Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/briefing/federal-reserve-rate-increase-ethiopia-tigray.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.

1. The Fed ordered another jumbo rate increase and kept its options open.

The U.S. central bank continued its assault on rapid inflation, raising interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point — the sixth such increase this year — and suggesting that more were still to come.

Federal Reserve officials acknowledged the economic stress of their continued action, warning that interest rate hikes take time to work. But Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said it would be “very premature” to consider a pause in rate increases. He said he expected rates to peak at a higher level than policymakers had predicted in September.

He also noted that rates would “have to go higher and stay higher for a while” — a development that could make achieving a “soft landing” harder.

2. Russian generals discussed using a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, according to U.S. officials.

President Vladimir Putin was not a part of the conversations, according to intelligence reports that were circulated inside the U.S. government in mid-October. The discussions on how and when Moscow might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine showed the frustration of Russian generals about their failures on the battlefield.

The conversations alarmed U.S. officials, even though they had seen no evidence that the Russians were moving nuclear weapons into place or taking other tactical measures to prepare for a strike. Last week, Putin denied in a speech that Moscow was preparing to use a nuclear weapon, which further lowered tensions.

Separately, Russia said it was rejoining a deal to allow the shipment of grain from Ukrainian ports, just days after it pulled out. The agreement is key to easing global food shortages.

3. Republicans, eyeing a majority in Congress, are proposing cuts to the social safety net.

Less than a week before elections that could hand them control of the House and the Senate, several top Republicans are embracing plans to reduce spending on Social Security and Medicare, including cutting benefits for some retirees and raising the retirement age.

The ideas are being floated as a way to narrow government spending, which has ballooned under both Republican and Democratic presidents in recent decades. But Democrats are seizing on the proposals as a way to galvanize voters who favor the popular programs.

In other politics news, President Biden is set to give a speech tonight about protecting democracy and the threats that election deniers pose to the voting process. And Barack Obama, still the biggest Democratic draw, is campaigning in Phoenix with Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, who is facing a difficult re-election race.

In Texas, Republicans are vying for Latino voters in the state’s growing cities, which have long been a bulwark for Democrats.

4. Ethiopia and Tigray forces agreed to a truce in a brutal civil war.

The Ethiopian government and rebel forces in the country’s northern Tigray region announced “a permanent cessation of hostilities” after a two-year conflict that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and more than two million displaced.

The agreement outlines a plan to allow humanitarian access to Tigray, where electricity, banking and other vital services have been cut off, and has provisions for reintegrating Tigray’s regional government back into the central government.

In other international news, the former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to re-enter office at the helm of one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history, after the country’s fifth election since 2019. Here are four other takeaways.

5. CVS and Walgreens are close to a $10 billion deal to settle opioid cases.

The retail pharmacy chains said they had reached tentative agreements to pay about $5 billion each to settle thousands of lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis. While most of the big opioid manufacturers and drug distributors agreed to pay billions of dollars in national settlements in recent years, the retail chains had resisted negotiating a broad settlement deal until now.

In a related case, a federal jury found that pharmacies turned a blind eye to the diversion of prescription opioids they were dispensing, ignoring red flags that egregious quantities of the pills were exiting their doors and entering communities. But CVS and Walgreens said that their payouts were not admissions of wrongdoing.

In other health news, researchers linked poor care during the pandemic to flawed pulse oximeters that were less accurate on darker skin. They urged the F.D.A. to raise its standards for the devices.

6. The U.S. is testing a new response to climate change: moving entire communities to higher ground.

Some Native American tribes, largely consigned to marginal land by the federal government more than a century ago, have decided that they need to relocate to areas better protected from extreme weather. Making such a move would be immensely expensive: One tribe estimated its proposed move would cost half a billion dollars.

In response, the Biden administration created what is thought to be the first program designed to relocate communities threatened by climate change. The model, if successful, could be replicated across the country, shifting the government away from its current strategy of endlessly rebuilding after disasters.

In related news, the words “climate change” do not appear in middle or elementary school education standards in many U.S. states. Some teachers are still finding ways to talk about it.

7. Did the Brooklyn Nets get rid of the wrong person?

The star-loaded, underperforming team parted ways this week with its head coach, Steve Nash — a move it claimed had nothing to do with Kyrie Irving’s sorry-not-sorry stance over the antisemitic and conspiratorial posts he made on social media.

But our columnist Kurt Streeter argues it’s difficult to disentangle Irving from the disaster the Nets have become, after being hyped as a possible title contender. Irving’s remarks have overshadowed not just the team, but the entire league.

In N.F.L. news, the embattled owners of the Washington Commanders said they hired bankers to explore selling the team.

And in baseball, Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr., who allowed five home runs in last night’s World Series loss, rejected theories that he was tipping pitches. Game 4 is tonight at 8 Eastern.

8. Jennifer Lawrence, free from franchise burdens, is looking for a new path.

By her early 20s, Lawrence was one of the biggest stars of her generation, winning an Oscar and starring in the blockbuster “Hunger Games” series. But, as she told my colleague Kyle Buchanan in his new profile, Lawrence felt like her career had been hijacked as she was steered away from smaller projects. Now, after taking a break from acting, she’s returning to the movies on her own terms.

Lawrence’s next film, “Causeway,” which comes out on Apple TV+ this weekend, is the kind of project that she wouldn’t have had the chance to do just a few years ago, she said. In it, Lawrence plays an injured military engineer who returns home to New Orleans for an uneasy convalescence.

9. The fearless sounds of Ornette Coleman.

Coleman was an iconoclastic saxophonist and bandleader whose style prioritized atonal chords over traditional rhythm and harmony, which helped establish the subgenre of free jazz in the late 1950s. That rule-bending approach, which was controversial at the time, turned him into a musical pioneer.

We spoke with 13 musicians and music writers about how they connect with Coleman’s work — and how you can, too, in about five minutes. “The magic of Ornette Coleman’s music lies in his mix of the familiar and the strange,” said the writer Mark Richardson. “In almost all his music, there’s a feeling of risk: This could go wrong.”

10. And finally, these cakes have thorns.

During the early pandemic lockdowns, many Instagram scrollers gravitated toward images of baked goods with overexuberant designs — perhaps a reflection of the anxiety of the times. Since then, bakers have latched on to the trend, adding their own twists to the maximalist aesthetic.

Some have punctuated their creations’ pillowy coats of frosting with eruptions of Queen Anne’s lace, and others with pairs of glossy Rainier cherries, their stems reaching skyward. But the effect is consistent: These pointed extremities draw the eyes in and down toward objects that appear teeming with life.

Have an appetizing night.

Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.

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