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☆ Trump’s Defense Cast Michael Cohen as Untrustworthy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Todd Blanche, the lead lawyer defending Donald Trump in his New York criminal trial, wasted no time today before aggressively questioning the prosecution’s star witness, Michael Cohen. “Sure,” Cohen replied. The cross-examination, which will continue on Thursday after the trial takes a day off, could prove to be crucial. Cohen is the prosecution’s 19th and final witness, and likely the most important one. During his two days of testimony, he has claimed that Trump knew at the time that the 2016 hush-money payment, which is at the center of the felony charges against him, would be falsely labeled legal expenses.

Persons: Todd Blanche, Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, Cohen, Blanche, Trump’s, Trump, ”, ” Blanche, ” Cohen Organizations: Trump Locations: New York

☆ Aid for Gazans Has Come to a Near-Total Halt
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Southern Gaza is running dangerously low on essentials like food and medicine, after the flow of aid has come to a near-total stop — first closed off by Israel and then further restricted, officials say, by Egypt. It also temporarily shut down the other crucial southern crossing, known as Kerem Shalom, after a nearby Hamas attack killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday. Egypt, where most of the aid to Gaza is collected and loaded, is resisting sending trucks toward Kerem Shalom, according to U.S. and Israeli officials. They believe that Egypt is trying to pressure Israel to pull back from its operation in Rafah. Egypt fears that the Rafah operation could push Palestinian refugees onto Egyptian soil — an outcome the country views as a national security threat.

Persons: —, Kerem Shalom Locations: Southern Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Gazan, Rafah, Gaza, Kerem

☆ Donald Trump’s Lawyer Pressed Stormy Daniels
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A lawyer representing Donald Trump in his criminal trial in Manhattan spent more than two hours today attempting to undermine the credibility of one of the prosecution’s most high-profile witnesses. “You made all this up, right?” the lawyer, Susan Necheles, asked Stormy Daniels, whose account of a sexual encounter with Trump spurred the hush-money agreement at the heart of the charges against the former president. Daniels responded with a forceful “No.”Daniels’s two days of testimony, which concluded this afternoon, was in all likelihood the most dramatic chapter of the first criminal trial of an American president. Over nearly eight hours, she recounted under oath the graphic details of a one-night sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. And today she shot back at suggestions that she was in it for the money: “Not unlike Mr. Trump,” she said.

Persons: Donald Trump, “, Susan Necheles, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Daniels, ” Organizations: Trump, Prosecutors Locations: Manhattan

☆ The U.S. Increased Its Pressure on Israel to Reach a Truce
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The visit came only hours after the White House confirmed that it was withholding some military aid from Israel. Together, the moves are among President Biden’s most significant attempts to limit Israel’s military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah and ratchet down the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. defense secretary publicly linked the withheld shipment to Israel’s long-threatened ground invasion of Rafah, which American officials worry could lead to a humanitarian disaster. Israeli officials have downplayed the disagreement and said they are continuing to negotiate on a potential cease-fire. But experts suggested that the hold was a warning from Biden that he was willing to use U.S. aid as leverage if the Israeli military presses farther into Rafah.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden’s, Biden Organizations: Biden, White House Locations: U.S, Gaza, Israel, Gazan, Rafah, Egypt

☆ JPMorgan says the late Charlie Munger would love this wonderful bank trading at a fair price
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan said this regional bank is so appealing that it would have attracted attention from the late Charlie Munger. "When we think of the late, great Charlie Munger and his mantra to 'buy wonderful businesses at fair prices,' the bank that fits this bill in our view is Cullen Frost," the firm's bank analyst Steven Alexopoulos said in a note. However, JPMorgan said the bank's "strong organic growth story" remained fully intact. JPMorgan said investors are now able to buy the shares at 13.1 times forward earnings, compared to a 16X historical average. The bank maintained its overweight rating and has a 12-month price target of $140 per share, which would translate into 32% upside from Tuesday's close of $105.62.

Persons: Charlie Munger, Cullen Frost, Steven Alexopoulos, Munger, Buffett, Cullen, Frost, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: JPMorgan, Berkshire Hathaway's, CFR, Frost Bankers Locations: San Antonio , Texas

☆ Stormy Daniels Testified About Core Details in Trump’s Trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There is probably no one, other than Donald Trump, more central to his New York trial — the first criminal trial of an American president — than Stormy Daniels. Today, in a courtroom in Lower Manhattan, Daniels took the stand for several hours. She spoke quickly, unspooling so many salacious details that the judge overseeing the case balked at some of the testimony, implying that it was gratuitously vulgar, and the defense unsuccessfully sought a mistrial. Daniels has told her story widely, but never to jurors, and not with Trump in the room. During cross-examination, which is expected to continue on Thursday, Trump’s lawyers sought to paint Daniels as a liar driven by greed.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Daniels, unnerve Trump, Trump’s Organizations: Trump Locations: New York, Lower Manhattan

☆ Israel Said Hamas’s Cease-Fire Proposal Fell Short
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senior Hamas officials announced today that they had agreed to a cease-fire deal drawn up by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. But the proposal — which officials said included Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza during three 42-day phases of cease-fire — failed to meet Israeli demands. Many people began to leave, fearing that Israel was moving ahead with its long-planned invasion of Rafah despite stiff international pressure. By night, Israel carried out another round of what it called “targeted strikes” in Rafah. Hamas has called for a permanent cease-fire, effectively ending the seven-month war; Israel wants a temporary halt in fighting to allow for the exchange of hostages.

Persons: Israel’s, —, “, Israel Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Israel

☆ The Job Market Shifted Into Lower Gear
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After a winter of rapid growth in the American labor market, April’s jobs numbers delivered a more mixed picture. Employers added 175,000 positions, less than economists had expected and well below the average over the last year; and the unemployment rate climbed to 3.9 percent. “But really, the slowdown shouldn’t be a big surprise, and isn’t particularly worrisome.”Layoffs remained low and most job sectors appeared stable. Wage growth eased notably, though the unemployment rate remained under 4 percent for the 27th consecutive month — the longest stretch in more than 50 years. In fact, some economists said that the April data offered hopeful hints that the economy was headed toward a more stable footing.

Persons: We’ve, Ben Casselman, “, ” Ben Organizations: Federal Reserve

☆ Biden Condemned Violent Campus Protests
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden delivered an unscheduled address from the White House today in which he denounced the violence and the antisemitism that have erupted on several college campuses. It is the first time the president has addressed at length the pro-Palestinian protests that have disrupted the end of the school year at dozens of universities coast to coast. “There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” Biden said. The demonstrations carried on: Hours ago, the police removed protesters who had been occupying a library at Portland State University in Oregon. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, activists erected 30 new tents, a day after a previous encampment was cleared.

Persons: Biden, ” Biden, Gaza — Organizations: National Guard, Hamas, Portland State University, University of Wisconsin Locations: Gaza, Israel, Oregon, Madison

☆ Arizona Voted to Repeal Its Abortion Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Arizona lawmakers today repealed an abortion ban that first became law in 1864, when Abraham Lincoln was president and a half-century before women won the right to vote. The repeal narrowly passed the Republican-controlled State Senate with the support of all 14 Democratic senators and two Republicans. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is widely expected to sign it, after which abortion policy in the state would revert to a 2022 law that restricted the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Democrats sought to use the ban to energize voters in Arizona, a battleground state. On the right, the issue created a rift between anti-abortion activists who wanted to keep the law in place and Republicans who worried about the potential backlash of a near-total ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Persons: Abraham Lincoln, Katie Hobbs, Roe, Wade Organizations: Republican, Senate, Democratic, Gov, Democrat Locations: Arizona

☆ Columbia Said It Would Expel Students Occupying a Building
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Early this morning, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters stormed into an academic building on Columbia University’s campus and used furniture to barricade themselves inside. This afternoon, university officials announced that students involved in the building’s occupation would face expulsion. Columbia closed the entire Manhattan campus to everyone except students who live in dorms there and employees who provide essential services. Officials at Portland State University closed the campus after students broke into its library, and police officers made new arrests at universities in Virginia, North Carolina and elsewhere. Police officers managed to end the eight-day occupation of an administration building at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

Organizations: Portland State University, Police, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Yale, University of Pittsburgh Locations: Columbia, Manhattan, Virginia , North Carolina

☆ Israel Softened Its Demands in Cease-Fire Negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Israeli officials said today that they had reduced the number of hostages they were asking Hamas to free in exchange for a temporary cease-fire in the war in Gaza. For months, cease-fire talks have been at a standstill as Israel had demanded that Hamas release at least 40 hostages. Now Israeli officials say they are prepared to settle for only 33, in part because they believe that some of the 40 have died in captivity. Israel’s new offer included a 40-day cease-fire and the release of potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, according to Britain’s foreign minister. A mid-ranking delegation from Israel is planning to fly to Cairo tomorrow to resume talks if Hamas agrees to attend.

Persons: Antony Blinken Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, U.S, Cairo

☆ A Strike Looms in a Battleground State
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More than 7,000 workers who make trucks and buses at Daimler Truck plants in North Carolina are poised to go on strike at midnight, barring a last-minute breakthrough. The United Automobile Workers, the union that represents the workers, said it was demanding a “historic deal” from the truck maker, including pay raises and more job security. “It’s our generation-defining moment,” Shawn Fain, U.A.W.’s president, said. A strike in North Carolina — a battleground state that has a Democratic governor, but that President Biden narrowly lost in 2020 — could also have repercussions on the 2024 campaign. Biden, who has proclaimed himself the “most pro-union president in history,” has indicated that he could step in aggressively to support the Daimler workers.

Persons: “, ” Shawn Fain, U.A.W, ’, Biden, —, ” Organizations: Daimler, United Automobile Workers, U.S, Democratic Locations: North Carolina, Southern

☆ Justices Seemed Ready to Limit Election Case Against Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared ready today to rule that former presidents should have some degree of immunity from criminal prosecution. Such a decision, while effectively rejecting Donald Trump’s assertion of absolute immunity, could narrow the scope of the federal criminal case accusing Trump of plotting to subvert the 2020 election. They agreed with the liberal justices mainly about the significance of their decision, which is expected in late June or early July: “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said. Many of the justices seemed to be considering the idea that presidents should enjoy some form of protection against criminal prosecution. But the liberal justices voiced concern that by offering presidents a shield from prosecution, the court could turn the Oval Office into a “seat of criminality,” as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson described it.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, “, ”, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson

☆ Justices Seemed Split on Emergency Abortion Access
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Supreme Court justices appeared sharply divided today over whether federal law should allow doctors to perform emergency abortions in states that have adopted near-total bans on the procedure. The federal government argued that the Idaho measure violates a federal law requiring hospitals to stabilize or transfer patients with urgent medical issues. A broad decision could especially affect abortion access in the 14 states that have enacted near-total bans. “It could telegraph to states that what Idaho is doing either is or is not OK, and that could change those states’ abortion bans one way or another,” Pam said. “If the justices side with Idaho, it could also say to states that ‘abortion isn’t the only thing you can restrict.’”

Persons: Pam Belluck, ” Pam Locations: Idaho

☆ Ukraine Could Receive Some U.S. Aid ‘Within Days’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Senate today overwhelmingly approved a critical procedural move to tee up the final passage of the long-stalled $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. After the bills become law, shipments of American weapons could begin flowing to Ukraine, including air-defense missiles and artillery ammunition that Ukrainian officials say are badly needed. Some of the aid could be sent from the Pentagon’s stockpiles in Germany and shipped by rail to the Ukrainian border. The anticipated aid — the first significant new U.S. package for Kyiv in 16 months — was celebrated in Ukraine. However, he added, military analysts think it will take a month or two before Ukraine receives enough new supplies to change the dynamic of the war.

Persons: Biden, ”, —, Marc Santora, ” Marc Organizations: Senate, Senators, Pentagon, Kyiv, Lawmakers Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, Germany, Ukrainian, Kyiv

Whenever a suspicion of doping arises in an Olympics, attention can shift quickly from the athletes who won gold, silver and bronze medals to the ones who missed out. On Saturday, The New York Times published an investigation into an unreported case in which 23 top Chinese swimmers tested positive for a powerful banned drug in 2021, only months before the Tokyo Olympics. The swimmers — who made up about half of the Chinese swimming team at those Games — were cleared by China’s antidoping authorities and the World Anti-Doping Agency and allowed to compete. The episode has not only alarmed experts in the antidoping community, but also raised other questions about athletes who tested positive, and what comes next: Which athletes? For now, the answer — both for the Chinese athletes and the dozens of swimmers who finished behind them, on and off the medals stand — is that nothing has changed.

Persons: —, China’s Organizations: The New York Times, Tokyo Olympics, Games, Doping Agency Locations: Tokyo

☆ Trump’s Jury Was Chosen. Opening Statements Could Start Monday.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A full panel of 12 jurors has now been selected to decide Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, the first for a former American president and a crucial challenge to his bid to regain the Oval Office. Several more alternate jurors still need to be chosen, but the judge overseeing the case indicated that opening statements could begin on Monday. Trump is facing 34 felony charges and up to four years in prison, in what might be his only criminal trial before Election Day. The dismissals appeared to rankle the judge, Juan Merchan, who wants to keep the proceedings on schedule. He also said he would consider next week whether Trump had repeatedly violated his gag order, as prosecutors said.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Juan Merchan, Trump, Prosecutors Locations: Manhattan, American

☆ Israel Signaled That It Would Retaliate Against Iran
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, emerged today from talks with European diplomats resolute that his country would not bow to outside pressure in responding to the recent attack by Iran. Britain’s foreign secretary acknowledged after the meeting that an Israeli reprisal seemed inevitable. “It is clear that the Israelis are making a decision to act,” David Cameron, the British foreign secretary, said. A spokesman for the State Department said today that the U.S. was pushing for a “unified diplomatic response” to the Iranian attack. But the spokesman added, “These decisions are for Israel to make as a sovereign, democratic country.”

Persons: Israel’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, ” David Cameron, Netanyahu, ” Organizations: State Department Locations: Iran, British, Israel, U.S, Germany

☆ Trump’s Criminal Trial Begins With a Bumpy Jury Selection
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York prosecutors joined Donald Trump and his attorneys today in a Manhattan courtroom for the official start of the first criminal trial of an American president. Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. My colleague Alan Feuer noted that such a high initial failure rate is “surpassingly rare,” underscoring the challenges of seating an impartial jury for a defendant whom much of the country has already made its mind up about. The trial — perhaps the only one against Trump that will unfold before Election Day — is projected to take about six weeks, the judge told the prospective jurors. But it could stretch out longer if jury selection turns out to be especially time consuming.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Alan Feuer Organizations: Trump Locations: York, Manhattan

☆ Rejoice, millennials: The vampire boyfriend is cool again
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-14 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

If you've spent time on TikTok or X in the past few months, you may have spotted a proliferation of videos and posts about two video game characters. There's Astarion from "Baldur's Gate 3," and more recently, there's Vincent Valentine, a fan-favorite character from Square Enix's "Final Fantasy VII" remake. Square Enix; Gregg DeGuire/Getty ImagesMercer's opening line in "Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth" is now a fandom legend. from within the depths of his velvet-lined coffin, longtime "Final Fantasy" fans were introduced to the super-cool, uber-goth gunslinger. "I hope viewers of the work see, too, that there's more underneath the surface of a person than the trope of this decadent, hedonistic, theatrical vampire," Newbon said.

Persons: —, hasn't, you've, There's, there's Vincent Valentine, Edward Cullen sparkled, Edward, he's, there's, Alucard, Valentine, Matthew Mercer, Neil Newbon, Matt Mercer, Zelda, Vincent Valentine, Gregg DeGuire, Vincent, Mercer, I've, Vox, Scott Garfitt, who's, Astarion, Newbon Organizations: Service, Business, BAFTA, Getty Images

☆ The House Passed an Extension of a Surveillance Law
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a major turnaround, the House passed a two-year reauthorization of a controversial program that allows the government to collect the communications of targeted foreigners abroad without warrants. The fate of the bill, which would extend a provision of law known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, was unclear until just before it passed, as lawmakers considered a series of proposed changes. The House narrowly rejected a bipartisan effort to restrict searches of Americans’ messages swept up by the program, a top priority for some civil liberties advocates. The shorter time frame could allow Donald Trump to help dictate the program’s future if he is elected to another term. The former president had urged Republicans to “kill” the law, which he incorrectly asserted had been used to spy on his campaign.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Donald Trump, “ Organizations: Senate, Foreign Intelligence, Republicans

☆ O.J. Simpson Died at 76
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Simpson lived a life that made him one of the most famous people in America. Then, in 1994, he was charged in the double murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Simpson, who was 76, died yesterday at his home in Las Vegas. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial held up a cracked mirror to Black and white America and mesmerized the nation, which followed along on daily national television broadcasts. He sold a book manuscript giving a “hypothetical” account of the murders, but after a public outcry, Ronald Goldman’s family secured the book rights.

Persons: O.J, Simpson, Nicole Brown Simpson, Ronald Goldman, Ronald Goldman’s Organizations: Buffalo Bills Locations: America, Las Vegas

☆ Biden Pulls Closer to Japan to Counter China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden today hosted Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, at the White House for a pomp-filled state visit. The tightening of the U.S.-Japan relationship is an important part of the Biden administration’s efforts to counter China’s aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific region. Tomorrow, Biden and Kishida will meet with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines. Biden and Kishida today outlined the formation of a joint defense council that could support more exports of equipment produced in Japan, new cooperation on ventures in space and collaboration between research institutions. Biden announced that NASA’s Artemis program would take a Japanese astronaut to the moon, which would be a first for a non-American.

Persons: Biden, Fumio Kishida, Kishida, —, Paul Simon, Donald Trump, Ferdinand Marcos Jr Organizations: White, U.S ., Biden Locations: U.S, Japan, Philippines

☆ Arizona Reinstated a 160-Year-Old Abortion Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The court put its ruling on hold for the moment, allowing two weeks for arguments about the ban’s constitutionality. But if the law goes into effect, it will have far-reaching consequences for both abortion access and national politics. Until now, abortion has been legal in Arizona through 15 weeks of pregnancy. But the 1864 law, which was enacted many decades before Arizona became a state, outlaws abortion from the moment of conception, except when the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother. Clinics in Arizona could soon close, forcing women seeking abortions to travel to California, New Mexico or Colorado to end their pregnancies.

Locations: Arizona, California , New Mexico, Colorado

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