Thursday morning news - June 16, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Fed announces largest rate hike in three decades » The Federal Reserve just announced its biggest interest rate hike in three decades.

The Fed raised rates by three quarters of a point and it signaled that more increases are on the way.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell explained…

POWELL: We at the Fed understand the hardship that high inflation is causing. We're strongly committed to bringing inflation back down, and we're moving expeditiously to do so.

The move raises the benchmark short-term interest rate to about one-point-five percent or so. This makes borrowing money more expensive, both for consumers and businesses.

Powell suggested that upcoming rate hikes won’t be quite as steep as this one. But rates could hit roughly 3.5 percent by year’s end. That would be the highest level since 2008.

The Fed has struggled to douse raging inflation—which is now at about 8.6 percent.

NATO defense ministers to discuss weapons for Ukraine » President Biden announced Wednesday that the United States will send another $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine. So far, this is the largest single U.S. payment to Ukraine for weapons and equipment.

The announcement comes as the NATO member nations meet in Brussels to discuss more aid to Ukraine. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told U.S. allies…

AUSTIN: We must push ourselves even harder to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself, its citizens, and its territory.

The aid package also provides more than $200 million for things like food, water, shelter, and medical supplies.

World Vision Gaza director terror charges » AUDIO: [Protesters]

Demonstrators gathered outside an Israeli courthouse in Beersheba on Tuesday to protest a ruling, convicting the Gaza director of the Christian charity World Vision on terror charges. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The court convicted Mohammed el-Halabi of carrying a weapon, providing information to a terror group, and participating in militant exercises.

Israeli authorities arrested him in 2016, and have detained him for the past six years. They’ve accused him of funneling tens of millions of dollars to Hamas, dollars they say funded militant activities.

The ruling relies heavily on a supposed confession from el-Halabi that has not been made public, but his lawyer claims that confession came under duress.

World Vision and el-Halabi say he’s done nothing wrong. And they’re not alone. Forensic auditors and dozens of lawyers—including some former assistant U.S. attorneys came to the same conclusion in a 400-page report released in 2017.

Israeli courts have yet to sentence el-Halabi. They say their decision is “confidential and cannot be made public.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher

FDA advisers weigh COVID-19 shots for babies, young children » Should the FDA approve COVID-19 vaccine shots for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers? A group of medical advisers met Wednesday to consider the answer to that question.

FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks commented…

MARKS: We have to be careful that we don’t become numb to pediatric deaths because of the overwhelming number of older deaths here. Every life is important.

More than a million adult Americans have died. Marks said the virus has also killed more than 400 children under the age of 4. He said he believes vaccines could help prevent more deaths among small children.

FDA reviewers said tot-sized doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear to be safe for children from 6 months to 5 years old. Moderna says its shot in that age group appears to be about 40 to 50 percent effective at preventing COVID-19.

If the FDA and CDC both give the green light, parents who choose to vaccinate young children may have access to the shots next week.

Southern Baptists agree to keep list of accused sex abusers » The Southern Baptist Convention has voted overwhelmingly to create a way to track pastors and other church workers who are credibly accused of sex abuse. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The vote came three weeks after the release of a bombshell report by an outside consultant on the long-simmering scandal. That report revealed that Southern Baptist leaders mishandled abuse cases and stonewalled victims for years.

Thousands of Southern Baptists met in Anaheim this week for their national meeting. They also voted to continue the work of a task force appointed to oversee reforms in the nation’s biggest Protestant denomination.

The SBC elected a new president, Texas pastor Bart Barber. He has called for an “army of peacemakers” to heal divisions over theological differences within the denomination.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

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

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