Morning Headlines - Tuesday, Oct 11, 2022 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

Senate Races Reach New Heights Of Nastiness In Final Campaign Stretch

The battle for the Senate majority is turning nasty, especially in the three battle ground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada, where candidates are facing a barrage of negative ads and social media attacks on their character and fitness for office.

Democratic and Republican strategists as well as nonpartisan experts say the vitriol on the campaign trail has been remarkable, observing that while negative campaign tactics are nothing new, the 2022 battle for the Senate has taken it to a new level.

“The nastiness of all races, including any top-ticket races, is pretty nasty right now,” said Kami Dempsey-Goudie, a Nevada-based political consultant who mainly works with Democrats but has worked with Republicans as well. “The negative ads are the loudest they’ve ever been.”

'Horrific': Biden, More Officials Condemn Russia's Sweeping Strikes On Ukraine And Reconfirm US Aid

Joe Biden and top U.S. officials on Monday denounced Russia's latest aerial assault across Ukraine, with the president saying in a statement that the attacks "only further reinforce our commitment" to supplying billions in aid and weapons to Ukrainian forces.

Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and leading military officials all spoke out in the wake of the strikes that Russian President Vladimir Putin called retaliation for a weekend explosion that damaged a key bridge linking Russia and Crimea, the disputed peninsula Putin annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

On Sunday night, 12 Russian missile strikes hit residential Zaporizhzhia neighborhoods in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, and on Monday morning another series of Russian missiles struck civilian targets in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other cities.

Lebanon, Israel Reach ‘Historic Agreement’ On Maritime Borders

Lebanon and Israel have reached an “historic” deal to end a long-running maritime border dispute in the gas-rich Mediterranean Sea, according to negotiators from the two countries.

Lebanon’s deputy speaker Elias Bou Saab said on Wednesday, after submitting the United States-brokered final draft of the deal to President Michel Aoun, that an agreement had been reached that satisfies both sides.

Lebanon’s presidency voiced hope that “the agreement on the demarcation will be announced as soon as possible”. Aoun had previously said that a deal would not signify a “partnership” with Israel. The two countries are technically at war.

Hong Kong Declines To Act On Sanctioned Russian Superyacht In Harbour

Hong Kong has said it will not seize the superyacht of a Russian oligarch who is under Western sanctions.

Chief executive John Lee said Hong Kong would be accountable to United Nations sanctions but not "unilateral" ones imposed by "individual jurisdictions".

The $521m (£472m) boat belongs to Alexei Mordashov, an ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and one of the country's richest men.

His yacht arrived in Hong Kong last week after sailing from Russia. But Mr Mordashov is not believed to be on it. The billionaire was sanctioned by the US, the UK and the EU after Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

But Hong Kong's government said it was not bound by those sanctions. For close to a week now, the multi-storey Nord superyacht has been a conspicuous sight in the city's Victoria Harbour with the Russian flag flying at its mast.

U.S. Hospitals Brace For An Unprecedented Winter Of Viruses

Hospitals nationwide are preparing for another winter with Covid — the first one that's also expected to include high levels of influenza and other respiratory illnesses that have simmered quietly in the background for the past two years.

Flu cases are already rising in parts of the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pediatricians, too, are seeing a growing number of children sick with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and enteroviruses.

And despite a downward trend in Covid, tens of thousands of new cases are still being diagnosed every day.

The convergence of viruses is hitting health care systems as they're forced to reckon with staffing shortages that worsened during the pandemic.

Republicans Look For Veto-Proof Wisconsin Legislature Majorities In 2022 Election

Wisconsin Republicans are hoping Tim Michels will defeat Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in November, but even if Evers prevails they could still reshape the battleground state by winning enough seats in the Legislature to override vetoes.

If Republicans can flip five seats in the Assembly and one in the Senate they'll have the two-thirds majority they need. They would be free to rework state politics at will, including the state budget and election administration.

How To Watch Wisconsin's U.S. Senate Debate

The debate between Sen. Ron Johnson and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes will take place on October 13, with doors opening at 5:15 p.m. and the debate starting at 6 p.m.

WEAU: debate broadcast on 13.2, CW affiliate
WGBA: debate broadcast on 26.1, NBC affiliate
WMTV: debate broadcast on 15.2, CW affiliate
WSAW: debate broadcast on 33.1, Fox affiliate
KBJR: debate broadcast on 6.3, MyNetworkTV affiliate

TMJ4 will also stream the debate live on TMJ4.com

With Social Security On Pace To Be Depleted, Senate Candidates Split On How To Keep It Funded

Mondays mean Tai Chi classes at the senior center in Mount Horeb. Retirees taking part in the exercises knew it's not a stretch to say Congress has to address the Social Security trust fund.

According to the Social Security Administration, the trust fund that collects Social Security tax payments is on track to deplete its reserve funds in 2034. From that point on, Social Security would be able to pay out only 77 percent of scheduled benefits.

"Probably won't happen in my lifetime, but I understand that it is in jeopardy," Jim Remer, one of the retirees taking part in Monday's class, said.

Social Security has become a key issue in Wisconsin's race for U.S. Senate.

Darrell Brooks Apologizes To Judge At Waukesha Parade Murder Trial

Day 6 of Darrell Brooks’s trial for the Waukesha Christmas parade rampage ended late Monday afternoon. It started like no one expected.

Brooks’s antics last week were interesting, to say the least. He interrupted jury selection. When he was removed to monitor the trial from another courtroom he removed his prison shirt and put an “Objection” sign down his pants.

What did he do Monday? He apologized.

Dressed in a full suit, Brooks told the judge he was sorry for his behavior last week, saying he was not raised like that. He said he was emotional due to the case and vowed that it won’t happen again.

Gov. Evers Joins Pact Of States To Move Forward With Regional Hydrogen Hub

Clean energy advocates hope a recent move by Gov. Tony Evers to join in a regional consortium will help Wisconsin win federal funding to expand hydrogen power in the state.

Evers signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding. It's an informal collaboration between Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota, marking the first phase of a long-term project to secure federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, that would create a network of clean energy infrastructure projects and partners.

"Clean hydrogen has the potential to play a key role in our clean energy efforts here in Wisconsin and across the country, and I’m proud to be working together with this bipartisan group of governors to do the right thing for our states’ futures," Evers said in a statement.

Experts say "green hydrogen" is attracting attention because it can be generated carbon-free through electrolysis. The process separates water into hydrogen and oxygen. It's a potential alternative to fossil fuel power generation that could transform the transportation, aviation and manufacturing industries.