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- [00:00]
Pharma Advertiser
This podcast is supported by Pharma. Did you know that America is the only country in the world where half of every dollar spent on brand medicines goes to entities that don't make them? It's true. Learn more at p h? Rma.org Middlemen.
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Hannah Jewell
President Donald Trump said the U.S. seized an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast. That's where we're starting the seven from the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Thursday, December 11th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.
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The crude oil tanker seized off the coast of Venezuela yesterday is used to transport oil from Venezuela and Iran. That's according to U.S. officials. Here's how Trump described the seizure of the ship talking to reporters yesterday.
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Donald Trump
As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Large tanker, very large.
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Largest one ever seized.
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Hannah Jewell
Actually. Trump did not provide further details about the seizure, the tanker or where it was headed. But when he was asked what would happen with its oil, Trump said, we keep it, I guess. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the tanker had been sanctioned by the U.S. quote, Due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations. But the legal authority under which the vessel and its contents were seized was not specified by the administration. Venezuela's foreign minister called it blatant theft and an act of international piracy. The seizure adds a new tactic to the Trump administration's months long military campaign in waters near Venezuela. The buildup appears to be a pressure campaign to unseat Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
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Number two is a Post exclusive. The Trump administration signed a contract to buy a fleet of planes for deportations. ICE has long relied on charter planes to carry out deportation flights. But under a plan revealed by the Post yesterday that could change. The Department of Homeland Security recently signed a contract worth nearly $140 million to purchase six Boeing 737 planes. The move will allow ICE, which is part of DHS, to operate its own fleet. Earlier this year, Congress signed off on $170 billion for President Trump's border and immigration agenda as part of the GOP's sprawling tax bill. Officials said the money for the planes is coming from that funding.
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312 billionaires have held roles in the Trump administration this year. This morning, the Post published a list of the billionaires who have been picked by Trump to help run the country other than the president himself. They include a few familiar and less than familiar names. For example, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, led the U.S. doge service until late May. Another one is Tillman Fertitta. He is the ambassador to Italy and San Marino. He's also the billionaire owner of the NBA team, the Houston Rockets. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has a net worth of $3 billion. She made her money in the professional wrestling business. While previous administrations have included the ultra rich, the wealth held by this group is larger than the first Trump administration. In total, they're worth more than $390 billion as of March. But a backlash is brewing. The debate over how much influence billionaires should have on US Politics has sparked protests around the country. You can find the full list of billionaires in our newsletter today. Just follow the link in our show. Not.
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Number 4 the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again.
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When deciding whether or not to cut interest rates this month, the Fed didn't have as much data as usual due to the government shutdown. And the economy, with its stubborn inflation and softening job market, is sending mixed signals. But yesterday the central bank went ahead and cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to the lowest level in about three years. The cut could make your credit card bill slightly cheaper, but it's less likely to affect most people's longer term loans like mortgages and car loans. It's not clear whether we'll see more interest rate cuts in the near future as central bankers are divided on what's best for the economy right now, but investors were happy with yesterday's decision. Major financial indexes ended higher on Wednesday afternoon.
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Number5 A new lawsuit claims ChatGPT spurred a 56 year old man to kill his mother Stein. Eric Solberg was a former technology executive with a history of mental health struggles when he told an AI chatbot that the printer in his mother's home office might be spying on him. The chatbot agreed. That's according to a video of the conversation he posted on YouTube in July. In August, Solberg and his mother, 83 year old Suzanne Adams, were both discovered dead in her home. Now a lawsuit from Adams estate alleges that she died after being beaten and strangled by her son, who later killed himself. The lawsuit, which was filed today, also claims that ChatGPT maker OpenAI bears responsibility for her death. The estate's lawyer claims this is the first case alleging that ChatGPT led to a murder. OpenAI said it is working to improve ChatGPT's ability to recognize signs of mental or emotional distress, a disclosure the post has a content partnership with OpenAI.
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The Calibri font has been banished from US Diplomacy. That's number six Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered staff on Tuesday to stop using the Calibri font and return to Times New Roman. The State Department had switched to Kolibri, a sans serif font, during the Biden administration. The change had been intended to help employees who are visually impaired or have low vision issues. Sans serif fonts don't have decorative lines or strokes at the end of characters. Accessibility and vision impairment advocacy groups widely recommend them. But Rubio called the Biden era change a wasteful diversity move and said Times Knew Roman was more formal and professional.
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And at number seven, a new discovery is rewriting the timeline of when humans first made fire for years, scientists have been examining a reddish patch of sediment excavated in an old clay pit in the east of England. A new study reveals what it A 400,000 year old open air hearth for making fires. This is the oldest evidence of human made fire, and it pushes back the timeline on fire making by about 350,000 years. Mastering fire is thought to be a pivotal part of human evolution. The ability to reliably set fires would have allowed humans to cook food that in turn could have supported bigger brains that consumed more energy and prompted new social behaviors as humans gathered around campfires. It turns out it's not easy to find ancient evidence of man made fire, but at the link in our newsletter you can watch the archaeologists at work and see how they did it. Foreign.
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You're all caught up. If you would like a shot at winning a hundred dollar gift card, listen up. We have a new survey that we're running for a limited time and we would love to hear from you. It takes about 10 minutes. You can find it at washingtonpost.com podcastsurvey that's washingtonpost.com podcastsurveY when you're done, you can enter to win that delicious gift card. I'm Hannah Jewell. I'll meet you back here tomorrow.
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Pharma Advertiser
In America, half of every dollar spent on brand medicines goes to entities who don't make them. While middlemen like PBMs and 340B hospitals drive up costs, BioPharma is investing $500 billion in new new infrastructure and manufacturing here at home and helping patients buy medicines directly at lower prices. Tell Washington to end middlemen markups and put American patients first. Visit phrma. Org Middlemen.