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☆ Boeing may be prosecuted after breaking safety agreement that prevented criminal charges for 737 crashes, US DOJ says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Evan Perez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The US Justice Department on Tuesday notified Boeing that it breached terms of its 2021 agreement in which the company avoided criminal charges for two fatal 737 Max crashes. The notification comes as the Justice Department conducts a new investigation into Boeing’s operations in the wake the door plug incident. The earlier deal had resolved a fraud investigation related to the company’s development of its 737 Max aircraft. Under its deferred prosecution agreement from January 2021, Boeing paid $2.5 billion in penalties and promised to improve its safety and compliance protocols. In March, the FAA identified more potential safety issues with the engines of the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner.

Persons: Max, “, Reed O’Connor, Biden, Paul Cassell, ” Cassell, ” Organizations: CNN, US Justice Department, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Department of Justice, Justice Department, Max, Lion, Justice, Air Force, Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Locations: United States, Fort Worth , Texas

☆ Taylor Swift's bad fashion isn't bad taste. It's strategy.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Savannah Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

AdvertisementIn December, Taylor Swift — Time's Person of the Year — glittered in front of the camera in a black bodysuit, a floor-skimming chenille dress, and a studded bustier gown. Crafting Swift's public imageThe Swiftian brand philosophy revolves around one essential idea: Taylor Swift is everyone's best friend. These choices are attainable, predictable, and unthreatening — purchases made by your best friend during a mall shopping spree. Lauren Sherman , Fashion Correspondent at Puck News , astutely labeled Swift's style as "Anthropologie Gone Wild" — mismatched, outdated, pedestrian, but instinctual. He's been running his own fashion brand for 20 years .

Persons: Taylor Swift, —, inoffensive, Swift, Jean Paul Gaultier, She's, doesn't, J, Lauren Sherman, astutely, Sherman, Swift's, Joseph Cassell Falconer, bedazzled Zuhair Murad bodysuits, Cookie Cohen, Taylor, Cohen, Yves Saint Laurent, they're, Kevin Mazur, Pharrell, Louis Vuitton, Rihanna, He's, Angelina Jolie Organizations: Service, Chiefs, Balmain, Urban Outfitters, Fashion, Puck, Swift, The New York Times, MTV Locations: Zara

☆ Alan Dershowitz called for the release of Epstein court documents. In them, Virginia Giuffre alleges they had sex at least 6 times.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Jacob Shamsian | Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

In her deposition, Giuffre claimed she and Dershowitz had sex at least 6 times as she was trafficked by Epstein. In the deposition, Giuffre alleges that she and Dershowitz were introduced while Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her as a teenager. To Dershowitz, 'the case is over'Since their settlement, Dershowitz has softened his public statements regarding Guiffre while maintaining his innocence regarding her allegations. When news that the related court documents would be unsealed, Dershowitz publicly called for the complete release of all related documents, claiming they'd prove his innocence. The unsealed deposition, Dershowitz told BI "shows the origin" of how he came to be "framed" for crimes against Guiffre.

Persons: Virginia, Alan Dershowitz, Dershowitz, they'll, Giuffre, Epstein, —, Jeffrey Epstein's, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein, Paul Cassell, Brad Edwards, Edwards, she'd, who's, Jeffrey, Guiffre, Cassell, Sarah Ransome, Ransome, Ransome didn't, countersued, Mr, they'd, I've, Jefferey Epstein, Virginia Giuffre, Sharon Churcher, Churcher, Alan, Prince Andrew ., Let's, She's Organizations: Service, Cassell, Harvard, Palm Beach Police, CIA, Trump, Clinton, Wikileaks, Daily, Guiffre, Daily Mail, JE Locations: Virginia, Guiffre

☆ Opinion | America’s Shift Away From Religion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To the Editor:Re “Americans Are Losing Their Religious Faith,” by Nicholas Kristof (column, Aug. 24):Mr. Kristof writes that Americans’ loss of faith results from religious scandals and the bad behavior of “charlatans” such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. The trend is a problem, he argues, because religion is central to our country’s social capital. First, Americans are also becoming less religious because there is zero evidence to support any of the central claims religious institutions make about God and the supernatural. And second, what worries me is not that people are less religious, but that they transfer their blind faith in religion and religious leaders to charismatic politicians like Donald Trump. But Americans aren’t losing their underlying spiritual and religious beliefs; they are defining and seeking connections to “higher powers” in other ways.

Persons: ”, Nicholas Kristof, Mr, Kristof, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Donald Trump, Mark K, Cassell Washington, aren’t Organizations: charlatans, Cassell, Kent State University

On Sunday, Evergrande reported losses of 33 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) for the first half of the year, versus a 66.4 billion yuan loss in the same period a year earlier. The Chinese property sector’s worsening debt crisis poses a significant challenge for President Xi Jinping and his policy makers, with the country’s economy already reeling from weaker domestic and overseas demand. China’s State Council Information Office, which handles media queries on behalf of the government, declined to comment on the property market and Evergrande’s fate. He sold the first complex the following year for 80 million yuan, according to Evergrande’s website. The committee investigated the matter after banks seized 13.4 billion yuan ($1.84 billion)of deposits held by the property-services unit in 2021.

Persons: Aly, Hui Ka Yan, Hui, Evergrande, Suppliers haven’t, ”, Anne Stevenson, Yang, Evergrande’s, Xi Jinping, Reuters wasn’t, Kelly Richmond Pope, ” Hui, “ Evergrande, Stevenson, Engen Tham, Julie Zhu, Clare Jim, Cassell Bryan Organizations: China Evergrande Group, REUTERS, Rights, China Evergrande, HK, Reuters, Suppliers, J Capital Research, Information Office, Political, Conference, Guangzhou Evergrande, soccer’s, Hong, Forbes, HengTen Networks, Management, Chicago’s DePaul University, Evergrande, Financial, Communist Party, “, China, Shanghai, Cassell, Low, Thomson Locations: China, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Rights SHANGHAI, HONG KONG, United States, U.S, China’s, Henan province, Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Evergrande, HengTen, Evergrande’s Hong Kong, Shanghai

☆ Meet the designer who made Taylor Swift's Eras tour ballgown that has 200,000 hand-sewn sequins and crystals
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bridal company Nicole + Felicia Couture designed a ball gown for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Founder Nicole Chang said she relies on celebrity partnerships, not ads, to build the brand. Among her show-stopping looks was a sparkly gold ball gown with 200,000 hand-sewn sequins and crystals, created by bridal company Nicole + Felicia Couture. Swift wore a bespoke ball gown by Nicole + Felicia on her Eras Tour. After Swift debuted her gold gown on tour, Nicole + Felicia's Instagram video of the design process drew more than 19,000 views.

Persons: Nicole, Felicia Couture, Taylor, Nicole Chang, —, Swift, Felicia, Bob Levey, Getty, Blake Lively, Chang, Amy Chen, Chrissy Teigen, Paris Hilton, Gwen Stefani, Halle Bailey, Chen, Bailey, Joseph Cassell Falconer, it's, we've Organizations: Service, PR Locations: Taiwan, Glendale , Arizona, Paris

☆ Special Report: Dozens of babies die in orphanage as Sudan war takes grim toll on Khartoum
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Maggie Michael | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

[1/7] A view from inside an orphanage in Khartoum, Sudan, in this handout image released April 20, 2023. There was no one there,” said Abdullah, speaking by phone from the orphanage, the cries of wailing babies audible in the background. Frini and the director of the orphanage, Zeinab Jouda, referred questions about the total death toll to Abdullah, Mygoma’s medical chief. ABANDONED CHILDRENOfficially called The Orphan's Care Centre, Mygoma, the orphanage is housed in a three-storey building in central Khartoum. She said that a day earlier, two babies who died were instead buried in a city square close to the orphanage.

☆ Opinion | Death and the City
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

“Some have hypothesized that the rise in homicide rates is specifically a result of the June 2020 protests,” Chalfin and MacDonald wrote, but “theories about the role of the protests must contend with several challenges. The data also pinpoint the timing of the spikes to late May 2020, which corresponds with the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis and subsequent anti-police protests — protests that likely led to declines in law enforcement. Although unemployment caused by Covid surged in April, there was little if any increase in murders at that time. That is the challenge that every city should be grappling with. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

They said two in five people seeking food assistance in the Atlanta region this year have not done so before. In central Ohio, the local food bank says the number of households seeking aid has increased by nearly half since last year. Craig Gundersen, a Baylor University economics professor who is a prominent researcher for Feeding America, said that food banks experiencing spikes above COVID levels are outliers. The Highland Food Pantry in Winchester, Virginia, said it served about 90 families a week during the pandemic. In early April, White visited a community center to donate old clothes and noticed a line for the food pantry.

That man was the military commandant of Balakliia, a key figure in Russia’s six-month occupation of the eastern Ukrainian town. Town residents knew the commandant only by his call sign of “Granit,” the Russian word for granite, as Reuters reported in an October investigation into Moscow’s withdrawal from the town. One of the documents listed Valery Sergeyevich Buslov as among the Russian officers present in Balakliia, stating his role was military commandant. He has served as the Kaliningrad garrison’s military commandant, responsible for maintaining discipline among troops and sailors stationed there, according to a 2019 military newspaper article. By May, the military commandant had arrived in Balakliia, according to Oleksandr, one of the two female residents and another local woman.

☆ Italian drugs cartels conceal payments via Chinese shadow banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Emilio Parodi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

[1/3] Seized drugs are seen following an investigation on drugs cartels operating in Italy increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to launder their proceeds in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on April 4, 2023. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERSMILAN, April 6 (Reuters) - Drugs cartels operating in Italy are increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to conceal cross-border payments, according to Italian judicial and law enforcement authorities. U.S. authorities have said Chinese “money brokers” represent one of the most worrisome new threats in their war on drugs, as a Reuters investigation in 2020 found. Chinese authorities have previously vowed to crackdown on underground banking. One of the first probes to come to light involving use of Chinese money brokers by Italian mobsters was linked to the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta group, one of the largest crime gangs in the world.

☆ Inside Ukraine’s scramble for “game-changer” drone fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

It is hoping that domestic drone makers like AeroDrone will help it meet its ambitious goals. The government is now working with more than 80 Ukraine-based drone manufacturers, Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters. RUSSIAN TERRITORYThe range and potency of Ukraine's drones is a sensitive issue. Danilov, the national security council head, acknowledged Ukraine’s reliance on other countries for more high-tech drone components. "We are trying to fulfil our needs in this sector with domestic production, but we realise that it's unlikely we will be able to fulfil everything," he said.

Two lawmakers with knowledge of the exports and two former officials said the approvals reflected Britain’s increased willingness to support Taiwan. One of the lawmakers, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said authorising the export licences amounted to giving a "green light" to better equip Taiwan. It shows the government authorised 25 export licences to Taiwan during the first nine months of 2022 under the categories "components for submarines" and "technology for submarines." Taiwan has for decades been unable to buy conventional submarines from other countries because of their concerns of angering China. Asked about the decision to approve the increase in export licences, the official said: "You just don't do something like this without thinking through the implications very carefully."

☆ The Justice Department investigated Jeffrey Epstein's death. Then it went silent.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Jeffrey Epstein's death in a federal jail was seen as a shocking Justice Department failure. But more than three years later, the office still hasn't released its report into the circumstances of Epstein's death. "We all took it by surprise," Mark Epstein told Insider. Barr tasked the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and the FBI with investigating "the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death." Mark Epstein told Insider that he spoke to his brother about once a month in the years before his death.

MALATYA, Turkey, March 4 (Reuters) - The Trend Garden Residence, an upscale serviced apartment building in the Turkish city of Malatya, boasted a gym, freshly-furnished rooms and a roof-top cafeteria. Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2003, said following the disaster that building standards have improved under his watch. Among those arrested as part of the Trend Garden probe is Engin Aslan, according to the government officials. Corporate records show he is the majority owner of a Turkish company that, according to land registration documents, owns the building. A spokesperson for the Yesilyurt district municipality, where Trend Garden was located, declined to comment about the building’s registration history.

☆ Judge Denies Boeing 737 MAX Families’ Request to Reject DOJ Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Dylan Tokar | Andrew Tangel | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

A federal judge in Texas denied a request by families of those killed in two 737 MAX crashes to throw out or modify a two-year-old settlement between Boeing Co. and the U.S. Department of Justice. “This court has immense sympathy for the victims and loved ones of those who died in the tragic plane crashes resulting from Boeing’s criminal conspiracy,” Judge O’Connor wrote in his ruling. The decision by Judge O’Connor is his third substantive ruling on the legal challenge launched by the 737 MAX victims’ relatives group. The judge last year ruled that the families of those who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes were victims of the safety failures outlined by prosecutors. In January, Judge O’Connor presided over an arraignment the families had requested.

Downing Street referred requests for comment to the business ministry, which oversees Companies House, Britain’s public registry of companies. And, in most cases, if foreign companies purchased the property before 1999 or hold UK property in a trust they don’t need to publicly disclose the beneficial owners. The Cyprus-based company, A. Corp Trustee Limited, wasn’t listed on Britain’s new property register as of Tuesday morning. A listing on the UK’s new property register for Hanley Limited identifies the beneficial owner as a Swiss company called Pomerol Capital Sa. Ravellot also wasn’t on the new property register.

The Kremlin and Russia’s defence ministry didn’t respond to Reuters’ questions, including about alleged torture and unlawful detentions. Ukraine’s top war crimes prosecutor, Yuriy Belousov, said authorities have identified ten sites in the Kherson region used by Russian forces for unlawful detentions. Belousov added that hundreds of bodies of civilians had been found in other areas that Russian forces had withdrawn from. Some of the thousands of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces could be escalated to overseas tribunals if they are deemed sufficiently serious. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

☆ The best companies will prioritize 'proactive rest'—not just PTO—in 2023, say HR experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In 2023, working for a company that offers a few days of paid time off isn't going to cut it. The best employers out there will instead focus on pushing "proactive rest," HR experts say. "It's still a valuable tool, but proactive rest is more than that." After all, U.S. companies are notorious for offering paltry paid time off to workers, and even employees who have it are terrible at actually taking their days. Some companies are playful in how they roll out proactive rest.

EARLY WARNING SIGNSAfter years of tame inflation, Fed officials and other central bankers say they have faced a chain of disruptive events beyond their control ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the Ukraine war. The central bank has made conservative estimates on inflation despite Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe in response to Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Even as some economists say an inflation peak could now be in sight, central bankers remain far from taming inflation. The concern among some central bankers is that politicians will respond by raising public spending and so aggravate the inflation pressure that their rate-hike cure is intended to heal. If that were to happen, central bankers “would have to reverse course to prevent the debt market from becoming more disorderly," Goodhart told Reuters.

☆ How Reuters measured the impact of French police fines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

For its national analysis, Reuters used department-level immigrant population figures from France’s official statistics agency. This data counts as an immigrant any person born abroad with foreign nationality even if they have since been naturalized. Reuters compared this data with the interior ministry’s counts of pandemic-related fines issued in each department between mid-March and mid-May 2020. There were notable anomalies: Paris’ 8th district, home to the famous Champs Elysees shopping avenue, had the highest rate of fines despite having a relatively small minority population. He said the higher concentration of COVID-related fines in areas with larger populations of immigrant origins could be explained by various factors.

☆ Special Report: In France, minority communities decry a surge in police fines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +18 min

Hassan Bouchouf received fines on more than two dozen occasions, according to the town’s fine data. The Essonne police department didn’t respond to questions about the fines received by Assam and Bouchouf. After learning of the April 2020 fines, Assam verbally confronted Dumas on the street later that same month, according to both men and a witness. That prompted a review by the prosecutor’s office, which found that police had issued fines to Assam remotely, that person said. The watchdog is investigating about 10 complaints alleging improper police fines, mostly from Paris, according to a person familiar with the matter.

However, the patterns suggest that sexual violence “maybe even more frequent” in territories that were occupied for longer periods, he added, without providing evidence. Widespread or systematic sexual violence could amount to crimes against humanity, which are generally seen as more serious, legal specialists said. Moscow, which has said it is conducting a “special military operation" in Ukraine, has denied committing war crimes or targeting civilians. Evidence that sexual violence was planned could indicate it was part of a systematic attack or that some level of command was aware, said Kim Thuy Seelinger, an advisor to the ICC on sexual violence in conflict and a research associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said it has opened dozens of criminal cases involving sexual violence by members of the Russian armed forces against women, children and men.

☆ Passengers in fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes are ‘crime victims,’ US judge says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A US judge in Texas ruled on Friday that people killed in two Boeing (BA) 737 MAX crashes are legally considered “crime victims,” a designation that will determine what remedies should be imposed. The deal capped a 21-month investigation into the design and development of the 737 MAX following the deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019. The families of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash of the Boeing 737 Max jet held a vigil in front of the US Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington, DC on Sept. 10, 2019. Boeing wants Congress to waive a December deadline imposed by the legislation for the FAA to certify the MAX 7 and MAX 10. Last month, Boeing paid $200 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges it misled investors about the MAX.

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