said.
A September Pew Research poll found that most Republicans and Democrats say that the U.S. is providing “about right” or “not enough” support to Ukraine, though 32 percent of Republicans said the U.S. is providing “too much,” a figure that has more than tripled since March (9 percent). Relatedly, Americans’ concern about Ukraine being defeated and taken over by Russia dropped from 55 percent in May to 38 percent in September.
McCarthy’s comments to Punch Bowl News drew an incredulous response from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who tweeted at McCarthy, “What in the absolute bloody hell is happening to @GOPLeader.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has warned that if the GOP wins the House, help for Ukraine would be in jeopardy.
“I just see a freight train coming, and that is Trump and his operation turning against aid for Ukraine,” he said on MSNBC. “House Republicans, if they were to take the majority, being preternaturally against anything Joe Biden is for — including the war in Ukraine — and there being a real crisis where the House Republican majority would refuse to support additional aid to Ukraine.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that she did not want to engage in hypotheticals about what could happen if Republicans gained control of the House, but she said the president would continue to support the Ukrainian people’s efforts to defend themselves.
“We will continue to work with Congress and continue to monitor those conversations on these efforts and support Ukraine as long as it takes,” she said. “We are going to keep that promise that we’re making to the brave Ukrainians who are fighting every day to fight for their freedom and their democracy.”
Scott Clement and Azi Paybarah contributed to this report.
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Ukrainians Struggle To Conserve Energy After Strikes Damage Power Stations
Ukrainians Struggle To Conserve Energy After Strikes Damage Power Stations https://digitalarizonanews.com/ukrainians-struggle-to-conserve-energy-after-strikes-damage-power-stations/
Image
A grocery store without electricity in Lviv, Ukraine, after a Russian missile attack last week.Credit…Reuters
KYIV, Ukraine — From towns near frontline battlefields to high-rises in the capital, Ukrainians were trying to conserve energy as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Tuesday that Russian attacks over the past eight days had destroyed 30 percent of Ukraine’s power stations and caused “massive blackouts across the country.”
The latest strikes have increased the likelihood of a miserable winter, with residents having to do without basic services such as heat and water. The World Health Organization has warned of the potential for a spiraling humanitarian crisis, given that a lack of access to fuel or electricity “could become a matter of life or death if people are unable to heat their homes.”
The United Nations’ human rights body has said that deliberate strikes on such civilian targets could constitute a war crime. Mr. Zelensky urged Ukrainians in his nightly address on Monday to reduce their electricity use during peak hours to “enable the whole country to go through this period more stably,” and many residents and businesses have been doing their part.
In his statement on Tuesday, he did not specify which power stations had sustained significant damage. On Tuesday, blasts hit a district on the eastern shore of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, according to the mayor, along with cities in the north and center of the country.
The strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks have targeted both electrical infrastructure and thermal power plants. Many cities and towns rely on a centralized system to heat homes, pumping water from these thermal plants though pipes that reach houses and large apartment complexes across the region.
If the plants are damaged — or the pipes — it could threaten heating across a wide area. Those who rely on electric heaters also risk facing a winter without proper warmth in their houses because of rolling blackouts.
The attack on Kyiv killed three people and knocked out electricity and water in parts of the city, officials said, and came one day after Russia struck the city with exploding Iranian-made drones, apparently targeting electricity and heating facilities.
In Kyiv, lights flickered just after 9 a.m., and residents living in the city’s eastern reaches said they had heard an explosion. The mayor, Vitaly Klitschko, said that an “object of critical infrastructure” had been struck. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in Mr. Zelensky’s office, said that at least three strikes had hit an energy site, resulting in “serious damage,” without elaborating.
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Video showed smoke rising near power plants in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian attacks in recent days have destroyed 30 percent of the nation’s power stations, causing large-scale blackouts.CreditCredit…Unknown via Storyful
By midmorning, people in Kyiv were lining up at stores to fill bottles with fresh water, and electricity suppliers warned that the city would experience blackouts while repairs were underway.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that it had launched long-range strikes on Tuesday targeting “the military control and energy systems of Ukraine” and depots storing foreign-supplied military weapons and equipment, and that “all the assigned targets had been neutralized.” It was not possible to verify the claim.
Even as Russia’s forces lose ground on the battlefield to Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east and south, Moscow has stepped up its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including many, like Kyiv, that lie far from the front lines.
On social media, shops, banks and other major retailers have posted photos of the measures that they are taking to reduce energy use, such as turning off illuminated signs. In the capital, some billboards are no longer lit up at night, and streetlights are being partly turned off. Still, towns and cities across Ukraine are dealing with rolling blackouts or going without power entirely.
In Washington, Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said on Tuesday that, with its latest airstrikes on Ukraine’s electrical grid, the Kremlin was “obviously trying to inflict pain on the civilian society as well as try to have an impact on Ukrainian forces.”
“But what we’ve seen so far is Ukraine be very resilient and their ability to get things like their power grids back up online quickly,” General Ryder told reporters.
Oleksandra Mykolyshyn and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting.
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“We are stronger when we act together,” said Ursula von der Leyen, center, the president of the E.U. executive arm.Credit…Julien Warnand/EPA, via Shutterstock
BRUSSELS — The European Union unveiled a fresh proposal on Tuesday for emergency measures to tackle the energy crisis that has rocked the continent, sending utility prices soaring and threatening Europeans with bankruptcy.
Europeans depend on natural gas to heat their homes and to keep their industry going. Before Russia invaded Ukraine, imports from Moscow amounted to 40 percent of E.U. countries’ gas consumption. But to punish the bloc for its support for Ukraine, Russia has been toying with its energy supply, a tactic that has contributed to punishing heating and electricity prices.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission — the E.U. executive arm, which drafts Europe-wide legislation — said on Tuesday that Europe’s response to what she called a “severe knock-on effect” of Russia’s war in Ukraine should be more solidarity.
“We are stronger when we act together,” Ms. von der Leyen told reporters while presenting the proposals.
The draft legislation comes after weeks of intense debate among member countries, which have pushed in shifting coalitions for various potential solutions to the crisis, including a controversial price cap on natural gas.
On Tuesday, the commission shied away from a straightforward cap, and focused instead on joint purchasing of gas, cutting down further on gas consumption, and strengthening fuel sharing between countries in case Russia turns off the taps completely. It also proposed limited interventions in the energy market to rein in prices.
E.U. countries have different energy mixes and policies, and experts warned that finding a “fit for all” solution to the complex crisis might not be feasible. But the energy market is regulated at E.U. level, and the commission has been under increasing pressure from national governments to come up with a stronger collective response.
Beyond technicalities, the issue of how to shield Europe from soaring energy prices is deeply political. Reducing the amount of gas imported from Russia has left a gap in the E.U. market, and despite a frenzied hunt for other energy sources, supply across the bloc does not match demand. The question remains about who is going to foot the bill for this mismatch, and how.
In order to find a compromise, the commission proposed creating a new way to price natural gas inside the bloc. But a new pricing mechanism will take months to design. In the meantime, the commission suggested there should be the option of a price limit as a last resort in emergencies, but it did not elaborate on technical details.
So far, member countries have focused mainly on subsidies for struggling businesses and households, and last month the bloc adopted an emergency tax on revenues of energy companies in order to partially finance the handouts. But E.U. members do not have equal fiscal firepower, and there was a growing concern among poorer countries that they would be left behind.
On Tuesday, the commission proposed allowing national governments to support citizens and industry using 40 billion euros — about $39 billion — previously earmarked for regional development.
National leaders are poised to discuss commission’s proposals at a summit in Brussels later this week.
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A protest outside Iran’s embassy in Kyiv after Russia used Iranian-supplied explosive drones to attack the city on Monday.Credit…Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
Ukraine should sever diplomatic relations with Iran because the country has made itself an accomplice to Russia’s invasion by supplying weapons to Moscow, including self-destructing drones that have killed dozens of civilians, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday.
Mr. Kuleba said he was submitting a proposal to President Volodymyr Zelensky to formally cut Ukraine’s ties with Tehran. Ukraine, after shooting down an Iranian-made drone last month, reduced its relations with the country to a minimum, he added.
“We have officially named Iran as an accomplice in the crime of Russian aggression, war crimes and Russian terrorism,” Mr. Kuleba said at a news conference, a day after asking a gathering of European Union ministers to impose new sanctions against Iran over its involvement in the conflict.
Mr. Kuleba said that Iran was responsible for the breakdown in relations between the countries, citing the destruction Iranian drones had inflicted on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, as well as the “deaths and suffering caused to our people.”
Russia has killed dozens of people across Ukraine since Oct. 10, targeting both civilian areas and electricity and heating facilities in a series of attacks with missiles and exploding drones made in Iran. The strikes were in retaliation for an explosion on Oct. 8 on a bridge linking Crimea with Russia; Ukraine has hinted that its forces were responsible.
On Tuesday, an attack on the capital, Kyiv, killed three people and knocked out electricity and water in parts of the city, officials said. A day earlier, an attack in which drones were used targeted electricity and heating facilities.
A spokesman for Iran’s foreign...
Home Sellers Now Get Instant Cash Offers With Real-Time Updates
Home Sellers Now Get Instant Cash Offers With Real-Time Updates https://digitalarizonanews.com/home-sellers-now-get-instant-cash-offers-with-real-time-updates/
Zoodealio member helping home sellers
Zoodealio’s updated Offer Dashboard with instant offers
Real estate agents make it easy for home sellers to get instant cash offers and real-time updates giving them ability to sell their home with certainty
It’s kinda like using Amazon Prime to sell your home.”
— Kala Laos, CEO, Zoodealio
GILBERT, AZ, USA, October 18, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Zoodealio, the real estate industry’s leading independent iBuyer platform announced today they have added several enhancements and new features to their platform. The updated user interface now gives potential sellers access to details on all of the selling options available to them, an instant home valuation and real-time preliminary cash offers. All of these have been developed to increase user engagement and ultimately to provide agents and brokers with high quality seller leads.
“This is not just an estimate of value, this is a cash offer to purchase the home right now,” said Kala Laos, co-founder and CEO of Zoodealio. The customer facing site has been enhanced to allow potential home sellers to provide more detail on their first visit to the site. Now potential home sellers can see their preliminary cash offers increase as they add more data, this gives them the opportunity to make better informed selling decisions faster than a comparative market analysis alone. “When sellers view their Offer Dashboard, they can instantly see cash offers and other selling solutions, alongside what their real estate agent can sell their home for on the open market.”
Zoodealio serves three distinct groups, sellers who need a home sold quickly and efficiently, investors who need to buy homes that fit their business model, and agents who need solid marketing and lead generation options to survive. This update sets up a win, win, win situation: potential sellers get the cash offer and/or representation they need instantly, investors get the opportunity to buy the inventory they desire and agents get warmer leads and more listings. “One of the ways we help everyone involved is by giving the seller the opportunity to increase their preliminary offer by adding more details and images, this will increase engagement and provide agents and brokers with much warmer leads to call on, and help home sellers make better selling decisions,” said Zoodealio co-founder and COO Eliot Tomaszewski.
Asked about the importance of these updates Kala Laos said, “We are constantly working on improving, it’s in our DNA. Real estate is an industry where we are constantly adapting. At Zoodealio we’re always listening to our members, sellers and real estate pros alike, to keep our technology on the cutting edge. In this update we went in to answer our agent’s need for high quality leads and the sellers need to see real cash offers they can accept right now.” These needs mesh well together and the addition of the instant preliminary offer that shows the difference in selling solutions fills both needs. “It’s kinda like using Amazon Prime to sell your home,” she added.
Tomaszewski said, “Agents tell us Zoodealio is an indispensable tool. Most sellers would gladly trade some equity for the convenience of an all cash offer and Zoodealio has access to vast amounts of institutional funds so real estate agents can now offer a viable option for the one in 20 homes that are sold to an iBuyer. It puts a full suite of real estate tools at agents’ fingertips, these make the decision easy for agents and brokers.”
“It is highly unlikely that any software to system will eliminate the need for agents to guide buyers and sellers through the process. Real estate is a high touch, high trust industry, we are helping to streamline the process,” said Laos. With the new update agents will have easier access to the tools they use everyday to attract motivated sellers, Zoodealio members understand the need to develop and nurture real-world human connections in the real estate space, the new update gives clients a much smoother user experience on the front end and several new tools for the agents on the back end.
Since 2020, thousands of real estate agents have used the software to evolve with the market rather than risk going “extinct” as the new technology takes over. And Zoodealio empowers agents, preserving their foothold in the community and retaining that “human touch” that knows a house is also a home for each seller. By contrast, an iBuyer offer is driven purely by an algorithm without considering the intricacies of a local market. If a seller does opt for an iBuyer offer for their home, the agent is still offered a commission.
Learn how the tools Zoodealio offers can help you maintain – and grow – your real estate business. Find out more at Zoodealio.com.
John Seelye
Zoodealio
pr@zoodealio.com
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Mesa Becomes Latest City To Regulate Short-Term Rentals
Mesa Becomes Latest City To Regulate Short-Term Rentals https://digitalarizonanews.com/mesa-becomes-latest-city-to-regulate-short-term-rentals/
MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — Mesa is now the latest city to regulate short-term rentals, mirroring what other East Valley cities have done to combat problems and community complaints.
Arizona’s Family has previously reported on a plethora of problems impacting homeowners and community members after a surge in investment-type properties, some of which are being run like hotels, operating in otherwise quiet, family-oriented suburban neighborhoods.
What does this ordinance do for Mesa residents?
Requires compliance with city codes and applicable laws, including zoning, tax, noise, and health and safety
Requires emergency contact information of a local person(s) responsible for responding to complaints and emergencies
Requires notifying neighboring properties that a property will be used as a short-term rental
Establishes minimum liability insurance requirements
Prohibits uses per statute including, housing sex offenders, sober living homes, selling liquor or illegal drugs, obscenity, pornography, adult-oriented business, special events and retail
Defines grounds and processes for denial and suspension of license
Establishes civil penalties against owners and others
Short-term rentals, long-term problems for Valley residents
Tourists often flock to the East Valley to enjoy the mild Arizona winter and popular events like the WM Phoenix Open. With the Super Bowl just around the corner in February, even more are expected across the Valley as the new year rolls around. Many of them book through sites like Airbnb & VBRO. Earlier this year, new laws in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley went into effect. Both cities allow police to issue citations to both the renters and the property owners and provide emergency contact. It’s supposed to keep both parties accountable.
“I feel like I live in an unregulated, 24/7 after-hours bar district. So when the bar in Tempe or Scottsdale closes, they come home and continue the party here,” Scottsdale homeowner Stephanie Nestlerode told Arizona’s Family in February. “We chose this area across from the school, because we were looking to start a family in a quieter area where we grew up, and it just backfired entirely.”
In the latest legislative session, Senate Bill 1168 was passed which protects thousands of Arizona homeowners who share their homes on the site and offers guidelines to communities to address particular properties that are becoming a nuisance. In September, Arizona’s Family found that the City of Phoenix was failing to properly audit short-term rentals. The city ordinance requires short-term rentals to be registered with the city or face a fine. Since January 2020, there have been 1504 but activist group Arizona Neighborhood Alliance co-founder Susan Edwards says that number is much higher.
What’s next?
City officials say the ordinance is scheduled to take effect in February 2023. Councilmembers are still working to determine license fees and fine amounts.
Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
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Here's What's At Stake In November's Midterm Elections
Here's What's At Stake In November's Midterm Elections https://digitalarizonanews.com/heres-whats-at-stake-in-novembers-midterm-elections/
The 2022 midterm elections— the first mid-cycle contests of Joe Biden’s presidency — are shaping up to be one for the history books.
According to a new analysis from pollster Echelon Insights, an estimated 125.6 million Americans are expected to turn out in November’s midterm contests. Such a figure would shatter the record set in 2018’s midterms, which saw 53.4% of the eligible voting-age population cast their ballots, according to the Census Bureau.
And already voters are starting to come out in full force: As of Tuesday, Oct. 18, at least 2.8 million people already cast their ballots in the midterms, according to the United States Elections Project. That includes the more than 131,000 Georgia voters who cast their ballots early on the first day of early voting on Monday, Oct. 17, handily beating the previous first-day record for a midterm of 72,000, per state election official Gabriel Sterling.
And with the issues at stake in November’s midterms, it’s easy to see why voters on both sides of the aisle are expected to turn out in droves.
Up for grabs in November is control of Congress — the House and Senate are both narrowly controlled by Democrats — as well as several key gubernatorial races across the country, including in key battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, which narrowly decided the 2020 presidential election.
There are also a number of key ballot initiatives in states across the country, with referendums on issues from voting rights to recreational marijuana, as well as the right to an abortion. November’s contests feature six ballot measures related to abortion, with these being the first midterm contests since the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in June.
The battle over abortion rights looks to be a key issue in these elections, with some advocates calling it “Roe-vember” and banking on a surge in voter registration and enthusiasm following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion.
Many voters are also expected to be focused on the economy, with inflation still near a 40-year high and Americans feeling the pain everywhere from the grocery store to the gas pump, though prices of the latter have fallen significantly and largely steadily since hitting an all-time high in June.
Recent polls have shown that both issues are top of mind for Americans heading into the midterms, with economic issues often slightly outpacing abortion in recent surveys.
Here’s a look at what’s at stake in November’s elections:
The balance of power
Currently, both chambers of Congress are under the control of Democrats.
In the House, Democrats hold a narrow 220-212 majority, with three vacancies due to deaths and resignations.
The Senate is deadlocked — a 50-50 split, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking any ties, giving Democrats the majority.
In a typical year, the midterms are a referendum on the current occupant of the White House, and generally do not leave behind good results for the president’s party, which typically loses an average of 28 House seats and 4 Senate seats in midterms, according to historical trends.
But experts say that might not be the case come November.
According to a forecast from FiveThirtyEight, Republicans have a roughly 75% chance of taking control of the House, though their odds dropped slightly following June’s abortion ruling. The outlet also gives Democrats an approximately 2-in-3 chance to keep the Senate, with the possibility of the president’s party even adding to their majority in the upper chamber.
In addition to the abortion ruling, experts predict Democrats’ chances may have improved thanks also to lower gas prices and a string of legislative victories for President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats — including the sweeping climate change, health care and tax reform bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Democrats alone, and the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill aimed at boosting semiconductor research that has spurred a string of recent investments from major technology companies.
“I think the president’s party is going to lose seats in the House,” David Barker, Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, told Spectrum News last month. “I would be extremely shocked if they didn’t lose seats. But four months ago, it looked like they might lose 40 seats. Right now, it looks like they might lose 10 to 15.”
“Things were looking really, really bad for the Democrats,” he added. “And then since June, we’ve seen this this turnaround in terms of registration, in terms of polling, in terms of fundraising.”
But some experts warn that voter registration does not always equate to turnout. Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says Republicans could still walk away from the November election with control of Congress.
“Usually what the public will sort of negatively react to and have a referendum on in the midterm is something that the president’s party does that they don’t like,” Kondik told Spectrum News. “In this instance, it was an unpopular decision rendered by a Supreme Court that’s controlled by the party that doesn’t control the presidency and Congress.”
“Given the tiny majorities Democrats have [in] both [the] House and Senate … Republicans could have both chambers, just like they hope to have,” he added.
Key Congressional races to watch
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. Senate is up for grabs in November.
With control of Congress hanging in the balance, all eyes are on races in a few key states.
In the Senate:
Georgia: Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who won a closely watched special election in Jan. 2021, is facing off against former football star and Republican Herschel Walker for a full term in the Senate
Pennsylvania: Celebrity physician Dr. Oz is up against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to replace retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey
Ohio: Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan is squaring off against “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance to replace Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who is retiring
North Carolina: Trump-backed Rep. Ted Budd is facing Democrat Cheri Beasley, former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr
Wisconsin: Incumbent GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is on the ticket against Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes
Nevada: Incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is squaring off against Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, who previously served as the state’s attorney general
Arizona: Incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly faces Trump-endorsed venture capitalist Blake Masters
New Hampshire: Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, is up against Retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, a Republican
With the exception of Ohio and North Carolina, all of those states were won by President Biden in 2020 — including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona, which Trump won in 2016 but lost four years later.
Polling in many of these races have tightened in recent weeks, and both parties see opportunities for pickups to try and flip the Senate’s 50-50 deadlock. It’s unclear how recent controversies surrounding Walker, the GOP’s candidate in Georgia, and questions about Democrat Fetterman’s health in Pennsylvania will impact both races.
Thanks to the redistricting process, which took place over the course of the last year following the results of the 2020 Census, the makeup of the House of Representatives may look a little different. The new Congressional map largely preserves a slight Republican advantage, thanks in part to new maps in Florida and Texas. Though Democrats gained more seats that lean toward them, according to an analysis from FiveThirtyEight, court decisions striking down much friendlier maps in New York and Maryland put them at a disadvantage going into November’s midterms.
A FiveThirtyEight analysis also points out that there are fewer competitive districts in the new Congressional map.
Surprisingly, some experts and lawmakers predict that the House majority may be decided just within the reliably blue states of New York and California, with possible pickup opportunities for members of both parties.
In New York, nine out of the state’s 26 Congressional seats are seen as competitive, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, including key races in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island.
New York has more compteitive races of any state other than California. Per Cook, the Golden State has 10 competitive races: One listed as “likely Democratic,” two listed as “likely Republican,” four that lean toward either party, split evenly, and three listed as “toss-up” races.
But a crucial special election win over the summer may give New York Democrats some hope: In August, Democrat Pat Ryan won a special election in New York’s 19th Congressional District over former GOP gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro, a swing district that went for Barack Obama in 2012, Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020.
Ryan campaigned as a vociferous defender of abortion rights, while Molinaro stumped on the economy and crime. Polls never showed Ryan leading, including one released the day of the election which showed Molinaro up by 8 points.
Ryan is running again in the newly redrawn 18th district against Republican Colin Schmitt, while Molinaro is running in the 19th against Democrat Josh Riley. A recent Spectrum News-Siena College poll shows Riley leading Molinaro, while Cook recently listed the Ryan-Schmitt race as “Leans Democratic.”
In California, Republicans are hoping to compete in Orange County, a historically GOP-leaning region that has recently shifted more to the left, and the Central Valley, an area known for its agriculture, though ...
The Fed Staring Down Two Big Choices Charts An Aggressive Path
The Fed, Staring Down Two Big Choices, Charts An Aggressive Path https://digitalarizonanews.com/the-fed-staring-down-two-big-choices-charts-an-aggressive-path/
Federal Reserve officials are barreling toward another three-quarter point increase in November, and they may decide to do more as inflation refuses to budge.
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The Federal Reserve is poised to raise interest rates by three quarters of a point next month.Credit…Al Drago for The New York Times
Oct. 18, 2022Updated 3:28 p.m. ET
Federal Reserve officials have coalesced around a plan to raise interest rates by three quarters of a point next month as policymakers grow alarmed by the staying power of rapid price increases — and increasingly worried that inflation is now feeding on itself.
Such concerns could also prompt the Fed to raise rates at least slightly higher next year than previously forecast as officials face two huge choices at their coming meetings: when to slow rapid rate increases and when to stop them altogether.
Central bankers had expected to debate slowing down at their November meeting, but a rash of recent data suggesting that the labor market is still strong and that inflation is unrelenting has them poised to delay serious discussion of a smaller move for at least a month. The conversation about whether to scale back is now more likely to happen in December. Investors have entirely priced in a fourth consecutive three-quarter point move at the Fed’s Nov. 1-2 meeting, and officials have made no effort to change that expectation.
Officials may also feel the need to push rates higher than they had expected as recently as September, as inflation remains stubborn even in the face of substantial moves to try to wrestle it under control. While the central bank had penciled in a peak rate of 4.6 next year, that could nudge up depending on incoming data. Rates are now set around 3.1 percent, and the Fed’s next forecast will be released in December.
Fed officials have grown steadily more aggressive in their battle against inflation this year, as the price burst sweeping the globe proves more persistent than just about anyone had expected. And for now, they have little reason to let up: A report last week showed that Consumer Price Index prices climbed by 6.6 percent in the year through September even after stripping out food and fuel prices — a new 40-year high for that closely watched core index.
“It’s a little bit hard to slow down without an apparent reason,” said Alan Blinder, a former Fed vice chair who is now at Princeton University. Mr. Blinder expects the Fed to make another big move at this coming meeting. “If you were Jay Powell and the Fed and slowed to 50, what would you say?” he said. “They can’t say we’ve seen progress on inflation, that would be laughed out of court.”
Policymakers came into the year expecting to barely lift interest rates in 2022, forecasting that they would close out the year below 1 percent, up from around zero. But as inflation ratcheted steadily higher and then plateaued near the quickest pace since the early 1980s, they have become more determined to stamp it out, even if doing so comes at a near-term cost to the economy.
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Consumer prices continue to increase rapidly month after month. Those increases are driven by a broad array of goods and services and have been stubborn even in the face of the Fed’s policy moves.Credit…John Taggart for The New York Times
Officials are afraid that if they allow fast inflation to linger, it will become a permanent feature of the American economy. Workers might ask for bigger wage increases each year if they think that costs will steadily increase. Companies, anticipating higher wage bills and feeling confident that consumers will not be shocked by price increases, might increase what they’re charging more drastically and regularly.
“The longer the current bout of high inflation continues, the greater the chance that expectations of higher inflation will become entrenched,” Mr. Powell warned at his news conference last month.
Inflation F.A.Q.
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What is inflation? Inflation is a loss of purchasing power over time, meaning your dollar will not go as far tomorrow as it did today. It is typically expressed as the annual change in prices for everyday goods and services such as food, furniture, apparel, transportation and toys.
What causes inflation? It can be the result of rising consumer demand. But inflation can also rise and fall based on developments that have little to do with economic conditions, such as limited oil production and supply chain problems.
Is inflation bad? It depends on the circumstances. Fast price increases spell trouble, but moderate price gains can lead to higher wages and job growth.
Can inflation affect the stock market? Rapid inflation typically spells trouble for stocks. Financial assets in general have historically fared badly during inflation booms, while tangible assets like houses have held their value better.
There are mounting signs in the data that today’s inflation is less and less the result of one-off trends that are likely to fade on their own over time. Supply chains are healing, and shipping costs that had spiked have come back down, but consumer prices continue to increase rapidly month after month. Those increases are driven by a broad array of goods and services, including climbing housing costs, pet care services and dental visits.
In their latest meeting minutes, officials acknowledged that “inflation was declining more slowly than they had previously been anticipating” and that price pressures “had persisted across a broad array of product categories.” Since then, inflation has only shown signs of deepening: Even measures of inflation that try to strip out noise in the data are unusually firm.
And there is little evidence, so far, that the Fed’s policy is working to tamp down price increases. Fed moves take time to play out, but their effects are already pretty clear in overall economic data: The housing market is slowing sharply, demand is beginning to pull back and people are eating into their savings stockpiles. Yet prices have shown little reaction to those trends.
“We haven’t yet made meaningful progress on inflation,” Christopher Waller, a Fed governor, said during a recent speech.
If that continues, it could force Fed officials to do more next year to constrain rate increases. James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a voter on policy this year, signaled in an interview with Reuters last week that he might favor another big three-quarter point rate increase in December — taking the policy rate to around 4.6 percent — and then further moves next year.
It’s “very possible” that incoming data could push officials “higher on the policy rate,” he said. He said it was also possible that price increases would begin to fade, however, allowing for a pause.
Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citi, expects that Fed officials will slow their rate increases in line with their most recent economic projections: moving by three-quarters of a point in November, half a point in December and a quarter point early in 2023 before pausing. But he said there were notable risks that they end up raising rates by more.
“The Fed has struggled to explain that even if it hikes by less than three quarters of a point, it remains determined to fight against inflation,” Mr. Sheets said.
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Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said last month, “The longer the current bout of high inflation continues, the greater the chance that expectations of higher inflation will become entrenched.”Credit…Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The central bank does not want investors to believe that its dedication to fighting inflation is beginning to crack. If market players think that, financial conditions might ease, making credit cheaper and more available and working at cross purposes to the Fed’s goals. That happened after Mr. Powell’s July news conference, when the chair hinted that rate increases might soon slow, and investors incorrectly began to expect an imminent central bank retreat.
“When he opened the door to it, the market said, ‘Aha! The Fed’s pivoting,’” Mr. Sheets said. “It’s been a tricky message so far.”
Of course, there are some reasons to hope that the inflation picture could change, which would give the Fed a more clear-cut reason to slow down.
Used car prices are coming down at a wholesale level, and that could begin to more fully feed into consumer prices. Retailers are announcing discounts as inventories pile up. Companies, which continue to rake in unusually high profits as they manage to charge more than their goods and services cost to produce, are expected to slash their profit guidance as consumers begin to pull back.
There are also some nascent signs that the labor market is cooling back to something more normal. Job openings have begun to come down, and average hourly earnings have shown signs of moderating.
But hiring has persisted at an unusually rapid pace, and a quarterly measure of wages and benefit compensation that the Fed puts greater stock in — the Employment Cost Index — has continued to climb rapidly. That could keep pressure on service prices, as restaurants and health care providers try to cover rising labor bills, and higher pay could help consumers to keep spending.
At the same time, new problems could emerge: Gas prices have risen again this month, for instance, and their future trajectory is uncertain.
Recent history offers plenty of reasons for caution. The Fed has spent 18 months hoping that inflation would soon abate, only to have that expectation repeatedly dashed by reality.
But with an outlook that is so uncertain, officials have emphasized in recent speeches that policy will be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis — one r...
