Daily Briefing: Can 'ballot security forces' be banned?
A federal judge granted an emergency order that bans Arizona's ballot drop box monitors affiliated with a conservative group from taking photos of voters. Also in the news: Israel's fifth election in fewer than four years and the Phillies' historic Game 3 World Series win over the Astros.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, the writer behind Daily Briefing. Need dinner inspo? Here's something cheesy but easy.
Now, here we go with Wednesday's news.
Voting rights groups celebrate Arizona judge's order
Voting rights groups lauded a decision by a federal judge that bans Arizona's ballot drop box monitors affiliated with a conservative group from taking photos of voters while they are within 75 feet of a ballot box. But the emergency order Tuesday did not shut down drop box monitoring entirely in Arizona, something the Department of Justice signaled in a Monday statement risks illegal voter intimidation. Read more
The background: The DOJ says reports of "'ballot security forces'" watching ballot boxes in Arizona, sometimes armed or wearing ballistic vests, raise serious concerns about voter intimidation as it steps into a lawsuit over the monitoring.
The statement from the Justice Department comes days after U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi in a separate lawsuit refused to bar a group from monitoring the outdoor drop boxes in the suburbs of Phoenix.
The federal government says the First Amendment doesn't protect threats or intimidation directed at voters. Liburdi wrote in his decision that he struggled to "craft a meaningful form of injunctive relief that does not violate Defendants’ First Amendment rights and those of the drop box observers."
Democrats trust the midterm election count; Republicans don't. Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has made it clear that she has no intention of accepting the results of the election unless those results make her the next governor.
Netanyahu holds narrow lead in Israeli election
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to hold a narrow lead early Wednesday in Israeli elections, according to exit polls, potentially paving the way for a return to power thanks to a boost from an extreme right-wing ally known for inflammatory anti-Arab comments. Tuesday's election was Israel's fifth in less than four years, with all of them focused largely on Netanyahu's fitness to govern. On trial for a slew of corruption charges, Netanyahu is seen by supporters as the victim of a witch hunt and vilified by opponents as a crook and threat to democracy. Read more
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North and South Korea exchange missile launches
Air raid sirens sounded in South Korea after the North fired about a dozen missiles in its direction Wednesday. At least one of them landed near the rivals’ tense sea border. South Korea quickly responded by performing its own missile tests. The launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to get the U.S. and South Korea to “pay the most horrible price in history.” The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement earlier Wednesday that it detected three short-range ballistic missiles fired the North’s eastern coastal town of Wonsan. It said one of the missiles landed 16 miles away from the rivals’ sea border.
Deadly crowd surge in South Korea: Police response was "inadequate" as early reports poured in, chief says.
Another mega interest rate hike is coming
Americans should prepare their finances for even higher interest rates this year as the Federal Reserve continues its fight against inflation. With inflation still at the highest level in a generation, the Fed's policy-making arm is expected to deliver a fourth consecutive mega three-quarters of a percentage point interest rate hike in its benchmark rate to a 3.75% to 4% target range, when it concludes its policy-making meeting on Wednesday. Here's what this means for your finances.
Want to protect your money from inflation? At 6.89%, I Bonds still a good deal.
''It's going to be tough'': Fed rate hikes draw negative reaction as hot topic online, study says.
''I couldn't function'': Burnout rates are on the rise, especially among women.
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Phillies make history with 5 homers off Astros starter in Game 3 win
In the first World Series playoff game at Citizens Bank Park in 13 years, the Philadelphia Phillies laid a historic walloping on Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. And superstar Bryce Harper's two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning kicked off a record-setting five-homer blitz off McCullers as the Phillies prevailed 7-0 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 World Series lead. Philadelphia became the first team to hit five home runs in the first five innings of a World Series game in the event's 118 years. Read more
MLB News: Manfred puts off decisions on incentives for minority hires.
📷 Photo of the day: Heavy rains flood southern Philippines 📷
Philippine officials say more than 100 people have died in one of the most destructive storms to lash the Philippines this year. Dozens more are feared missing in a mudslide-hit mountainside village and nearly two million others have been swamped by flash floods and landslides spurred by Tropical Storm Nalgae. The storm blew out into the South China Sea on Sunday, leaving a trail of destruction in a large swath of the archipelago. Click here to see more reporting from the Philippines.
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Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note, shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ballot box monitoring, Israel, Phillies, interest rate hike: Daily Briefing
