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Key inflation report, Winter Olympics action, NBA trade deadline: 5 things to know Thursday

Editors  |  Paste BN

US inflation jumped 7.5% in the past year, a 40-year high

Inflation soared over the past year at its highest rate in four decades, hammering America’s consumers, wiping out pay raises and reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin raising borrowing rates across the economy. The Labor Department said Thursday that consumer prices jumped 7.5% last month compared with 12 months earlier, the steepest year-over-year increase since February 1982. Shortages of supplies and workers, heavy doses of federal aid, ultra-low interest rates and robust consumer spending combined to send inflation accelerating in the past year. There are few signs that inflation will slow significantly anytime soon. Most of the factors that have forced up prices since last spring remain in place: Wages are rising at the fastest pace in at least 20 years and ports and warehouses are overwhelmed, with hundreds of workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s busiest, out sick last month. Many products and parts remain in short supply as a result.

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Rising inflation impacts the stock market and more
Rising prices are scaring investors. Here’s how inflation works, how it affects investments like stocks and funds and how to protect your money.

Prefer to listen? Check out the 5 Things podcast: 

German chancellor to meet Baltic leaders before traveling to Russia, Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to receive on Thursday the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the three Baltic states that specifically feel the heat from Moscow, before traveling to Ukraine and Russia next week. It comes as Germany, which has led a NATO battlegroup in Lithuania for the past five years, will reportedly send up to 350 more troops there, reinforcing its presence on NATO's eastern flank. Elsewhere, a few dozen elite U.S. troops and equipment were seen landing Sunday in Poland near the border with Ukraine, following Biden's orders to deploy 1,700 soldiers there amid fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

Team USA shines early Thursday at the Winter Olympics in Beijing

Thursday has already been an action-packed day at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Team USA superstars Chloe Kim and Nathan Chen won gold medals in impressive fashion: Kim, 21, became the first woman in Olympic history to win more than one halfpipe snowboarding gold medal. And Chen, who has been the world's most dominant male figure skater for nearly four years, became the seventh American to win the men's individual competition. Meanwhile, a cloud hangs over the Russian team as the medal ceremony for the Olympic figure skating team competition was delayed by a positive drug test among the gold medal-winners. Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old superstar who was expected to win the gold medal in women's figure skating, practiced as usual Thursday, hours after reports that she tested positive for a banned substance. Fans will also get chances Thursday to see a series of ice hockey games, curling matches and two men's snowboard finals, the halfpipe and the snowboard cross.

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Chloe Kim just wants some snacks after winning second Olympic gold
In her press conference after winning her second gold medal in women's snowboard halfpipe, Chloe Kim asks the room if anyone has snacks.
Sandy Hooper, Paste BN

'Cheer' star Jerry Harris expected to plead guilty in child pornography case

Jerry Harris, once a star of the Netflix series "Cheer," is expected to plead guilty Thursday in a federal child pornography case alleging he solicited sex from minors at cheerleading competitions, court records in Chicago show. A change of plea hearing was scheduled for Thursday, according to the records. But it was not clear Wednesday which charges Harris planned to plead guilty to or whether he had reached a plea deal with prosecutors. The actor was indicted in December 2020 on charges alleging misconduct in Illinois, Florida and Texas. Federal prosecutors also alleged that Harris tried to persuade a minor to engage in oral sex at cheerleading events, solicited another for sex and admitted to having five to 10 victims in all. Paste BN broke the story about Harris being accused in September 2020. Reporters Marisa Kwiatkowski and Tricia Nadolny found numerous failures across the sport of competitive cheerleading, including with the sport's governing body, the U.S. All Star Federation.

NBA trade deadline: Will a blockbuster James Harden trade happen?

With Thursday's 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline approaching, much of the attention is focused on whether the Nets and 76ers will make a trade that sends Ben Simmons to Brooklyn and James Harden south to Philadelphia. As one plugged-in agent told Paste BN Sports, half the league believes a Harden-for-Simmons deal will happen and half believes there's no chance. Other teams around the league could be primed to make moves, too, with many wondering whether the Los Angeles Lakers can strike a deal to bolster the roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Conversely, the Washington Wizards could be looking to offload key players amid the loss of star Bradley Beal to season-ending wrist surgery and a rough stretch that has seen them go just 2-8 in their last 10 games. 

Contributing: The Associated Press

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