Today in one sentence: The World Trade Organization warned that the outlook for global trade next year has "darkened considerably"; a coalition of oil-producing nations led by Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day; U.S. mortgage rates jumped to a 16-year high; a federal appeals court granted the Justice Department’s request to expedite its challenge of the appointment of a special master to review the documents recovered by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago; the Republican nominee for a Georgia Senate seat – who has called for a total ban on abortion – paid for a girlfriend's abortion in 2009; and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, killed over 320 dogs, 31 pigs, and 661 rabbits and other rodents between 1989 and 2010.

1/ The World Trade Organization warned that the outlook for global trade next year has “darkened considerably” with “multiple shocks” – from higher energy and food prices to rising interest rates – curbing import demand. World trade is now expected grow 1.0% in 2023, compared with a previous forecast of 3.4%. (Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Reuters)

2/ A coalition of oil-producing nations led by Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day. It’s the biggest production cut in more than two years and represents about 2% of global oil production. The White House called the decision by OPEC+ “shortsighted” and “unnecessary.” In response, the U.S. said it would release 10 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Biden and European leaders had urged more oil production to ease gasoline prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Oil prices have fallen to roughly $80 a barrel from more than $120 in early June. The group, however, wants to keep crude above $90 a barrel. (New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / CNBC)

3/ U.S. mortgage rates jumped to a 16-year high. Mortgage rates have increased 1.30 percentage points in the past seven weeks, with average 30-year fixed mortgage now at 6.75% – the highest since 2007. Mortgage applications, meanwhile, fell 14.2%. (Bloomberg / CNBC)

4/ A federal appeals court granted the Justice Department’s request to expedite its challenge of the appointment of a special master to review the documents recovered by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago. Last week the Justice Department asked the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to fast-track its appeal, saying its inability to access the non-classified documents was impeding their investigation. Trump, meanwhile, has publicly claimed that one reason that the FBI found boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago was because federal workers were responsible for packing up the White House. A Freedom of Information Act request, however, revealed that Trump’s “transition team was responsible for putting the boxes on pallets and shrink-wrapping each pallet.” The General Services Administration was only involved in facilitating the shipping of the items. (Bloomberg / Reuters / CNN / Axios)

5/ The Republican nominee for a Georgia Senate seat – who has called for a total ban on abortion – paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009. Herschel Walker wrote the woman a check for $700 and mailed it inside a “get well” card that read: “Rest, Relax […] Recover.” While Walker has denied the report, his team and top Republicans in the state knew of the allegation months before it surfaced, did nothing, and hoped it wouldn’t come out before the election. Top Republican leaders, the Republican National Committee, and Trump, meanwhile, reaffirmed their support of Walker. (Daily Beast / Politico / NPR)

6/ Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, killed over 320 dogs, 31 pigs, and 661 rabbits and other rodents between 1989 and 2010. Jezebel reviewed 75 studies published in academic journals by Dr. Oz, who was the “principal investigator” at the Columbia University Institute of Comparative Medicine labs at the time, and found that experiments had been conducted on at least 1,027 live animals. When Newsweek asked the Oz campaign for a comment, spokesperson Barney Keller replied: “Only the idiots at Newsweek believe what they read at Jezebel.” (Jezebel / Newsweek)

Four years ago today: Day 624: Rock bottom.
Five years ago today: Day 259: Suicide squad.