Trump Sues CNN For Defamation Seeks $475 Million In Damages
Trump Sues CNN For Defamation, Seeks $475 Million In Damages https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-sues-cnn-for-defamation-seeks-475-million-in-damages/
Former president Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday and is seeking $475 million in punitive damages, a move that escalates his conflict with U.S. news organizations that have critically reported on his career.
The 29-page lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that CNN took part in a “campaign of dissuasion in the form of libel and slander” that “escalated in recent months” because the network feared Trump would again run for president. The lawsuit took issue with CNN’s use of the words “racist” and “insurrectionist,” as well as associations made between the former president and Adolf Hitler.
Trump has a history of being highly litigious against critics in the media, though these legal challenges have had little success. In 2020, his campaign separately sued The Washington Post and the New York Times for libel over opinion pieces that linked the campaign to Russian electoral interference. (The suit against the Times was dismissed, while the legal challenge against The Post is still pending.) Trump’s campaign also filed a libel suit against CNN over an op-ed in 2020, which was later dismissed.
Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, who reviewed the latest suit, said she sees “no legal path forward” for Trump.
“I see no false statements of fact that were made with actual malice,” she said, adding that an “enormous amount” of the CNN comments described as defamatory in the lawsuit appeared to be opinions.
In the suit, Trump’s lawyers cite numerous clips and articles from CNN, including a 2019 interview with the singer Linda Ronstadt, who compared aspects of his presidency to Nazi rule in Germany. The attorneys argued that Ronstadt “is a singer, not a historian,” and called the interview a “pretext to repeat CNN’s message under the guise of real ‘reporting.’”
As a public figure, Trump needs to meet a higher standard to prove that CNN defamed him. His lawyers must show that CNN made false remarks about Trump that were presented as fact, and that the network had knowledge of the false remarks or a reckless disregard for the truth, a standard that historically has been very difficult to reach, Levinson said.
(Two Supreme Court justices, including Trump appointee Neil M. Gorsuch, have previously suggested that the standard needs review.)
Trump’s lawyers argue in the suit that CNN labeled Trump in ways that are “neither hyperbolic nor opinion,” and that the channel acted with “real animosity” to cause him “true harm.”
Lawyers representing the former president did not immediately return requests for comment Monday evening. A representative from CNN declined to comment on the suit.
Levinson said the most probable outcome of Trump’s legal challenge is that it would be thrown out once CNN filed a motion to dismiss the suit. If the case goes to trial, both sides would be able to request evidence from each other to discuss the degree of truth behind CNN’s statements. That ultimately could be disadvantageous for Trump, she said, particularly if the statements are found to be true.
“I think it’s really about trying to chill speech against the former president,” she said. “It’s a warning shot to media outlets that he intends to make good on threats of suing for defamation. And for some outlets, that could ultimately put them out of business.”
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Georgia Election Probe Enters New Phase With Search Warrants
Georgia Election Probe Enters New Phase With Search Warrants https://digitalarizonanews.com/georgia-election-probe-enters-new-phase-with-search-warrants/
Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis is shown in her office on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case, a sign that the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase. The revelation came Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, in a court order filed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury that has been seated as part of the investigation. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case, a sign that the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase.
The revelation came Monday in a court order filed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury seated to help the investigation. In an order sealing any search warrants and related documents from being made public, McBurney wrote that District Attorney Fani Willis’ office is “now seeking to obtain and execute a series of search warrants, the affidavits for which are predicated on sensitive information acquired during the investigation.”
Disclosure of the information could compromise the investigation, McBurney wrote, “by, among other things, causing flight from prosecution, destruction of or tampering with evidence, and intimidation of potential witnesses.” It could also result in risks to the “safety and well-being” of people involved in the investigation, he wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear who the targets of the search warrants are or whether any search warrants had yet to be approved by a judge. To obtain a search warrant, prosecutors must convince a judge they have probable cause that a crime occurred at the location where authorities want to search.
As Willis’ investigation ramps up, the public court filings in the case have provided a rare window into the workings of a special grand jury that meets behind closed doors.
Willis, a Democrat, opened the investigation early last year, shortly after the release of a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump suggested that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
In addition to the Trump-Raffensperger call, Willis confirmed early on that she was investigating a call that Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made to Raffensperger, the sudden departure of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in early January 2021 and statements made during legislative committee meetings by people pushing debunked claims casting doubt on the legitimacy of the state’s election.
Court filings in recent months have also shown that Willis is interested in a slate of fake electors who signed a certificate in December 2020 falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. She said in a court filing that the 16 Georgia Republicans who signed that certificate have all been notified they are targets of the investigation, meaning they could face criminal charges.
Attorneys for Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor and Trump lawyer, say their client has also been notified that he’s a target of Willis’ investigation. He appeared at state legislative committee hearings in December 2020 and made claims of election fraud in Georgia. Giuliani was also involved in coordinating the fake elector plan, Willis wrote in a court filing. He testified before the special grand jury in August.
Willis’ investigation has also expanded into a breach of voting equipment at the elections office in a rural Georgia county, some 200 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Documents, emails, security video and deposition testimony produced in response to subpoenas in a long-running lawsuit have shown that lawyer Sidney Powell and other Trump allies hired a computer forensics team to go to Coffee County to make complete copies of data and software on elections equipment there. Willis is seeking testimony from Powell and has also requested documents from the company that employs the computer forensics team.
Another thread Willis seems to be pursuing is alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker. A petition filed last month indicates she wants to question Harrison Floyd, a director of Black Voices for Trump. Willis said in the petition that Floyd and Trevian Kutti, whom Willis described as a Chicago-based “purported publicist,” tried to pressure Ruby Freeman. Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, were election workers falsely accused by Trump allies of pulling fraudulent ballots from a suitcase during ballot counting.
As the investigation has progressed, a number of people who have been summoned to testify have tried to avoid testifying. Most have been unsuccessful.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who’s facing a reelection challenge from Democrat Stacey Abrams, managed to delay his testimony until after next month’s election.
Graham’s attempt to fight his subpoena is currently pending before a federal appeals court. Willis has said in a court filing that she wants to talk to Graham about calls he made to Raffensperger and his staff in which he reportedly asked about “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.” Graham has denied any wrongdoing and said his status as a senator shields him from having to testify.
A number of high-ranking Georgia state officials, including Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, have already testified before the special grand jury. Others in Trump’s orbit who’ve undergone questioning include attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro. And the panel is still expecting testimony from others, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Willis has indicated she could seek to compel testimony from Trump himself. The former president has hired a legal team in Atlanta and last month disparaged the investigation as a “strictly political Witch Hunt!”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Donald Trump Sues CNN Over Defamation Attempt https://digitalarizonanews.com/donald-trump-sues-cnn-over-defamation-attempt/
News
World
Donald Trump sues CNN over defamation attempt
Former US President Donald Trump – AFP
Former U.S. President Donald Trump sues CNN for $475 million in punitive damages.
He claims the network conducted a “campaign of libel and slander” against him.
The former president retained official data at his Mar-a-Lago home, prompting a criminal investigation.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN on Monday, demanding $475 million in punitive damages and alleging the network conducted a “campaign of libel and slander” against him.
Trump contends in his complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that CNN used its position as a premier news outlet to defeat him politically.
CNN refused to comment on the situation.
Trump alleges in his lawsuit that CNN defamed him with the terms “racist,” “Russian lackey,” “insurrectionist,” and “Hitler.”
After leaving office in January 2021, the former president retained official data at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, prompting a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.
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Ukraine Pushes Further Into Territory 'annexed' By Moscow; Poorly Trained Russian Conscripts Dying Just Days Into Fighting
Ukraine Pushes Further Into Territory 'annexed' By Moscow; Poorly Trained Russian Conscripts Dying Just Days Into Fighting https://digitalarizonanews.com/ukraine-pushes-further-into-territory-annexed-by-moscow-poorly-trained-russian-conscripts-dying-just-days-into-fighting/
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the east and south of the country continues to build momentum, with President Zelenskyy announcing last night that there were “new liberated settlements in several regions.”
On Monday, Ukrainian forces saw more successes on the battlefield, pushing through Russian defenses in the south of the country, as well as consolidating their hold on territory around Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region, and looking to push further into neighboring Luhansk.
President Putin announced Russia was annexing both regions last Friday, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, but Moscow’s hold on them looks increasingly fragile with none of the regions fully occupied by Russian forces.
In his nightly address, the Ukrainian president said “fierce fighting continues in many areas of the front” but said an increasing number of occupying forces were trying to escape and “more and more losses are being inflicted on the enemy army.”
Zelenskyy said Russian men who had been mobilized to fight in Ukraine just a few weeks ago were already dying in Ukraine.
What’s happening in the war? Here’s the latest assessment by defense analysts
Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues in the south in the Kherson region and in the northeast, with Ukrainian forces looking to push further into the Donetsk region and toward Luhansk. Here’s how defense analysts at the Institute for the Study of War assessed Ukraine’s progress late on Monday:
Ukrainian forces have made substantial gains around Lyman and in northern Kherson Oblast [a province or region] over the last 24 hours. The Russian units defeated on these fronts were previously considered to be among Russia’s premier conventional fighting forces.
Ukrainian forces made advances on the Oskil River-Kreminna line toward the Luhansk Oblast border.
Ukrainian forces advanced in northern Kherson Oblast.
Ukraine recaptures Lyman, a key logistics hub for Russian forces.
Institute for the Study of War
Summing up Ukraine’s progress following the recapturing of Lyman (a key logistics hub for Russian forces in the area) on Saturday, analysts at the ISW wrote that the country’s forces “continued to make substantial gains around Lyman and in Kherson Oblast in the last 48 hours.”
“Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that Ukrainian troops made significant breakthroughs in northern Kherson Oblast between October 2 and 3. Geolocated footage corroborates Russian claims that Ukrainian troops are continuing to push east of Lyman and may have broken through the Luhansk Oblast border in the direction of Kreminna.”
The ISW noted again that Russian groupings in northern Kherson Oblast and on the Lyman front were largely comprised of units that had been regarded as among Russia’s premier conventional fighting forces before the war but said “their apparent failures to hold territory against major Ukrainian counter-offensive actions is consistent with ISW’s previous assessment that even the most elite Russian military forces are becoming increasingly degraded as the war continues.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Zelenskyy says there are newly liberated settlements in several regions
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the northeast and south of the country continues to build momentum, with President Zelenskyy announcing last night that there were “new liberated settlements in several regions.”
On Monday, Ukrainian forces saw more successes on the battlefield, pushing through Russian defenses in the south of the country, as well as consolidating their hold on territory around Lyman in the northeast Donetsk region, and looking to push further eastward into Luhansk.
President Putin announced Russia was annexing both regions last Friday but Moscow’s hold on them looks increasingly fragile.
Wreckage of a car marked with a Russian military symbol “Z” at a Russian military base, which Ukrainian forces destroyed by HIMARS during a counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast, on Sept. 26, 2022 in Balakliia, Ukraine. Balakliia was under Russian occupation for half a year. On Sept. 10, Ukraine’s armed forces liberated the city.
Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images News | Getty Images
In his nightly address, Zelenskyy didn’t name the newly liberated towns but said “fierce fighting continues in many areas of the front” but said an increasing number of occupying forces were trying to escape and “more and more losses are being inflicted on the enemy army.”
Zelenskyy said Russian men who had been mobilized to fight in Ukraine just a few weeks ago were already dying in Ukraine.
“Among the dead occupiers we can already see those who were taken [brought to fight in Ukraine] just a week or two ago. People were not trained for combat, they have no experience to fight in such a war. But the Russian command just needs some people – any kind – to replace the dead. And when these new ones die, more people will be sent. This is how Russia fights. That’s how it will lose as well,” he said.
“No sham referenda, announcements about annexations, conversations about the borders they invented and drew somewhere, will help them,” he added, referring to a set of fake referendums in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine that led to Moscow announcing their annexation last week, a move branded as illegitimate and illegal by Ukraine and its allies.
— Holly Ellyatt
Elon Musk is publicly rebuked by Zelenskyy over his Twitter poll
SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk takes part in a joint news conference with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert (not pictured) at the SpaceX Starbase, in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., August 25, 2022.
Adrees Latif | Reuters
American tech billionaire Elon Musk drew public ire from Ukraine’s top officials after the Tesla CEO posted a Twitter poll asking the public to agree or disagree with what he claimed is the most likely outcome of Russia’s invasion.
“F– off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, wrote in response to Musk’s tweet.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy responded with a Twitter poll of his own. “Which Elon Musk do you like more,” Zelenskyy asked. “The one who supports Ukraine” or “The one who supports Russia.”
What Musk calls a “highly likely” outcome presumes that Russia accomplishes several of its major goals, including permanently annexing Crimea, using referendums to determine the fates of 4 other attempted annexations, and prohibiting Ukraine from joining NATO.
For Ukrainians, these outcomes would never, ever be acceptable.
— Christina Wilkie
Photos show destroyed Russian armored vehicles left behind in Izium, Kharkiv
Ukrainian forces transport Russian vehicles and missile launch pads left behind by the Russian forces in Izium, Kharkiv, Ukraine on October 02, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Over the weekend Ukrainian forces seized the strategic city of Lyman and continued a stunning counteroffensive in the northeast of the country.
The following photos show destroyed Russian armored vehicles and tanks left behind as Ukrainian forces battle for Izium, Kharkiv and continue to push east through Russian lines.
Destroyed Russian armored vehicles left behind by the Russian forces in Izium, Kharkiv, Ukraine on October 02, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Destroyed Russian armored vehicles left behind by the Russian forces in Izium, Kharkiv, Ukraine on October 02, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Destroyed Russian armored vehicles left behind by the Russian forces in Izium, Kharkiv, Ukraine on October 02, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A destroyed Russian armored vehicle left behind by the Russian forces in Izium, Kharkiv, Ukraine on October 02, 2022. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
— Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russian forces release Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant official, IAEA chief says
A Russian serviceman stands guard the territory outside the second reactor of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Energodar on May 1, 2022.
Andrey Borodulin | AFP | Getty Images
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Russian forces released an employee from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Ihor Murashov, the director general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, was released and returned to his family.
Last week, Murashov was allegedly detained by Russian troops upon leaving the power plant facility in the town of Energodar.
— Amanda Macias
Russia’s Parliament approves annexations, but boundaries remain unclear
People attend an event marking the declared Russia’s annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of four Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, after holding what Russian authorities called referendums in the occupied areas of Ukraine that were condemned by Kyiv and governments worldwide, in Luhansk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, September 30, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
Russia’s Duma, or lower house of Parliament, unanimously approved the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson although the borders of what Russia now claims is its territory remain unclear.
A statement from the Duma on Telegram said “the entry of the Donetsk, Luhansk people’s republics [self-proclaimed separatist regions], Zaporozhzhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation is the only way to save millions of people’s lives from the criminal Kyiv regime,” the Duma said, repeating baseless accusations against the government in Kyiv.
Russia’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine has...
Herschel Walker Denies Report That He Paid For Girlfriends Abortion
Herschel Walker Denies Report That He Paid For Girlfriend’s Abortion https://digitalarizonanews.com/herschel-walker-denies-report-that-he-paid-for-girlfriends-abortion/
Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia, on Monday denied a claim that he paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, saying in a televised interview on Fox News Channel that the account published in the Daily Beast is a “flat-out lie.”
Walker’s denial came after the Daily Beast published a detailed description from an unnamed former girlfriend who said that Walker encouraged her to have an abortion after she became pregnant while they were dating, wrote her a $700 check to pay for the procedure and then sent her a subsequent “get well” card.
When asked by Fox News’s Sean Hannity about the reported $700 check, Walker, who has voiced opposition to abortion rights, said he frequently gives money to others. “I send money to a lot of people,” Walker said. “I believe in being generous.”
The Washington Post has not independently verified the reporting in the Daily Beast. Walker did not respond to a text message from The Post seeking comment.
The Republican Senate candidate issued a written statement posted on Twitter referencing the Daily Beast story. “I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” he said. In that statement, Walker also said he planned to “sue the Daily Beast.”
Walker is challenging Democratic Sen. Raphael G. Warnock in one of the most closely watched Senate contests of the year. The outcome of race, which polls show is competitive, is expected to help determine which party controls the Senate for the next two years.
Shortly after the Daily Beast story published, one of Walker’s children turned to social media to criticize his father, accusing Walker of lying and saying that the former football star threatened him and his mother with violence that forced them to move multiple times.
“I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” wrote Christian Walker.
Christian Walker has offered support for his father in the past, tweeting a video last December in which he hugged his father. “Had the honor of introducing my dad, @HerschelWalker, last night at Mar a Lago,” Christian Walker wrote. The younger Walker has also used his Twitter account to promote conservative ideas.
On Monday evening, Christian Walker alleged that his father “threatened to kill us” and caused him and his mother to move six times in six months “running from your violence.”
Christian Walker’s mother, Cindy Grossman, was married to Herschel Walker for nearly two decades and has recounted violent episodes in the past. Speaking to CNN, she detailed a time when he “held the gun to my temple and said he was gonna blow my brains out.”
Walker has faced criticism for false claims, as well as allegations of stalking and violent threats. He has said that he has battled dissociative identity disorder throughout his life.
Christian Walker also said that other family members discouraged his father from running for office “because we all knew (some of) his past.”
“He decided to give us the middle finger and air out all of his dirty laundry in public, while simultaneously lying about it. I’m done,” Christian Walker wrote. He did not immediately respond to an email or direct message seeking additional comment.
Asked for comment on Christian Walker’s postings, the Herschel Walker campaign pointed to a tweet from the candidate.
“I LOVE my son no matter what,” Herschel Walker wrote on Twitter shortly after his son’s messages posted.
Walker, 60, one of the most well-known figures in Georgia football history, won the Republican primary by a wide margin in May. He ran with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement and the name recognition of a national championship-winning Heisman Trophy winner.
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European Markets Climb As Global Markets Rally; Stoxx 600 Up 1.6%
European Markets Climb As Global Markets Rally; Stoxx 600 Up 1.6% https://digitalarizonanews.com/european-markets-climb-as-global-markets-rally-stoxx-600-up-1-6/
European stocks advanced on Tuesday, building on gains seen in yesterday’s trading session.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.6% in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks adding 2.9% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.
The higher open in Europe comes after a rebound on Wall Street Monday. U.S. markets rallied to start the new month and quarter on a positive note, as Treasury yields eased from levels not seen in roughly a decade. It was the best day since June 24 for the Dow, and the S&P 500′s the best day since July 27.
U.S. stock futures rose overnight, while Asia-Pacific shares also traded higher on Tuesday, bolstered by the rally on Wall Street.
Stocks on the move: Greggs, Accelleron up 5%
Shares of British bakery chain Greggs gained 5.6% in early trade after reporting a rise in quarterly sales despite the deepening cost of living crisis and plummeting consumer confidence in the U.K.
Accelleron shares added 5% as investors picked up the stock at a discount following the former ABB turbocharging unit’s weak market debut on Monday.
– Elliot Smith
CNBC Pro: Want a ‘defensive move’ with up to 5% return? Buy this fund, says strategist
It’s been a volatile year for both stocks and bonds, with major Wall Street indexes just ending their worst month since March 2020, and Treasury yields remaining elevated.
However David Dietze, chief investment strategist at Point View Wealth Management, says “pockets of opportunity” still exist.
“Short-term defensive measures probably are warranted,” Dietze told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday, and named his favorite fund to play the market right now.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Watch fourth quarter earnings guidance more than third quarter actual numbers, S&P Global says
Fourth quarter earnings forecasts companies give when reporting third quarter results will be far more important to the market’s future direction than the actual third quarter numbers themselves, S&P Global believes.
“October brings earnings, with Q3 estimates already declining 7%, and the whisper numbers a bit more than that,” Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst wrote over the weekend. “The larger concern (than the actual numbers for Q3, when consumers were still spending) is the guidance for Q4, as consumers have pulled back, inflation continues and the Fed’s `adjustments’ will have a more substantial impact.”
Third quarter earnings for the S&P 500 are projected by analysts to grow 6.1% compared with the same quarter a year ago, and almost 18% over the second quarter of 2022, S&P Global said.
Next year’s estimates call for a 14.3% earnings growth over 2022, and a corresponding forward P/E ratio of 15.0.
Silverblatt also looked at typical performance for the S&P 500 in the month of October. “Historically, the index posts gains 57.4% of the time, with an average gain of 4.18% for the up months, a 4.67% average decrease for the down months and an overall average decrease of 0.46%,” he wrote.
— Scott Schnipper
CNBC Pro: Here’s what’s next for stocks, according to Wall Street pros
September is finally behind us, much to the relief of many equity investors who endured a difficult month, with all major U.S. indexes posted steep losses.
With a historically weak month now firmly in the rearview mirror, what is the outlook for stocks as we enter into the fourth quarter of the year?
CNBC Pro combed through the research to find out what Wall Street thinks.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
Wed, Aug 17 202212:29 AM EDT
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European stocks are heading for a higher open on Tuesday, building on gains seen in yesterday’s trading session.
The U.K.’s FTSE index is expected to open 30 points higher at 6,934, Germany’s DAX 126 points higher at 12,324, France’s CAC 40 up 58 points at 5,850 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 245 points higher at 21,043, according to data from IG.
The higher open expected in Europe comes after a rebound on Wall Street Monday. There, stocks rallied to start the new month and quarter on a positive note, as Treasury yields eased from levels not seen in roughly a decade. It was the best day since June 24 for the Dow, and the S&P 500′s the best day since July 27.
Earnings come from Greggs on Tuesday and euro zone producer prices data for August is released.
— Holly Ellyatt
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Labor Roundup: Union Approval Highest In More Than 50 Years The Community Word
Labor Roundup: Union Approval Highest In More Than 50 Years – The Community Word https://digitalarizonanews.com/labor-roundup-union-approval-highest-in-more-than-50-years-the-community-word/
Labor Notes, Uncategorized
by Community Word Staff • October 3, 2022 • 0 Comments
Pro-union support highest since 1965: Gallup. Public support for unions has hit its highest point since 1965, the Gallup Organization reported, as 71% of respondents approve of unions. The all-time record in the union poll, which started in 1936, is 75% in 1953 and also in 1957.
“After a year of victorious strikes, record union election filings and relentless efforts from corporate billionaires to silence workers, today comes as no surprise,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Working people recognize the need for a collective voice — and it shows.”
The support held across the board by gender and race, with some variations by political party. Democrats support unions 89%, while Republicans are at 58%. Independents are 68% and self-described conservatives are 54%, Gallup reported.
Congressional Republicans telegraph plans to target labor. The GOP hasn’t officially unveiled its legislative agenda if Republicans retake the House in November, but they gave a “preview” in key committees.
Politico reports that Republicans in the House Education and Labor Committee said they’ll go after labor if the GOP regains a House majority. Members of that committee include Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller, a Trump-endorsed incumbent from the 15th District. Miller and Illinois Congressmen Darin LaHood (16th District) and Mike Bost (12th District) “all signed on to a lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 election,” Politico reports.
Republicans are aiming at labor regulators in the Biden administration, like Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. Committee Republicans said they’ve sent 57 letters of complaint about labor and unions since Biden was inaugurated.
“Targeting these figures and curbing pro-union policies that the administration has put in place will be one of their first orders of business,” Politico reports.
In the House Rules Committee’s debate on the Inflation Reduction Act, Republican proposals included Rep. Lauren Brobert (R-Colo.) proposing reviving the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, the environmentally degrading project President Biden ended; GOP Reps. Ted Budd (N.C.) and Joe Duncan (S.C.) seeking to transfer funds budgeted to hire more IRS employees to instead build the Trump-era Mexican Wall; and Republican Reps. David Schweikert (Ariz.) and Kevin Bacon (Neb.) proposing killing prevailing wage requirements for “green” construction projects.
On the Senate side, organized labor was stunned when Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) suggested changing Social Security from automatic payments to Congress annually deciding whether to allot the money to send out checks.
California fast-food workers score big win on Labor Day. After fast-food workers walked out from 350 eateries across California, the state legislature approved a landmark labor measure establishing a 10-member, labor-management-government council to set and enforce standards, and Gov. Gavin Newson signed the bill on Labor Day.
“This landmark bill will be the most important piece of labor law to pass in decades,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union. “It will give 550,000 fast-food workers a chance to sit down with government and their employers to decide wages and working conditions.”
Seven U.S. Postal Service unions and a coalition of 83 advocacy groups have accused USPS management of secretly planning to close Post Offices and other USPS facilities.
“How many Post Offices will be closed?” asked Chuck Zlatkin, legislative and political director for the New York Metro Area Postal Union. “How many clerks and drivers will lose jobs? [Postmaster General Louis] DeJoy’s Great Consolidation is a true danger to the public Post Office.”
Biden appointees now make up a majority of the Postal Service Board of Governors, but one of its Democrats (Donald Moak) has sided with the board’s Republicans backing DeJoy. However, Moak’s term and Republican William Zollars’s expire in December.
News briefs courtesy of The Labor Paper: “Like” us — www.facebook.com/The-Labor-Paper
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Marc Short Says Trump's Post On Elaine Chao Was A 'racial Slur' That Was 'obviously Wrong'
Marc Short Says Trump's Post On Elaine Chao Was A 'racial Slur' That Was 'obviously Wrong' https://digitalarizonanews.com/marc-short-says-trumps-post-on-elaine-chao-was-a-racial-slur-that-was-obviously-wrong/
Marc Short, a senior adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence and onetime director of legislative affairs under then-President Trump, said it was ‘obviously wrong’ for the former president to use a ‘racial slur’ against Elaine Chao.
Trump, in social media post last week, called Chao Mitch McConnell’s ‘China-loving wife, Coco Chow.’
Marc Short, a senior adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence and onetime director of legislative affairs under then-President Trump, said it was”obviously wrong” for the former president to use a”racial slur” against Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump’s former transportation secretary.
Short made the comments in an interview on CBS News'”Red and Blue” Monday night, after Trump last week posted on his platform Truth Social that McConnell has a”DEATH WISH” for voting with Democrats to approve a stop-gap funding bill, and called Chao,”his China-loving wife, Coco Chow.” Short called the post”erroneous,” to say the last, highlighting how much Chao has done for the cause of freedom in China.
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Duh So if i call someone a American loving wife does that make me racist , last time i looked china was a country so i fail to see how that is racist
Rick Scott responds to Trump’s ‘death wish’ attack on Mitch McConnellFlorida Sen. Rick Scott said that he does not ‘condone violence’ after Donald Trump lashed out at Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell and suggested McConnell had a ‘death wish’ — but Scott stopped short of condemning the former president. What did Tim Ryan say about MAGA that you didn’t cover? Oh yeah. Pathetic Spineless gimp
Trump goes cuckoo over Cocaine Mitch — Sad!You can take Trump’s attack on McConnell any way you like — the two men are back to hating each other after a few years’ peace. But the gratuitous reference at the end to his ‘China-loving wife, Coco Chow,’ is obviously way over the top, freddoso writes. freddoso McConnel is terrible, GOP needs new leadership ASAP. freddoso Cochise Mitch has has been compromised for years. freddoso You guys are shills for the establishment, what a joke of an article
Sen. Rick Scott on Trump attack against McConnell’s wife: ‘It’s never, ever OK to be a racist’Sen. Rick Scott on Sunday responded with reluctant criticism of former President Donald Trump ‘s verbal jab at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao. The senate gop suddenly found their anti trump voice. The GOP needs fresh leadership with truly conservative (limited government/limited spending) values, not these phony spineless weasels who use polls to determine their principles. What do you call systemic racial discrimination in hiring? Diversity Hiring is racism. Hypocritical jerks. Stop it now. Republicans have to figure that stuff out the hard way.
GOP faces test as Trump’s contempt for McConnell turns dangerousNearly all of Trump’s rant against the Senate GOP leader was his usual gibberish, but one statement was particularly inflammatory, even for Trump. (via MaddowBlog) MaddowBlog Exactly. Its nothing of value in the slightest. Realistically the only people that seemed very concerned about it are the ones who want to keep his name in the news … Can we keep ignoring him? MaddowBlog What a very odd way to discuss a death threat MaddowBlog
Scott declines to rebuke Trump’s comments attacking McConnellRepublican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida declined to criticize former President Donald Trump ‘s recent comments attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Cult Racist GOP the party of evil, spineless weasels LockHimUp
01:55 Marc Short, a senior adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence and onetime director of legislative affairs under then-President Trump, said it was”obviously wrong” for the former president to use a”racial slur” against Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump's former transportation secretary.”I don’t condone violence,” said the Florida lawmaker and leading Republican.That’s from Friday on Truth social, the platform he founded after Twitter (stupidly and wrongly, I continue to believe) banned him.Follow Us.
Short made the comments in an interview on CBS News'”Red and Blue” Monday night, after Trump last week posted on his platform Truth Social that McConnell has a”DEATH WISH” for voting with Democrats to approve a stop-gap funding bill, and called Chao,”his China-loving wife, Coco Chow.” Short called the post”erroneous,” to say the last, highlighting how much Chao has done for the cause of freedom in China. Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE Florida Sen. “When I — when I saw those tweets at midnight, I sort of assumed the president had taken to drinking at that point,” Short joked. But the gratuitous reference at the end to his”China-loving wife, Coco Chow,” is obviously way over the top.”I think that you know, it's important to remember that Elaine Chao and her family have been strong crusaders against communist China their whole lives. Trump, in a post on his Truth Social website last week, wrote that McConnell must have a “death wish” after supporting a continuing resolution to fund the federal government. She's devoted herself to that.
She's spent time outside of government working at Heritage Foundation, fighting the cause for freedom. Chao served as Trump’s transportation secretary until she resigned after Jan. If we are allowed to raise questions about Joe Biden’s mental acuity — questions which are fully justified, by the way — then I think we have a right to raise questions about Trump’s stability right now. She, her family is actually from Taiwan. I think that that certainly was a misplaced and erroneous tweet, to say the least.” “I can never talk about and respond to why anybody else says what they said,” Scott said.” Trump, who doesn't drink, continues to criticize Republicans who don't fully align with him on Truth Social. Here, Trump is doing something unusual for him — he is saying something he demonstrably does not even believe himself. Although the former president is expected to announce a 2024 bid, exactly when he might do so isn't yet clear. We’ve got to make sure we don’t keep caving to Democrats, it’s causing unbelievable inflation and causing more and more debt.
Pence has also hasn't ruled out a presidential bid and has made multiple trips to Iowa since the 2020 election. CBS News correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns pointed out that most Republicans have offered little in the way of rebuke for the former president's”death wish” tweet. “As you know, the president likes to give people nicknames. Now, after seven years of this, I get how Trump’s outrage machine works. On CBS News”Face the Nation” Sunday, Sen. Rick Scott declined to criticize the former president's comments. “I’m sure he has a nickname for me. “Caitlin, I can't speak for them,” Short said of other Republicans. He fills them with rage and then feeds off of it.
“I think that Elaine Chao has been a strong crusader against communist China. “I don’t condone violence, and I hope no one else condones violence. I think the president's factually wrong in his tweet, much less to the notion of him taking a racial slur like that I think was obviously wrong.” Short also suggested that”there's a sense that there's been such enormous bias against [Trump] in the mainstream media, that perhaps [Republicans] are overcompensating for that. Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE Trump’s team has insisted in the wake of the former president’s “death wish” comment that it was meant in a political sense and was not advocating physical harm. It was one of the greatest features of his presidential candidacy and his presidency. But again,” he added,”I don't think there's any place for the tweet he sent out the other night, and I think it's entirely wrong.” Trending News . He replied that “It’s never ever OK to be a racist.
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Donald Trump Files Defamation Suit Against CNN The Annapurna Express
Donald Trump Files Defamation Suit Against CNN – The Annapurna Express https://digitalarizonanews.com/donald-trump-files-defamation-suit-against-cnn-the-annapurna-express/
US Former President Donald J Trump on Monday (local time) sued CNN, accusing the network of engaging in a smear campaign against him ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump is seeking more than $475m in damages. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in southern Florida, alleging that CNN has sought to use its influence with viewers to spread false claims about Trump for the purpose of defeating him politically.
As per The Wall Street Journal, Trump accused CNN of associating him with Adolf Hitler and portraying him as a Russian lackey and a racist.
The network, he alleged, has been escalating these efforts recently in the expectation that he may run for president again in 2024.
It is to be noted that over the course of his business and political career, Trump has frequently threatened to sue media organizations over news coverage.
In 2020, his re-election campaign sued The New York Times and The Washington Post over opinion articles that linked the former US President to Russian interference in American elections, The New York Times reported. In 2019, Trump threatened CNN with a lawsuit over “unethical and unlawful attacks.” CNN called that threat “a desperate PR stunt.” A suit never materialized, as per The New York Times.
Meanwhile, following the day when Trump’s legal team filed a lawsuit against CNN, the former US President threatened legal action against various news media outlets and the House select committee investigating the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol.
The Hill reported, Trump, however, did not specify what other media outlets he plans to sue but said he would file lawsuits against them for their “disinformation” about the 2020 election, which he lost to President Biden.
“In the coming weeks and months we will also be filing lawsuits against a large number of other Fake News Media Companies for their lies, defamation, and wrongdoing, including as it pertains to ‘The Big Lie,’ that they used so often in reference to their disinformation attack on Presidential Election of 2020,” Trump wrote in his statement cited by The Hill.
The former president said he would target Jan 6. committee for not investigating his claims of election fraud. “The Unselect Committee has refused to acknowledge, as was done by the Biden Inspector General at the Department of Defense, and others, that days ahead of January 6th, I recommended and authorized thousands of troops to be deployed to ensure that there was peace, safety, and security at the Capitol and throughout the Country,” Trump added. (ANI)
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Free To Kill: Victim Risk Assessment Is Often Ignored By Judges
Free To Kill: Victim Risk Assessment Is Often Ignored By Judges https://digitalarizonanews.com/free-to-kill-victim-risk-assessment-is-often-ignored-by-judges/
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – It’s a chilling discovery in the case of a Tucson family shot to death in their home last year.
We’ve learned the murdered mother had told police her husband was capable of killing her and had tried before.
That man, John James, is sitting in the Pima County jail accused of the crime.
We reviewed this case with Sheriff Chris Nanos and others to get some insight into domestic disputes that end in murder.
Court records reveal John James is a violent felon with an extensive criminal history, including domestic violence and he’s not allowed to possess guns.
Yet in 2019, he was arrested after a violent domestic dispute with his wife, Willona White, and then released from jail on a low bond.
Leaders, including Nanos, argue James should have stayed in jail, especially after what his wife told police.
It’s a voice beyond the grave in the form of a questionnaire.
Willona White responded to a risk assessment that law enforcement uses in domestic violence disputes.
It reveals a high risk of danger for her, but in this case, it didn’t seem to matter much.
The judge issued a very low bond and James was released the next day.
Sheriff Chris Nanos responded, “Why do we do this (risk assessment)? What was the purpose? That’s ridiculous.”
The risk assessment reveals she feared for her life the day of the attack.
She answered yes to half of the 18 questions.
Has physical violence increased in frequency or severity? Yes.
Do you believe he’s capable of killing you? Yes.
Has he ever used a weapon to hurt or threaten you? Yes.
Has he ever tried to kill you? Yes.
Answering yes to 4 or more of these top tier questions is considered high risk.
She answered yes to five.
And in Tier 2, White answered she ended the relationship within the past 6 months, James had no job, and he threatened to kill her — pushing the level of “high risk” even higher.
“I think judges have a tendency to not look at the appraise form for what it is worth.” said Detective Michael Buglewicz, who is a domestic violence detective in the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
“We do the appraise form right at the incident. That’s when the victims are feeling the worst. That’s when they’ve been abused, that’s when they’d been hurting. And then we submit it to the judge,” he said.
But the risk assessment isn’t the only thing the judge received.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office recommended a $75,000 bond citing a risk to reoffend, a risk to the community, a significant criminal history and a flight risk.
Pretrial services noted he was on probation at the time.
Yet James receives a low bond of $5,000.
Nanos said, “If I’m the judge and I hear the county attorney, I hear pre-trial services I hear the police officer. I even hear the victim say bad guy. Needs to be locked up a long time. Why would you — for the life of me I don’t understand these judges.”
We discovered this document that gives us a possible glimpse into the judge’s mind.
It’s an affidavit from Willona White that explains in her words why the judge set the $5000 bond.
She told the judge the next morning that she reluctantly cooperated with police after they refused to let her speak to James.
White then posted his bail.
Why would she do that? Why would she recant her statements made to police?
We have more insight into this Thursday. October 6th at 10 as we continue to dissect this horrific case that’s still set to go to court.
John James says he’s innocent.
We’ve been trying to give you the entire perspective, but I’m told those directly involved in the active court cases cannot discuss them.
Nonetheless, we’ll continue to examine the flaws in critical parts of the judicial system that’s putting the public in danger.
Copyright 2022 KOLD News 13. All rights reserved.
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CNN Sued By Donald Trump For $475 Million For the Big Lie | The West News
CNN Sued By Donald Trump For $475 Million For “the Big Lie” | The West News https://digitalarizonanews.com/cnn-sued-by-donald-trump-for-475-million-for-the-big-lie-the-west-news/
CNN sued by Donald Trump for $475 million for “the Big Lie”
Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is filing a defamation lawsuit against CNN. For his troubles, he wants $475,000,000 in punitive damages in addition to the $75,000 in compensation damages.
Two weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Donald Trump and his firm for business and tax fraud, this announcement arrives.
Trump launched a lawsuit against CNN on Monday, alleging that the news organization has been “interfere with (his) political career” through “false, defamatory, and inflammatory mischaracterizations.”
Trump’s baseless and debunked charges of election involvement in his 2020 contest against President Joe Biden are at the heart of the lawsuit he has filed. Trump’s lawyers have claimed that their client’s use of the term “the Big Lie” is an allusion to a “tactic adopted by Adolf Hitler in the book ‘Mein Kampf.’
This case has little chance of success because of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the thousands of lawsuits and recounts that will be conducted in 2020 to ensure that no such manipulation occurred. Although CNN has reason to be concerned, the case has been assigned to Trump appointee and Southern District of Florida judge Raaj Singhal.
Related
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Sen. Ted Cruz To Visit Marietta For Reagan Dinner https://digitalarizonanews.com/sen-ted-cruz-to-visit-marietta-for-reagan-dinner/
MARIETTA — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will be in Marietta this month campaigning for a Senate candidate backed by Donald Trump.
Cruz will attend the annual Washington County Republican Party Reagan Dinner on Oct. 21 to campaign for J.D. Vance, 38, a lawyer and venture capitalist.
Tickets are $65 each for the event and are available at the Republican Party headquarters at 282 Front. St., Marietta, on Tuesday or Thursday afternoons or by emailing Washington County GOP Events Chairwoman Tonya Booth at tonyabooth59@gmail.com. Reservations must be made before Oct. 11.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Vance and Cruz will speak.
“The thing we’re most excited about is the exposure this is bringing to Southeastern Ohio,” Booth said. “For the longest time, this was an area ignored by lots of candidates and by the people in Columbus.
But this will give us the kind of attention we need to bring more economic prosperity to this area, if Columbus sees that we are viewed as a vital partner,” she said.
The Washington County Democratic Party may have a rally or other event on the day of the dinner, but that has yet to be determined, according to Willa O’Neill, chairman of the party. O’Neill said she will talk to other party representatives.
Vance is a native of Middletown, Ohio. He returned to Ohio in 2017 after living most of his life in San Francisco.
His book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” helped him become a conservative commentator.
Vance was endorsed by the ex-president in April, several weeks before the May primary.
He is running against Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democrat.
The latest FiveThirtyEight poll on Sept. 30 shows Ryan and Vance in a dead heat with Ryan at 45% and Vance at 44%. Among other polls, Spectrum News/Siena College Poll on Sept. 27 puts Ryan ahead of Vance 46% to 43%, a difference within the margin of error.
Cruz at one time was at odds with Trump and called him a pathological liar in 2016. He has been in the Senate since 2013 and is a former solicitor general for the state of Texas.
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Ukraine Forces Break Through Russian Defences In South Advance In East
Ukraine Forces Break Through Russian Defences In South, Advance In East https://digitalarizonanews.com/ukraine-forces-break-through-russian-defences-in-south-advance-in-east/
Ukraine making gains in two of four regions annexed by Russia
Retaking of strategic hub of Lyman improves access to the Donbas
Elon Musk proposal for ending war draws Ukrainian condemnation
Ukraine says it took 31 Russian tanks out of action in south
SVIATOHIRSK/KYIV, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian defences in the south of the country while expanding their rapid offensive in the east, seizing back more territory in areas annexed by Russia and threatening supply lines for its troops.
Making their biggest breakthrough in the south since the war began, Ukrainian forces recaptured several villages in an advance along the strategic Dnipro River on Monday, Ukrainian officials and a Russian-installed leader in the area said.
Ukrainian forces in the south destroyed 31 Russian tanks and one multiple rocket launcher, the military’s southern operational command said in a nightly update, without providing details of where the fighting occurred.
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Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield accounts.
The southern breakthrough mirrors recent Ukrainian advances in the east even as Russia has tried to raise the stakes by annexing land, ordering mobilisation, and threatening nuclear retaliation.
Ukraine has made significant advances in two of the four Russian-occupied regions Moscow last week annexed after what it called referendums – votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.
In a sign Ukraine is building momentum on the eastern front, Reuters saw columns of Ukrainian military vehicles heading on Monday to reinforce the rail hub of Lyman, retaken at the weekend, and a staging post to press into the Donbas region.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s army had seized back towns in a number of areas, without giving details.
“New population centres have been liberated in several regions. Heavy fighting is going on in several sectors of the front,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.
Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk – one of two regions that make up the Donbas – said Russian forces had taken over a psychiatric hospital in the town of Svatovo, a target en route to recapturing the major cities of Lysychansk and Sivierodonetsk.
“There is quite a network of underground rooms in the building and they have taken up defensive positions,” he told Ukrainian television.
In the south, Ukrainian troops recaptured the town of Dudchany along the west bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects the country, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson province, told Russian state television.
“There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces,” Saldo said.
Dudchany is about 30 km (20 miles) south of where the front stood before Monday’s breakthrough, indicating the fastest advance of the war in the south. Russian forces there had been dug into heavily reinforced positions along a mainly static front line since the early weeks of the invasion.
While Ukraine has yet to give a full account of the developments, military and regional officials did release some details.
Soldiers from Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade raised the blue and yellow national flag in Myrolyubivka, a village between the former front and the Dnipro, according to a video released by the defence ministry.
Serhiy Khlan, a Kherson regional council member, listed four other villages recaptured or where Ukrainian troops had been photographed.
“It means that our armed forces are moving powerfully along the banks of the Dnipro nearer to Beryslav,” he said.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the developments.
‘ABILITY TO ATTACK’
The southern advance is targeting supply lines for as many as 25,000 Russian troops on the Dnipro’s west bank. Ukraine has already destroyed the river’s main bridges, forcing Russian forces to use makeshift crossings.
A substantial advance down river could cut them off entirely.
“The fact we have broken through the front means that … the Russian army has already lost the ability to attack, and today or tomorrow it could lose the ability to defend,” said Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv.
Ukraine appears to be on course to achieve several of its battlefield objectives, giving it “a much better defensive position to ride out what probably will be a tamping down of the hot fighting over the winter”, Celeste Wallander, a senior Pentagon official, said on Monday.
Just hours after a concert on Moscow’s Red Square on Friday where Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be Russian territory forever, Ukraine recaptured Lyman, the main Russian bastion in the north of Donetsk province.
Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday asked Twitter users to weigh in on a plan to end the war which included proposing U.N.-supervised elections in the four occupied regions and recognising Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, as Russian.
The plan drew immediate condemnation from Ukrainians, including President Zelenskiy. read more
Russia’s flagging fortunes have led to a shift in mood on state media, where talkshow hosts have been acknowledging setbacks and searching for scapegoats.
“For a certain period of time, things won’t be easy for us. We shouldn’t be expecting good news right now,” said Vladimir Solovyov, the most prominent presenter on state television.
The commander of Russia’s western military district, which borders Ukraine, has lost his job, Russian media reported on Monday, the latest in a series of top officials to be fired after defeats.
(This story refiles to correct spelling of Saldo in paragraph 13)
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Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Rami Ayyub and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Sam Holmes
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Australia Stocks Jump After Smaller-Than-Expected Rate Hike; Asia Markets Rise
Australia Stocks Jump After Smaller-Than-Expected Rate Hike; Asia Markets Rise https://digitalarizonanews.com/australia-stocks-jump-after-smaller-than-expected-rate-hike-asia-markets-rise/
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk past a monitor displaying the Nikkei 225 index on February 25 in Tokyo, Japan.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific shares traded higher on Tuesday after stocks on Wall Street rallied overnight.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 2.79% in early trade, and the Topix index was 2.99% higher. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 2.44% on its return to trade after a holiday. The Kosdaq added 2.86%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.58%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 3.63%. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points.
Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong are closed for a holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 765.38 points, or nearly 2.7%, to close at 29,490.89. The S&P 500 advanced about 2.6% to 3,678.43. The Nasdaq Composite added nearly 2.3% to end at 10,815.43.
It was the best day since June 24 for the Dow, and the S&P 500′s the best day since July 27.
— CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
Australia’s rate hike will help balance demand and supply: RBA statement
The Reserve Bank of Australia said its rate hike of 25 basis points will “help achieve a more sustainable balance of demand and supply” in the nation’s economy.
The central bank said it expects to continue increasing rates over the period ahead.
It also noted that Australia’s unemployment rate is at its lowest in almost 50 years and said an increase in the rate is expected with slowing economic growth.
–Jihye Lee
Australia’s central bank raises interest rates by 25 basis points
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.60%, missing expectations forecasted by economists in a Reuters poll.
RBA’s board members had said “the case for a slower pace of increase in interest rates as becoming stronger,” according to minutes from its meeting in September.
This is the sixth consecutive move by the central bank in its attempt to control inflationary pressures in the economy.
The Australian dollar was down 0.8% at $0.64625 against the greenback shortly after the decision.
–Jihye Lee
South Korea, Japan defense stocks rise following North’s missile test
South Korea’s Naver slips more than 4% on Poshmark deal announcement
Shares of Naver fell in early trade after the South Korean internet giant said Monday it would buy U.S. e-retailer Poshmark for around $1.2 billion.
Naver’s stock dropped 4.65%, compared to a rise of 1.34% on the broader Kospi index.
Poshmark shares jumped around 14% overnight in the U.S. after the announcement.
— Abigail Ng
CNBC Pro: Want a ‘defensive move’ with up to 5% return? Buy this fund, says strategist
It’s been a volatile year for both stocks and bonds, with major Wall Street indexes just ending their worst month since March 2020, and Treasury yields remaining elevated.
However David Dietze, chief investment strategist at Point View Wealth Management, says “pockets of opportunity” still exist.
“Short-term defensive measures probably are warranted,” Dietze told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday, and named his favorite fund to play the market right now.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
Australia’s central bank expected to hike rates by 50 basis points: Reuters poll
A Reuters poll of economists expects the Reserve Bank of Australia to hike its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.85%.
RBA’s board members said the case for a slower pace of rate hikes was growing, according to minutes from its Sept. 6 meeting, when it raised its interest rate by 50 basis points.
Analysts at Nomura are expecting the central bank to raise rates by 40 basis points, “to convey the view of RBA nearing the end of upsized hikes.”
Economists at Commonwealth Bank Australia see a higher chance for a 25-basis-point hike than a 50-basis-point hike.
–Jihye Lee
CNBC Pro: Here’s what’s next for stocks, according to Wall Street pros
September is finally behind us, much to the relief of many equity investors who endured a difficult month, with all major U.S. indexes posted steep losses.
With a historically weak month now firmly in the rearview mirror, what is the outlook for stocks as we enter into the fourth quarter of the year?
CNBC Pro combed through the research to find out what Wall Street thinks.
Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Zavier Ong
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North Korea Fires Apparent Ballistic Missile Over Japan: Ministry Of Defense
North Korea Fires Apparent Ballistic Missile Over Japan: Ministry Of Defense https://digitalarizonanews.com/north-korea-fires-apparent-ballistic-missile-over-japan-ministry-of-defense/
North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, the country’s Ministry of Defense.
The apparent ballistic missile was launched at 7:22 a.m. local time and passed over Japan at 7:29 a.m., the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced.
The government of South Korea confirmed that the Japanese government warned citizens to take shelter. The missile likely flew over Japan, but it is still unknown whether the missile fell into the sea.
A U.S. defense official confirmed to ABC News that North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday local time but didn’t offer other specifics.
A TV shows J-Alert or National Early Warning System to the Japanese residents in Tokyo, Oct. 4, 2022, in Tokyo. South Korea says North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters. The words read ” Missile passed. Missile passed.”
Eugene Hoshiko/AP
Residents in Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures, toward the northern end of Japan, were advised to be on alert and to notify police or fire officials if debris is seen.
People were also warned by officials not to touch or pick up any debris.
The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began to gather members to analyze the situation.
A TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea’s missile launch with file imagery, is seen at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Oct. 1, 2022.
Lee Jin-man/AP, FILE
A government spokesperson said no damage has been reported so far and a search is underway for debris. Officials are gathering information and will work with South Korea and the U.S.
“North Korea’s actions threaten Japan and the international community,” the spokesperson said. “Missile launches like this go against the U.N. resolutions. Japan will launch a strong protest against North Korea in light of this. All new information will be shared promptly.”
The White House said in a statement late Monday local time in Washington, D.C., that “the United States strongly condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) dangerous and reckless decision to launch a long-range ballistic missile over Japan.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on Monday night local time, according to White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
“In both calls, the National Security Advisors consulted on appropriate and robust joint and international responses,” Watson said, “and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reinforced the United States’ ironclad commitments to the defense of Japan and the ROK [South Korea].”
The last time a missile flew over Japan was in August 2017. This year alone, North Korea has shot 21 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles.
ABC News’ Joohee Cho, Guy Davies, Anthony Trotter and Matt Seyler contributed to this report.
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Cardinals Dont Mind Ho-Hum Start Feel Better Things Ahead
Cardinals Don’t Mind Ho-Hum Start, Feel Better Things Ahead https://digitalarizonanews.com/cardinals-dont-mind-ho-hum-start-feel-better-things-ahead/
Published October 3, 2022 8:33PM
Updated 8:34PM
Arizona Cardinals fans seen on Ring camera cheering for OT win
Fans of the Arizona Cardinals were seen on their backyard Ring Doorbell camera cheering for their team’s win in overtime against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Sept. 18. Video courtesy of Liz Miller.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The standings say the Arizona Cardinals are an average team with a 2-2 record.
That’s pretty much how defensive lineman Zach Allen would rate the season’s first four weeks.
“Good, not great,” Allen said. “We haven’t played anywhere near our potential, but we’re not saying the sky is falling. It’s not like we’re 0-4, but there’s definitely room for improvement.”
The Cardinals moved back to .500 with a 26-16 win on Sunday at Carolina, snapping a six-game losing streak against the Panthers. Arizona had another slow start but rallied in the second half with 23 straight points.
Kyler Murray had a solid day, finishing with 207 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for a touchdown. The defense played well with Zach Allen, J.J. Watt and Dennis Gardeck all contributing important plays.
The so-so start contrasts with last year, when the Cardinals opened with a 7-0 record, eventually improved to 10-2, and for a few weeks looked like one of the NFL’s best teams.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Arizona’s players and coaches said last year’s hot start was a bit of fool’s gold. Once adversity hit in the second half, the Cardinals didn’t handle it well, losing four of their final regular season games before a lopsided playoff loss to the Rams.
Now the Cardinals are hoping some of this year’s early adversity gives way to better play as the season progresses. The offense has to survive two more games before three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins returns from his six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s rules on performance-enhancing drugs.
“We still haven’t hit our stride on offense,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “You’ve seen spurts. I’ve talked to the guys today, we have the talent and the effort, but we haven’t put it together, coaching or playing.
“Really proud of the fight we’ve shown — I think that can pay dividends down the road, but we’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to tighten up on offense.”
WHAT’S WORKING
The defense has played 10 straight quarters of solid football, starting with the second half of the team’s come-from-behind 29-23 win over Las Vegas on Sept. 18.
Allen, Watt and Gardeck are making big plays, which has helped offset the loss of Chandler Jones, who signed with the Raiders during the offseason.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
The Cardinals can’t keep falling behind in the first half. Arizona’s slow starts have forced it to play from behind each week and the team is fortunate to be 2-2.
STOCK UP
LB Zaven Collins has taken a big step forward in his second year. The No. 16 overall pick in 2021 led the team with eight tackles against the Panthers and is starting to grow into his role as a leader at middle linebacker.
STOCK DOWN
WR Greg Dortch caught just one pass for 6 yards on and it looks like his role will decrease in the coming weeks now that Rondale Moore is healthy and others like Antoine Wesley are eligible to come back from injured reserve.
INJURIES
The Cardinals have some reinforcements coming. Cornerback Antonio Hamilton (feet), backup quarterback Colt McCoy (calf) and Wesley (groin/hip) were all designated to return from injured reserve and can begin practicing this week. … K Matt Prater (hip) and OL Justin Pugh (elbow) are day-to-day. … The Cardinals will keep a close eye on Watt after the defensive lineman said he had his heart shocked into rhythm after going into atrial fibrillation this week. Watt played on Sunday.
KEY NUMBER
0 — The Cardinals have scored zero points during the first quarter of their four games this season.
NEXT STEPS
The Cardinals host Philadelphia — the NFL’s final undefeated team — on Sunday. Arizona’s defense gets another tough task in trying to stop Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, who has been one of the league’s breakout players through four weeks.
The Cardinals are also trying to defend their home field. Under Kingsbury, Arizona is 17-10 on the road but just 9-16-1 at home.
Murray shows he’s worth $230.5 million to Cards in comeback
“At some point, enough is enough,” Murray said. “Again, it is not about the toughness and how hard we play, that’s never the question. It’s just about executing, playing faster, getting our tempo going. I think you can tell the difference between the first half and second half.”
Murphy’s 59-yard OT fumble return ends Cards’ win over Vegas
Byron Murphy Jr. scooped up Hunter Renfrow’s fumble and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown with 3:51 left in overtime, and the Arizona Cardinals rallied from a 20-point deficit in the second half before running away with a wild 29-23 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
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Kelly Hobbs Face Different Prospects In Crucial Ariz. Races
Kelly, Hobbs Face Different Prospects In Crucial Ariz. Races https://digitalarizonanews.com/kelly-hobbs-face-different-prospects-in-crucial-ariz-races/
PHOENIX (AP) — A year ago, Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was all over cable news, building a national profile as a defender of democracy and raking in cash for her campaign for governor.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, newly elected to finish the late John McCain’s last term and running for reelection, looked to be among the most vulnerable members of the Senate.
Fortunes appear to have flipped for the two Democrats as the midterm campaign enters the home stretch in a fast-growing, diverse state that is increasingly central to how the Democratic Party sees its future. Kelly maintains a position of strength in polling and fundraising while Hobbs is in a tighter spot.
The dynamics reflect how the campaigns have sometimes pursued different strategies and face different types of rivals. Kari Lake, Hobbs’ opponent as the Republican nominee for governor, has gained a significant following as a savvy ally of former President Donald Trump. Blake Masters, Kelly’s rival in the Senate race, has struggled to gain the same type of traction.
“People like shiny objects, and Kari Lake is that shiny object that’s putting herself out there,” said Bridget Bellavigna, a Democrat who was inspired by Trump’s election to get involved in local politics. She’s running for constable in the Phoenix suburbs.
FILE – Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs speaks to the media before dropping off her primary election ballot, July 21, 2022, in Scottsdale, Ariz. A year ago, Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was all over cable news, building a national profile as a defender of democracy and raking in cash for her campaign for governor. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, newly elected to finish John McCain’s last term and running for re-election, looked to be among the most vulnerable members of the Senate. Fortunes appear to have flipped for the two Democrats. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ross D. Franklin
A Fox News poll released Thursday found Kelly leading Republican Blake Masters 46% to 40%, while the race for governor was roughly tied. The survey of 1,008 Arizona voters was conducted Sept. 22-26. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.
Hobbs and Kelly are working largely independently of one another and have not campaigned together. Both portray their Republican opponents as extremists but otherwise are taking different approaches to their public persona.
Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut, flies around the state in a rented four-seat plane, courting media attention along the way.
Hobbs, by contrast, had a sparse presence on the campaign trail through the Democratic primary in August and much of the period since. She’s focused her attention on rural areas far from the voter-rich areas of Phoenix and Tucson, where Democrats have to drive up turnout if they’re to be competitive here.
She’s been more visible over the past two weeks, though she prefers choreographed events in which she largely sticks to a script and limits her interactions with journalists.
In a brief interaction after an event last month, Hobbs said she’s not running from tough questions.
“I’m doing what my team is having me do,” she said. “I’m not looking to dodge anything.”
Hobbs is playing “prevent defense,” a cautious football strategy that concedes short gains to the opponent in an attempt to run out the clock, said Wes Gullett, a Republican consultant and former adviser to McCain.
Gullett attached his name to a public list of Republicans supporting Democrat Adrian Fontes for secretary of state, but he’s declined to do the same for Hobbs, though he says he’d prefer that she beats Lake.
“What I want to see from Katie Hobbs is a more aggressive candidate,” Gullett said. “Talking about the issues that she cares about, talking about what’s important.”
Late last month, Hobbs jumped on a chance to sharpen her message when a judge in Tucson ruled that prosecutors can enforce a near-total ban on abortion that was first enacted during the Civil War. She pledged to use the full power of the governor’s office to protect women’s rights, though she acknowledged there was little she could do without cooperation from the Legislature, which is likely to be controlled at least in part by Republicans who oppose abortion.
Hobbs announced over the weekend that she raised $1.2 million in the week following the abortion ruling, a major uptick in fundraising, though she hasn’t yet had to file campaign finance statements that would confirm the numbers.
Hobbs is a former social worker who worked with people experiencing homelessness and later was a lobbyist for a domestic violence shelter. She was elected to the Legislature in 2010, running on a slate with now-U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to represent the same central Phoenix district, Hobbs in the House and Sinema in the Senate.
“At the end of the day, we’re confident that sanity will beat chaos and Sec. Hobbs will be elected in November,” Hobbs campaign manager Nicole DeMont said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The race for governor is closer than the race for Senate because Hobbs faces a tougher matchup, said Chad Campbell, a Democratic consultant and former Arizona legislator. Lake is a stronger candidate than Masters, he said.
“Kari Lake is a better version of Trump,” Campbell said. “She’s a more polished, better looking version of Donald Trump.”
It also helps Kelly that Senate races attract significantly more money than campaigns for governor, allowing Kelly and Democratic allies to relentlessly attack Masters, who is struggling to keep up financially. The Senate race also has a Libertarian candidate who could draw votes from right-leaning voters.
Independent voters make up a third of the electorate in Arizona and hold the keys to statewide victories. They often split their tickets, electing Sinema to the Senate and Republican Doug Ducey as governor in 2018. Two years later, they propelled Kelly to a 2.4 percentage point victory while Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden eked out a 0.3 point win, the closest margin of any state he won. Republicans ran the table on the rest of the ballot.
Hobbs became the undisputed Democratic frontrunner last year when she forcefully defended the 2020 election as Trump supporters oversaw a discredited recount of ballots in Maricopa County on behalf of state Senate Republicans.
But she’s struggled to translate her defense of democracy into a firm position of strength. Her own missteps haven’t helped.
Late last year, a jury for a second time sided with a Black former legislative aide, Talonya Adams, who said she was fired for discriminatory reasons in 2015, when Hobbs was the top Democrat in the Senate. Hobbs testified that she made a group decision with two others to fire Adams.
Hobbs at first defended the decision and deflected responsibility, blaming Republicans for underpaying Adams. After a firestorm from Democrats who felt she was dismissive of workplace discrimination against people of color, Hobbs apologized to Adams and said her initial response “fell short of taking real accountability.”
Two-thirds of the Hobbs campaign staff quit this summer, telling the Arizona Agenda newsletter that the atmosphere was emotionally abusive.
More recently, she’s faced an onslaught of criticism, even from allies, and weeks of negative headlines for her decision not to debate Lake.
“It’s bad for her not to,” said Linda Martini, a Democratic volunteer from Phoenix who tried to share her opinion with Hobbs at a recent campaign event but was rebuffed by the candidate, who walked away. “Furthermore, she could destroy her opponents. There’s no doubt about it. And the people want to see her on TV.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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ISBI Will Sell Tickets To First LIV Golf Finale At Trump National Doral Kansas City Business Journal The Business Journals
ISBI Will Sell Tickets To First LIV Golf Finale At Trump National Doral – Kansas City Business Journal – The Business Journals https://digitalarizonanews.com/isbi-will-sell-tickets-to-first-liv-golf-finale-at-trump-national-doral-kansas-city-business-journal-the-business-journals/
ISBI will sell tickets to first LIV Golf finale at Trump National Doral – Kansas City Business Journal The Business Journals
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Biden Pledges $60 Million In Aid To Puerto Rico After Hurricane
Biden Pledges $60 Million In Aid To Puerto Rico After Hurricane https://digitalarizonanews.com/biden-pledges-60-million-in-aid-to-puerto-rico-after-hurricane/
President Joe Biden on Monday pledged $60 million in aid for Puerto Rico while visiting after Hurricane Fiona devastated the island as a Category 1 storm around two weeks ago, leaving most without power.
The president and first lady met with Puerto Rican residents impacted by Fiona on Monday, two weeks after the storm ravaged the island on Sept. 18, dumping 30 inches of rain, and tearing up roads, water pipes, and power lines.
Once on the ground in Ponce, a city on the southern side of the island, Biden said he came in person with First Lady Jill Biden to show Puerto Ricans that “all of America’s with you as you receive and recover and rebuild.”
Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 1 on Sept. 18, leaving most people without power and around 13 dead, according to Puerto Rico’s Department of Health (pdf).
Biden, who was joined by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, said the $60 million he announced Monday is earmarked to help rebuild coastal regions.
The $60 million will go toward shoring up levees and flood walls and creating a new flood warning system to help residents better prepare for future storms, Biden further said on Twitter.
Cars drive under a downed power pole in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 21, 2022. (Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters)
Cost of Recovery
Fiona struck Puerto Rico a week before Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida as a Category 4 storm before moving north to the Carolinas as a weakened hurricane.
The disaster recovery in those states is expected to cost tens of billions.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified that while the $60 million was nowhere near the estimated costs of Ian in Florida and the Carolinas, it would help with “specific pieces.”
She noted the $60 million is on top of $2 billion already allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked to build and strengthen the island’s infrastructure.
Criswell also noted Monday, while en route with the president, that FEMA had authorized around $9.5 billion to restore Puerto Rico’s power grid from the impacts of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, a deadly Category 5 storm that killed around 3,000 in the Caribbean.
“It’s going to take multiple different funding streams from the federal family to make sure that we’re getting them to a place that they can be more resilient,” Criswell said.
In September, Fiona brought over 30 inches of rain to some areas of the island, causing flooding and mudslides that damaged roads and bridges.
Criswell said that around 92 percent of power has been restored to the island, and around 95 percent of the water has been patched up with temporary fixes.
Around 100,000 customers remain without power since the hurricane struck two weeks ago, according to LUMA Energy.
Congress wrote to Luma Energy on Sept. 27 expressing “grave concern” about the ongoing outages and disruption of power on the island (pdf).
In the letter, members of the Committee on Energy and Commerce said the outages “amplify concerns that LUMA has failed to adequately develop and maintain crucial electrical infrastructure in Puerto Rico despite its lucrative 15-year contract.”
White House Contrasts Trump’s 2017 Visit
Biden’s visit to Puerto Rico fell on the anniversary of a 2017 visit by then-President Donald Trump after Hurricane Maria, which the White House made a point to contrast.
Prior to departing Washington on Marine One on Monday, Biden alluded to the former administration when he said Puerto Rico hasn’t “been taken very good care of.”
“They’ve been trying like hell to catch up from the last hurricane. I want to see the state of affairs today and make sure we push everything we can,” he said on the south lawn of the White House.
Jean-Pierre made a “fine point” of noting that the Bidens’ visit to Ponce, a hard-hit area, demonstrated Biden’s commitment to Puerto Ricans.
In a bid to paint Biden as more generous than Trump in 2017, Jean-Pierre said Trump had “restricted ability … for Puerto Rico to access $5 billion in funds” that she said was “for critical recovery and reconstruction needs.”
Trump Response Praised by Puerto Rico Officials
In the wake of Maria, Trump visited Puerto Rico on Oct. 3, 2017, receiving praise from island officials for the U.S. government’s federal response to the disaster.
Puerto Rico’s then-governor, Ricardo Rosselló, said the cooperation between local and federal authorities had been crucial.
“I want to let the people of Puerto Rico and the people on the United States know that you have always responded to us,” Rosselló said during Trump’s visit.
“I want to personally thank you, Mr. President, because over the course of the past week you have called essentially every day to make sure we have what we need, to make sure that the resources are over here,” Rosselló said, addressing his remarks to Trump.
At the time, Trump signed a disaster declaration following Maria that allowed the federal government to provide 100 percent funding for debris removal and emergency protective measures for 180 days.
More than 12,000 federal responders were deployed to Puerto Rico to help stabilize the situation, enabling water and food supplies to be distributed to staging areas across the island, and the reopening of almost 60 hospitals.
The Trump administration’s aid also saw a decrease in the number of people in shelters.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked with the island’s then-power supplier, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, and the Department of Energy to restore power, which was completely wiped out.
Around 4,000 personnel from different branches of the military were on-site to help during Maria, having been deployed there after Hurricane Irma struck the week before, on Sept. 6, 2017.
Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, making it neither a U.S. state nor a sovereign nation. Residents don’t have voting rights in U.S. domestic elections unless they move to the mainland.
Biden will visit Florida on Wednesday, a week after it was hit by Hurricane Ian, a devastating Category 4 storm that left two million without power at the height of the outages. State utilities report that power has since been restored to around 80 percent of affected customers.
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Caden Pearson is a reporter based in Australia. Contact him on caden.pearson@epochtimes.com.au
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AP News Summary At 9:02 P.m. EDT https://digitalarizonanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-902-p-m-edt/
Ukraine claws back more territory Russia is trying to absorb
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces have scored more gains in their counteroffensive across a broad front. The troops advanced Monday in the very areas Russia is trying to absorb. Their breakthroughs challenged Russia’s effort to engage fresh troops and its threats to defend incorporated areas by all means, including with nuclear weapons. Ukrainian forces penetrated Moscow’s defenses in the strategic southern Kherson region, one of the four areas Russia is annexing. Ukraine’s advances have become so apparent that even Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman admitted the gains. He cited Ukraine’s numerically superior tank units. Also Monday, Russia released from detention the head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
N. Korea sends missile soaring over Japan in escalation
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years as it escalates tests of weapons designed to strike regional U.S. allies. The launch early Tuesday forced Japan to issue evacuation notices to residents in the northeast and suspend trains. It was North Korea’s most significant missile test since January. Japan and South Korea both called security meetings to discuss the launch. The launch is the fifth round of weapons tests by North Korean in the past 10 days in what was seen as an apparent response to recent military drills involving the United States and its allies in North Asia.
Officials: US to send Ukraine more advanced rocket systems
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will soon deliver four more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine, under a new $625 million package of aid expected to be announced Tuesday. That’s according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the package ahead of the announcement. The decision marks the first time the U.S. has sent more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Ukraine since late July, and it will bring the total number delivered so far to 20. The systems have become a key tool in Ukraine’s ability to strike bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops, enabling Ukrainian forces to make inroads in Russia-controlled regions.
Oath Keepers trial: Jan. 6 was ‘rebellion,’ prosecutor says
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors are saying at the opening of the most serious case to reach trial in the attack on the U.S. Capitol that the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates planned for an “armed rebellion” to stop the transfer of presidential power. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler delivered his opening statement Monday in Washington’s federal court in the trial of Stewart Rhodes and others charged with seditious conspiracy. They are accused of a weekslong plot to stop the transfer of power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of cherry-picking comments from messages and videos and said the government has no evidence there ever was any plan to attack the Capitol.
Frustration and desperation mount as Ian’s effects linger
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Days after Hurricane Ian carved a path of destruction from Florida to the Carolinas, the dangers persisted, and even worsened in some places. It was clear the road to recovery from the storm will be long and painful. More than 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power Monday in Florida and it will be the weekend before most power is restored. And Ian still is not done. Officials warned there still was the potential of coastal flooding from Long Island south to North Carolina’s Outer Banks where the only highway to the barrier islands was closed by sand and seawater. Seventy-eight deaths have been blamed on Ian, with 71 of them reported in Florida.
Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case. It’s a sign the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase. The revelation came Monday in a court order filed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney. It wasn’t immediately clear who the targets of the search warrants are or whether any search warrants had been executed. As the investigation ramps up, the public court filings have provided a rare window into the workings of a special grand jury that meets behind closed doors.
Trump rallies drift to fringe ahead of potential 2024 bid
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s rallies have always attracted a broad swath of supporters. They draw first timers taking advantage of their chance to see a president in person to devotees who camp out for days and follow him around the country like rock band groupies. But after spending much of the last two years obsessively peddling false claims of a stolen election, Trump is increasingly attracting those who have broken with reality. That includes adherents of the baseless QAnon conspiracy, which began in the dark corners of the internet and is premised on the belief that the country is run by a ring of child sex traffickers that only Trump can defeat.
Frustration with Ukraine war spills out on Russian state TV
Russia’s retreat from a key Ukrainian city over the weekend elicited outcry from an unlikely crowd – state-run media outlets that typically speak glowingly about Moscow’s war. A series of embarrassing military losses for Moscow has presented a growing challenge for prominent hosts of Russian news and political talk shows scrambling to find ways to paint Kyiv’s gains in a way that is still favorable to the Kremlin. The less conciliatory tone from state-run media comes as President Vladimir Putin faces more than just battlefield losses; there is widespread Russian discontent about his partial mobilization of reservists and officials are struggling to explain plans to annex Ukrainian regions while they are being retaken by Kyiv’s forces.
Wall Street soars to best day since summer, S&P 500 up 2.6%
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rallied to its best day since July as falling bond yields eased some of the pressure that’s battered markets. The S&P 500 rose 2.6% Monday, the latest swing for a scattershot market that’s been mostly falling this year on worries about a possible global recession. Treasury yields fell after a report on U.S. manufacturing came in weaker than expected. That could mean the Federal Reserve won’t have to be so aggressive about raising interest rates to beat down the high inflation damaging households’ finances, but analysts still see plenty more turbulence ahead.
Will Smith’s ‘Emancipation’ gets release date, post-slap
NEW YORK (AP) — After holding “Emancipation” in limbo following Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March, Apple will release the actor’s next big project in December. The fate of the $120 million runaway slave thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua had been uncertain. One of Apple’s most high-profile productions yet, the film had once been expected to be a potential Oscar contender this year. But an awards-season rollout of a film headlined by Smith has obvious complications as Smith is banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years. Apple TV+ will debut “Emancipation” on Dec. 2 in theaters and stream it Dec. 9.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Georgia Election Probe Enters New Phase With Search Warrants WABE
Georgia Election Probe Enters New Phase With Search Warrants – WABE https://digitalarizonanews.com/georgia-election-probe-enters-new-phase-with-search-warrants-wabe/
The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case, a sign that the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase.
The revelation came Monday in a court order filed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who’s overseeing the special grand jury seated to help the investigation. In an order sealing any search warrants and related documents from being made public, McBurney wrote that District Attorney Fani Willis’ office is “now seeking to obtain and execute a series of search warrants, the affidavits for which are predicated on sensitive information acquired during the investigation.”
Disclosure of the information could compromise the investigation, McBurney wrote, “by, among other things, causing flight from prosecution, destruction of or tampering with evidence, and intimidation of potential witnesses.” It could also result in risks to the “safety and well-being” of people involved in the investigation, he wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear who the targets of the search warrants are or whether any search warrants had yet to be approved by a judge. To obtain a search warrant, prosecutors must convince a judge they have probable cause that a crime occurred at the location where authorities want to search.
As Willis’ investigation ramps up, the public court filings in the case have provided a rare window into the workings of a special grand jury that meets behind closed doors.Willis, a Democrat, opened the investigation early last year, shortly after the release of a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump suggested that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could “find” the votes needed to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.In addition to the Trump-Raffensperger call, Willis confirmed early on that she was investigating a call that Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina made to Raffensperger, the sudden departure of the U.S. attorney in Atlanta in early January 2021 and statements made during legislative committee meetings by people pushing debunked claims casting doubt on the legitimacy of the state’s election.
Court filings in recent months have also shown that Willis is interested in a slate of fake electors who signed a certificate in December 2020 falsely stating that Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors. She said in a court filing that the 16 Georgia Republicans who signed that certificate have all been notified they are targets of the investigation, meaning they could face criminal charges.
Attorneys for Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor and Trump lawyer, say their client has also been notified that he’s a target of Willis’ investigation. He appeared at state legislative committee hearings in December 2020 and made claims of election fraud in Georgia. Giuliani was also involved in coordinating the fake elector plan, Willis wrote in a court filing. He testified before the special grand jury in August.
Willis’ investigation has also expanded into a breach of voting equipment at the elections office in a rural Georgia county, some 200 miles southeast of Atlanta.
Documents, emails, security video and deposition testimony produced in response to subpoenas in a long-running lawsuit have shown that lawyer Sidney Powell and other Trump allies hired a computer forensics team to go to Coffee County to make complete copies of data and software on elections equipment there. Willis is seeking testimony from Powell and has also requested documents from the company that employs the computer forensics team.
Another thread Willis seems to be pursuing is alleged attempts to pressure a Fulton County election worker. A petition filed last month indicates she wants to question Harrison Floyd, a director of Black Voices for Trump. Willis said in the petition that Floyd and Trevian Kutti, whom Willis described as a Chicago-based “purported publicist,” tried to pressure Ruby Freeman. Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, were election workers falsely accused by Trump allies of pulling fraudulent ballots from a suitcase during ballot counting.As the investigation has progressed, a number of people who have been summoned to testify have tried to avoid testifying. Most have been unsuccessful.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican who’s facing a reelection challenge from Democrat Stacey Abrams, managed to delay his testimony until after next month’s election.
Graham’s attempt to fight his subpoena is currently pending before a federal appeals court. Willis has said in a court filing that she wants to talk to Graham about calls he made to Raffensperger and his staff in which he reportedly asked about “reexamining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump.” Graham has denied any wrongdoing and said his status as a senator shields him from having to testify.
A number of high-ranking Georgia state officials, including Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, have already testified before the special grand jury. Others in Trump’s orbit who’ve undergone questioning include attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro. And the panel is still expecting testimony from others, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Willis has indicated she could seek to compel testimony from Trump himself. The former president has hired a legal team in Atlanta and last month disparaged the investigation as a “strictly political Witch Hunt!”
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Lawyer Declined Trump Request To Tell Archives All Material Was Returned
Lawyer Declined Trump Request To Tell Archives All Material Was Returned https://digitalarizonanews.com/lawyer-declined-trump-request-to-tell-archives-all-material-was-returned/
Politics|Lawyer Declined Trump Request to Tell Archives All Material Was Returned
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/us/politics/trump-alex-cannon-archives.html
When asked to say the former president had no more government documents after the return of 15 boxes in January, the lawyer, Alex Cannon, would not do so, uncertain of whether it was true.
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A video of Alex Cannon, a lawyer who represented former President Donald J. Trump in contact with the National Archives, at a Jan. 6 committee hearing in June. Mr. Cannon tried for months to get Mr. Trump to return presidential records. Credit…Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
Oct. 3, 2022Updated 9:28 p.m. ET
Shortly after turning over 15 boxes of government material to the National Archives in January, former President Donald J. Trump directed a lawyer working for him to tell the archives that he had returned all the documents he had taken from the White House at the end of his presidency, according to two people familiar with the discussion.
The lawyer, Alex Cannon, had become a point of contact for officials with the National Archives, who had tried for months to get Mr. Trump to return presidential records that he failed to turn over upon leaving office. Mr. Cannon declined to convey Mr. Trump’s message to the archives because he was not sure if it was true, the people said.
In fact, Mr. Trump would be found still to have large quantities of government records in his possession even after turning over the 15 boxes. They included one set turned over to the Justice Department by Mr. Trump’s aides in June and another large cache — including some marked with the highest levels of classification — seized by the F.B.I. in the search in August of the former president’s residence and private club in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.
When archives officials opened the initial 15 boxes they recovered in January, they found a large volume of documents with classified markings and notified the Justice Department, setting in motion events that led to a criminal investigation and the search of Mar-a-Lago.
The criminal investigation is ongoing and has been tied up in legal wrangling between the Justice Department and Mr. Trump’s team.
The conversation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cannon took place after officials at the archives began asking Mr. Cannon, following the return of the 15 boxes, whether additional classified material was at Mar-a-Lago. It was when Mr. Cannon raised this with Mr. Trump that Mr. Trump told him to tell the archives he had given everything back, the people familiar with the discussion said.
At the time, the various investigations related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by Mr. Trump’s supporters were ramping up, with a number of requests for documents, the people familiar with the discussion said. Mr. Cannon told people that he was concerned that if Mr. Trump was found to be withholding material related to Jan. 6, he would be in a worse situation, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Mr. Cannon did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Mr. Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
Image
Documents seized by the F.B.I. in August from Mr. Trump’s Florida home included those marked with the highest levels of classification.Credit…Department of Justice, via Associated Press
The archives had struggled from even before Mr. Trump left the White House to get cooperation and accurate answers from Mr. Trump and his team about his handling of government material under the Presidential Records Act.
The National Archives has told the Justice Department that another lawyer representing Mr. Trump indicated to the archives last September that boxes Mr. Trump had taken from the White House included only nonclassified material like newspaper clippings, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Patrick F. Philbin, a former top White House lawyer who was representing Mr. Trump’s post-presidency office, relayed that message to the top lawyer at the archives, Gary Stern, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Mr. Philbin indicated to Mr. Stern that the information was based on what Mr. Trump’s final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, believed to be the contents in the boxes, the people said. Mr. Stern preserved his own description of the exchange in an email, one of the people said.
The conversation between Mr. Cannon and Mr. Trump raises new questions about Mr. Trump’s attempt to interfere with the efforts by the archives to regain all the documents. And the conversation appears to fit a pattern: In June, after turning over a small batch of classified documents that remained at Mar-a-Lago following the return of the 15 boxes, another one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers attested in writing to the Justice Department that Mr. Trump had returned all of the presidential records the government was seeking.
That claim proved misleading. In August, when the F.B.I. executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, it found thousands of pages of presidential records, including hundreds that contained classified information.
The Justice Department and Mr. Trump are engaged in a court battle about what documents the authorities can view and use in their investigation into how the classified documents were handled, whether he and his lawyers intentionally misled the Justice Department and whether he violated the Presidential Records Act.
According to another person familiar with the discussions, Mr. Cannon had warned Mr. Trump in the fall of 2021 that officials at the archives were serious about getting their material back, and that the matter could result in a criminal referral. Mr. Trump deflected Mr. Cannon’s efforts, according to the person familiar with the discussions.
Mr. Cannon was also concerned about people who worked for Mr. Trump going through the boxes of material because he did not know what was in them and was concerned that they might contain classified material.
Mr. Cannon was not the only person who warned Mr. Trump that he could face legal perils if he did not return the material. The New York Times previously reported that in late 2021, Eric Herschmann, a lawyer who had worked in the White House, met with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago about a number of issues and told him that he could face legal consequences if he did not give the boxes back.
But Mr. Trump continued to consult with informal advisers who told him what he wanted to hear — that the material could be considered personal records — such as the conservative activist Tom Fitton, who is not a lawyer but who leads the group Judicial Watch.
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Tillerson Testifies At Corruption Trial Of Trump Adviser
Tillerson Testifies At Corruption Trial Of Trump Adviser https://digitalarizonanews.com/tillerson-testifies-at-corruption-trial-of-trump-adviser/
By TOM HAYS
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Rex Tillerson, who served a turbulent term as secretary of state under former President Donald Trump, was called as a government witness Monday at the trial of a Trump ally accused of leaking intelligence to the United Arab Emirates.
Tillerson testified that he barely knew the defendant, Tom Barrack, once the chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee, or anything about his relationship with the UAE. Instead, he spelled out how he would meet with Trump on a regular basis to discuss foreign policy, emphasizing that the sensitive conversations were supposed to stay confidential.
“You really don’t want outside parties to have access to that information and use it to their advantage,” Tillerson told a New York City jury.
Prosecutors have alleged Barrack provided inside information on how Trump administration officials viewed a UAE-led blockade of neighboring Qatar. Tillerson testified he had advised Trump not to engage with the UAE on the issue, saying, “We needed to let them sort that out on their own.”
Tillerson also described one encounter with Barrack where he “called over to my office … and expressed an interest in an ambassadorship,” he said. But Trump didn’t embrace the idea, “so that was the end of it,” he said.
On cross-examination, Tillerson acknowledged having disagreements with Trump, but stayed clear of criticizing the former president. He said they sometimes played “good cop-bad cop” in their public statements about adversaries like North Korea.
The former Exxon Mobil CEO is the highest-profile witness so far at the federal trial of Barrack, a billionaire private equity manager and Trump confidant who’s accused of secretly working as a foreign agent for the UAE.
Barrack, 75, has pleaded not guilty to that charge, along obstruction of justice and false statements counts.
In 2018, Trump dumped Tillerson via Twitter, abruptly ending the service of a Cabinet secretary who had reportedly called the Republican president a “moron” but refused to step down, deepening disarray within the Trump administration.
Trump and Tillerson clashed on several foreign policy issues, including whether the U.S. would stay in the 2015 agreement to restrict Iran’s nuclear efforts, a deal Tillerson favored. Trump announced in 2018 that the U.S. was withdrawing from the agreement.
So far, prosecutors have relied on a trove of emails and other communications they say demonstrate how Barrack’s “unique access” to Trump to manipulate his campaign — and later his administration — to advance the interests of the UAE. The efforts included helping arrange an Oval Office meeting between Trump and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2017.
At the same time, UAE officials were consorting with Barrack, the energy-rich Gulf state rewarded him by pouring millions of dollars into his business ventures.
___
Corrects story to reflect that the “adversary” Tillerson was referring to on cross examination was North Korea, not South Korea.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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AP News Summary At 8:37 P.m. EDT https://digitalarizonanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-837-p-m-edt-2/
Ukraine claws back more territory Russia is trying to absorb
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces have scored more gains in their counteroffensive across a broad front. The troops advanced Monday in the very areas Russia is trying to absorb. Their breakthroughs challenged Russia’s effort to engage fresh troops and its threats to defend incorporated areas by all means, including with nuclear weapons. Ukrainian forces penetrated Moscow’s defenses in the strategic southern Kherson region, one of the four areas Russia is annexing. Ukraine’s advances have become so apparent that even Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman admitted the gains. He cited Ukraine’s numerically superior tank units. Also Monday, Russia released from detention the head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
N. Korea sends missile soaring over Japan in escalation
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan, its neighbors said, escalating tests of weapons designed to strike key targets in regional U.S. allies amid stalled nuclear diplomacy. The Japanese prime minister’s office said at least one missile fired from North Korea flew over Japan and was believed to have landed into the Pacific Ocean. It said authorities have issued an alert to residents in northeastern regions to evacuate buildings. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it also detected the launch of a ballistic missile that was fired toward the North’s eastern waters.
Officials: US to send Ukraine more advanced rocket systems
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will soon deliver four more advanced rocket systems to Ukraine, under a new $625 million package of aid expected to be announced Tuesday. That’s according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the package ahead of the announcement. The decision marks the first time the U.S. has sent more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Ukraine since late July, and it will bring the total number delivered so far to 20. The systems have become a key tool in Ukraine’s ability to strike bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops, enabling Ukrainian forces to make inroads in Russia-controlled regions.
Oath Keepers trial: Jan. 6 was ‘rebellion,’ prosecutor says
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors are saying at the opening of the most serious case to reach trial in the attack on the U.S. Capitol that the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group and four associates planned for an “armed rebellion” to stop the transfer of presidential power. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler delivered his opening statement Monday in Washington’s federal court in the trial of Stewart Rhodes and others charged with seditious conspiracy. They are accused of a weekslong plot to stop the transfer of power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Defense attorneys accused prosecutors of cherry-picking comments from messages and videos and said the government has no evidence there ever was any plan to attack the Capitol.
Frustration and desperation mount as Ian’s effects linger
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Days after Hurricane Ian carved a path of destruction from Florida to the Carolinas, the dangers persisted, and even worsened in some places. It was clear the road to recovery from the storm will be long and painful. More than 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power Monday in Florida and it will be the weekend before most power is restored. And Ian still is not done. Officials warned there still was the potential of coastal flooding from Long Island south to North Carolina’s Outer Banks where the only highway to the barrier islands was closed by sand and seawater. Seventy-eight deaths have been blamed on Ian, with 71 of them reported in Florida.
Georgia election probe enters new phase with search warrants
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state is seeking search warrants in the case. It’s a sign the wide-ranging probe has entered a new phase. The revelation came Monday in a court order filed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney. It wasn’t immediately clear who the targets of the search warrants are or whether any search warrants had been executed. As the investigation ramps up, the public court filings have provided a rare window into the workings of a special grand jury that meets behind closed doors.
Trump rallies drift to fringe ahead of potential 2024 bid
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s rallies have always attracted a broad swath of supporters. They draw first timers taking advantage of their chance to see a president in person to devotees who camp out for days and follow him around the country like rock band groupies. But after spending much of the last two years obsessively peddling false claims of a stolen election, Trump is increasingly attracting those who have broken with reality. That includes adherents of the baseless QAnon conspiracy, which began in the dark corners of the internet and is premised on the belief that the country is run by a ring of child sex traffickers that only Trump can defeat.
Frustration with Ukraine war spills out on Russian state TV
Russia’s retreat from a key Ukrainian city over the weekend elicited outcry from an unlikely crowd – state-run media outlets that typically speak glowingly about Moscow’s war. A series of embarrassing military losses for Moscow has presented a growing challenge for prominent hosts of Russian news and political talk shows scrambling to find ways to paint Kyiv’s gains in a way that is still favorable to the Kremlin. The less conciliatory tone from state-run media comes as President Vladimir Putin faces more than just battlefield losses; there is widespread Russian discontent about his partial mobilization of reservists and officials are struggling to explain plans to annex Ukrainian regions while they are being retaken by Kyiv’s forces.
Wall Street soars to best day since summer, S&P 500 up 2.6%
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rallied to its best day since July as falling bond yields eased some of the pressure that’s battered markets. The S&P 500 rose 2.6% Monday, the latest swing for a scattershot market that’s been mostly falling this year on worries about a possible global recession. Treasury yields fell after a report on U.S. manufacturing came in weaker than expected. That could mean the Federal Reserve won’t have to be so aggressive about raising interest rates to beat down the high inflation damaging households’ finances, but analysts still see plenty more turbulence ahead.
Will Smith’s ‘Emancipation’ gets release date, post-slap
NEW YORK (AP) — After holding “Emancipation” in limbo following Will Smith’s slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards in March, Apple will release the actor’s next big project in December. The fate of the $120 million runaway slave thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua had been uncertain. One of Apple’s most high-profile productions yet, the film had once been expected to be a potential Oscar contender this year. But an awards-season rollout of a film headlined by Smith has obvious complications as Smith is banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years. Apple TV+ will debut “Emancipation” on Dec. 2 in theaters and stream it Dec. 9.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Marc Short Criticizes Trumps racial Slur Against Elaine Chao
Marc Short Criticizes Trump’s “racial Slur” Against Elaine Chao https://digitalarizonanews.com/marc-short-criticizes-trumps-racial-slur-against-elaine-chao/
Marc Short, a senior adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence and onetime director of legislative affairs under then-President Trump, said it was “obviously wrong” for the former president to use a “racial slur” against Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Trump’s former transportation secretary.
Short made the comments in an interview on CBS News’ “Red and Blue” Monday night, after Trump last week posted on his platform Truth Social that McConnell has a “DEATH WISH” for voting with Democrats to approve a stop-gap funding bill, and called Chao, “his China-loving wife, Coco Chow.” Short called the post “erroneous,” to say the last, highlighting how much Chao has done for the cause of freedom in China.
“When I — when I saw those tweets at midnight, I sort of assumed the president had taken to drinking at that point,” Short joked. “I think that you know, it’s important to remember that Elaine Chao and her family have been strong crusaders against communist China their whole lives. She’s devoted herself to that. She’s spent time outside of government working at Heritage Foundation, fighting the cause for freedom. She, her family is actually from Taiwan. I think that that certainly was a misplaced and erroneous tweet, to say the least.”
Trump, who doesn’t drink, continues to criticize Republicans who don’t fully align with him on Truth Social. Although the former president is expected to announce a 2024 bid, exactly when he might do so isn’t yet clear. Pence has also hasn’t ruled out a presidential bid and has made multiple trips to Iowa since the 2020 election.
CBS News correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns pointed out that most Republicans have offered little in the way of rebuke for the former president’s “death wish” tweet. On CBS News “Face the Nation” Sunday, Sen. Rick Scott declined to criticize the former president’s comments.
“Caitlin, I can’t speak for them,” Short said of other Republicans. “I think that Elaine Chao has been a strong crusader against communist China. I think the president’s factually wrong in his tweet, much less to the notion of him taking a racial slur like that I think was obviously wrong.”
Short also suggested that “there’s a sense that there’s been such enormous bias against [Trump] in the mainstream media, that perhaps [Republicans] are overcompensating for that. But again,” he added, “I don’t think there’s any place for the tweet he sent out the other night, and I think it’s entirely wrong.”
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Crews Assess Tornado Damage To Homes Near Williams; Dust Storm Hits Phoenix Area
Crews Assess Tornado Damage To Homes Near Williams; Dust Storm Hits Phoenix Area https://digitalarizonanews.com/crews-assess-tornado-damage-to-homes-near-williams-dust-storm-hits-phoenix-area/
The National Weather Service announced that a tornado damaged homes just north of Williams on Monday afternoon, as severe thunderstorms continued to hammer Coconino, Yavapai and Maricopa counties.
The weather service account on Twitter said that damage in the Junepine Estates area could be due to a tornado. Citing the weather service, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said between eight and 10 homes were damaged at around 1:30 p.m.
There were no confirmed initial reports of injury.
The weather service also issued a dust storm warning for areas around Interstate 10 near Avondale, I-10 near Casa Grande, I-10 near Eloy, and I-10, I-17, US-60 near Phoenix and Mesa until 5:30 p.m.
Gabriel Lojero, a meteorologist at the Phoenix weather service, said that inclement weather could affect Maricopa County later in the day.
“It looks like we could have some additional storm developments as we head into the next couple of hours into the Phoenix area probably after 4 or 5 p.m.,” Lojero said. “I’m not certain as to how widespread it is going to be but probably will have some isolated to scattered activity in the next couple of hours and then things will quiet down as we head into probably mid-evening or so.”
In Coconino County, the Sheriff’s Office said it sent a search-and-rescue team and other emergency crews to the scene where the tornado hit.
“Reports we’re getting right now we’re still working at is we’ve had, supposedly a house has come off its foundation, anywhere from the shingles ripped off so minor to, you know, pretty, pretty severe stuff,” Coconino County sheriff PIO Jon Paxton said in an earlier interview.
APS reported as many as 2,000 power outages from the same storm in parts of Yavapai county, just south of the reported tornado strike.
Power outages have also impacted over 1,500 customers in Black Canyon City, Dewey Valley and Chino City, over 2,000 in Camp Verde and over 4,000 in Prescott, according to APS.
Reach the reporter Jeremy Yurow at Jyurow@gannett.com.
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Alleged Waukesha Parade Killer Darrel Brooks Disrupts 1st Day Of Trial With Bizarre Antics
Alleged Waukesha Parade Killer Darrel Brooks Disrupts 1st Day Of Trial With Bizarre Antics https://digitalarizonanews.com/alleged-waukesha-parade-killer-darrel-brooks-disrupts-1st-day-of-trial-with-bizarre-antics/
Darrell Brooks covers his face during jury selection. AP
The man accused of fatally mowing down six parade-goers during the Waukesha Christmas parade in Wisconsin last year was tossed from court multiple times for a series of strange outbursts on Monday.
Darrel Brooks, 40, disrupted proceedings ahead of jury selection, forcing the judge to take numerous breaks and to eventually instruct him to participate from another room.
Brooks, who is representing himself, bizarrely interrupted Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow, arguing he did not recognize her as a judge or the state of Wisconsin.
He could be seen at one point leaning his arms on the table with his suit jacket pulled up over his head.
Brooks is facing six first-degree intentional homicide charges and 61 counts of reckless endangerment that could lead him to life behind bars if convicted of any of the homicide charges.
Before possible jurors even entered the courtroom Monday, Brooks was sent back to his cell because of his outbursts.
Every time he came back, Brooks kept acting out, asking Dorow to state her name and questioning the court’s jurisdiction before the judge ordered him into another room where he participated through video.
Dorow called 10 recesses on the trial’s first day and threatened to appoint Brooks an attorney.
Brooks’ combative behavior is nothing new. In August during a pretrial hearing he was escorted out of courtroom for his behavior. At one point during pre-trial hearings, Dorow told Brooks to “stop playing games” as he laughed in court.
He originally pleaded not guilty due to mental disease, but pulled that plea back in September and last week convinced Dorow to let him represent himself despite his wild courtroom actions.
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow addresses Brooks as he appears in court before jury selection on Monday.
AP
About 340 prospective jurors could be called before 16 people are finally picked, Dorow said in court documents. Twelve people would determine a verdict while the other four would sit as alternates.
Jury selection could last three to four days.
With Post wires
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N.Korea Fires Missile Over Japan Some Residents Warned To Take Cover
N.Korea Fires Missile Over Japan, Some Residents Warned To Take Cover https://digitalarizonanews.com/n-korea-fires-missile-over-japan-some-residents-warned-to-take-cover/
SEOUL/TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years on Tuesday, prompting a warning for residents to take cover and a temporary suspension of train operations in northern Japan.
The Japanese government warned citizens to take cover as the missile appeared to have flown over and past its territory before falling into the Pacific Ocean. It said it did not use any defence measures to destroy the missile, which was the first to fly over or past Japan from North Korea since 2017.
“North Korea’s series of actions, including its repeated ballistic missile launches, threatens the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community, and poses a serious challenge to the entire international community, including Japan,” Japan’s top government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno, said in a brief news conference.
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Speaking to reporters shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called North Korea’s actions “barbaric”, and said the government would continue to gather and analyse information.
The launch over Japan was “unfortunate,” Daniel Kritenbrink, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said during an online event hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it appeared to have been an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launched from North Korea’s Jagang Province. North Korea has used that province to launch several recent tests, including multiple missiles that it claimed were “hypersonic.”
TV Asahi, citing an unnamed government source, said North Korea might have fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and it fell into the sea some 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from Japan.
The test prompted East Japan Railway Co (9020.T) to suspend train operations in the northern regions, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. Matsuno said there were no reports of damage to aircraft or ships from the missile.
‘REAL-WORLD’ TEST
North Korea’s flurry of missile testing is helping make more of its weapons operational, develop new capabilities, and send a message that its weapons development is sovereign right that should be accepted by the world, analysts said.
North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programmes are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions, which have imposed sanctions on the country.
Many of North Korea’s ballistic missile tests are conducted on a “lofted trajectory,” which sends them high into space but leads to an impact point not far from the launch site, avoiding over flights of its neighbours.
Firing over or past Japan allows North Korea’s scientists to test missiles under more realistic conditions, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Compared to the usual highly lofted trajectory, this allows them to expose a long-range reentry vehicle to thermal loads and atmospheric reentry stresses that are more representative of the conditions they’d endure in real-world use,” he said.
“Politically, it’s complicated: the missile largely flies outside of the atmosphere when it’s over Japan, but it’s obviously distressing to the Japanese public to receive warnings of a possible incoming North Korean missile.”
The latest launch was Pyongyang’s fifth in 10 days, amid military muscle-flexing by the United States and South Korea, which conducted trilateral anti-submarine exercises last week with Japanese naval forces.
South Korea staged its own show of advanced weaponry on Saturday to mark its Armed Forces Day, including multiple rocket launchers, ballistic missiles, main battle tanks, drones and F-35 fighters.
The North has completed preparations for a nuclear test, which it might look to undertake sometime between China’s Communist Party Congress this month and U.S. mid-term elections in November, South Korean lawmakers said last week.
“So I guess the extremely sensitive period of the run-up to Xi Jinping’s 20th Party Congress was not deemed sensitive enough in Pyongyang to prevent or at least delay this,” John Delury of Seoul’s Yonsei University, said of Tuesday’s missile launch in a post on Twitter.
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Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith in Seoul, and Chang-Ran Kim and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Leslie Adler, Chris Reese, Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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