Donald Trump Allies Create A New Super PAC Called MAGA Inc.
Donald Trump Allies Create A New Super PAC Called MAGA Inc. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/donald-trump-allies-create-a-new-super-pac-called-maga-inc/
NEW YORK (AP) — Top allies of former President Donald Trump are creating a new super PAC that’s expected to serve as the main vehicle for his midterm spending and could become a key part of his campaign infrastructure should he move forward with a 2024 White House run.
The political action committee, called MAGA Inc., will supersede Trump’s existing super PAC, Politico first reported. Paperwork for the new committee was filed Friday morning with the Federal Election Commission.
The buildout comes as Trump, a Republican, is under mounting legal pressure on multiple fronts. The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into how hundreds of documents with classified markings ended up at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and state and federal officials are probing his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. And in New York, Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit this week claiming Trump’s namesake company engaged in decades of fraudulent bookkeeping, padding his net worth by billions of dollars and habitually misleading banks.
News of the new super PAC also comes less than two months before the Nov. 8 midterm elections and as many Republican candidates have been struggling to raise money against well-funded Democrats.
WATCH: New book ‘The Divider’ takes a look at Trump presidency and what led to January 6 attacks
“President Trump is committed to saving America, and Make America Great Again, Inc. will ensure that is achieved at the ballot box in November and beyond,” said Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich, who will serve as the group’s executive director.
Others joining the committee include Republican strategist Chris LaCivita, longtime Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio and communications aides Steven Cheung and Alex Pfeiffer.
Until now, Trump’s Save America leadership PAC, which must abide by far stricter fundraising and spending limits and has come under its own scrutiny, has served as his chief political vehicle. Super PACs can raise unlimited money and spend it freely but are barred from coordinating directly with campaigns.
Trump officials declined to say how much the notoriously thrifty former president intends to spend on his midterm efforts or how much he might try to transfer from his Save America PAC, which ended August with more than $90 million. The Associated Press previously reported that aides had been discussing the possibility of moving at least some of that money to a new or repurposed super PAC, though campaign finance experts are mixed on the legality of such a move.
While Trump has been a prolific fundraiser since leaving office, vacuuming up small-dollar donations, his existing super PAC — Make America Great Again, Again! — has not been a major midterm player.
READ MORE: Trump should not run for president in 2024, majority of Americans say
Trump has been under growing pressure to open his war chest and start spending on midterm races as Republicans have been outraised by Democrats heading into the final campaign stretch.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in particular, has urged candidates with Trump’s support to ask him to open his wallet. In the meantime, candidates, including some who presented themselves as McConnell antagonists during their primaries, have had to grovel to him and the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC he controls, which had $100 million in reserve at the end of June.
Trump played a highly visible role during the GOP primaries, endorsing hundreds of candidates up and down the ballot, from Senate to governor to county commissioner. But some of those contenders are now struggling in their general election races, putting control of the evenly divided Senate up in the air.
Trump is widely expected to launch another presidential run, but the timing of an announcement remains unclear. While he had once been keen to announce before the midterm elections, in part to try to stave off a long list of potential rivals who have been circling, some aides have urged him to wait, warning that announcing early could leave him open to blame if Republicans perform poorly in November.
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Georgia To Replace Voting Machines In Coffee County After Alleged Security Breach
Georgia To Replace Voting Machines In Coffee County After Alleged Security Breach https://digitalarkansasnews.com/georgia-to-replace-voting-machines-in-coffee-county-after-alleged-security-breach/
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Friday that he intends to replace some election equipment in a south Georgia county where forensics experts working last year for pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell copied virtually every component of the voting system.
Raffensperger (R) said his office will replace machines in Coffee County “to allay the fears being stoked by perennial election deniers and conspiracy theorists.” He added that anyone who broke the law in connection with unauthorized access to Coffee County’s machines should be punished, “but the current election officials in Coffee County have to move forward with the 2022 election, and they should be able to do so without this distraction.”
Some election-security experts have voiced concerns that the copying of the Coffee County software — used statewide in Georgia — risks exposing the entire state to hackers, who could use the copied software as a road map to find and exploit vulnerabilities. Raffensperger’s office has said that security protocols would make it virtually impossible for votes to be manipulated without detection.
The move comes after Raffensperger’s office spent months voicing skepticism that such a security breach ever occurred in Coffee County. “There’s no evidence of any of that. It didn’t happen,” Gabe Sterling, Raffensperger’s chief operations officer, said at a public event in April.
Since then, the fact that outsiders accessed county voting machines — and copied sensitive software and data — has been confirmed by sworn depositions, video surveillance footage from inside and outside of the county elections office and other documents turned over to plaintiffs in long-running civil litigation over election security in Georgia. The plaintiffs argue that the state should replace touch-screen voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots. Raffensperger and other Georgia officials are defendants in that case. They deny that the voting system is insecure.
The announcement said that Coffee County would receive new “ballot-marking devices,” the touch-screen voting machines that voters use to make their selections; printers for paper ballots with voters’ selections; ballot scanners used in precincts; electronic poll pads used to check in voters at polling places; and flash cards and thumb drives.
Two pieces of equipment that were accessed by the forensic experts in Coffee County — a central ballot scanner and the election management system server used to tally results — had already been replaced by Raffensperger’s office in June 2021.
Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, a plaintiff in the civil litigation, said leaving those two pieces of equipment in place is “wildly ineffective.” They have been used during elections with the “presumably contaminated” devices that are now being replaced, and now could be contaminated themselves, she said.
Before the announcement, Susan Greenhalgh, a senior adviser for election security for the nonprofit Free Speech for People and a consulting expert for the Coalition for Good Governance, said that replacing the machines in Coffee County is necessary but not sufficient to stem the risk to election security in Georgia.
“You still have the overall problem that the software has been released into the wild to countless individuals who may have ill intent and who may be using it to figure out ways to manipulate an election,” Greenhalgh told reporters at a news briefing earlier this week.
Video footage shows that a team from Atlanta-based SullivanStrickler spent about eight hours at the county elections office on Jan. 7, 2021, copying software from Dominion Voting Systems equipment and data from multiple memory sticks and other devices.
The county elections supervisor at the time told The Washington Post earlier this year that she allowed the team into the office to help find proof that the election “was not done true and correct.” The video footage also shows that Cathy Latham, then the chairwoman of the county Republican Party, greeted the SullivanStrickler team at the elections office and introduced them to local officials. Her lawyers have denied that she participated in the Jan. 7 copying or did anything improper or illegal.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said it is investigating a suspected computer trespass of a Coffee County elections server that day. A special grand jury in Atlanta, which was already examining the “fake elector” scheme to keep President Donald Trump in power using bogus electoral certificates, has recently expanded its inquiry to take in the Coffee County episode.
The grand jury has issued subpoenas including to Powell and to SullivanStrickler. The firm said in a statement to The Post that it was not a target of the investigation and that the company and its employees were witnesses in the case.
SullivanStrickler has said it believed the attorneys it was working for were authorized to access the voting machines, and that the firm had no reason to think the attorneys would ask it to do anything illegal or improper. “We are confident that it will quickly become apparent that we did nothing wrong and were operating in good faith at all times,” it said in a statement.
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Arizona GOP Chair https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arizona-gop-chair/
BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press
Sep. 23, 2022Updated: Sep. 23, 2022 5:47 p.m.
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1of3FILE – Kelli Ward, with her husband Mike at her side, concedes to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. in the race for the Republican nomination to U.S. Senate, at her primary night party at a hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Aug. 30, 2016. A federal judge, late Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, has rejected an effort by Ward and her husband to block a subpoena of their phone records issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic via AP, File) Show MoreShow Less
2of3FILE – Dr. Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party, holds a press conference at the Maricopa County Elections Department as she reports the progress of the a post-election logic and accuracy test for the general election on Nov. 18, 2020, in Phoenix. A federal judge, late Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, has rejected an effort by Ward and her husband to block a subpoena of their phone records issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.Ross D. FranklinShow MoreShow Less
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PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge has rejected an effort by Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and her husband to block a subpoena of their phone records issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa issued late Thursday said none of the reasons the Wards cited for blocking the congressional demand passed legal muster. She noted that Congress is generally immune from lawsuits, and none of the exemptions applied to the Wards’ case.
Their attorneys appealed the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. Ward did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a request for comment from the committee was also not immediately returned.
The House committee is seeking phone records from just before the November 2020 election to Jan. 31, 2021. That would include a period where Ward was pushing for former President Donald Trump’s election defeat to be overturned and while Congress was set to certify the results.
Kelli Ward and Michael Ward were presidential electors who would have voted for Trump in the Electoral College had he won Arizona. Both signed a document falsely claiming they were Arizona’s true electors, despite Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
The Wards argued the subpoena should be quashed because it violated their First Amendment rights, violated House rules and exceeded the authority of the Jan. 6 committee. Humetewa rejected each argument in turn, and noted that the federal appeals court in Washington has rejected similar arguments raised by Trump during his unsuccessful effort to block a committee subpoena. The U.S. Supreme Court let those rulings stand.
Ward and her husband, who are both physicians, also argued that turning over their phone records could compromise the private health information of their patients. But Humetewa said the records are being sought from a phone provider not covered by health care privacy laws. She did encourage the Wards and congressional investigators to discuss how to protect any patient information that might be revealed.
Kelli Ward is a staunch Trump ally who has aggressively promoted the false claim that the election was stolen from him. In the days after the election, she pressured Republicans on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to investigate unsupported claims of fraud before election results were certified, according to text messages released by the county.
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Governors Races Take On New Prominence With Higher Stakes | Arizona Capitol Times
Governors Races Take On New Prominence, With Higher Stakes | Arizona Capitol Times https://digitalarkansasnews.com/governors-races-take-on-new-prominence-with-higher-stakes-arizona-capitol-times/
By: Sara Burnett and John Hanna Associated Press September 23, 2022
Governors races often are overshadowed by the fight for control of Congress during midterm elections. But this fall, which candidate wins a state’s top executive post, including in Arizona, could be pivotal for the nation’s political future.
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Tags: Arizona, Georgia, Democracy, Lake, General election, Democrats, voting laws, Biden, primary, Trump, ducey, abortion, RGA, wisconsin, Kansas, Taylor Robson, Abrams
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South Carolina Cannabis Fight Persists In Farmer's Lawsuit
South Carolina Cannabis Fight Persists In Farmer's Lawsuit https://digitalarkansasnews.com/south-carolina-cannabis-fight-persists-in-farmers-lawsuit/
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina farmer is suing several state agencies in federal court on grounds they conspired to deny him his due process rights after authorities in 2019 destroyed his hemp crop, which was grown in unregistered fields.
In a federal lawsuit filed Sept. 16, John Trenton Pendarvis alleges the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Department of Agriculture and attorney general’s office all denied him due process after Department of Agriculture officials discovered unreported hemp crops during a check of his Dorchester County property on July 30, 2019.
According to the lawsuit, Pendarvis filed an amendment application and said that extensive droughts had forced him to move his crop’s location. However, Derek Underwood, assistant commissioner of the Agriculture Department’s Consumer Protection Division, insisted that the farmer’s oversight was a “willful violation” of the state’s hemp farming program, according to emails shared in the complaint. He then began seeking approval to destroy the crop.
The legal mechanism for seeking such approval is unclear, which is where Pendarvis alleges the government’s procedure violated his due process rights.
South Carolina has taken a stringent approach to all matters relating to cannabis over the years. The state remains one of a handful where medical marijuana is illegal after a seven-year effort to join about 38 other states in legalizing medical marijuana failed this spring.
Despite this, the state jumped at commercial hemp cultivation a few years ago.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 — a federal bill which was signed into law by President Donald Trump almost four years ago — defined hemp as a cannabis plant containing no more than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis, which means it lacks the psychoactive properties of marijuana. Under the new federal law, states could expand commercial hemp cultivation and South Carolina followed suit.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster in March 2019 signed the Hemp Farming Act. Lawmakers found that the plant could potentially serve as “a cash crop” that would “enhance the economic diversity and stability of our state’s agricultural industry.”
Standard regulations still apply. Participating farmers must report their hemp crops’ coordinates to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture and cannot grow plants that exceeds the federal THC limits. Farmers must correct any negligent violations.
Pendarvis, a fourth-generation farmer, was the first person charged with a misdemeanor crime under the state’s hemp farming program.
Top legal officials criticized the 2019 law’s unclear enforcement mechanisms in emails detailed in the complaint. South Carolina Solicitor General Adam Cook said that the statute is “ultra murky” and gives “no direction whatever to law enforcement.” Without clarity, the state attorney general’s office advised that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division “seek judicial authorization” to ensure Pendarvis “receives due process.”
But according to the complaint, officials didn’t follow through.
After failing to get a local judge to sign their seizure and destruction order, SLED agents — without detailing their intent to destroy the crop — obtained an arrest warrant for Pendarvis from another magistrate. Emails shared in the complaint show that agents took this action despite the original judge offering to hold a hearing in the matter, which SLED’s general counsel Adam Whitsett declined. Officials in the attorney general’s office then amended their guidance to agree with SLED’s conclusion that the hemp farming participation agreement — which allows the destruction of crops growing in an unlicensed area — amounted to the “valid consent” necessary to pursue their plan.
Pat McLaughlin, Pendarvis’ attorney, told the Associated Press that nowhere in the agreement do farmers waive their right to challenge such findings.
SLED agents destroyed the hemp crop that same day. Pendarvis alleges that seven requests to call his lawyer were not granted by the agents, who told him the Department of Agriculture was “lined up with everything we’re here for.”
In an emailed statement to the AP, South Carolina Attorney General’s Office Communications Director Robert Kittle said the lawsuit “lacks merit.” A SLED spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment while litigation pends.
The Department of Agriculture pointed to a 2019 statement where the department said it is required to report violations to law enforcement, who decide whether to take action. The statement also reiterated SCDA’s enthusiasm for the hemp farming program.
McLaughlin said law enforcement officials never explained the consequences to Pendarvis until they arrived over six weeks after the initial discovery to destroy the crop.
“They want the benefit of the doubt in this but they didn’t give any of it to the farmer,” McLaughlin said.
—-
James Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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WSJ News Exclusive | Fords Latest Supply-Chain Problem: A Shortage Of Blue Oval Badges
WSJ News Exclusive | Ford’s Latest Supply-Chain Problem: A Shortage Of Blue Oval Badges https://digitalarkansasnews.com/wsj-news-exclusive-fords-latest-supply-chain-problem-a-shortage-of-blue-oval-badges/
Ford showed its seventh-generation Mustang sports car at the Detroit auto show on Wednesday. The company said the new model will stick with a gas engine, a strategy that contrasts with some of its rivals that are going electric. Photo: Rebecca Cook/Reuters
Updated Sept. 23, 2022 5:30 pm ET
Ford Motor Co. has delayed deliveries of certain vehicles because it didn’t have the blue oval badges that go on them, in another example of how supply-chain challenges have hit auto makers.
The car company has run into supply constraints with the brand-name badges and the nameplates that specify the model, according to people familiar with the matter. Both parts are affixed to the vehicle’s exterior and are important identifiers for the auto maker’s products. A company spokesman confirmed it has held some vehicle shipments because of a lack of badges.
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Referendums Begin In Russian-Occupied Regions Of Ukraine; Long Lines Form At Borders As Russians Flee Military Call-Up
Referendums Begin In Russian-Occupied Regions Of Ukraine; Long Lines Form At Borders As Russians Flee Military Call-Up https://digitalarkansasnews.com/referendums-begin-in-russian-occupied-regions-of-ukraine-long-lines-form-at-borders-as-russians-flee-military-call-up-2/
12 vessels depart Ukraine carrying more than 205,000 metric tons of agricultural products
An aerial view of Barbados flagged “Fulmar S” named empty grain ship as Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the United Nations (UN) of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) conduct inspection on vessel in Istanbul, Turkiye on August 05, 2022.
Islam Yakut | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from Ukraine said it has approved 12 vessels to leave the besieged country.
The Joint Coordination Center, an initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, said that the vessels are carrying a total of 205,912 metric tons of grain and other food products.
The ships are destined for Bangladesh, Romania, France, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.
Read more about what Ukraine is exporting through the Black Sea Grain Initiative and where it is going.
— Amanda Macias
Putin’s mobilization of 300,000 more troops unlikely to resolve basic problems in Ukraine, experts say
Service members of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) line up to vote during a referendum on joining LPR to Russia, at a military unit in Luhansk, Ukraine September 23, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
The main challenge the Russian military faces after almost seven months at war looks likely to remain a basic one: manpower.
The “partial mobilization” President Vladimir Putin rolled out Wednesday aims to add an additional 300,000 reservists to the front, according to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, primarily those with some kind of military experience.
“Realistically, most of these guys haven’t been through recent training, and a 300,000 input is incredibly high,” he said. “Most Russian soldiers receive most of their training in the units now, but it’s hard to imagine the units that are in Ukraine being in any state to train recruits.”
Ukraine had nearly 200,000 active duty soldiers at the start of the war, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British research institute in London. Kyiv bolstered that number with new recruits and volunteers that are trained in Ukraine and in partner countries, such as Poland and the United Kingdom.
Russia had about 1 million active personnel at the start, according to the institute’s estimates, though it did not dedicate all its troops to Ukraine.
Forcing dissidents and unwilling Russians into the military would likely exacerbate what are widely believed to be deep problems with morale within the rank and file.
Read the full story on NBC News.
— NBC NEWS
White House prepared to impose additional sanctions on Russia following ‘sham referendum’
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre conducts a daily press briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on Feb. 14, 2022 in Washington, DC. Jean-Pierre announced on March 27, 2022 that she tested positive for Covid-19.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News
The Biden administration said it was prepared to impose additional sanctions on Russia following a referendum held in parts of UKraine.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced his support for a referendum to decide if four occupied regions of Ukraine should join Russia. The move is believed to be a Kremlin attempt to annex additional swaths of its ex-Soviet neighbor.
“We are prepared to impose additional swift and severe economic costs on Russia along with our allies and partners in response to these actions if they move forward with annexation” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a daily news briefing.
“We have sent a loud message and our allies have as well about this illegitimate vote,” she said, adding that the U.S. and its allies will never recognize land Russia annexes from Ukraine.
— Amanda Macias
U.N. commission says Russian troops committed war crimes
Ukrainian servicemen search for land mines at a burial site in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 16, 2022.
Juan Barreto | AFP | Getty Images
A team of experts tasked by the U.N. said in a new report that Russian troops committed war crimes in Ukraine.
The Independent Commission of Inquiry, which was set up by the U.N. to probe the conduct of the ongoing war, published grisly findings after visiting nearly 30 cities in four Ukrainian regions.
“We have inspected sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as well as weapon remnants and consulted a large number of documents and reports,” said commission Chairman Erik Mose told the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” he added.
Mose said that the commission documented several cases in which “children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined.”
He added that many bodies showed visible signs of torture before execution, including bound hands, wounds to the head and slit throats.”
The Kremlin has previously denied that its troops have committed war crimes.
— Amanda Macias
More than 400 bodies exhumed from mass burial site in Izium with many of them showing signs of violent death, Ukrainian official says
Forensic technicians uncover a coffin in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 16, 2022. – Ukraine said on September 16, 2022 it had counted 450 graves at just one burial site near Izyum after recapturing the eastern city from the Russians.
Sergey Bobok | AFP | Getty Images
A Ukrainian official overseeing the Kharkiv region said that 436 bodies were exhumed from a mass burial site in Izium.
“Most of them have signs of violent death and 30 have traces of torture,” Oleh Synehubov, head of the regional military administration in Kharkiv wrote in an update on the Telegram messaging app.
“There are bodies with ropes around their necks, with bound hands, with broken limbs and gunshot wounds. Several men have amputated genitalia. All this is evidence of the terrible tortures that the occupiers subjected the residents of Izium to,” Synehubov added.
He said that most of the bodies that were recovered were civilians and at least 21 were part of the Ukrainian armed forces. Synehubov said that a team of 200 people, including forensic experts and investigators helped exhume the bodies.
— Amanda Macias
More than 191 vessels carrying grain and other crops have left Ukrainian ports
Barbados-flagged general cargo ship Fulmar S is pictured in the Black Sea, north of the Bosphorus Strait, in Istanbul, Turkey August 5, 2022.
Mehmet Caliskan | Reuters
The organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from Ukraine said that so far 191 vessels have left the besieged country since ports reopened.
The Joint Coordination Center, an initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, said the ships transported a total of 4.35 million metric tons of grain and other food products.
In July, three of Ukraine’s ports were reopened to exports under the U.N.-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative.
— Amanda Macias
Three NATO allies still have to approve Sweden and Finland’s entry into the alliance
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C), Finland Ministers for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (L) and Sweden Foreign minister Ann Linde (R) give a press conference after their meeting at the Nato headquarters in Brussels on January 24, 2022.
John Thys | AFP | Getty Images
Three NATO member countries have yet to sign ratification protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance.
Out of NATO’s 30 member countries, Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey are the last holdouts to grant Sweden and Finland membership.
In May, both nations began the formal process of applying to NATO as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify the countries’ entry into the group.
Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed ratification documents following a 95-1 Senate vote to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO.
— Amanda Macias
Senior Chinese diplomat presses Ukraine foreign minister for ‘peaceful settlement’
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a meeting in Bali on July 9, 2022. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that the South China Sea is not a “safari park” for countries outside the region or a “fighting arena” for major powers to compete in.
Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that all efforts conducive to peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis must be supported, state media reported on Friday.
“Sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected,” he said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, adding that China always stands on the side of peace.
Both diplomats last spoke to each other on a call in April.
— Reuters
World’s largest yacht with ties to Russian oligarch is relocated to dock in Germany by authorities
The super-yacht Dilbar is pulled into a covered floating dock of Luerssen shipyards on the Weser river at the harbour of Bremen on September 23, 2022. – The 156-meter-yacht had stayed since October 2021 for repairs in dry dock at a German shipbuilding company at Hamburg’s harbour, northern Germany, and is considered the world’s biggest by tonnage. It is owned the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, 68, who has been among dozens of Russian oligarchs hit by punishing Western sanctions over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by FOCKE STRANGMANN / AFP) (Photo by FOCKE STRANGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
Focke Strangmann | Afp | Getty Images
T...
HBCU Football: How To Watch Week Four https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hbcu-football-how-to-watch-week-four/
Week Four of the HBCU football season is upon us, which means we are approaching the mid-point of the season
Several key HBCU football games will be available without having to brave the elements via broadcast by television or online streaming.
A total of eight of these games will be streamed on ESPN +, headlined by Jackson State hosting Mississippi Valley State.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2022
Eddie McGirt Classic
Johnson C. Smith vs Lincoln in Charlotte, NC 12n
West Virginia State vs. Notre Dame (OH) in Institute, WV 12n
Tuskegee vs. Allen in Tuskegee, AL 1p
Bluefield State vs. Fort Valley State in Bluefield, WV 1p
Saint Augustine’s vs. Bowie State in Raleigh, NC 1p
Shaw vs. Elizabeth City State in Durham, NC 1p
Lane vs. Edward Waters in Jackson, TN 2p
Northeastern State vs. Lincoln (MO) in Tahlequah, OK 2p
Wayland Baptist vs Texas College in Plainview, TX 2p
Delaware State vs. Merrimack in Dover, DE 2p
Morehouse vs. Savannah State in Atlanta, GA 2p
Texas-San Antonio vs. Texas Southern in San Antonio, TX 2:30p
Fayetteville State vs. Virginia Union in Fayetteville, NC 4p
Livingstone vs. Virginia State in Salisbury, NC 4p
Alabama State vs. Prairie View A&M in Montgomery, AL 5p
Benedict vs. Kentucky State in Columbia, SC 6p
Chowan vs. Winston-Salem State in Murfeesboro, NC 6p
Arkansas Baptist vs. Langston in Little Rock, AR 7p
NC A&T vs. SC State in Greensboro, NC – ESPN+ 7p
HBCU Football: How To Watch Week Four
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Quebec Election: Legault Calls Duhaime An https://digitalarkansasnews.com/quebec-election-legault-calls-duhaime-an/
“I know he’s a man who tolerates very little criticism and different ideas,” the Conservative Party of Quebec leader said about the incumbent premier.
Author of the article:
The Canadian Press
Jacob Serebrin
CAQ Leader François Legault said he understands Quebecers were frustrated with restrictive measures his government took to slow the spread of COVID, but said party leaders need to be responsible. Photo by Ryan Remiorz /The Canadian Press
Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault went on the offensive Friday morning, comparing rival Éric Duhaime to former United States president Donald Trump and saying the Conservative leader’s stance on COVID-19 restrictions is disqualifying.
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Legault said he understands that Quebecers were frustrated with the restrictive measures his government took to slow the spread of COVID-19, but he said party leaders need to be responsible.
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Duhaime is an “agitator” who is “profiting from the distress of certain people to win votes,” Legault told reporters in Laval, before comparing the Conservative leader to the former president.
“He even reminds me of someone in the south (who) also denied the reality, denied the numbers,” Legault said, without directly mentioning Trump’s name.
It was the second day in a row that Legault has described Duhaime’s position on COVID-19 measures as “disqualifying.” The incumbent premier made the same attack to reporters following a leaders debate Thursday evening.
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Duhaime responded to Legault Friday, telling reporters the CAQ leader is “panicking” after the debate.
“He was obviously not happy with his performance and I can understand, indeed,” the Conservative leader said. “It was a … very difficult debate for Mr. Legault; it was very poorly handled. He did a very poor job of defending his government’s record, particularly on the mental health of children, and he is looking for a scapegoat.”
Duhaime, whose party gained support with its opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, denied that he’s an agitator and said Quebecers deserve to hear ideas that differ from the premier’s.
“I know he’s a man who tolerates very little criticism and different ideas; it’s been two years that he’s had a lot of power in his hands and clearly he doesn’t appreciate the democratic aspect of an election campaign, which is there to debate these issues,” Duhaime said.
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Duhaime said that while Quebec had the “most radical” COVID-19 restrictions in the country, the province is “far from having the best record” when it comes to the number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 per 100,000 people.
Had he been in power, the government would have protected the most vulnerable and allowed the rest of the public to follow advice from health officials, Duhaime said.
Legault has said he believes excess mortality — the number of deaths over a certain period that exceed what would be expected compared with previous years — is a better measure of the pandemic’s impact than COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people.
A 2021 report published by the Royal Society of Canada argued that Quebec came closer than any other province to capturing the true death toll of COVID-19, in part because it tested more people for the disease after death than any other province except Manitoba.
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“I think Éric Duhaime is smart enough to see, like the rest of us, that the data on excess mortality is clear: there were fewer deaths in Quebec because we had more measures and he knows it,” Legault said Friday.
Elsewhere, Québec solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who was a frequent target of Legault’s attacks during Thursday’s second and final leaders debate, accused the CAQ leader of lying about the left-wing party’s plan to fight climate change.
Nadeau-Dubois said that despite Legault’s claims, his party wouldn’t force businesses to close. Instead, he said, the plan reflects an acknowledgment that certain industries — like oil refineries — will see shrinking demand in coming years.
Legault’s claims are “unworthy of someone who wants to be premier,” Nadeau-Dubois said.
Earlier on Friday, Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he was pausing his campaign after developing flu-like symptoms. St-Pierre Plamondon said on Twitter he has tested negative for COVID-19 twice but would isolate as a precaution.
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Impeachment Fast Facts – KVIA https://digitalarkansasnews.com/impeachment-fast-facts-kvia/
CNN Editorial Research
Here’s a look at the process of impeachment, a misconduct charge that leads to a trial to determine whether a public official is guilty of abuse of power or other offenses. A conviction leads to removal from office.
Process in the United States
Article I of the Constitution gives the House of Representatives the “sole power of impeachment.”
Offenses that could prompt impeachment are treason, bribery or “other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The inclusion of “other high crimes and misdemeanors” gives the legislative branch flexibility to investigate an array of allegations.
A president is not impeached until the full House votes to approve articles of impeachment.
One article of impeachment is drafted for each alleged offense.
In the House, if a simple majority votes in favor of impeachment, the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over a trial in the Senate. A two-thirds majority is required to convict and remove a president from office.
The Founding Fathers modeled the impeachment clause after a system in Britain which gives Parliament the authority to investigate royal advisers and other higher officials.
Countries around the globe have different processes for ousting a leader, often involving courts and/or legislative bodies.
US Impeachment Trials
Congress has conducted four presidential impeachment trials: President Andrew Johnson in 1868, for firing a cabinet secretary without the consent of Congress, President Bill Clinton in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice and two against President Donald Trump, in 2020 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and in 2021 for incitement of insurrection.
Johnson, Clinton and Trump were acquitted, so they stayed in office.
Trump is the only president in US history to ever be impeached twice and the first to have his impeachment tried in the Senate while out of office.
President Richard M. Nixon faced possible impeachment on the grounds of obstruction of justice, abuse of power and contempt of Congress in relation to the Watergate scandal. He resigned in 1974, before a vote was conducted in the House of Representatives.
In addition to the presidential impeachments, Congress has carried out 17 other trials for federal officials including judges, a cabinet member and a senator.
On the state level, state legislatures have the power to impeach and remove governors. Two notable examples are Arizona Governor Evan Mecham in 1988 and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2009.
President Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
Johnson, a Democrat, took office after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Amid efforts to unite the country after the Civil War, Johnson clashed with the “Radical Republicans” who wanted to accelerate the process of Reconstruction and grant rights to free slaves. To introduce a check on his power, Congress passed a law barring the president from firing appointed officials, including cabinet secretaries, without Senate approval.
February 21, 1868 – Johnson dismisses Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who backed the “Radical Republicans” campaign for Reconstruction.
February 24, 1868 – The House of Representatives votes 126-47 to impeach Johnson for firing Stanton.
March 5-May 26, 1868 – Trial in the Senate. Johnson is acquitted with a vote of 35-19, one vote shy of the two thirds majority needed to remove the president. Johnson serves out the rest of his term (until March 4, 1869), but he doesn’t run for reelection. Democrats opt to nominate Horatio Seymour over Johnson during the prelude to the 1868 election.
1926 – The Supreme Court strikes down the Tenure of Office Act, the basis for Johnson’s impeachment.
President Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
Clinton was sued in 1994 by Paula Jones for sexual harassment. Although Clinton and Jones eventually settled the suit rather than going to trial, the litigation sparked an investigation into whether Clinton obstructed justice and lied under oath. The probe centered on Clinton’s relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.
The president repeatedly denied that they had had an affair but eventually said that their relationship was inappropriate. The Clinton investigation was overseen by a special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, who was originally appointed to look into possible financial crimes involving an Arkansas land deal and a development firm called Whitewater. In 1998, after a four-year investigation, Starr produced a 445-page report detailing Clinton’s relationship with Lewinsky. The report listed acts that could be grounds for impeachment.
December 19, 1998 – Four articles of impeachment are set forth in the House of Representatives. Two articles are approved. One, approved by a 228-206 vote, alleges that Clinton committed perjury when he told a grand jury that he did not have an affair with Lewinsky. The other, approved by a 221-212 vote, alleges that Clinton coerced Lewinsky to lie under oath about their relationship. Two other articles, alleging abuse of power and further perjury, fail to garner a simple majority.
January 7, 1999-February 12, 1999 – The trial is held, and Clinton is acquitted. For the perjury charge, 55 senators vote not guilty and for the obstruction of justice charge, 50 senators vote to acquit the president. Clinton serves out the rest of his term.
President Donald Trump (2016-2021)
September 24, 2019 – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump.
October 31, 2019 – The House approves a resolution to formalize the procedures of the impeachment inquiry against Trump.
November 13, 2019 – The first public hearings of the inquiry take place.
December 10, 2019 – House Democratic leaders announce they will bring two articles of impeachment against Trump, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
December 13, 2019 – The House Judiciary Committee approves the two articles of impeachment in a party line vote, setting the stage for a vote on the floor of the House.
December 18, 2019 – The House votes almost entirely along party lines to impeach Trump. The vote for abuse of power is 230-197 and the vote for obstruction of Congress is 229-198.
January 16, 2020 – The House formally presents two articles of impeachment to the Senate after voting to approve the seven managers who will prosecute the case.
January 16, 2020 – The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, says the Trump administration broke the law when it withheld US security aid to Ukraine in 2019 that had been appropriated by Congress.
January 16, 2020 – The Senate impeachment trial officially begins. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts swears in the senators. Each present member of the chamber comes forward and signs the oath book on the floor of the Senate.
February 5, 2020 – The Senate votes to acquit Trump. Sen. Mitt Romney is the sole Republican to vote to convict the president on the abuse of power charge, joining with all Senate Democrats in a 52-48 not guilty vote. Romney votes with Republicans against the obstruction of Congress charge, which falls along straight party lines, 53-47 for acquittal.
January 13, 2021 – The House votes to impeach Trump for a second time, 232-197, on the charge of inciting an insurrection, during the January 6 Capitol riots. Trump will likely finish out his term (with only a week left) since it takes a Senate conviction to remove him, even after he’s been impeached.
February 13, 2021 – The Senate acquits former President Trump in his second impeachment trial, voting that Trump is not guilty of inciting the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol — but the verdict amounts to a bipartisan rebuke of the former President with seven Republicans finding him guilty, with a final vote of 57 guilty to 43 not guilty.
Failed Measures to Impeach American Presidents
While presidential impeachments are rare in the United States, it is not unusual for members of Congress to introduce resolutions seeking to oust the commander in chief. Every president since Ronald Reagan has been threatened with impeachment by members of the House.
President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) – Two separate measures were introduced to impeach Reagan. The first, in 1983, was for offenses related to the invasion of Grenada. The second, in 1987, was tied to the Iran-Contra Affair.
President George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) – In 1991, a resolution was introduced to oust Bush for alleged crimes related to the Gulf War.
President George W. Bush (2001-2009) – A resolution was introduced in 2008 to impeach Bush for a variety of violations associated with the Iraq War and warrantless wiretapping.
President Barack Obama (2009-2017) – In anticipation of potential military campaign in Syria in after the regime allegedly used chemical weapons in 2013, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) prepared a resolution to impeach Obama for going to war without consent from Congress.
Notable World Leaders Impeached (2015-present)
Albania – Ilir Meta
The ruling Socialist Party has accused Meta of violating the constitution by siding with opposition parties prior to the April 2021 parliamentary elections. The role of president in Albania is largely ceremonial and represents the unity of the country. Meta’s term was set to expire in July 2022.
July 24, 2017 – Meta is sworn in as president.
June 9, 2021 – Albania’s parliament impeaches Meta by a 104-7 vote. The impeachment process moves to the country’s Constitutional Court for final approval.
February 16, 2022 – Albania’s Constitutional Court overturns the impeachment.
Brazil – Dilma Rousseff
Amid a severe recession, Rousseff was accused of hiding a budget deficit to secure her reelection. The tumult was intensified by allegations of widespread corruption within the Brazilian government, although Rousseff herself was not linked to bribery and oth...
Legal Experts See More Challenges For Trump In Records Dispute
Legal Experts See More Challenges For Trump In Records Dispute https://digitalarkansasnews.com/legal-experts-see-more-challenges-for-trump-in-records-dispute-2/
Former President Donald Trump’s court battle over presidential records he claims to have declassified was dealt another blow by the Eleventh Circuit this week and some legal experts doubt the former president will get the legal recourse he seeks.
Former Acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal said he thinks the Eleventh Circuit decision granting the government’s motion to keep using the roughly 100 records it identified as classified in its criminal probe while the appeal plays out is “extremely strong.”
“It’s really hard to lose an appeal more decisively than Trump just did,” Katyal said.
The ruling, he said, is “not only a straight repudiation of every legal claim Trump has made since Mar a Lago [was] searched, it’s a boomerang.”
Katyal highlighted the appellate panel’s finding that Trump has not even tried to show he has a “need to know” the information contained in the purportedly classified documents, and that “even if he had, that, in and of itself, would not explain why plaintiff has an individual interest in the classified documents.”
He said the circuit judges “powerfully” explain in their ruling why criminal and national security implications related to the records dispute “are so massive.” And he notes that the 29-page opinion was unanimously agreed upon by an Obama appointee and two Trump-appointed judges.
Wednesday’s Eleventh Circuit ruling comes after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound on Aug. 8 and seized more than 11,000 documents, including at least 103 documents with classification markings, according to records unsealed by the court last month.
The former president brought a motion for judicial oversight of the government’s review of the seized materials last month and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted his request for a special master on Sept. 5 — prompting a swift appeal to the Eleventh Circuit by the Department of Justice, which also filed a motion to stay part of her order.
Trump argued in court filings that the Atlanta-based appellate court lacks jurisdiction over the appeal. But the circuit judges agreed with the government’s argument that Cannon likely erred in her finding that the southern Florida federal court had jurisdiction over Trump’s motion for judicial oversight.
“The absence of this ‘indispensab[le]’ factor,” the circuit judges wrote, “is reason enough to conclude that the district court abused its discretion in exercising equitable jurisdiction here.”
Laurence Tribe, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, said it was “refreshing” to read the Eleventh Circuit opinion, which he described as a “demolition” of both Trump and Judge Cannon’s arguments that he describes as “ludicrous evasions of settled law and indisputable fact.”
“It reads a lot like a stern but polite reprimand of a child caught red handed who needs to be read the riot act,” he said,
Katyal highlighted part of the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling, in which the judges found that Cannon erred when she determined Trump had an interest in some of the seized materials because it included “medical documents, correspondence related to taxes, and accounting information.”
The appellate panel found that “none of those concerns apply” to the approximately 100 purportedly classified documents at issue.
“In any event, at least for these purposes, the declassification argument is a red herring because declassifying an official document would not change its content or render it personal,” the judges wrote. “For our part, we cannot discern why plaintiff would have an individual interest in or need for any of the one-hundred documents with classification markings.”
U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, who is tasked with reviewing the materials uncovered in the FBI raid, released his case management plan on Thursday following the 11th Circuit decision.
Under the plan, he has asked Trump for a detailed list of the seized items and annotations to support any claims the items fall under attorney-client privilege, executive privilege or the Presidential Records Act.
Katyal said the circuit judges’ ruling “says what all of us have been saying, the whole declassification thing is a red herring.”
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Courthouse News last week the classification dispute was a red herring that would not impact potential charges under the Espionage Act or Presidential Records Act.
“Attorney General Merrick Garland will … need to make the ultimate decision of whether to charge Trump or not,” Rahmani said.
As Katyal sees it, the appeals court ruling “justified a prosecution.”
Trump is under investigation for removing government records from the White House at the end of his single term as president on Jan. 20, 2021, and storing them at his 12-acre Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach.
Trump, for his part, denies any wrongdoing and he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday night that, “if you’re president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying ‘it’s declassified,’ even by thinking about it because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever you’re sending it.”
Katyal meanwhile said, “Trump can try to go to the U.S. Supreme Court but it’s a loser every day of the week.”
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Judge: Committee Investigating Events Around Jan. 6 Riot Is Entitled To Obtain GOP Heads Phone Records | Arizona Capitol Times
Judge: Committee Investigating Events Around Jan. 6 Riot Is Entitled To Obtain GOP Head’s Phone Records | Arizona Capitol Times https://digitalarkansasnews.com/judge-committee-investigating-events-around-jan-6-riot-is-entitled-to-obtain-gop-heads-phone-records-arizona-capitol-times/
Home / Recent news / Judge: committee investigating events around Jan. 6 riot is entitled to obtain GOP head’s phone records
By: Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services September 23, 2022
The House committee investigating the events around the Jan. 6 riot is entitled to get the phone records of the head of the Arizona Republican Party.
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Tags: GOP, weight loss, u.s. capitol, election, AZGOP, Trump, phone records, Humetewa, doctors, insurrection, ward, Congress, Democrats, House, riot
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In-Person Voting Starts In Minnesota 3 Other Early States
In-Person Voting Starts In Minnesota, 3 Other Early States https://digitalarkansasnews.com/in-person-voting-starts-in-minnesota-3-other-early-states/
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — In-person voting for the midterm elections opened Friday in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming, kicking off a six-week sprint to Election Day in a landscape that has changed much since the pandemic drove a shift to mail balloting in the 2020 presidential contest.
Twenty people voted in the first hour as Minneapolis opened its early voting center, taking advantage of generous rules that election officials credit with making Minnesota a perennial leader in voter turnout. First in when the doors opened was Conrad Zbikowski, a 29-year-old communications and digital consultant who said he has voted early since at least 2017.
“I like to vote early because you never know what might happen on Election Day,” said Zbikowski, displaying his civic pride with a T-shirt that bore the sailboat logo of the City of Lakes. “You might get sick, you might get COVID, you might get in a car crash, there’s many things that can happen. But what you do have control over is being able to vote early and getting that ballot in.”
The start of in-person voting comes as the nation continues to grapple with the fallout from nearly two years of false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump due to widespread fraud and manipulation of voting machines. Those conspiracy theories, promoted by a constellation of Trump allies in the campaign, on social media and at conferences held across the country, have taken a toll on public confidence in U.S. elections.
They’ve also led to tightening of rules that govern mail ballots in several Republican-led states as well as an exodus of experienced election workers, who have faced an onslaught of harassment and threats since the 2020 election.
But nearly two years since that election, no evidence has emerged to suggest widespread fraud or manipulation while reviews in state after state have upheld the results showing President Joe Biden won.
Saturday also is the deadline by which election officials must send ballots to their military and overseas voters. North Carolina started mailing out absentee ballots Sept. 9.
Early in-person voting is offered in 46 states and the District of Columbia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. States may use different ways to describe it, with some calling it in-person absentee voting or advanced voting. In some cases, it mirrors Election Day voting with polling locations equipped with poll workers and voting machines. Elsewhere, it involves voters requesting, completing and submitting an absentee ballot in person at their local election office.
Early voting periods vary by state, with some offering as few as three days and others extending to 46 days. The average is 23 days, according to the conference of legislatures.
This year, voting will unfold in a much different environment than two years ago, when the coronavirus prompted a major increase in the use of mail ballots as voters sought to avoid crowded polling places. States adopted policies to promote mail voting, with a few states opting to send mail ballots to all registered voters and others expanding the use of drop boxes.
While some have made those changes permanent, others have rolled back them back. For instance, Georgia will have fewer drop boxes this year and has added ID requirements to mail ballots under legislation pushed by Republican state lawmakers.
Minnesota’s ballot includes races for governor and other statewide offices, with control of the Legislature at stake, too.
Zbikowski declined to say for whom he voted. But he said he doesn’t take the right to vote for granted, given that his family came to America from Russia when it didn’t have free elections. As a part-time poll worker — he was off-duty Friday— he said he’s seen Minnesota’s safeguards firsthand and has full confidence in the integrity of the process.
Other early voters included first-timers Ronald Johnson and his wife, Judith Weyl, who voted on Election Day in 2020. They both said they voted a straight Democratic ticket.
“It just feels like this election is so important, life is so busy, I just wanted to have closure on this as quickly as possible,” Johnson said.
Johnson, a 74-year-old mental health counselor, said he wanted to support candidates who will preserve a Minnesota election system that he said has integrity.
He said he “absolutely” supports the state’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Steve Simon, over GOP challenger Kim Crockett, who has called the 2020 election a “train wreck” and has advocated for a return to voting mostly on Election Day. Simon, in contrast, calls the 2020 election “fundamentally fair, honest, accurate and secure,” and defends the changes that he oversaw to make voting safer in the pandemic.
“We really care about protecting democracy,” said Weyl, 73.
Aaron Bommarito, a 48-year-old teacher who also said he voted a straight Democratic ticket, said he has no concerns about his votes being counted properly and has “absolute confidence in the system.” He said voting early was a spur-of-the moment decision. He just happened to be driving by the voting center and seized the moment.
“I dropped my two kids off at school, and the ‘Vote Here’ sign was the next thing I saw,” he said.
___
Cassidy reported from Atlanta.
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Trump-Linked Digital World Acquisition Corp Shares Are Now Around $16 After Hitting $97 Earlier This Year
Trump-Linked Digital World Acquisition Corp Shares Are Now Around $16 After Hitting $97 Earlier This Year https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-linked-digital-world-acquisition-corp-shares-are-now-around-16-after-hitting-97-earlier-this-year/
Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. fell this week as the company missed a key deadline to hold on to about $1 billion in financing.
DWAC, which is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, has been set to be the vessel to take Trump Media and Technology Group public.
At its 2022 peak, DWAC’s stock traded at $97. Now, its share price sits around $16.
Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. fell this week as the company missed a key deadline to hold on to about $1 billion in financing for its proposed merger with former President Donald Trump’s media company.
DWAC, which is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, has been set to be the vessel to take Trump Media and Technology Group public. But the deal with Trump’s firm has run into several financial and legal obstacles.
At its 2022 peak, DWAC’s stock traded at $97. Now, its share price sits around $16 as markets slide, the appetite for SPACs dries up and Trump faces mounting legal peril. The stock fell about 3% Friday.
DWAC secured $1 billion in financing from private investors in public equity, also known as PIPE, which would fund Trump Media after the merger. However, Tuesday marked the expiration of these investors contractual obligations to the deal, allowing them to pull their funding.
These investors are given convertible preferred shares, which can be transferred into common stock at a discount. By converting and selling these shares, PIPE investors also have the power to significantly dilute the holdings of other investors including former president Trump.
Trump Media, DWAC and the PIPE investors didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Money Report
Losing the $1 billion in financing is far from the only woe facing this deal and its involved parties. The merger is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible securities violations involving discussions about a deal prior to the merger announcement. The Justice Department is also probing the deal.
In addition, Trump himself is facing mounting legal pressures. A lawsuit alleging widespread fraud from New York Attorney General Letitia James is just another in an already sizable pile of legal actions against the former president. The former president is simultaneously under investigation for the removal of sensitive documents from the White House, his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and his push to overturn 2020 election results.
His Truth Social app, which was founded after the ex-president was banned from Twitter after the events of Jan. 6, is currently barred from the Google Play store for violating Google’s content moderation policies. Google and Truth Social said this week they were still working on a solution.
If the merger does go through, it would provide about $300 million to Trump’s media firm without the $1 billion in PIPE investments. But even to get that $300 million will require navigating several more hurdles.
DWAC needs to buy more time to get shareholders to approve delaying the merger by up to a year. DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando made a $2.8 million deposit to extend the merger deadline to December. A shareholder vote is required for the yearlong extension the company is aiming for, but DWAC has been unable to rally its many retail investors to approve the extension thus far. The next shareholder meeting is scheduled for Oct. 10.
Amid these mounting pressures, Trump Media issued a statement saying it would pursue legal action against the SEC for unduly obstructing the deal, blaming the “weaponization and politicization” of the Securities Exchange Commission.
“This inexcusable obstruction, which directly contradicts the SEC’s stated mission, is damaging investors and many others who are simply following the rules and trying to expand a successful business,” Trump Media said.
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Referendums Begin In Russian-Occupied Regions Of Ukraine; Long Lines Form At Borders As Russians Flee Military Call-Up
Referendums Begin In Russian-Occupied Regions Of Ukraine; Long Lines Form At Borders As Russians Flee Military Call-Up https://digitalarkansasnews.com/referendums-begin-in-russian-occupied-regions-of-ukraine-long-lines-form-at-borders-as-russians-flee-military-call-up/
U.N. commission says Russian troops committed war crimes
Ukrainian servicemen search for land mines at a burial site in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 16, 2022.
Juan Barreto | AFP | Getty Images
A team of experts tasked by the U.N. said in a new report that Russian troops committed war crimes in Ukraine.
The Independent Commission of Inquiry, which was set up by the U.N. to probe the conduct of the ongoing war, published grisly findings after visiting nearly 30 cities in four Ukrainian regions.
“We have inspected sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as well as weapon remnants and consulted a large number of documents and reports,” said commission Chairman Erik Mose told the U.N. Human Rights Council.
“Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” he added.
Mose said that the commission documented several cases in which “children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined.”
He added that many bodies showed visible signs of torture before execution, including bound hands, wounds to the head and slit throats.”
The Kremlin has previously denied that its troops have committed war crimes.
— Amanda Macias
More than 400 bodies exhumed from mass burial site in Izium with many of them showing signs of violent death, Ukrainian official says
Forensic technicians uncover a coffin in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, eastern Ukraine on September 16, 2022. – Ukraine said on September 16, 2022 it had counted 450 graves at just one burial site near Izyum after recapturing the eastern city from the Russians.
Sergey Bobok | AFP | Getty Images
A Ukrainian official overseeing the Kharkiv region said that 436 bodies were exhumed from a mass burial site in Izium.
“Most of them have signs of violent death and 30 have traces of torture,” Oleh Synehubov, head of the regional military administration in Kharkiv wrote in an update on the Telegram messaging app.
“There are bodies with ropes around their necks, with bound hands, with broken limbs and gunshot wounds. Several men have amputated genitalia. All this is evidence of the terrible tortures that the occupiers subjected the residents of Izium to,” Synehubov added.
He said that most of the bodies that were recovered were civilians and at least 21 were part of the Ukrainian armed forces. Synehubov said that a team of 200 people, including forensic experts and investigators helped exhume the bodies.
— Amanda Macias
More than 191 vessels carrying grain and other crops have left Ukrainian ports
Barbados-flagged general cargo ship Fulmar S is pictured in the Black Sea, north of the Bosphorus Strait, in Istanbul, Turkey August 5, 2022.
Mehmet Caliskan | Reuters
The organization overseeing the export of agricultural products from Ukraine said that so far 191 vessels have left the besieged country since ports reopened.
The Joint Coordination Center, an initiative of Ukraine, Russia, the United Nations and Turkey, said the ships transported a total of 4.35 million metric tons of grain and other food products.
In July, three of Ukraine’s ports were reopened to exports under the U.N.-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative.
— Amanda Macias
Three NATO allies still have to approve Sweden and Finland’s entry into the alliance
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C), Finland Ministers for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (L) and Sweden Foreign minister Ann Linde (R) give a press conference after their meeting at the Nato headquarters in Brussels on January 24, 2022.
John Thys | AFP | Getty Images
Three NATO member countries have yet to sign ratification protocols for Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance.
Out of NATO’s 30 member countries, Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey are the last holdouts to grant Sweden and Finland membership.
In May, both nations began the formal process of applying to NATO as Russia’s war in Ukraine raged. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify the countries’ entry into the group.
Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed ratification documents following a 95-1 Senate vote to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO.
— Amanda Macias
Senior Chinese diplomat presses Ukraine foreign minister for ‘peaceful settlement’
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a meeting in Bali on July 9, 2022. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that the South China Sea is not a “safari park” for countries outside the region or a “fighting arena” for major powers to compete in.
Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images
Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that all efforts conducive to peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis must be supported, state media reported on Friday.
“Sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected,” he said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, adding that China always stands on the side of peace.
Both diplomats last spoke to each other on a call in April.
— Reuters
World’s largest yacht with ties to Russian oligarch is relocated to dock in Germany by authorities
The super-yacht Dilbar is pulled into a covered floating dock of Luerssen shipyards on the Weser river at the harbour of Bremen on September 23, 2022. – The 156-meter-yacht had stayed since October 2021 for repairs in dry dock at a German shipbuilding company at Hamburg’s harbour, northern Germany, and is considered the world’s biggest by tonnage. It is owned the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, 68, who has been among dozens of Russian oligarchs hit by punishing Western sanctions over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by FOCKE STRANGMANN / AFP) (Photo by FOCKE STRANGMANN/AFP via Getty Images)
Focke Strangmann | Afp | Getty Images
The world’s largest superyacht with ties to Russian billionaire and business tycoon Alisher Usmanov was pulled into a dock in Bremen, Germany.
The stunning superyacht was initially restricted from leaving its anchorage by German authorities on March 3. Usmanov entered the crosshairs of the U.S. and its allies following coordinated global sanctions on Russian elites with Kremlin ties after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The yacht, named Dilbar after Usmanov’s mother, extends over 500 feet and is equipped with two helipads and the largest indoor swimming pool ever installed on a private vessel. The Department of Treasury estimates that the current value of Usmanov’s yacht is approximately $735 million.
— Amanda Macias
436 bodies exhumed from mass grave; 30 show signs of torture, Ukraine says
Investigators carry away a body bag in a forest near Izyum, eastern Ukraine, on September 23, 2022, where Ukrainian investigators have uncovered more than 440 graves after the city was recaptured from Russian forces, bringing fresh claims of war atrocities.
Sergey Bobok | Afp | Getty Images
Ukrainian officials reported that 436 bodies have been exhumed from a mass grave in the eastern city of Izium, 30 of which show visible signs of torture.
The site was found shortly after Ukrainian forces recaptured the territory, which had been under occupation by Russian forces for roughly six months.
Three additional mass burial sites have been found in areas reclaimed during the Ukrainian forces’ rapid counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the region’s governor Oleh Synyehubov and its police chief Volodymyr Tymoshko told reporters.
Numerous mass graves were uncovered earlier this year by Ukrainian authorities around cities and towns that had been occupied by Russian troops. Moscow rejects accusations of its forces being behind the deaths.
— Natasha Turak
Long lines are building at Russia’s borders as many try to flee mobilization call
Cars coming from Russia wait in lines at the border checkpoint between Russia and Finland near Vaalimaa, on September 22, 2022.
Olivier Morin | AFP | Getty Images
Long lines of cars are building up at Russia’s borders with its neighbors, numerous news agencies have reported, as many Russians try to leave the country following President Vladimir Putin’s call on Wednesday for “partial” mobilization to fight in Ukraine.
Some men have waited as long as 24 hours, as governments in European countries debate whether to allow the fleeing Russians into their countries.
“I have been waiting in my car since Thursday afternoon,” one man at the Russian-Georgian border was cited by The Guardian as saying. “Everyone is worried that the border will be closed by the time we get anywhere close to it,” he said.
Videos posted to social media show some men using bicycles and scooters to cut through the standstill traffic. By Thursday, more than 1,300 people had been arrested in Russia for protesting Putin’s mobilization order.
— Natasha Turak
Putin backs himself further into a Ukrainian corner after threats of nuclear warfare, experts say
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to the media following the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders’ summit in Samarkand on September 16, 2022.
Sergei Bobylyov | AFP | Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s renewed nuclear threats have raised fears that his plans for escalation in Ukraine may not be limited to mobilizing more troops.
While he has issued apocalyptic threats against the West before, Putin’s thinly veiled warnings in a rare national address Wednesday signaled that he was willing to raise the risk of nuclear conflict to avoid an embarrassing military defeat.
Whether Kyiv and its allies should now be more concerned about the threat was up for debate, analysts said.
Read the full story from NBC News.
— NBC NEWS
UN records n...
Alex Jones Urges Jurors To Research His Case https://digitalarkansasnews.com/alex-jones-urges-jurors-to-research-his-case/
The Infowars fabulist Alex Jones called on jurors to do their own research into his case before deciding how much he must pay families of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting after he spent years defaming them and calling the massacre a hoax.
In an impromptu news conference outside the courthouse in Waterbury, Conn., during a midday break from the damages trial, he railed against rules imposed on him by the judge that limit what he can argue in court. Mr. Jones has said he wants to link the defamation cases to the First Amendment, but he lost the opportunity to make a free speech defense when he refused to submit business records and testimony as part of discovery in the suits. After four years of stonewalling, he lost all four Sandy Hook defamation lawsuits by default.
Mr. Jones had been expected to return to the witness stand on Friday, a day after his courtroom testimony closed with a political outburst.
But Norm Pattis, Mr. Jones’s lawyer, announced he was waiving his right to cross-examine his client and would call him back to the stand next week in part to “lower the temperature” after the charged atmosphere at the close of court on Thursday. Mr. Pattis said Mr. Jones would return to the stand on Wednesday. The families’ lawyers will most likely question him then as well.
Image
Alex Jones leaving the courthouse in Waterbury, Conn., on Thursday.Credit…Michelle McLoughlin/Reuters
Judge Barbara N. Bellis of the Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury had promised a “zero tolerance” day on Friday, threatening to hold any and all parties in contempt for violating the rules. Mr. Jones erupted on Thursday in a series of politically charged statements and refused to apologize to the Sandy Hook families for years of lying about the 2012 shooting and the resulting torment by conspiracy theorists.
After it was announced that he would not take the stand on Friday, Mr. Jones spoke outside the courthouse.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families were pushing for some form of sanction over Mr. Jones’s calling on the jurors to break the court’s rules by researching the case.
Instead of a sanction, the judge asked Mr. Pattis, Jones’s lawyer, to impress upon his client how important it was not to issue public instructions to the jury to research the case. Mr. Pattis agreed, adding that Mr. Jones felt he could not get a fair public hearing without holding his own news conferences, a point Mr. Jones had made repeatedly, including in front of the courthouse on Friday.
This damages trial — the second of three after two of the defamation cases were combined — is for a jury to decide how much Mr. Jones must pay the families for defaming them with his Sandy Hook lies, and the harm that resulted.
On Thursday Mr. Jones, blinking rapidly, his speech unintelligible at times, repeatedly referred to “you liberals” who “switch on emotions on and off when you want.” He had called the trial a “deep state situation.”
Mr. Mattei told Mr. Jones on Thursday to “show a little respect.” Some of the family members were weeping in the courtroom gallery after watching a videotape of Robbie Parker, a Sandy Hook parent, reminisce about his daughter Emilie on the night after the shooting.
“You have families in this courtroom here that lost children, sisters, wives, moms,” Mr. Mattei said, as Mr. Jones stared at the gallery, his face expressionless.
“You’re in a court of law, and you have to follow the rules,” the judge told Mr. Jones. And to Mr. Pattis: “You’re shouting over your client. You just have to — stop.”
In this case, Mr. Jones violated Connecticut’s unfair trade practices law by using lies to sell products. There is no cap on damages for those who violate the act, and he faces a potentially ruinous verdict from the jury, some of whom shook their heads during his outburst on Thursday.
Last month in the first damages trial, a jury in Texas ordered him to pay almost $50 million to the parents of a child killed at Sandy Hook, though the final figure may be lower because state law limits punitive damages. The parents are not part of the case in Connecticut. The third damages trial is tentatively slated for later this year.
Sept. 23, 2022, 1:31 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 1:31 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The jury has been instructed to report to the court anything they may have seen or heard about the case outside of the courtroom, and again, not to consume any news coverage about it. So that’s where we are, until testimony resumes on Tuesday.
Sept. 23, 2022, 1:30 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 1:30 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
Chris Mattei, one of the lawyers for the families and who questioned Jones on Thursday, said some of Jones’s comments posed a security risk to their firm. Instead of a sanction, the judge asked Norm Pattis, Jones’s lawyer, to impress upon his client how important it is not to issue public instructions to the jury to research the case. Pattis agreed, adding that Jones feels he cannot get a fair public hearing without holding his own press conferences, a point Jones has made repeatedly, including in front of the courthouse today.
Sept. 23, 2022, 1:29 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 1:29 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
Court is adjourned until Tuesday, Sept. 27. Jones will return to testify on Wednesday, his lawyer says. Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families were pushing for some form of sanction for Jones’s news conference on the courthouse steps, where he urged the jurors to do their own research into the case, which would violate the rules of the court.
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:42 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:42 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge is admonishing Pattis to stick to the matter at hand — persuading Jones to stop instructing the jury from his news conferences on the courthouse steps.
Image
Credit…Pool photo by Tyler Sizemore
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:42 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:42 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge is asking Pattis to persuade his client not to urge the jurors to do their own research, which of course violates a cardinal rule of trial. Actually, she’s wondering whether that’s possible. Out of respect for the court as an institution he says he’ll try. But he says that Jones goes to the courthouse steps because he can’t get a fair hearing in the press.
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:37 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:37 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge is asking whether the entire news conference should be viewed in the courtroom. Norm Pattis, Jones’s lawyer, first protests that this is not necessary, unless there were threats made during the news conference.
Image
Credit…Kirsten Luce for The New York Times
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:35 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:35 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge and lawyers have returned. The lawyers have given a copy of the video of Jones’s press conference to the judge for her review.
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:04 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:04 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
We’re in recess until 12:30. The families’ lawyers are going to decide whether to seek any special relief, given Mr. Jones’s televised encouragement to the jurors to research this case independently. It’s not clear whether any jurors heard Mr. Jones’s statements outside the courthouse.
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:00 p.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 12:00 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge is letting the jurors go early, explaining that it’s Jones’s right to reschedule his testimony. She is urging them strongly not to do “independent research.” “You do need to follow my instructions and I’m very confident that you will,” she says, praising them for their responsibility so far. She is urging them to “steer clear” of news conferences. If they were unable to avoid any media coverage, they must tell the clerk.
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:55 a.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:55 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The lawyers have agreed on wording for the jurors; the judge is still concerned about this. Jurors are returning.
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:41 a.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:41 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The clerk believes the jurors did not leave via the front courthouse entrance. “Well that’s reassuring,” Judge Bellis says.
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:38 a.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:38 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge says that while there is no gag order governing Jones’s speech outside court, she’s concerned about the jurors. Norm Pattis, Jones’s lawyer, said the court should assume the jurors are following rules that preclude them from consuming any outside content about the case. He thinks taking action would draw harmful attention the issue. The judge wants to give the jurors an opportunity to say whether they overheard anything.
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:37 a.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 11:37 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The judge is back. We’re learning now what’s up. “As we were scrambling,” Chris Mattei, lawyer for the families, said Jones was holding a news conference outside the courthouse, discussing politics, his bankruptcy and other topics barred by the court. He also called for the jury to do their own research, which is of course against the rules. Four jurors, the clerk says, left the building during the recess. Mattei is calling for an adjournment.
Sept. 23, 2022, 10:12 a.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 10:12 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
The lawyers for the families need time to regroup — this was a surprise change in the schedule. Court is in recess until 11:30.
Sept. 23, 2022, 10:11 a.m. ET
Sept. 23, 2022, 10:11 a.m. ET
Elizabeth Williamson
A sudden change: Jones’s lawyer says he is not going to cross examine Jones, in part to “lower the temperature” after yesterday’s explosive testimony. He will leave the courthouse today, and return in the middle of next week. The lawyer for the families, Chris Mattei, is reserving his right to question Mr. Jones a second time.
Sept. 22, 2022, 2...
Bond Yields Soar As Markets Weigh Threat Of A Recession. What It Means For Your Investments
Bond Yields Soar As Markets Weigh Threat Of A Recession. What It Means For Your Investments https://digitalarkansasnews.com/bond-yields-soar-as-markets-weigh-threat-of-a-recession-what-it-means-for-your-investments/
Hoxton/Sam Edwards | Getty Images
Bond yields jumped this week after another major rate hike from the Federal Reserve, flashing a warning for market distress.
The policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield on Friday climbed to 4.266%, notching a 15-year high, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury reached 3.829%, the highest in 11 years.
Soaring yields come as the markets weigh the effects of the Fed’s policy decisions, with the Dow dropping nearly 600 points into bear market territory, tumbling to a fresh low for 2022.
The yield curve inversion, occurring when shorter-term government bonds have higher yields than long-term bonds, is one indicator of a possible future recession.
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“Higher bond yields are bad news for the stock market and its investors,” said certified financial planner Paul Winter, owner of Five Seasons Financial Planning in Salt Lake City.
Higher bond yields create more competition for funds that may otherwise go into the stock market, Winter said, and with higher Treasury yields used in the calculation to assess stocks, analysts may reduce future expected cash flows.
What’s more, it may be less attractive for companies to issue bonds for stock buybacks, a way for profitable companies to return cash to shareholders, Winter said.
Fed hikes ‘somewhat’ contribute to higher bond yields
Market interest rates and bond prices typically move in opposite directions, which means higher rates cause bond values to fall. There’s also an inverse relationship between bond prices and yields, which rise as bond values drop.
Fed rate hikes have somewhat contributed to higher bond yields, Winter said, with the impact varying across the Treasury yield curve.
“The farther you move out on the yield curve and the more you go down in credit quality, the less Fed rate hikes affect interest rates,” he said.
That’s a big reason for the inverted yield curve this year, with 2-year yields rising more dramatically than 10-year or 30-year yields, he said.
Review stock and bond allocations
It’s a good time to revisit your portfolio’s diversification to see if changes are needed, such as realigning assets to match your risk tolerance, said Jon Ulin, a CFP and CEO of Ulin & Co. Wealth Management in Boca Raton, Florida.
On the bond side, advisors watch so-called duration, measuring bonds’ sensitivity to interest rate changes. Expressed in years, duration factors in the coupon, time to maturity and yield paid through the term.
Above all, investors must remain disciplined and patient, as always, but more specifically if they believe rates will continue to rise.
Paul Winter
owner of Five Seasons Financial Planning
While clients welcome higher bond yields, Ulin suggests keeping durations short and minimizing exposure to long-term bonds as rates climb.
“Duration risk may take a bite out of your savings over the next year regardless of the sector or credit quality,” he said.
Winter suggests tilting stock allocations toward “value and quality,” typically trading for less than the asset is worth, over growth stocks, that may be expected to provide above-average returns. Often, value investors are seeking undervalued companies expected to appreciate over time.
“Above all, investors must remain disciplined and patient, as always, but more specifically if they believe rates will continue to rise,” he added.
Read More Here
Arkansas-Oklahoma State Fair Kicks Off https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-oklahoma-state-fair-kicks-off/
The Arkansas-Oklahoma State fair begins Friday, Sept. 23.
FORT SMITH, Ark. — The Arkansas Oklahoma State Fair is now underway.
Starting Friday, Sept. 23, and throughout next week you can go to Kay Rodgers Park in Fort Smith and see a petting zoo, get some good food and ride the rides.
Throughout the week there will also be livestock competitions for the kids and their animals, pageants for the girls, educational exhibits, creative arts, and live entertainment.
Brandon Petree with the Mighty Thomas Carnival said they’ve been a part of the Arkansas-Oklahoma State Fair for over 40 years.
“Today is a wristband night that starts at 4 p.m. and that’s at $26 wristband. It’s fun, it’s exciting, great rides, great food, and we always look forward to seeing all the faces come out and enjoy it,” said Petree.
Rides will be open from 4 p.m. – 12 a.m. tonight and then the gates will open at 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday for all of that fair fun.
You can buy tickets for the fair and wristbands for the rides at the gate now until Oct. 1. The fair tickets also get you into the entertainment shows.
For the full schedule of events, click here.
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US To Seek Stronger Labor Environmental Standards In Asia
US To Seek Stronger Labor, Environmental Standards In Asia https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-to-seek-stronger-labor-environmental-standards-in-asia/
After the Trump administration’s clashes with U.S. allies, Asian countries have welcomed America’s reengagement in the region, which also comes at a time of considerable economic disruption arising from Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is outlining its goals for a new trade deal with Australia, Japan, South Korea and nine other nations meant to signal the country’s commitment to working with the Indo-Pacific region at a time of growing Chinese clout.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Friday released its negotiating objectives for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a deal with the 12 nations launched in May.
Among them, the U.S. wants the Indo-Pacific countries to improve their labor and environmental standards and ensure their markets remain open to competition, while also taking steps to ease supply-chain backlogs at border crossings.
After the Trump administration’s clashes with U.S. allies, Asian countries have welcomed America’s reengagement in the region, which also comes at a time of considerable economic disruption arising from Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Courthouse News’ podcast Sidebar tackles the stories you need to know from the legal world. Join our hosts as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond.
But many were disappointed the framework doesn’t lower tariffs or provide signatories with more access to the U.S. market.
The Obama administration had negotiated a detailed trade agreement with 11 other Pacific Rim nations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But President Donald Trump, saying the TPP and similar trade deals threaten American jobs, pulled out of the agreement in his first week in office. The other countries moved forward without the United States.
The Biden administration has no plans to rejoin the trade bloc and is instead promoting the Indo-Pacific framework. Critics consider the agreement a vague alternative to TPP.
Still, the administration noted that countries involved in the framework — also including Brunei, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — account for 40% of global GDP.
“The future of the 21st century economy is going to be largely written in the Indo-Pacific,” the trade office said Friday. The framework “will help to drive sustainable growth for all our economies.”
The Biden administration said its trade team would also seek to promote digital trade, among other things.
USTR is handling the trade aspects of the framework. The Commerce Department is overseeing three other framework initiatives involving improving supply chains and promoting a green economy and “fair’’ growth that emphasizes the rule of law and labor rights.
__
By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer
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Trump Is Fighting A Secret Court Battle To Stop A Grand Jury From Obtaining Jan. 6 Evidence: Report
Trump Is Fighting A Secret Court Battle To Stop A Grand Jury From Obtaining Jan. 6 Evidence: Report https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-is-fighting-a-secret-court-battle-to-stop-a-grand-jury-from-obtaining-jan-6-evidence-report/
Read More Here
Live Updates Of Donald Trump Visit: Man Travels 12 Hours To Wilmington For 55th Trump Rally
Live Updates Of Donald Trump Visit: Man Travels 12 Hours To Wilmington For 55th Trump Rally https://digitalarkansasnews.com/live-updates-of-donald-trump-visit-man-travels-12-hours-to-wilmington-for-55th-trump-rally/
1:45 p.m.: Our ‘superhero president’
Edward Young has big expectations for the moment Donald Trump takes the stage in Wilmington Friday night.
“My expectations are that something big is going to happen,” he said. “It’s not just going to be the same old rally.”
That’s one reason Young drove 12 hours through the night to get to Wilmington from his home in Point Pleasant, N.J. He wanted to be in the front row for his 55th Trump rally, he said.
What to know:From tickets to security, what to know ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to Wilmington
Young said he’s supported Trump since he announced his run for president. He volunteered for Trump’s campaign in the early days for his presidential bid and attended his first rally at Trump Tower, he said.
Past visits:Trump’s past Wilmington visits: From viral news clips to ‘the proudest day of my life’
The crowd gathering around 1 p.m. looked “light,” Young said, compared to the number of people Trump has drawn during his campaign and presidency.
Young, who said he works in finance and acts on the weekends, said he was drawn to the “show” Trump puts on during his rallies.
“There has never ever, ever been a political candidate like this and nobody’s going to follow this act,” he said. “Donald Trump is our first rock star, superhero president.”
But he’s still anticipating Trump’s announcement of his presidential run in the 2024 election.
“We’re all waiting with baited breath…to hear him say, ‘I am running,’” he said.
Emma Dill
11:30 a.m.: ‘I’m a Trump girl’
Just before 11 a.m. Friday, Linda Knight sat in a lawn chair outside a motorhome with the words “Trump Girls” printed on its windshield. Knight is one of several women who travelled to Wilmington Thursday from the Myrtle Beach area to attend Friday’s Donald Trump rally.
The motorhome, which is decorated with stars and stripes, is owned by Robin Holley. Holley, who lives in Georgetown, S.C., formed a group called “I’m a Trump girl” shortly after Trump announced his first presidential bid because “everyone said that women didn’t like Trump.” The Facebook group now has more than 30,000 members, Holley said.
“I wanted to do everything I could to support him,” she said.
The interior of the motorhome, too, is decked out with Trump memorabilia from rally buttons, photos of Trump and pictures of the group’s members. A framed painting at the front of the bus even appears to show the former president walking on water.
Both Holley and Knight said Trump is more than another candidate to them.
“The first time I shook his hand, there was something so spiritual that went from my toes to the top of my head,” Holley said. “I’m not saying he’s God, but I think what he did for our country, our United States of America, was fabulous.”
Knight said she considers Trump a friend even though she’s never met him personally. At Friday’s rally, the “Trump Girls” will be sitting within feet of Trump, Holley said. They have VIP tickets and plan to sit just a few rows behind him during the speech.
“We’re all excited, just waiting,” Knight said.
Emma Dill
10 a.m.: Festival-like atmosphere
As people started filing into a holding area outside the Aero Center around 9:30 a.m. Friday, the grassy field took on a festival-like atmosphere as oldies, classic country and show tunes blared and food vendors set up shop.
Outside the holding area, Colleen Funston, Vicki Wescott and Angela Robinson stood watching rally-goers enter.
This will be the second Trump rally Funston, a small business owner from Shallotte, has attended in Wilmington. Her first was Trump’s 2020 speech from Battleship North Carolina.
Funston said she’s a long-time supporter of Trump and believes in what he stands for, including efforts to “put America first.”
“Trump is an American citizen who wants to do right by our country,” Funston said. “People want to make it seem like we’re all cultist and stuff and we’re not cultist.”
“If you look around, people here are good, decent hard-working people,” she added. “That’s what I expect from a Trump rally.”
Wescott of Bolivia said she’s looking forward to Friday night’s rally. For her, it’s a first.
“I’m hysterically excited about being here,” she said. “I watch all the rallies usually online.”
Robinson, a small business owner from Bolivia, said she supported Trump to make a better world for her children and her grandchildren.
“If we don’t stop what’s going on now you all don’t have a chance,” she said.
Emma Dill
8:30 a.m.: Vendors at the venue
More than 10 hours before former president Donald Trump was set to take the stage at Wilmington’s Aero Center, a line more than 50 people deep had formed to get into the venue.
Meanwhile, vendors walked up and down the strip of road that served as the event’s main staging area.
Jonas Williams had traveled to Wilmington from his home in Greensboro to sell hats of all kinds embroidered with Trump’s name. Williams said he’s been selling Trump merchandise since “he came down that elevator” to announce his first presidential bid.
He said he follows Trump across the country, selling merchandise at his rallies.
Elsewhere on the grounds, a man dressed as Uncle Sam rode a motorized hoverboard in the staging area while waving a large flag adorned with Trump’s face and the words “Trump’s front row Joes.”
Trump is scheduled to appear to campaign for U.S. Senate candidate Ted Budd. Alongside Trump and Budd, other Republicans are scheduled to speak.
Doors are scheduled to open at 2 p.m. as entertainment begins at the Aero Center. At 4, guest speakers will deliver remarks, such as local U.S. Representative David Rouzer and Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson.
Trump is then set to speak at 7.
StarNews will cover the event live throughout the day and have updates here.
Emma Dill
Read More Here
House GOP Rolls Out Its Midterm Agenda https://digitalarkansasnews.com/house-gop-rolls-out-its-midterm-agenda/
ONE TO WATCH — DONALD TRUMP and his legal team are “fighting a secret court battle to block a federal grand jury from gathering information from an expanding circle of close Trump aides about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election,” CNN’s Evan Perez, Katelyn Polantz and Zachary Cohen scoop. The context: “The high-stakes legal dispute — which included the appearance of three attorneys representing Trump at the Washington, DC, federal courthouse on Thursday afternoon — is the most aggressive step taken by the former President to assert executive and attorney-client privileges in order to prevent some witnesses from sharing information in the criminal investigation events surrounding January 6, 2021.”
PARTY PLANNING — House Republicans traveled to southwestern Pennsylvania today to roll out their big new agenda for the midterms — and what they hope will be their next turn in the majority.
Our colleague Sarah Ferris was there in Monongahela, Pa., where Minority Leader KEVIN McCARTHY was joined by about 20 fellow members to formally unveil what they’re dubbing the “Commitment to America.”
They took the stage to TOBY KEITH’s “Made In America,” a song with a chorus that says: “He’s got the red, white, blue flyin’ high on the farm / Semper Fi tattooed on his left arm / Spend a little more at the store for a tag / In the back that says U-S-A / He won’t buy nothin’ that he can’t fix / With WD-40 and a Craftsman wrench / He ain’t prejudiced, he’s just Made in America.”
Some of the central pillars of the agenda center on inflation, supply chains, crime and immigration.
“What we’re going to roll out today is a ‘Commitment to America’ in Washington — not Washington, D.C., but Washington County, Pennsylvania,” McCarthy said, per AP’s Lisa Mascaro. “Because it’s about you, it’s not about us.”
Sarah notes the issues that received some of the biggest applause lines from the crowd:
Repealing Democrats’ funding for more IRS agents
Securing the border
Supporting police and hiring more officers
A parents’ bill of rights
And in a preview of how Republicans would wield their majority, Ohio Rep. JIM JORDAN said they would open up a probe into the origins of the coronavirus, while Whip STEVE SCALISE gave a warning to DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS on immigration at the Southern border: “We will give Secretary Mayorkas a reserved parking spot, he will be testifying so much about this.”
HEADS UP — “Career prosecutors have recommended against charging Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) in a long-running sex-trafficking investigation — telling Justice Department superiors that a conviction is unlikely in part because of credibility questions with the two central witnesses,” WaPo’s Devlin Barrett reports. “Senior department officials have not made a final decision on whether to charge Gaetz, but it is rare for such advice to be rejected, these people told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations. They added that it is always possible additional evidence emerges that could alter prosecutors’ understanding of the case.”
WHAT WE LIKE TO SEE — SPOTTED: Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL reading this morning’s Playbook on an American Airlines flight from DCA to Cincinnati.
Happy Friday afternoon.
BATTLE FOR THE SENATE
BUDD’S BUD — The seemingly forgotten North Carolina Senate race may be heating up as the midterm season enters the home stretch. Trump is set to headline a rally for Rep. TED BUDD as the Republican seeks to best Democrat CHERI BEASLEY by “leaning into support for abortion restrictions and amity” with the former president, AP’s Gary Robertson and Steve Peoples write from Raleigh. What’s vexing Dems: “Trump’s rise has fueled a growing sense among some voters in North Carolina, along with those in many other states, that the national Democratic Party has lost touch with the daily struggles of the working class and similar voting blocs.”
FOR THE RECORDS — Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee MEHMET OZ released his health records today “as he maneuvers to keep questions about Democratic rival JOHN FETTERMAN’s recovery from a stroke front and center in the hotly contested campaign,” AP’s Marc Levy reports from Harrisburg, Pa. “Dr. REBECCA KURTH in New York City wrote in a four-page letter obtained by The Associated Press that she found the 62-year-old heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity to be in ‘excellent health’ in an annual checkup Thursday.”
BATTLE FOR THE STATES
THE LEGEND OF ZELDIN — As GOP Rep. LEE ZELDIN continues his campaign to unseat New York Gov. KATHY HOCHUL, he has unlocked a key pocket of support in Hasidic Brooklyn. “With less than 50 days until Election Day, Mr. Zeldin’s Jewish outreach is at the center of a concerted and overlooked effort to court enclaves like these in boroughs outside Manhattan, where English is often a second language and voters appear to be highly motivated by education issues, congestion pricing and threats to public safety — along with a leftward drift among Democrats they have long supported,” NYT’s Nicholas Fandos and Eliza Shapiro report. “Whether he can move enough votes to destabilize Democrats’ New York City firewall remains to be seen.”
CASH DASH — The States Project, a Democratic group, is “investing nearly $60 million in state legislative races” in five states this fall, NYT’s Nick Corasaniti reports. “The group … said it was focusing on flipping a single seat in the Arizona State Senate that could swing it to Democratic control, and on winning back both chambers of the Michigan and Pennsylvania legislatures. The group also aims to defend Democratic majorities in Maine and Nevada.”
HOT ADS
With help from Steve Shepard
— Nevada: There hasn’t been much Jan. 6 messaging in swing seats, so Democratic Sen. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO’s new ad, which calls Republican ADAM LAXALT “the proud face of ‘the Big Lie’ in Nevada,” is notable. “Now, Laxalt says he’ll try to overturn this year’s election if he doesn’t like the results,” a narrator says.
— Georgia: The NRSC’s latest ad grasps at an evolving GOP message: “Georgia needs some balance in Washington, and that’s not [Democratic Sen.] RAPHAEL WARNOCK,” the narrator says.
— Colorado: A newly formed Democratic super PAC, 53 Peaks, is attacking GOP Senate nomineeJOE O’DEA on abortion. The group, which was created in August, hasn’t yet filed a report with the FEC to disclose its funder(s), but it shares a media buyer with major Democratic groups, including Senate Majority PAC.
TRUMP CARDS
ET Q, BRUTE? — WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer document the journey of a Trump soundtrack into a QAnon phenomenon: “The music has been widely described as an anthem for QAnon, an extremist movement that the FBI has designated as a domestic terrorism threat,” they write. “But the real story of the song is even stranger and more complicated — underscoring the increasing difficulty in parsing distinctions between the QAnon following and Trump’s own ‘Make America Great Again’ movement. The bottom line for Trump, according to one adviser, is that he will probably use the song again.”
— Related from Daily Beast’s @willsommer: “Trump is really stepping his QAnon outreach — last night he posted a video filled with overt QAnon memes on TruthSocial.”
POLICY CORNER
IMMIGRATION FILES — WSJ’s Alicia Caldwell, Jimmy Vielkind and Joe Barrett report from Del Rio, Texas, New York and Chicago on the bus programs that Republican governors have been running since the spring to ferry migrants from the border to Democratic-led states like New York and Illinois. “Among those affected, the buses have proven less controversial. Several migrants said they were happy to take advantage of the easily available free rides to quickly start establishing a new life in parts of the country far from the border,” they write. While YORDALIS BERMUDEZ, who came from Venezuela and is now in New York, said the bus ride was uncomfortable, she’s found greener grass: “At the moment, I’m content, and all’s well,” she told WSJ. “I’m happy to have a roof.”
ANNALS OF 20/20 HINDSIGHT — “World Bank president says he will not resign, apologizes for remarks on climate science,” by Kelly Garrity: “When asked, ‘Are you a climate denier?’ I should’ve said no,” DAVID MALPASS told our colleague Ryan Heath
COMING FOR CRYPTO — “Pentagon launches effort to assess crypto’s threat to national security,” by WaPo’s Tory Newmyer
JUDICIARY SQUARE
SCOTUS WATCH — Former Supreme Court Justice STEPHEN BREYER sat down for an exclusive interview (his first since stepping down from the bench) with CNN’s Chris Wallace, where he issued a warning for his former colleagues: “You start writing too rigidly and you will see, the world will come around and bite you in the back.” More from CNN’s Devan Cole
Breyer on the end of Roe: “Was I happy about it? Not for an instant. Did I do everything I could to persuade people? Of course, of course. But there we are and now we go on. We try to work together.”
THE PANDEMIC
SHOT SHORTAGE — “Moderna Covid-19 Booster Shortage Leads to Fewer Appointments at Pharmacies,” by WSJ’s Peter Loftus
WAR IN UKRAINE
PANEL CONDEMNS RUSSIA — A U.N. panel today concluded that Russia has committed war crimes in its invasion and conflict in Ukraine, NYT’s Nick Cumming-Bruce reports from Geneva. “A three-person Commission of Inquiry set up in April to investigate the conduct of hostilities in four areas of Ukraine laid out the graphic allegations in an unusually hard-hitting, 11-minute statement to the U.N Human Rights Council in Geneva.” Read the statement
HOW IT’S PLAYING — “World opinion shifts against Russia as Ukraine worries grow,” by AP’s Matthew Lee: “The apparent shift in opinion offers some hope to Ukraine and its Western allies that increasing isolation will add pressure on Putin to negotiate a peace. ...
Michigan Republican Candidate For Congress Previously Questioned Women's Right To Vote
Michigan Republican Candidate For Congress Previously Questioned Women's Right To Vote https://digitalarkansasnews.com/michigan-republican-candidate-for-congress-previously-questioned-womens-right-to-vote/
“It was nothing more than a college kid being over the top to get a reaction,” John Gibbs said about the 22-year-old Stanford University blog post he made.
BYRON CENTER, Michigan — A Michigan Republican candidate for congress previously argued that the United States has suffered as a result of women’s suffrage.
John Gibbs, a Trump-backed candidate for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, attended Stanford University and wrote controversial viewpoints about women in the workplace and women’s right to vote.
CNN first reported the now archived blog posts on Sanford University’s website.
The Donald Trump-backed candidate confirmed he wrote those blog posts, but called the CNN piece an “attack.”
“As a college student twenty-two years ago, and a Black conservative on a liberal campus, I made a website to provoke the left on campus and to draw attention to the hypocrisy of some modern-day feminists. It was nothing more than a college kid being over the top to get a reaction.”
“Of course I believe that women should vote and work. My own mother worked for thirty-three years for the Michigan Department of Transportation, and it was her hard work and love that allowed me to be the first in my family to graduate from college,” Gibbs said in a statement.
My Statement on the CNN Attack Article: pic.twitter.com/tbKCguqWyG
— John Gibbs for MI-03 (@votejohngibbs) September 22, 2022
In a blog post on Stanford’s website from 2000, Gibbs challenges several of what he calls “commonly held notions” about gender roles and inequalities in the United States. Among the challenges he purposes are the woman’s role in the workplace and the benefits of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.
“Having more women in the workplace does not benefit men, it only strains them. In the post-feminist workplace, men must bend over backwards to make sure that they do not inadvertently offend any woman who might happen to hear a joke or comment uttered in humor and harmlessness,” Gibbs wrote when explaining why having more women in the workforce is not beneficial.
Gibbs went on to challenge the Women’s Suffrage Movement, writing, “We conclude that increasing the size and scope of government is unequivocally bad. And since women’s suffrage has caused this to occur on a larger scale than any other cause in history, we conclude that the United States has suffered as a result of women’s suffrage.”
Gibbs held roles in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and was tapped as acting assistant secretary of the department during the Trump administration.
Endorsed by former President Trump, Gibbs defeated Meijer by 3,854 votes. Meijer received a lot of pushback from West Michigan Republicans for voting to impeach Trump at the beginning of his first term.
Gibbs will take on Democrat candidate Hillary Scholten in the November election.
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Police: All Clear Given At Princeton High School Report Of Active Shooter Is False
Police: All Clear Given At Princeton High School, Report Of Active Shooter Is False https://digitalarkansasnews.com/police-all-clear-given-at-princeton-high-school-report-of-active-shooter-is-false/
Police: All clear given at Princeton High School, report of active shooter is false
ARE YOU? I HAVE A POLICE OFFICER HERE RIGHT NOW, A LIEUTENANT WITH THE SHARONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT. SORRY TO CHANGE SUBJECTS A LITTLE BIT. HOW ARE YOU? WHAT CAN YOU TELL US? WHAT IS GOING ON? QUICKLY RESPONDED HERE ABOUT 10:15 FOR A CALL REGARDING AN ACTIVE SHOOTING AND INJURIES INSIDE THE SCHOOL. WE WERE ABLE TO QUICKLY ASCERTAIN THAT IT WAS A HOAX. WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE OUT THERE KNOWS THAT ALL THE STUDENTS ARE SAFE. THERE HAVE BEEN NO INJURIES TO THIS EVENT. ALL THE STUDENTS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR AND EVERYONE IS WELL. BECAUSE OF THE DISRUPTION, THE HIGH SCHOOL IS DISMISSING FOR THE DAY. IT IS HOPEFUL TO GET THE INFORMATION OUT AS TO WHERE PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. IF THEY ARE A BUS WRITING STUDENT, THEY WILL BE BUST HOME FROM THE SCHOOL AND I THINK THEY ARE LOADING THE BUSES NOW. IT WILL BE DROPPED OFF AT THEIR NORMAL LOCATION. IF THE STUDENTS ARE DRIVERS, THEY ARE GETTING INTO THEIR CARS AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GO HOME. IF STUDENTS NEED TO BE PICKED UP, THE STUDENTS ARE WALKING OVER TO THE VINEYARD CHURCH ON CENTURY CIRCLE BOULEVARD IN SPRINGDALE. THAT IS THE REUNIFICATION SPOT. WE ASK THAT NO PARENTS COME TO THE HIGH SCHOOL EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE IS SAFE. WE HAVE A HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE AND WE ARE DEALING WITH THE CROWDS CAUSING A LOT OF CONFUSION. CENTRAL CIRCLE BOULEVARD, THE VINEYARD CHURCH. WE HAVE OFFICERS THERE AND WE HAVE SOME SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES THERE AS WELL. EVERYONE IS SAFE. EVERYTHING IS FINE. THIS WAS NOT A GOOD CALL. RIGHT NOW, WE ARE IN CROWD MANAGEMENT MODE. KARIN: THE MIDDLE SCHOOL HAS NOT BEEN IMPACTED IN TERMS OF EARLY RELEASE, CORRECT? THE MIDDLE SCHOOL IS GOING TO MAINTAIN THEIR NORMAL DAY. THEY DID GO INTO LOCKDOWN A LITTLE BIT. THE CALL WAS REGARDING THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE SCHOOL HAS SINCE BEEN CLEARED. IT IS ONE OF THE REASONS IT TOOK US SO LONG TO GIVE AN OFFICIAL ALL CLEAR. WE WENT ROOM TO ROOM TO MAKE SURE THERE WAS NOTHING. KARIN: TALK ABOUT THIS. THERE WAS A THREAT. DIDN’T GET CALLED IN? WAS IT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA? IT WAS A DIRECT 911 CALL FROM A PERSON ALLEGING TO BE A STUDENT IN THE SCHOOL AND DESCRIBED A SHOOTER AND MULTIPLE INJURIES. I THINK THE 911 CALL WAS TRANSFERRED OUT OF CINCINNATI. ONE OF — WHEN THE DISPATCHERS GET A CALL LIKE THAT, THEY DON’T WASTE TIME, SO THAT IS WHERE WE HAD A MASSIVE RESPONSE FROM ALL THESE AGENCIES. KARIN: YOU HAD JUST ABOUT EVERY AGENCY IN GREATER CINCINNATI HERE. YOU WERE HERE FAST. I WAS A FEW MILES AWAY AND YOU HAD THE PLACE SURROUNDED. TALK ABOUT WHEN IT IS A THREAT AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. YOU JUST CALL EVERYONE IN? SOMETHING OF THIS MAGNITUDE, IT ABSOLUTELY — IT GOES ALL COUNTIES. WE HAD WESTCHESTER, CINCINNATI POLICE, THE SHERIFF’S HELICOPTER, COUNTY SWAT TEAM. ALL OUR SCHOOLS IN — PRINCETON, WE HAVE FULL-TIME SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS WHO WERE ALREADY CHECKING ROOMS, TRYING TO GIVE CREDIBILITY TO THE THREAT. WE ARE HAPPY WITH OUR RESPONSE AND HOW WELL WE FEEL SUPPORTED. THERE ARE SEVERAL HUNDRED POLICE OFFICERS, PROBABLY. KARIN: THROUGHOUT OHIO, THERE WERE SEVERAL THREATS MADE AT SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT OHIO. DO YOU KNOW IF THIS IS CONNECTED TO THAT? I CAN’T SPEAK TO THAT. OBVIOUSLY, THEY ARE SIMILAR CALLS. ONE, COUNTY, STARK COUNTY, THERE WERE SIMILAR CALLS. WE CAN PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER. WE ARE STILL IN CROWD MANAGEMENT MODE, MAKING SURE STUDENTS GET REUNITED AND THERE IS LESS CONFUSION AT THE SCHOOL. AFTER THAT, IT TURNS INTO A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR EVERYTHING ELSE. KARIN: WHO WILL BE HANDLING THAT? HE SAID THE CALL ORIGINATED IN CINCINNATI. DO YOU THINK THAT WHOEVER MADE THE CALL WITHIN THE CITY OF CINCINNATI? WE HAVE ALREADY GOT PEOPLE LOOKING INTO WHERE THAT CAME FROM. WE WILL START IT. IF THERE ARE MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS, IT COULD BE A MULTIPLE AGENCY THING OR A FEDERAL THING. KARIN: HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO TALK TO ANY OF THE STUDENTS WHO WERE JUST RELEASED? IF YOU HAVE, HOW ARE THEY DOING? EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A HOAX, DURING THOSE MOMENTS, I WAS OUT HERE WITH THE PARENTS WHO WERE ON THE PHONES WITH THEIR LOVED ONES. THEY WERE PANICKED, TRYING TO BE QUIET, SAYING “MOM, PLEASE COME GET ME.” HOW ARE THEY NOW? THE STUDENTS I TALKED TO LEAVING ARE IN GOOD SPIRITS. BUT IN THE MOMENT WHEN WE WERE IN THERE, GOING ROOM TO ROOM, IT CAUSED A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PANIC, WHICH IS WHY WE ARE SO FRUSTRATED AND SO ANGRY THE PEOPLE WHO FEEL THIS IS SOME LEVEL OF AMUSEMENT TO DO THIS. WE ARE GOING TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO HOLD SOMEBODY ACCOUNTABLE FOR IT BECAUSE IT LITERALLY TERRORIZED A LOT OF THESE KIDS. KARIN: I KNOW THE SHARONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS. IS THIS SOMETHING YOU TRAINED FOR WITH PRINCETON CITY SCHOOLS? WE HAVE. THIS IS A NEWER BUILDING. WE HAVE DONE A LOT OF TOURS AND OTHER THINGS INSIDE THE BUILDING. ALL OF OUR OFFICERS HAVE KEYS SO THEY CAN SWIPE THROUGH DOORS AND DO WHAT THEY NEED TO DO. STRANGELY ENOUGH, WE HAVE ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING NEXT WEEK. A LOT OF THAT WILL BE APPLICABLE. MAYBE WE CAN TAKE SOME LESSONS FROM TODAY AND APPLY THAT TO OUR TRAINING NEXT WEEK. KARIN: LIEUTENANT, THANK YOU FOR THROWING THE AIR AND GETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT. THERE WAS A LOT OF CONFUSION FROM PARENTS. MY JOB IS TO GET THE WORD OUT FOR WHERE TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD. VINEYARD CHURCH. IF YOUR STUDENT IS A DRIVER, THEY ARE ABLE TO DRIVE. IF THEY ARE A BUS RIDER, THEY WILL BE BUST HOME. MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE NOT AFFECTED AS MUCH THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE, SO THEY ARE GOING TO REMAIN AT SCHOOL FOR THE DAY. KARIN: THANK YOU, LIEUTENANT. STAY SAFE OUT THERE. LIKE YOU HEARD, ONLY THE STUDENTS — THE PICKUP STUDENTS ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE TO BE PICKED UP AT VINEYARD CHURCH. A BUS RIDER WILL BE DROPPED OFF AT HOME. IF THEY DROVE THEIR OWN CARS, THEY ARE NOW FREE TO GO AND GO HOME. I KNOW A LOT OF PARENTS OUT THERE, ESPECIALLY THE ONES I TALKED TO, CANNOT WAIT
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Police: All clear given at Princeton High School, report of active shooter is false
Police have given the all clear at Princeton High School after the school was put on lockdown due to a report of an active shooter that was found to be a hoax, according to Sharonville police. The call came in around 10 a.m. Sharonville Police said they were dispatched for a report of an active shooter and said at this time it appears to be a hoax. Students who rode the bus will be bussed from the school to their normal drop off locations.Students who are getting picked up by parents will be taken to Vineyard Church.Students who drove to school will be dismissed to their cars.Princeton Community Middle School will follow the same procedures after the high school students have been dismissed.Police are asking people to continue to avoid the area as there is still a large police presence. Surrounding schools were also put on lockdown as police investigated. Those lockdowns have been lifted. In a release, Princeton High School said inaccurate information, hoaxes and a rash of threats are happening across the nation. The school said they are working local law enforcement and appreciate the quick response of law enforcement from across the region.
Police have given the all clear at Princeton High School after the school was put on lockdown due to a report of an active shooter that was found to be a hoax, according to Sharonville police.
The call came in around 10 a.m.
Sharonville Police said they were dispatched for a report of an active shooter and said at this time it appears to be a hoax.
Students who rode the bus will be bussed from the school to their normal drop off locations.
Students who are getting picked up by parents will be taken to Vineyard Church.
Students who drove to school will be dismissed to their cars.
Princeton Community Middle School will follow the same procedures after the high school students have been dismissed.
Police are asking people to continue to avoid the area as there is still a large police presence.
Surrounding schools were also put on lockdown as police investigated. Those lockdowns have been lifted.
In a release, Princeton High School said inaccurate information, hoaxes and a rash of threats are happening across the nation. The school said they are working local law enforcement and appreciate the quick response of law enforcement from across the region.
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Analysis | If We May: A Proposed Script For Hannity To Correct Trumps Falsehoods
Analysis | If We May: A Proposed Script For Hannity To Correct Trump’s Falsehoods https://digitalarkansasnews.com/analysis-if-we-may-a-proposed-script-for-hannity-to-correct-trumps-falsehoods/
Watching the second part of Fox News host Sean Hannity’s conversation with former president Donald Trump on Thursday night, I couldn’t help but notice that Hannity let a lot of false claims from Trump slide. I was not surprised by this, certainly; the reason that Trump grants so many interview to Hannity is that he knows that Hannity’s preferred mode of response to his claims is nodding.
But it did strike me that perhaps one reason that Hannity never endeavors to actually correct the record is that perhaps he doesn’t know how. He’s never really done it before! So, in the interest of both offering my assistance to Hannity and to ensure that his viewers have as accurate an understanding of the discussed subjects as possible, I thought it might be useful to create this draft script that Hannity could read on his program Friday night.
Good evening and welcome to “Hannity.”
Last night, we showed you the second part of my interview with President Trump. It has come to my attention that some of what the president said was inaccurate or misleading. Given this network’s commitment to journalistic integrity, it seemed incumbent upon me, then, to correct the record where necessary. After all, the last thing we want is for you, the viewer, to be misinformed.
With that in mind, here is some additional information about what Trump said.
It is not the case, as Trump claimed, that the term “global warming” was abandoned in favor of “climate change” because the former term “wasn’t working too well.” In reality, it was Republican communications expert Frank Luntz who recommended the latter term to defuse concern about the problem.
It is also not true that “years ago … they thought it was global cooling,” as both Trump and I claimed. In reality, that idea was a fringe claim that has been elevated not because it was the consensus at the time but because it serves as a rejoinder to the consensus now.
It’s not the case that $85 billion worth of military equipment was “left behind” when the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan. First of all, the figure that’s been claimed was $83 billion. But second, that figure is vastly overinflated.
While it is true that the U.S. “didn’t lose one soldier in 18 months,” it’s important to understand that this is largely because President Trump made a deal with the Taliban not to attack American forces in exchange for setting a timetable to withdraw.
It’s not true, as Trump claimed, that crime in New York is “the worst we’ve ever had.” In fact, violent crime in New York City is far lower than in decades past and murders are down in the city this year.
While it is true that “more people died under Biden than under me,” as Trump claimed about the coronavirus pandemic, that’s in part because Trump supporters were less likely to get vaccinated against the virus and, as a result, the per capita death toll in Trump-voting counties has consistently been higher than in Biden-voting ones.
The flu pandemic a century ago was in 1918, not 1917.
It’s not true that Trump recommended the military go to the Capitol before Jan. 6.
It is not true that he sent the National Guard to Minneapolis during the unrest in 2020 “against the governor’s wishes.” In fact, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) made the first request.
It is not true that Trump’s favorability numbers went up after New York’s attorney general announced a lawsuit against him; there is no way a valid poll could have been fielded between that announcement and our interview. It is also not true that his poll numbers went up in the wake of the search of Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s assertions that he “rebuilt” the military have been repeatedly identified as exaggerated.
Fox News regrets the errors.
Oh, one more, actually: While Trump claimed that he respects many people in the media, we were unable to confirm that assertion. We can confirm that, as he stated, he likes me, Sean Hannity, a lot.
[cut to commercial]
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Market Matters With CNBC's Bob Pisani — 9/23/2022 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/market-matters-with-cnbcs-bob-pisani-9-23-2022/
LIVE: Market Matters with CNBC’s Bob Pisani — 9/23/2022 CNBC Television
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Parker McCollum Flatland Cavalry William Beckmann Coming To North Little Rock On New Years Eve
Parker McCollum, Flatland Cavalry, William Beckmann Coming To North Little Rock On New Year’s Eve https://digitalarkansasnews.com/parker-mccollum-flatland-cavalry-william-beckmann-coming-to-north-little-rock-on-new-years-eve/
Parker McCollum performs during CMA Fest 2022 on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Parker McCollum performs during CMA Fest 2022 on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
by: Cate Skinner
Posted: Sep 23, 2022 / 11:31 AM CDT
Updated: Sep 23, 2022 / 11:49 AM CDT
Parker McCollum performs during CMA Fest 2022 on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Parker McCollum performs during CMA Fest 2022 on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
by: Cate Skinner
Posted: Sep 23, 2022 / 11:31 AM CDT
Updated: Sep 23, 2022 / 11:49 AM CDT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark – Country music fans now have New Year’s Eve plans to bring in 2023.
The ACM’s Best New Male Artist Parker McCollum will be coming to Simmons Bank Arena on Saturday, December 31 with special guests Flatland Cavalry and William Beckmann.
Arkansas fans will have the chance to hear live the 29-year-old Texan’s recent Platinum-selling album “Gold Chain Cowboy” which has the number one chart hit “Pretty Heart” and latest country radio recent “To Be Loved By You.”
Tickets go on sale Friday, September 30 at 10 a.m. on TicketMaster.com and the arena box office.
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UK Tax-Cutting Gamble Sends The Pound Plunging To New 37-Year Low
UK Tax-Cutting Gamble Sends The Pound Plunging To New 37-Year Low https://digitalarkansasnews.com/uk-tax-cutting-gamble-sends-the-pound-plunging-to-new-37-year-low/
Announcing the biggest tax cuts in 50 years at the same time as boosting spending, Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said the government needed a “new approach for a new era, focused on growth.”
The sweeping tax cuts, which include slashing the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%, reductions in duties paid on house purchases, and the cancellation of a planned hike in business taxes, would wipe £45 billion ($50 billion) off government revenues over the next five years, the UK Treasury said.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank, called the government’s plans “extraordinary.”
“It’s half a century since we’ve seen tax cuts announced on this scale,” he said in a tweet.
The pound sank almost 2.6% to $1.097 on Friday after Kwarteng’s announcement to its lowest level since 1985. British government bonds also sold off sharply. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which moves opposite prices, shot above 3.7%. It started the year below 1%.
At the same time as cutting taxes, Kwarteng said the government will press ahead with subsidizing energy bills for millions of households and businesses at a cost of £60 billion ($67 billion) just for the next six months, funded by borrowing rather than by taxing the windfall profits of oil and gas companies.
The measures come a day after the Bank of England warned that the country was already likely in a recession. It jacked up interest rates for a seventh time since December last year in a bid to tame 10% inflation that is causing a deep cost-of-living crisis for millions of people.
‘Unfunded giveaways’
News of the heavy additional government borrowing rattled investors already concerned that the country is spending beyond its means. The IFS warned in a Wednesday report that government borrowing was on an “unsustainable path.”
George Saravelos, global head of foreign exchange research at Deutsche Bank, said in a research note on Friday that the United Kingdom’s “very large, unfunded tax cuts and other fiscal giveaways” was adding to worries about the country’s economy.
“The UK’s immediate challenge is not low growth,” Saravelos said. “The large fiscal spend just announced may boost growth a little in the short term. But the bigger question is this: who will pay for it?” he added.
A senior government minister, Simon Clarke, speaking earlier Friday denied suggestions that new Prime Minister Liz Truss was taking a huge gamble with the British economy.
“The evidence of the 1980s and the 1990s is that a dynamic low tax economy is what delivers the best growth rates — this isn’t a gamble, the weight of history and evidence is with us,” he told the BBC.
The hefty energy subsidies will mean inflation should peak at 11% next month, according to the Bank of England, rather than shooting even higher this winter. But investors are concerned that the additional government spending will keep inflation at an elevated level. And a falling pound only makes matters worse by raising the cost of imports.
The opposition Labour Party criticized the government’s plans to ramp up borrowing instead of increasing a tax on the windfall profits of energy companies.
“The oil and gas giants will be toasting the Chancellor in the boardrooms as we speak, while working people are left to pick up the bill — borrowing higher than it needs to be just as interest rates rise,” said Rachel Reeves, the opposition’s finance spokesperson.
Kwarteng also announced he would end a cap limiting bankers’ bonuses to double their annual salary that was introduced after the global financial crisis to deter excessive risk-taking. He said he wanted to encourage global banks to invest in the United Kingdom.
Labour’s Reeves said the plan would “reward the wealthy” and represented a return to the “trickle down [economics] of the past.”
— Mark Thompson, Julia Horowitz and Amy Cassidy contributed reporting.
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AP News Summary At 11:41 A.m. EDT https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1141-a-m-edt/
World opinion shifts against Russia as Ukraine worries grow
NEW YORK (AP) — The tide of international opinion appears to have decisively shifted against Russia, as a number of non-aligned countries joined the United States and its allies in condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine and its threats to the principles of the international rules-based order. In what many believed earlier this year was Western wishful thinking, much of the international community spoke out against the conflict in rare displays of unity at the often fractured United Nations. The coalescing condemnation picked up steam when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization of an additional 300,000 troops to Ukraine, signaling the unlikelihood of a quick end to the war and suggested nuclear weapons may be an option.
Occupied Ukraine holds Kremlin-staged vote on joining Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Voting has begun on whether occupied regions of Ukraine should become part of Russia, in referendums that Kyiv and the West condemned as an illegitimate and rigged attempt by Moscow to annex areas in the east and south after nearly seven months of war. The Kremlin-orchestrated balloting in the Luhansk, Kherson and partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions asked residents if they want the areas to be part of Russia. The voting overseen by Moscow-installed authorities, scheduled to run through Tuesday, is almost certain to go the Kremlin’s way. Meanwhile, the governor of the Kharkiv region said 436 bodies were exhumed from a mass burial site in the eastern city of Izium, 30 with visible signs of torture.
Russian men join exodus, fearing call-up to fight in Ukraine
ISTANBUL (AP) — Military-aged men have joined an exodus from Russia on the second full day of a partial military mobilization. They filled planes and caused traffic jams at land borders in desperate bids to avoid being rounded up to fight in Ukraine. A traffic jam of 10 kilometers (6 miles) formed on a road in southern Russia leading to the land border with Georgia. That’s according to Yandex Maps, a Russian online map service. The lines of cars at the border with Kazakhstan were so long that some people abandoned their vehicles and headed to the border on foot. Meanwhile, dozens flights out of Russia carried men to Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, among other destinations.
NY probe found potential crimes. Why isn’t Trump in cuffs?
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