Letitia James calls former president’s appearance at civil trial a ‘political stunt’ and a ‘fundraising stop’
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, told reporters on Wednesday that “the Trump show is over” as the third day of the former US president’s civil fraud trial wrapped up in Manhattan.
James and Trump both returned to the trial a day after Trump ran afoul of the judge by denigrating a key court staffer in a social media post.
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Sam Bankman-Fried’s confidants were along for the ride. At his side was Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s CEO and his on-again, off-again lover.
Ellison, too, projected tech bro-like eccentricities, waxing philosophical about free love and drugs. She wrote in a now-notorious tweet.:
Nothing like regular amphetamine use to make you appreciate how dumb a lot of normal, non-medicated human experience is.
Continue reading...Second day of trial featured prosecutors’ first witness as defense presented Bankman-Fried as ‘math nerd’ with good intentions who got in over his head
Opening arguments began in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Wednesday, with prosecutors accusing the former cryptocurrency star of building his empire “on lies” and living a lavish lifestyle while defrauding his customers. Defense attorneys countered by presenting Bankman-Fried as a “math nerd” with good intentions who got in over his head.
The second day of the trial began with Judge Lewis Kaplan finalizing a group of 12 jurors who would hear the case, along with six alternates, and later in the afternoon featured prosecutors calling their first witness.
Continue reading...Kaiser Permanente workers start three-day strike, demanding wage increases and better staffing, after union contracts expire
More than 75,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente have started a three-day strike on Wednesday in the largest demonstration of its kind by healthcare workers in US history.
The workers, represented by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, are currently bargaining for new union contracts after their current contracts expired on 1 October. Workers are demanding significant wage increases and substantive improvements to what they say have been severe understaffing in healthcare facilities that worsened throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Jim Jordan confirms his run while Steve Scalise, House majority leader, reportedly sounds out support
Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio emerged as leading contenders to succeed Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the US House of Representatives, after the Californian was brutally removed by his own Republican party on Tuesday.
Scalise is House majority leader, Jordan chair of the powerful judiciary committee. In the aftermath of McCarthy’s defeat, both were widely reported to be making calls and sounding out support. On Wednesday morning, speaking to reporters, Jordan confirmed his run.
Continue reading...Universities may have divested from fossil fuels – but board members still have industry ties, new analysis finds
At least 20 board members at California public universities have direct ties to the fossil fuel industry, a new analysis has found, sparking criticism from climate advocates on and off campus.
Of the state’s 32 public universities, board members at one-third of them either work or have worked for oil and gas companies, as do two board members at the California State University’s foundation.
John S Watson, former Chevron CEO, sits on the University of California Davis chancellor’s board of advisers.
Stephen Strachan, who until this past December headed the oil and gas production firm Strachan Exploration Corporation, is a member of the UC San Diego Foundation’s foundation board of trustees.
Henry Perea, a government affairs manager for oil and gas giant Chevron, sits on the board of governors at the California State University foundation, as does Gillian A Wright, senior vice-president at gas distribution utility SoCalGas.
Megan Lopez, who is Chevron’s policy, government and public affairs representative, sits on the board of California State University, Bakersfield, as do higher-ups at oil company Kern Oil and Refining, fossil fuel exploration company California Resources Corporation, and oil and gas exploration company Aera Energy.
Continue reading...Cost of ‘certificate of entitlement’, introduced in 1990 to control number of cars, now equivalent to four Toyota Camry Hybrids in US
To own a car in Singapore, a buyer must bid for a certificate that now costs $106,000, equivalent to four Toyota Camry Hybrids in the US, as a post-pandemic recovery has driven up the cost of the country’s vehicle quota system to all-time highs.
Singapore has a 10-year “certificate of entitlement” (COE) system, introduced in 1990, to control the number of vehicles in the small city-state, which is home to 5.9 million people and can be driven across in less than an hour.
Continue reading...Former Americans file lawsuit against US government, alleging ‘renunciation fee’ of $2,350 is ‘arbitrary, capricious and illegal’
Former Americans who have renounced their citizenship have launched a class-action lawsuit suing the US government for what they argue are exorbitant and unconstitutional costs of relinquishing their passports.
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday by four renounced US citizens in a federal court in Washington DC, accuses the US of wrongfully profiting from the “astronomical” fee it charges those who voluntarily cease to be Americans. Since 2014, Americans abroad who no longer wish to remain citizens, or who can no longer afford to meet the notoriously onerous US tax demands, have been forced to pay a “renunciation fee” of $2,350.
Continue reading...Former House speaker tells colleagues he will not go for the job again; Republican Patrick McHenry takes over as temporary speaker
In brief comments to reporters after meeting with Republican lawmakers, Kevin McCarthy sounded fatalistic about surviving the motion to remove him as speaker of the House brought by far-right insurgents.
“If five Republicans go with Democrats, then I’m out,” McCarthy said.
Joe Biden’s son Hunter is set to be arraigned in a Delaware court on Tuesday in a politically fraught case that could unfold in the heat of the US president’s 2024 re-election campaign.
Hunter, 53, the first child of a sitting president to be indicted, is expected to plead not guilty to unlawfully possessing a gun as an illegal drug user and lying about his drug use on a background check form when he bought a Colt Cobra revolver in 2018.
Continue reading...Now-former speaker confirms he will not run again as Republicans plan to hold a vote for a new speaker next Wednesday
After leading a successful, bipartisan effort to avoid a government shutdown over the weekend, Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday was abruptly removed from his role as US House speaker, ousted by hard-right members of his own Republican party less than a year after his election.
The ousting of McCarthy represented the first time in US history that a speaker of the House has been removed from office, marking an ignominious end to a short and fraught tenure for the California Republican. It comes as Americans’ approval ratings of Congress and the federal government remain near historic lows, with a majority saying they have little or no confidence in the future of the US political system.
Continue reading...More than 100 of 148 recorded deaths in El Paso sector were recorded between May and September when heat topped 100F
Scorching summer temperatures caused the number of deaths along one of the busiest migrant routes into the US to more than double in the 2023 fiscal year that closed on Sunday, according to data from the US border patrol.
More than 100 of the 148 recorded deaths in the patrol’s El Paso sector were recorded between May and September when temperatures were at or above 100F (37.7C) for 44 consecutive days, the El Paso Times said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Butler becomes only the third Black female senator in history, following the death of Feinstein last week at age 90
In a unique and historic moment on Capitol Hill, former union leader and Democratic strategist Laphonza Butler was sworn in by Kamala Harris on Tuesday as the newest member of the Senate, replacing California Senator Dianne Feinstein after her death last week and becoming only the third Black female senator in history.
Butler, 44, was appointed by California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, on Sunday, just two days after Feinstein died at her home in Washington DC. Butler is a longtime fundraiser and strategist in California’s Democratic circles and was the head of Emily’s List, a national organization that raises money for female candidates who support abortion rights.
Continue reading...The second day of Trump’s trial got off to another combative start after Trump branded the case a ‘fraud’ and ‘scam’
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial issued a gag order on Tuesday after the former president made comments about the judge’s clerk.
“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” the judge, Arthur Engoron, said on Tuesday afternoon. “Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances.
Continue reading...FTX founder shed his signature T-shirt and shorts look to don on suit with freshly cut hair as day one of fraud trial commenced
The criminal trial of the former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried began on Tuesday, with jury selection getting under way in a Manhattan federal court.
Bankman-Fried, who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and associated hedge fund Alameda Research, is facing trial on finance crimes stemming from the shocking collapse of FTX. Before its sudden downfall last year, FTX was valued at around $32bn.
Continue reading...Singer says ‘we really can’t go any further with this – there’s no reason to’ when asked about future of band
Stevie Nicks has said Fleetwood Mac will not tour again after the death of Christine McVie in November 2022.
In an interview with Vulture, she referred to the band’s 2018 tour, An Evening With Fleetwood Mac. “We had a really great time and it was a huge tour. That was there in the realm of possibility. But when Christine died, I felt like you can’t replace her. You just can’t. Without her, what is it?” Nicks said.
Continue reading...Far-right congressman files motion after expressing outrage at speaker’s bipartisan effort to avoid government shutdown
Congressman Matt Gaetz, a hard-right Republican of Florida, introduced a motion to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker on Monday, expressing outrage over the Republican leader’s successful efforts to avoid a government shutdown this weekend.
“I have enough Republicans where at this point next week, one of two things will happen: Kevin McCarthy won’t be the speaker of the House, or he’ll be the speaker of the House working at the pleasure of the Democrats,” Gaetz told reporters after he filed the motion. “I’m at peace with either result because the American people deserve to know who governs them.”
Continue reading...Dish to pay $150,000 for failing to properly dispose of satellite and violating the FCC’s anti-space debris rule
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued its first fine to a company that violated its anti-space debris rule, the commission announced Monday.
Dish Network has to pay $150,000 to the commission over its failure to de-orbit its EchoStar-7 satellite which has been in space for more than two decades. Instead of properly de-orbiting the satellite, Dish sent it into a “disposal orbit” at an altitude low enough to pose orbital debris risk.
Continue reading...About 400 people took part in the search Monday, including state and local police, forest rangers and volunteer firefighters
A nine-year-old girl who vanished during a family camping trip in upstate New York was found safe Monday following a two-day search, authorities said.
Charlotte Sena was located “in good health” and “a suspect is in custody” in connection with her disappearance Saturday evening, New York state police said in a statement.
Continue reading...Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday that abortion pill prescriptions would now be available by telephone or online
New York City public hospitals will now offer abortion care via telehealth, placing them among the first public health systems in the US to do so.
The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, announced on Monday that abortion pill prescriptions would now be available by telephone or online, adding that such access can happen from “the comfort of your home”.
Continue reading...Far right of Republican party split as congressman attacks House speaker for working with Democrats to avoid shutdown
Congressman Matt Gaetz continued to attack Kevin McCarthy on Monday over the House Republican speaker’s successful efforts to avoid a government shutdown, even as other hard-right lawmakers came to McCarthy’s defense.
Speaking on the House floor on Monday, Gaetz railed against McCarthy, accusing the speaker of cutting “a secret side deal” with Joe Biden to provide additional funding to Ukraine. The stopgap spending measure passed by Congress on Saturday, which extended government funding through November 17, did not include additional money for Ukraine, but members of both parties have called for a supplemental bill to address that omission. Biden said on Saturday that he did “fully expect the speaker will keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine” and soon pass a supplemental funding bill.
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