Monday, June 13 top stories
It is Monday, June 13. I am back in the studio. Thank you Callie Frye for covering top stories on Thursday and Friday. Here are today’s top stories.
Inflation up 8.6% in May
The U.S. government reported on Friday that prices for goods and services are now up 8.6% compared with the same time last year. It is the fastest increase since December 1981.
The sharp rise of the cost of gasoline is a major reason why inflation is going into new heights.
There are now increasing fears that the U.S. economy will go into a recession. U.S. stocks and cryptocurrency have plunged in June.
Justin Bieber diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome
Singer Justin Bieber announced on Instagram that he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which causes facial weakness or paralysis. Bieber said it is from a virus that attacks a nerve in his ear and facial nerves.
Bieber showed that the right side of his face was paralyzed by smiling — only one side of the mouth was able to curve upwards. He said he has to cancel several of his upcoming shows so he can be focused on recovery.
Mayo Clinic said the “syndrome occurs in people who’ve had chickenpox. Once you recover from chickenpox, the virus stays in your body — sometimes reactivating in later years to cause shingles.” For most people, the facial paralysis is temporary, but in some cases it can be permanent.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the best way to prevent the syndrome is to get vaccinated against chickenpox or for those older than 50, to get the shingles vaccine.
Three people killed in Maryland workplace shooting
On Thursday, a man opened fire on his co-workers at a factory in Smithsburg, Maryland, killing three people.
The suspect, Joe Louis Esquivel (23), went to work on that day for his normal shift but during a break, he went to his vehicle to grab his handgun and returned back inside and went to the break room and opened fire.
Esquivel then fled the scene in his car. Police officers were able to find his car and stop him, but he opened fire on the officers, who returned fire. Esquivel was injured and was arrested. An officer was also wounded.
It is not clear why Esquivel did this. He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and over 20 other related charges.
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31 white supremacists arrested in Idaho
On Saturday in Idaho, 31 members of a white nationalist group called Patriot Front were discovered huddled in a U-Haul truck.
Police arrested all of the men on suspicion of conspiring to riot during a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene.
The men were from at least 12 different states. Images show that all of the men were dressed in identical navy blue t-shirts, white masks, and khaki pants.
Police said the group had riot gear, a smoke grenade, and paperwork that showed an operations plan. Police said the men were prepared to cause mayhem and riot during the Pride event.
All of the men bonded out of jail on Sunday afternoon. News reports said the organization, Patriot Front, is a rebrand of a former organization that was involved in the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
Senators reach bipartisan agreement on gun safety
At least 20 senators, 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats, have reached an agreement on a bill to address gun safety. The bill would provide enhanced background checks for those under 21, funding for mental health and school safety, and state grants for “red flag” laws.
Axios said the enhanced background check would require those under 21 to “undergo an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.”
President Biden said while the proposal does not include everything that he thinks is needed for gun safety, he believes it is a step in the right direction and supports it.
Highlights of Jan 6. Committee’s second hearing
The Jan 6. House Committee held its second public hearing this morning. The focus today was on Donald Trump’s false statements that the 2020 election was full of fraud.
Some of the testimony said Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani was intoxicated on election night and gave Trump advice to declare that he won the 2020 election. Jared Kushner, Trump’s former White House advisor and son-in-law, testified that he tried to steer Trump away from following Giuliani’s idea, but Trump said he had “confidence in Rudy.”
The committee showed videos of former attorney general Bill Barr saying that Trump had already made it up in his mind that there was major fraud on election night before anyone even looked at evidence. Barr said Trump seemed to have become detached from reality because he actually believed that Dominion voting machines were rigged.
Multiple officials in the Trump administration and his campaign said they tried to tell Trump that he lost the 2020 election, but he continued to say in public that the election was rigged.
The committee showed that the Trump campaign lost 61 cases seeking to challenge election results in state and federal courts.
The Jan 6. Committee plans to hold two more hearings this week — one on Wednesday morning and another on Thursday afternoon.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/consumer-price-index-may-2022.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stocks-down-inflation-federal-reserve-mohamed-el-erian-06-13-2022/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ramsay-hunt-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351783
https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-maryland-factory-shooting-killed-charged-murder/story?id=85329516
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jun/12/sheriffs-office-releases-names-of-31-patriot-front/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/12/idaho-patriot-front-arrested/
https://www.axios.com/2022/06/12/senators-reach-gun-safety-deal
https://www.axios.com/2022/06/13/liz-cheney-trump-rudy-giuliani-2020-election