Thursday, May 5th, 2022
Historic Rate Hike, Chappelle Attacked & Cinco de Mayo
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Pampers.com and kiwico.com (Listen for the discount code)
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to peruse the latest happenings.
Fed Raises Interest Rates
The Federal Reserve approved its steepest interest rate increase in more than two decades. The target for short-term interest rates is going up by half a percentage point to about 1%. The idea is to slow the economy as a way to deal with the highest inflation in four decades. The Fed thinks there will be about six more rate hikes like this before the year is out. This means credit card rates will likely rise as well as home mortgages, the cost of an auto loan, and more. Still, the Fed told Americans to be patient while officials work to bring inflation under control.
Read More: WSJ, CNBC, Axios, Reuters, AP, Federal Reserve
Stock Market Jump
It seems investors took the news from the Federal Reserve in stride. Stocks rallied. The Dow and S&P 500 both had their best day in two years, and the Nasdaq was also up. Reports say that’s because the Fed ruled out lifting rates too fast. It will increase them by half a percentage point at a time, but some had speculated that it would be higher. On top of the news from the central bank, the Treasury secretary said the U.S. economy remains strong.
Read More: NPR, NY Times, CNN, The Hill
EU Proposes Russian Oil Import Ban
The European Union has laid out its proposal to ban all Russian oil by the end of this year. Right now, the EU gets about a quarter of its oil from Russia, and most of that goes toward gas and diesel for vehicles. Analysts say cutting that off is likely to send fuel prices soaring. However, the European Commission president says it’s worth it since Russia gets a lot of its money from the energy business, and a lot of it is reportedly funding the war in Ukraine. To take effect, the proposal needs to be unanimously approved by all 27 countries in the EU. It’s being debated now, and EU officials are pushing for a final decision this week.
Read More: WaPo, AP, WSJ, Reuters, European Commission
Southwestern Wildfires Latest
It’s starting to look more like this is going to be an extremely active wildfire season in the western U.S. As of this week, wildfires have burned more than a million acres of land. That’s more than twice the number by this same time last year. Forecasters at Accuweather expect the trend to continue for the whole western half of the country. As of this morning, the worst fires are burning in New Mexico. There are seven large wildfires in that state that have torched more than 350 square miles so far. That’s a larger area than all of Dallas, Texas. Thousands of people have evacuated, and hundreds of homes have burned.
Read More: Accuweather, CBS News, NY Times, Axios, InciWeb, NM Governor, White House
Olympians Visit White House
This week, the White House hosted one of the largest gatherings of Team USA athletes. Olympians and Paralympians were there to celebrate their successes at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Both of those Olympics were disrupted in some way by the pandemic, which meant their White House trips were also postponed. However, they were celebrated yesterday. More than 600 American athletes showed up with more than 260 medals. President Biden praised them for enduring a lot. He told them, “You represent the very soul of America.”
Read More: NBC Sports, WaPo, CNN, White House
New Stanford Climate School
It’s the largest gift ever given to a university to establish a new school. Stanford University is about to get a new school focused solely on climate change. It’s thanks to an investment from one of the most successful venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, John Doerr. He and his wife are giving Stanford $1.1 billion. With that, the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability will open this fall. There, people will be able to take classes about planetary science, energy technology, and food and water security, among other things. It will also house a center focused on developing practical policy and technology solutions to the climate crisis.
Read More: NY Times, Reuters, WSJ, Stanford
Dave Chappelle Attacked On Stage
There was a scary moment at this week’s “Netflix is a Joke” festival in Los Angeles. Comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked while he was on stage. An armed man came at him with a replica handgun with a knife inside. He tackled Chappelle to the ground before security and other people hauled the attacker away. Chappelle wasn’t hurt, and he went on with the show. The suspect was charged with assault. So far, it’s not clear what motivated him. Officials are also trying to figure out how he was able to get past security and onto the stage without credentials.
Read More: LA Times, CBS News, Fox News, NPR, LAPD
FDA Warns Delta-8 Companies
The FDA is cracking down on delta-8 THC. It’s a compound derived from cannabis. Even though it’s not the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, it can still give you a high. It’s a grey area legally, in part because it can be derived from a similar part of the marijuana plant as CBD, which is not psychoactive. Some businesses have been openly selling products with delta-8 THC in stores and online. The FDA says some companies are making claims about the compound as a treatment or cure for certain medical conditions. The FDA issued warning letters about it this week, and it reminds people that those products and claims are all unapproved.
Read More: Insider, MarketWatch, WSB, FDA
Intuit TurboTax Settlement
The largest online tax preparer in the U.S. will be paying back millions of its customers. Intuit, the company behind TurboTax, agreed to pay $141 million in restitution to 4.4 million customers. It’s to settle claims by all 50 states and Washington, D.C. that its ads were misleading. The lawsuit said customers who thought they were using a free version were charged when it came time to file their taxes since they didn’t have “simple” tax returns. As part of the agreement, Intuit is not saying it did anything wrong, but it will stop certain ads that promoted its software as “free, free, free.” Customers can expect to get checks in the mail.
Read More: AP, WaPo, CNBC, Reuters, NY AG
Starbucks NFT Collections
Starbucks hopes you’ll want to add an NFT with your coffee orders in the future. The chain says it plans to launch an NFT collection later this year. Customers will be able to get a new, unique digital collectible of some sort that also doubles as an access pass to a Starbucks community online with various experiences and perks. There aren’t many more details yet, but it’s expected to launch in the next few months.
Read More: The Verge, TechCrunch, Fortune, Starbucks
Healthy Nonuplets Celebrate Birthday
The world’s only nonuplets have turned one. The nine babies were born on May 4th of last year and have the Guinness World Record title for the most children at a single birth to survive. They were born at 30 weeks and were each between one and two pounds. Now, it seems they’re thriving. Their father told BBC News they’re all crawling, some are walking, and they’re in “perfect health.” He admitted, “it’s not easy”, but they’re happy. There are five girls and four boys.
Read More: BBC, Today, Guinness World Records
Thing to Know Thursday: Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo started in Mexico to celebrate the Mexican army’s big and unexpected victory over the French empire in 1862. The earliest celebrations were about fighting for democracy and freedom. However, it’s now observed more in the U.S. than in Mexico. Every year, communities throw parades and parties full of mariachi music, Mexican folk dancing, and traditional foods. Today, the president and first lady in the U.S. will host a Cinco de Mayo reception at the White House with the first lady of Mexico. Some restaurants are celebrating by offering discounts like Chipotle, Chili’s, and On the Border.
Read More: USA Today, NY Times, History, Thrillist, NJ.Com