Your Thursday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/briefing/griner-bout-fed-rate-increase.html

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Good morning. We’re covering a possible prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia, and another rate increase by the Fed.

The U.S. offered a prisoner swap to Russia: Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, for Brittney Griner, the W.N.B.A. star, and Paul Whelan, a former Marine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he would speak to Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine about a “substantial proposal” to free Griner and Whelan. The U.S. State Department says the two were wrongfully detained.

Blinken’s comments came the same day that Griner, who has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February, testified in court. She said that she had been tossed into a bewildering legal system with little explanation of what was happening. Here are live updates.

Background: Bout, who is known as the “Merchant of Death,” is serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to sell weapons to people who said they planned to kill Americans. Whelan was sentenced in Russia in 2020 to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

Energy: Russia cut the flow of natural gas to Germany yesterday. Germany, the E.U.’s largest economy, is now turning to liquefied natural gas to keep warm through the winter.

Fighting: Ukrainian missiles struck a key bridge in Kherson as Russia increased attacks across southern Ukraine. The U.S. estimated that more than 75,000 Russian forces have been killed or injured.

Dissent: Russian opposition figures face a difficult choice: Stay and risk imprisonment or try to keep up the resistance from abroad.

The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point yesterday, sticking to its aggressive campaign to rein in inflation.

The unusually large interest-rate move comes even as the U.S. economy begins to slow. Jerome Powell, the chair of the Fed, said that a third “unusually” large three-quarter-point rate could be coming in September. He stressed that he did not think the U.S. is in a recession.

Still, Powell said, “We need growth to slow. We don’t want this to be bigger than it needs to be, but ultimately, if you think about the medium to longer term, price stability is what makes the whole economy work.”

Reaction: His comments appeased investors. The S&P 500 stock index ended the day up 2.6 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite posted its best day since April 2020.

Background: The Fed began raising interest rates from near-zero in March. After making a quarter-point move to start, the central bank raised rates by half a point in May and by three-quarters of a point in June, the largest single step since 1994. Consumer prices climbed by 9.1 percent in the year through June.

Explanation: Here’s how rate increases act as America’s main tool for cooling down prices and what they mean for mortgages and credit cards.

Lufthansa Airlines canceled virtually all its flights in and out of Frankfurt and Munich yesterday after around 3,000 employees walked off the job to protest for better wages. Nearly 130,000 travelers were stranded.

The protest was scheduled to end at 6 a.m. this morning, but the wage fight is likely to continue. A union official said that salaries were “not high enough to account for inflation,” while Lufthansa outlined pay increases that it had already offered.

This strike is just the latest travel interruption in Europe. Airport and other transport employees have been striking throughout the summer to demand better staffing and pay.

And even as international Covid-related restrictions continue to wane, the pandemic has left deep scars across the travel industry: Airports and airlines who let employees go during the pandemic are now struggling to meet a recent surge in demand.

Airports: Heathrow, in London, and Schiphol, in Amsterdam, have both tried to limit the number of passengers in August. Heathrow’s announcement came after photographs of luggage piled up at the airport circulated on social media.

Tips: A flight attendant offered suggestions for avoiding airline chaos this summer.

A Greek opposition leader was targeted with malicious spyware, the first attempted hack detected against a European Parliament member.

Credit Suisse reported a $1.65 billion loss for the second quarter, even as its European rivals Deutsche Bank and UBS reported gains.

An Iraqi court overturned the conviction of a British tourist who was imprisoned for stealing ancient artifacts from an archaeological site.

In a reversal, Senator Joe Manchin agreed to a climate and tax package, which he said could reduce inflation.

The Senate passed a $280 billion bill aimed at building up America’s manufacturing and tech sectors to counter China.

President Biden tested negative for the coronavirus and concluded his five-day isolation.

At least four people were killed when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the northern Philippines yesterday morning.

Three U.N. peacekeepers were among at least 15 people killed in anti-U.N. protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bangladesh said it was seeking a loan from the I.M.F. a week after introducing scheduled power outages in response to soaring fuel costs.

Hundreds of Iraqis breached Parliament yesterday, protesting a nominee for prime minister chosen by Iran-backed parties.

In a jarring shift for Hong Kong, the city’s leaders are rushing to embrace Xi Jinping, China’s leader.

Meta, once known as Facebook, reported its first revenue decline since the company went public a decade ago.

A study found that Europeans consumed milk products for thousands of years despite lacking lactase, an enzyme that helps digest dairy.

A women’s Tour de France was revived this week after a 33-year absence.

Digital media is changing language — sometimes rapidly. American Sign Language is no exception.

Check out this video-filled story on how people who are deaf or hard of hearing are responding to the spread of smartphones and video.

Live Lived: James Lovelock, a British ecologist, captured the scientific world’s imagination with his Gaia theory, which portrays the Earth as a living creature. He died on Tuesday, his 103rd birthday.

The color of the season is pink. The inspiration: Barbie.

It started with the high-fashion world. During Paris Fashion Week, Valentino debuted a pink collection, and in Rome this month, Anne Hathaway attended his show in a hot-pink sequined dress. Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Kim Kardashian and other celebrities have also been spotted in pink.

The trend, dubbed “Barbiecore,” is also popular among millennials and Gen Z. As the website Who What Wear put it: “Yes, the dolls you played with as a child are leading the sartorial charge right now. Talk about a true nostalgic revival.”

Then there’s the live-action Barbie movie that comes out next year, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken. Photos of the actors rollerblading in extremely bright outfits have been hard to miss online: “the social media dopamine hit of summer,” as described by Vanessa Friedman, the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The Times.

Buy frozen puff pastry to make this colorful carrot tart.

The essays in “How to Read Now” meditate on interpretation, inheritance and understanding.

Default settings can make us unnecessarily share our data. Here’s what you should turn off right away.

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and a clue: “Cake levels” (five letters).

And here’s today’s Wordle and the Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. Thanks for joining me. — Amelia

P.S. The Times won three awards from the Education Writers Association.

The latest episode of “The Daily” is on the N.F.L. quarterback Deshaun Watson.

You can reach Amelia and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.