Friday morning news - January 28, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Justice Breyer confirms retirement » Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer confirmed on Thursday that he is in fact retiring, one day after the news broke of his planned departure.

Addressing the public, Breyer said America remains an experiment in democracy.

BREYER: You know who will see whether that experiment works? It’s you, my friend. It’s you, Mr. high school student. It’s you, Mr. college student. It’s you, Mr. law school student. It’s us, but it’s you. It’s that next generation.

President Biden did not announce a nominee to replace Breyer. He said he has not yet picked a prospective justice, but he again told reporters…

BIDEN: That person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It’s long overdue in my book.

It’s also safe to assume Biden’s pick will not change the ideological makeup of the court.

Breyer is one of three liberal justices currently serving on the high court. He will retire at the end of the current term after 28 years on the job.

Russia: “little ground for optimism” in resolving Ukraine crisis » Russia said Thursday that there was—quote—“little ground for optimism” in resolving the crisis over Ukraine.

That after the Biden administration rejected a list of demands by Moscow, including a pledge that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the NATO alliance.

Some experts believe those demands were merely a pretext for an invasion.

Roughly 100,000 Russian troops have been parked near Ukraine’s border for weeks. And Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the Kremlin is not backing down.

KIRBY: We continue to see, including in the last 24 hours, more accumulation of credible combat forces arrayed by the Russians in, again, the western part of their country and in Belarus.

NATO allies continue to warn of severe economic consequences if Russia makes the wrong choice.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said US officials continue to talk with German allies and Russia’s lucrative gas pipeline project in Europe is at risk.

NULAND: I want to be clear with you today. If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.

But an economic conflict with Moscow also threatens Europe’s energy supply. The EU currently gets about half of it’s natural gas from Russia.

U.S. economy grew 5.7% in 2021 in rebound from 2020 recession » The U.S. economy last year enjoyed its biggest rebound since the Reagan administration as the pandemic’s grip weakened. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Gross domestic product—or GDP—is the nation’s total output of goods and services. And the Commerce Department says output grew 5.7 percent in 2021.

That was the strongest calendar-year growth since GDP surged more than 7 percent coming out of a deep recession in 1984.

The economy ended the year by growing at a brisk 6.9 percent annual pace from October through December.

Beth Ann Bovino is chief economist at Standard & Poor's Global Ratings. She said “It just goes to show that the U.S. economy has learned to adapt to the new [COVID] variants and continues to produce.”

But squeezed by inflation, the economy is expected to slow this year.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Buttigieg outlines strategy to reduce rising road fatalities » Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is pledging to tackle rising traffic fatalities.

Federal data to be released next week is expected to show another increase in deaths on U.S. roads through the third quarter of 2021. That will add to a half-year traffic death total of more than 20,000. That already was the highest half-year figure since 2006.

BUTTIGIEG: We cannot and must not accept that these fatalities are somehow an inevitable part of life in America.

Buttigieg outlined a national strategy aimed at making the roads safer.

Over the next two years, he said, his department will provide guidance as well as $5 billion in grants to states to encourage lower speed limits. He’s also pushing for redesigned roads. That will include things like dedicated bike and bus lanes, better lighting and crosswalks.

But some critics say the Biden administration should start by putting the breaks on its proposed fuel economy standards.

The administration wants a new standard of about 50 miles per gallon by 2026. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration predicts the change will lead to more deaths and injuries.

It says new cars are generally safer. But the tighter standards would raise the cost of new cars, forcing many people to keep older cars on the road longer.

The NHTSA estimates the change would lead to nearly 2,000 additional deaths and 80,000 more injuries.

North Korea fires 2 suspected missiles in 6th launch in 2022 » North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher reports.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: South Korea said the weapons were likely short-range and were launched five minutes apart from a town on North Korea’s eastern coast. They reportedly flew roughly 120 miles before plunging into the sea.

Experts say the North is likely ramping up testing activity to put pressure on the Biden administration to ease economic sanctions in exchange for Pyongyang resuming nuclear talks.

Leader Kim Jong Un walked away from the bargaining table in 2019 after what had appeared to be a series of positive talks with then-President Trump and his administration.

At the start of those talks, Kim stopped testing nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland. But last week, Pyongyang issued a veiled threat to resume those tests.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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