Prologue Journal – Page 39369 – Understanding current events through the lenses of the past and future.

Australian Consumers Downbeat After RBA’s Surprise Rate Hike

Wall Street Journal Australian consumer confidence was rattled last week by a surprise rise in official interest rates, the 11th in the last year, with the Reserve Bank of Australia warning more may be needed. https://www.wsj.com/articles/australian-consumers-downbeat-after-rbas-surprise-rate-hike-8a6f723d

‘Hard to accept’: couple calls for tougher punishment after toddler dies at South Korean day care

Disclaimer: The South China Morning Post’s content is directed by the Chinese Communist Party. It is not a reliable news source. The day care teacher was handed 19 years in jail, a sentence the couple feels is inadequate. “She killed a baby.” https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3219841/hard-accept-couple-calls-tougher-punishment-after-toddler-dies-south-korean-day-care?utm_source=rss_feed

Israeli aircraft strike Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza Strip

Washington Post Israeli aircraft have conducted strikes on Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says, and residents have report blasts in the Palestinian enclave https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/08/gaza-israel-airstrikes/326905a6-edf9-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_world

Biden Casts Himself as the Trump Beater. Polls Suggest That’s No Sure Thing.

New York Times While the president argues that he is the one best positioned to stop his predecessor from returning to the White House, surveys indicate that he starts the 2024 race facing enormous challenges. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/us/politics/biden-2024-polls.html

White House press secretary slips up and says US averages 1 shooting a week, after saying more than 1 per day

Fox News White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Monday that the U.S. has averaged more than one mass shooting per day since the start of 2023, before later saying the country averages one per week. At the top of the White House press briefing on Monday, Jean-Pierre told reporters…

How countries around the world have responded to mass shootings

Washington Post In the United States, mass shootings are on the rise. But in many countries, they are rare — and lead to drastic change when they occur. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/23/mass-shootings-response-other-countries-gun-laws/

Phoenix to Start Clearing Sprawling Downtown Homeless Encampment

New York Times A Phoenix judge ordered the city to begin clearing tents in the Zone, an area that has as many as 1,100 people sleeping unsheltered on a given night. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/us/phoenix-homeless-encampment-the-zone.html

Biden Said He’d Veer From Trump on Immigration. The Reality Is More Complicated.

New York Times Surges of migrants have shaped President Biden’s policies at the border in ways that few of his allies imagined when he was running for president. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/us/politics/biden-trump-immigration-title-42.html

Canada to expel Chinese diplomat after threats to lawmaker

Washington Post Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is moving to expel a Chinese diplomat whom Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate an opposition lawmaker and his relatives in Hong Kong https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/08/canada-china-expel-diplomat/2ed4f5a4-edf8-11ed-b67d-a219ec5dfd30_story.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=wp_world

What to know about Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Washington Post Fighting around the power plant in southeastern Ukraine has raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe. Here’s what to know about the Zaporizhzhia facility. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/20/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-russia-ukraine/