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u.s. news Diabierna 14 OctOber 2022

Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million for Sandy Hook lies

WATERBURY, Conn. actors hired as part of a plot acted on his Infowars show.
(AP) — Jurors ordered to take away people’s guns.
conspiracy theorist Alex As courtroom video showed
Jones on Wednesday to The verdict came in a defa- the jury awards being read
pay nearly $1 billion to mation lawsuit filed by some out, Jones said that he him-
Sandy Hook Elementary of the families of 26 people self had never mentioned the
School shooting victims’ who were killed in the 2012 plaintiffs’ names.
relatives and an FBI agent, shooting, plus an FBI agent
who said he turned their who was among the first re- “All made up. Hilarious,” he
loss and trauma into years sponders. A Texas jury in Au- said. “So this is what a show
of torment by promoting gust awarded nearly $50 mil- trial looks like. I mean, this
the lie that the rampage lion to the parents of another is the left completely out of
was a hoax. slain child. control.”

The $965 million verdict Robbie Parker, who lost his Jones’ lawyer, Norm Pattis,
is the second big judgment 6-year-old daughter, Emilie, portrayed the trial as unfair
against the Infowars host for said outside the Connecticut and pledged to appeal.
spreading the myth that the court that he was proud that
deadliest school shooting in “what we were able to ac- “Today is a very, very, very
U.S. history never happened, complish was just to simply dark day for freedom of
and that the grieving families tell the truth.” speech,” he said outside
seen in news coverage were Jones wasn’t at court but re- court.

US inflation pressures further intensified in September

WASHINGTON (AP) — coming months. Wholesale
Inflation in the United used car prices have dropped
States accelerated in Sep- for most of this year, though
tember, with the cost of the declines have yet to show
housing and other neces- up in consumer inflation
sities intensifying pressure data. (Used vehicle prices
on households, wiping out had soared in 2021 after fac-
pay gains that many have tory shutdowns and supply
received and ensuring chain shortages reduced pro-
that the Federal Reserve duction.)
will keep raising interest
rates aggressively. Large retailers, too, have
started offering early dis-
Consumer prices rose 8.2% counts for the holiday shop-
in September compared with ping season, after having
a year earlier, the government amassed excess stockpiles of
said Thursday. On a month- clothes, furniture and other
to-month basis, prices in- goods earlier this year. Those
creased 0.4% from August price cuts might have low-
to September after having ered inflation in September
ticked up 0.1% from July to or will do so in the coming
August. months.
Yet excluding the volatile vices — health care, auto passed on to consumers in of people now describe their Yet prices for services — par-
categories of food and en- repair and housing, among the form of higher prices. personal financial situation as ticularly rents and housing
ergy, so-called core inflation others — drove inflation last poor, up from 37% in March. costs — are remaining per-
jumped last month — a sign month. The cost of eyeglass- Inflation has swollen fami- That sizable drop contrasts sistently high and will likely
that the Fed’s five rate hikes es and eye care, for example, lies’ grocery bills, rents and with the mostly steady read- take much longer to come
this year have so far done lit- jumped 3.2% from August to utility costs, among other ings that had lasted through down. Health care services,
tle to cool inflation pressures. September, the sharpest one- expenses, causing hardships the pandemic. education and even veteri-
Core inflation climbed 0.6% month increase on records. for many and deepening pes- nary services are still rising
from August to September simism about the economy The September inflation rapidly in price.
and 6.6% over the past 12 Inflation in services is being despite strong job growth numbers aren’t likely to
months. The yearly core fig- fueled mainly by steady con- and historically low unem- change the Fed’s plans to Rising rental costs are a tricky
ure is the biggest increase in sumer demand and higher ployment. keep hiking rates aggressively issue for the Fed. Real-time
40 years. Core prices typically labor costs. Both Delta and in an effort to wrest inflation data from websites such as
provide a clearer picture of American Airlines, for exam- Prices are accelerating even under control. The Fed has ApartmentList suggest that
underlying price trends. ple, reported strong revenue as some of the supply chain boosted its key short-term rents on new leases are start-
and profit growth this week, problems bedeviling many rate by 3 percentage points ing to decline.
Thursday’s report represents driven by increased demand manufacturers are easing. since March, the fastest pace
the final U.S. inflation fig- from travelers. Airfares rose Core goods prices, which of hikes since the early 1980s. But the government’s mea-
ures before the Nov. 8 mid- a brisk 0.8% from August to sent inflation higher last year, Those increases are intended sure tracks all rent payments
term elections after a cam- September. were unchanged last month. to raise borrowing costs for — not just those for new
paign season in which spik- mortgages, auto loans and leases — and most of them
ing prices have fueled public A range of services industries, As the elections near, Ameri- business loans and cool infla- don’t change from month
anxiety, with many Republi- including airlines, hospitals cans are increasingly taking tion by slowing the economy. to month. Economists say
cans casting blame on Presi- and even veterinary services a dim view of their financ- it could be a year or longer
dent Joe Biden and congres- — are having to rapidly raise es, according to a new poll Along with lower gas prices, before the declines in new
sional Democrats. wages to attract the workers by The Associated Press- economists expect the prices leases feed through to gov-
they need. Those higher la- NORC Center for Public Af- of used cars to reduce or at ernment data.
Higher prices for many ser- bor costs, in turn, are often fairs Research. Roughly 46% least restrain inflation in the