Thursday morning news: January 19, 2023

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kristen Flavin. 

Ukraine » Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told leaders at the World Economic Forum meeting that supplies of Western weapons must come quicker than Russia’s attacks.

ZELENSKYY: Tragedies are outpacing life. The tyranny is outpacing the democracy.

He spoke Wednesday by video to world leaders gathered at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

The meeting came just hours after a helicopter crash in Ukraine killed more than a dozen people, including top Ukrainian officials. US Secretary of State Tony Blinken:

BLINKEN: We stand with our friends in Ukraine in mourning their loss and recommitting to the efforts that we’re making to help Ukraine defend itself against this aggression.

The chopper crashed into a kindergarten in a foggy residential suburb of Kyiv, killing everyone on board and one child on the ground.

Ukraine’s minister and deputy minister of the interior were aboard the helicopter.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the crash.

Debt ceiling » Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says today will be the day the U.S. government maxes out the amount of debt it is allowed to take on.

She says that as soon as the government reaches what many are calling its debt ceiling, the Treasury Department will resort to so-called extraordinary measures to delay a government default. Those extraordinary measures will stave off debt default until summer.

Democrats in Washington say Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling to avoid wrecking the U.S.’s financial credibility.

Democrat Congressman James Clayburn

CLAYBURN: We ought not to be playing games with the full faith and credit of the United States of America. It’s in law, we have to deal with it, let’s not be political about it.

But some Republicans are arguing the government needs to start using money more responsibly.

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan.

JORDAN: We’ve got record inflation, record spending, record debt and the Democrats say we don’t want to change any behavior? We don’t want to do anything?

The United States has never before defaulted on its national debt.

Microsoft layoffs » Tech giant Microsoft said today that it is laying off 10,000 workers. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The layoffs make up about 5 percent of the company’s workforce. Microsoft says it’s cutting jobs in response to what it called “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities.”

The company hired more than 75,000 people during the pandemic, when it experienced a greater demand for its software.

Microsoft is also consolidating its hardware portfolio and the number of its office locations.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Wholesale prices / Retail sales » Wholesale prices rose just 6.2 percent in December compared to a year earlier, according to a government report yesterday. That’s more than a whole percentage point lower than November’s rate.

The report indicates that the U.S. inflation rate could be easing.

Loretta Mester is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

MESTER: The way I think about what the most recent monthly numbers are telling us is that we can have some confidence or more confidence about the inflation projections, which do have inflation moving down this year.

This and recent reports might motivate the Federal Reserve to relax its strategy of aggressive interest rate hikes, but it may not halt the hikes all together.

MESTER: We're not at 5% yet. We're not above 5%, which I think is going to be needed given where my projections are for the economy. So I just think we need to keep going.

The Federal Reserve will meet at the end of this month to discuss whether and how much to raise interest rates further.

California shootings » Authorities blame drugs and gang-related violence for the grisly murders of six people at a Central California home.

The victims ranged in age from 10 months to 72 years.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux

BOUDREAUX: Let me make this very clear: not all these people in this home were gang members, and not all of these people in this home were drug dealers

The sheriff also criticized Governor Gavin Newsom for halting executions in the state.

BOUDREAUX: Well, there are certain crimes just like this—when you shoot a 10-month-old child in the head—they deserve the death penalty. That death penalty needs to be part of our justice system in California.

Newsom put a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019 and recently announced a plan to transfer condemned prisoners off death row.

Pro-lifers prepare for march, Roe anniversary » Pro-life advocates will participate in the 49th March for Life on Friday in Washington, D.C.. It’s the first time the annual event will take place since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June of last year.

Carol Tobias is president of the National Right to Life Committee.

TOBIAS: We are celebrating victory; we are celebrating life. It’s not anymore, “Can we overturn Roe? When are we going to overturn Roe?” Roe is gone.

Since the Supreme Court ruled the Constitution does not declare a right to abortion, numerous states have implemented pro-life policies. Kristan Hawkins with Students for Life of America says there is still more to do.

HAWKINS: We know this is not over it is simply the beginning of the next phase of our fight…

Pro-abortion counterprotesters are expected to turn out in D.C. on Friday, as well.

I'm Kristen Flavin. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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