10 things you need to know today: July 13, 2023

1. FBI's Wray spars with House GOP in tense 6-hour hearing

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee for nearly six hours on Wednesday, frequently fending off attacks and rebutting conspiracy theories from Republican critics who accused the FBI of being "weaponized" against conservatives. Wray, a registered Republican appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2017, said "the idea that I'm biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background." Democrats, who largely defended the FBI during the hearing and accused their GOP colleagues of trying to protect Trump, did find common ground with Republicans in questioning the FBI's use of a warrantless surveillance program. Wray tried to keep the hearing focused on the crime-fighting the "real FBI" engages in every day, and he largely declined to discuss ongoing high-profile cases.

USA Today Politico

2. U.S. inflation falls to 2-year low

Consumer prices rose 3% in June versus a year earlier, and 0.2% from May, the Labor Department said Wednesday. That's the smallest increase since March 2021 and down sharply from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The core Consumer Price Index, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose 4.8%. "After a punishing stretch of high inflation that eroded consumer's purchasing power, the fever is breaking," Comerica Bank chief economist Bill Adams told The Wall Street Journal. "I think the inflation story is history," Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke predicted to CNBC. The cooling inflation data, especially if confirmed by Thursday's producer price index numbers, will give the Federal Reserve leeway to stop raising interest rates.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Wall Street Journal CNBC

3. Ray Epps sues Fox News for defamation over 'fantastical' Jan. 6 claim

Ray Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, in response to former host Tucker Carlson repeatedly accusing him of helping stoke violence during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Epps, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, but has denied allegations that he was working with a federal agency and purposely instigated rioters. Carlson did not share on air any evidence of his claims, and the lawsuit calls the accusations "fantastical." Michael Teter, an attorney for Epps, told NPR his client regularly watched Fox News and was a Carlson fan until the host and the network created "a fictitious story and narrative about him that is wholly untrue. And because of that he has faced harassment and threats from Fox viewers and others that have ruined his life."

NPR

4. Chinese hackers breach Commerce and State Department email accounts

Chinese hackers targeted the email accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other Commerce and State Department officials, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday. The accounts were compromised due to "a fundamental gap in Microsoft's cloud," The Washington Post said, and the hackers had access to them for about a month before the State Department's cybersecurity team discovered what was going on. A senior FBI official told the Post no classified information was taken and it appears the hackers were only able to access the inboxes.

The Washington Post

5. Disney CEO Bob Iger's contract extended through 2026

Bob Iger is staying put, with the Walt Disney Company announcing on Wednesday that its board of directors voted unanimously to extend the CEO's contract through Dec. 31, 2026. He first served as CEO from 2005 to 2020, and returned to the company in November 2022 after Bob Chapek was ousted from the position. "On my first day back, we began making important and sometimes difficult decisions to address some existing structural and efficiency issues, and despite the challenges, I believe Disney's long-term future is bright," Iger said in a statement. When he rejoined the company last year, Iger signed a two-year deal and had a mandate from the board to determine a successor. There isn't one in place, but the board has formed a committee to find one.

The Hollywood Reporter

6. San Francisco's iconic Anchor Brewing closing after 127 years

Anchor Brewing Co., the iconic San Francisco brewery opened in 1896 and purchased by Japan's Sapporo in 2017, announced Wednesday that it has stopped brewing its ales and will cease operations. Anchor spokesman Sam Singer said the brewery was "losing millions of dollars a year" and "the impacts of the pandemic, inflation — especially in San Francisco — and a highly competitive market left us with no choice but to make this sad decision." Anchor has nearly folded several times in its 127-year history, but the company said it will put its assets up for sale soon using a bankruptcy alternative called Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors. "Anchor's always had a special place in the beer world and a special place in San Francisco," Singer said. "They were out of cash and out of time."

San Francisco Chronicle Los Angeles Times

7. Hollywood actors to strike after contract talks end without deal

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing 160,000 actors, is expected to go on strike as soon as Friday after the actors union and Hollywood studios failed to reach a contract deal before a Wednesday midnight deadline. SAG-AFTRA's negotiating committee voted unanimously to recommend union leaders call a strike when they meet Thursday morning. The studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, called in a federal mediator on Wednesday, but both sides reportedly remain far apart on issues ranging from residuals for hit shows on streaming services to rules for using artificial intelligence. This will be the first actors strike since 2000, their first strike against TV and movie studios since 1980, and the first time since 1960 that Hollywood actors and writers are on strike at the same time.

Variety Los Angeles Times

8. NATO summit ends with new security guarantees for Ukraine, but no invite

A high-stakes NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, ended Wednesday with a glide path for Sweden to join the Western military alliance, new spending and ambitious defense goals, and new security commitments for Ukraine in its existential battle against Russia's invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who criticized NATO earlier in the week for putting conditions on Ukraine even being invited to join NATO, said Wednesday at a joint news conference with President Biden that "the Ukrainian delegation is bringing home a significant security victory for the Ukraine." NATO launched a permanent new NATO-Ukraine Council on Wednesday and the G7 industrial nations jointly pledged to individually provide Ukraine "swift and sustained security assistance, modern military equipment across land, sea and air domains, and economic assistance." Biden visits new NATO member Finland on Thursday before returning to the U.S.

The Associated Press The New York Times

9. Top Russian generals killed, fired, disappeared after Wagner mutiny

Russian lawmaker Andrei Gurulyov said Wednesday that one top Russian commander in Ukraine, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, had been removed from duty and another, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov, was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike Monday. Gurulyov posted an audio recording of Popov saying he had been fired for raising questions about the high Russian casualty rate and lack of artillery support. Popov is one of at least 15 senior military officers suspended or fired since Wagner paramilitary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny against Russia's military chiefs, The Wall Street Journal reported. Another top commander, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, is one of at least 13 officers detained or arrested. Surovikin, the head of aerospace forces and former top commander in Ukraine, has not been seen publicly since the mutiny, and another Russian lawmaker, Andrei Kartapolov, said Wednesday the general was "taking a rest." According to the Journal, Surovikin is being held and interrogated in Moscow.

The New York Times BBC News

10. BBC star Huw Edwards named as anchor suspended in scandal

BBC News anchor Huw Edwards, one of the most famous and highest paid BBC personalities, is the employee suspended last Friday after being accused in a British tabloid of paying for sexually explicit photos of an underage person, Edwards' wife, Vicky Flind, said Wednesday. Edwards, 61, is "suffering from serious mental health issues" and "receiving in-patient hospital care where he'll stay for the foreseeable future," Flind said, adding that her husband will respond to the allegations once he's "well enough to do so." The unidentified young person whose parents accused Edwards in The Sun issued a statement calling the report "rubbish" and claiming The Sun didn't print the denial they had provided. London's Metropolitan Police also said Wednesday it had concluded its assessment and found no evidence of a crime by Edwards. The BBC said it will continue its in-house investigation.

The Washington Post BBC News