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☆ R. Kelly is appealing his 2021 sex trafficking and racketeering convictions in New York and wants a new trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly is appealing one of his two federal convictions – his September 2021 guilty verdicts on sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York – and is seeking a reversal of that conviction or a new trial, court documents show. In a brief filed Wednesday, the singer’s attorneys argue at least four seated jurors in the New York case were already familiar with the sex trafficking accusations raised against R. Kelly prior to trial, with some having seen a documentary series about him. R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in a New York federal court after a jury convicted him of nine counts, including one charge of racketeering and eight counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law. His attorneys allege the prosecution failed to show there was a “collective of individuals who shared any common purpose other than to promote” R. Kelly’s music. The singer’s attorneys are also seeking to vacate those orders and return the funds confiscated from his trust account.

In Japan, DeSantis is expected to meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, said two other people, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. Back home in Florida, there are signs he is beginning to build out a foreign policy apparatus. His political operation is in the process of bringing on Dustin Carmack, a cybersecurity and intelligence expert with significant foreign policy experience, said one of the people. DeSantis traveled to Washington earlier this week to meet with Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. DeSantis is set to address an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, a major think tank, on Friday.

☆ A Dancer’s Life: Chita Rivera on Working Hard and Learning From the Best
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Juan A. Ramírez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“She makes you feel immediately part of a team,” Benanti said. “She’s not just out there for herself. “When you hear Chita, you see Chita. When you work with somebody like that, their range is so enormous that there’s nothing you can’t write,” he said of developing characters with Rivera. This constant work is all she knows, Rivera said, though it has left her with a slight blind spot when it comes to the business she so loves.

☆ Opinion | Sorry, Republicans, Your Trans Panic Won’t Help You Win
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Lydia Polgreen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

State legislatures across the country are enacting draconian abortion bans that are producing predictably tragic outcomes. It has become blindingly obvious what happens when Republicans legislate what Americans do with their sex organs. For years even before the fall of Roe, conservatives have used hard-edge anti-trans messaging in both red and swing state races, only to come up short. issues as a wedge in races in swing states from the Midwest to the Sunbelt to New England. The data suggest that opposition to trans rights cannot overcome — or possibly even make a dent in — the advantage that comes to Democrats in swing states for supporting abortion rights.

☆ China to close airspace north of Taiwan April 16-18, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 12 (Reuters) - China is planning to close the airspace north of Taiwan from April 16 to 18, four sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could disrupt flights around the region. China and Taiwan's foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It comes as China rounds off several days of military training around self-ruled Taiwan, a response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's recent meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California which infuriated Beijing. One senior official with direct knowledge of the matter said the flight ban would affect 60%-70% of flights going between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as flights between Taiwan and South Korea, Japan and North America. Reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei and Sakura Murakami and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Total non-OPEC liquid fuels production is expected to grow by 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 and by 1 million bpd in 2024, the EIA said in its Short Term Energy Outlook. OPEC output will fall by 500,000 bpd in 2023, then rise by 1 million bpd in 2024, after the group's output agreement expires, EIA forecast. U.S. crude production set to rise 5.5% to 12.54 million bpd this year and another 1.7%, to 12.75 million bpd, in 2024. Liquid fuels consumption will rise by 1.4 million bpd in 2023 and by 1.8 million bpd in 2024, EIA said. U.S petroleum and other liquid fuels consumption would tick up 0.5% to 20.4 million bpd in 2023 and rise 1.6% to 20.7 million bpd in 2024, EIA added.

☆ This former Trump White House official says Republicans are 'such nerds' for pushing a 'ridiculous' ban on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But John McEntee, a former Trump White House official, thinks that's "ridiculous." But John McEntee, who worked as a top White House staffer when former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the app via executive order, says he's unabashedly "pro-TikTok" and insists the push from the right to ban the Chinese-owned app is "ridiculous." "I think Republicans are such nerds for even doing this," McEntee, the one-time Director of the Official of Presidential Personnel, told Insider in an interview on Thursday. In that job, he reportedly scrutinized White House staffers for their perceived loyalty and played a significant role in the effort to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election results on January 6, 2021. In one widely-viewed TikTok, McEntee dances to Demi Lovato's "La La Land" while riffing on liberals attending their first protest, making hand-horns as Lovato sings the phrase "converse with my dress."

April 4 (Reuters) - Wisconsin voters on Tuesday elected liberal Janet Protasiewicz to the state Supreme Court, flipping control to a liberal majority ahead of rulings on an abortion ban and other matters that could play a role in the 2024 presidential election. But it was abortion that dominated the campaign, with the court expected in the coming months to decide whether to uphold the state's 1849 abortion ban. Protasiewicz put abortion at the center of her campaign, saying in one advertisement that she supports "a woman's freedom to make her own decision on abortion." [1/9] Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz celebrates after the race was called for her during her election night watch party in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., April 4, 2023. In addition, the court may revisit the state's congressional and legislative maps, which Republicans have drawn to maximize their political advantage.

April 4 (Reuters) - Wisconsin voters on Tuesday elected liberal Janet Protasiewicz to the state Supreme Court, flipping control to a liberal majority ahead of rulings on an abortion ban and other matters that could play a role in the 2024 presidential election. But it was abortion that dominated the campaign, with the court expected in the coming months to decide whether to uphold the state's 1849 abortion ban. That law took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year to eliminate a nationwide right to abortion. [1/7] Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz celebrates after the race was called for her during her election night watch party in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., April 4, 2023. Republicans portrayed Protasiewicz as soft on crime and said she would use the court to advance a liberal agenda, regardless of the law.

☆ Russia launches 17 drones on Ukraine, 14 destroyed - Ukraine's Air Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 4 (Reuters) - Russia sent 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's Air Force command said early on Tuesday, with its air-defence systems destroying 14 of them. "In total, up to 17 launches of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacks were recorded, presumably from the eastern coast area of the Sea of Azov," the command said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Yuriy Kruk, head of the regional military administration in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, said the region was struck with a number of drones. "As a result of the work of the air defence systems, there is damage," Kruk said on the administration's Facebook page. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

☆ Putin ally accuses Western leaders of blood on their hands for supporting Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 4 (Reuters) - Russia's parliament speaker said on Tuesday that Western leaders have blood on their hands for supporting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and that support has led to the creation of a "terrorist state" in Europe's centre. Vyacheslav Volodin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said that the killing of prominent war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in St Petersburg over the weekend was a "terrorist act" committed by Kyiv. "The support of Washington and Brussels for the Kyiv authorities has led to the creation of a terrorist state in the centre of Europe," Volodin said on the Telegram messaging app. "The blood of the dead and wounded is on the hands of (U.S. President Joe) Biden, (President Emmanuel) Macron, (German Chancellor Olaf) Scholz and other heads of state who support the Zelenskiy regime." Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ With abortion in the balance, Wisconsin voters to choose new high court judge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/9] Supporters of Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly cheer during a campaign event the night before Wisconsin's Supreme Court election, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S., April 3, 2023. Abortion has dominated the campaign, with the court expected in the coming months to decide whether to uphold the state's 1849 abortion ban. The state's Democratic attorney general, Josh Kaul, has challenged the statute's validity in a lawsuit backed by Democratic Governor Tony Evers. "Judges are supposed to wear a black robe, but she's made clear she'll be wearing a blue robe," said Mark Jefferson, the state Republican chair. "What we are seeing in this race is an indication that this is a new era for state Supreme Court elections," he said.

Oil prices jumped over 6% on Monday, with U.S. crude futures topping $80 per barrel. The U.S. pumped nearly 12.5 million bpd in January, according to the latest government data. U.S. cash crude prices strengthened on Monday, with Mars Sour gaining 50 cents to trade at a $1.40 discount to U.S. crude futures . U.S. seaborne crude exports last month hit 4.74 million bpd, the highest monthly total since at least January 2020, Vortexa data showed. "This development should bode well for already strong U.S. crude exports with increased medium- and heavy-sour Canadian crude exports from the U.S. in order to supply a global market which is already short on sour crude," said Rohit Rathod, senior oil market analyst at Vortexa.

☆ Bomb that killed Russian war blogger wounded 32, RIA reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 3 (Reuters) - The number of people wounded in the bomb blast that killed a prominent Russian military blogger in St Petersburg on Sunday has risen to 32 from 25 reported earlier, Russia's RIA sate news agency reported. Citing the ministry of health, RIA reported on Monday that 10 of the people were in a serious condition. [1/3] Investigators and members of emergency services work at the site of an explosion in a cafe in Saint Petersburg, Russia April 2, 2023. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov 1 2 3Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a St Petersburg cafe in what appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' borders with NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 3 (Reuters) - Russia will move its tactical nuclear weapons close to the western borders of Belarus, the Russian envoy to Minsk said on Sunday, placing them at NATO's threshold in a move likely to further escalate Moscow's standoff with the West. In one of the Russia's most pronounced nuclear signals since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, President Vladimir Putin said on March 26 that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The weapons "will be moved to the western border of our union state and will increase the possibilities to ensure security," Russian ambassador to Belarus, Boris Gryzlov, told Belarusian state television. The U.S. and Kyiv's other allies have said they were concerned about the possibility that Russia would send tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, with President Joe Biden saying it was "worrisome." President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Belarus would also allow Russia to put intercontinental nuclear missiles there too if necessary.

☆ War has killed 262 Ukrainian athletes, sports minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 2 (Reuters) - Russia's war against Ukraine has claimed the lives of 262 Ukrainian athletes and destroyed 363 sports facilities, the country's sports minister, Vadym Huttsait, said on Saturday. "They all support this war and attend events held in support of this war," Huttsait said, according to a transcript on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website. The International Olympic Committee has recommended the gradual return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition as neutrals. Reuters could not independently verify the number of Ukrainian athletes killed or how many facilities have been destroyed. In the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022, a number of Ukrainian national-level athletes have taken up arms voluntarily to defend their country.

☆ Options trader Kevin Kelly on how to hedge during earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOptions trader Kevin Kelly on how to hedge during earnings seasonKevin Kelly, Kelly Intelligence CEO, on hedging during earnings season with CNBC's Tyler Mathisen and the Options Action traders.

Also supporting prices was a Wednesday report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly in the week to March 24 to a two-year low. These factors offset bearish sentiment after a lower than expected cut to Russian crude oil production in the first three weeks of March. The 300,000 bpd production decline compared with targeted cuts of 500,000 bpd, or about 5% of Russian output, sources familiar with the data told Reuters. Meanwhile, OPEC+ is likely to stick to its existing deal on reduced oil output at a meeting on Monday, five delegates from the producer group told Reuters. "If all goes as expected, and we manage to avoid a recession, oil prices will dance around $75-$85/bbl in the coming months," FGE analysts said in a note.

☆ Russian embassy says US wants to play down involvement in Nord Stream blasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - The Russian embassy in the U.S. said on Wednesday Washington is seeking to play down damaging information about the alleged involvement of its intelligence services in last year's blasts that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Moscow failed on Monday to get the U.N. Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into explosions in September that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany and spewed gas into the Baltic Sea. Russian officials reacted angrily and the Kremlin said on Tuesday it would keep demanding an international investigation. The Russian embassy in the U.S. said in a statement posted on its Telegram messaging platform that Washington is doing "everything possible" to prevent "impartial efforts" establish circumstances around the explosions. "We see this as an obvious attempt ... to play down information from reputable journalists that is damaging for the United States about the likely direct involvement of American intelligence services," the embassy said in the statement posted in Russian.

☆ Russia starts exercises with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Russia has begun exercises with its Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system and several thousand troops, its defence ministry said on Wednesday, in what is likely to be seen as another attempt by Moscow to show off its nuclear strength. President Vladimir Putin has aimed to make the Yars missile system, which replaced the Topol system, part of Russia's "invincible weapons" and the mainstay of the ground-based component of its nuclear arsenal. During the exercises, the Yars mobile systems will conduct manoeuvres in three Russian regions, the ministry said, without identifying the regions. There are few confirmed tactical and technical characteristics of the Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile systems, which reportedly have an operational range of 12,000 km (7,500 miles). Since launching an invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Russia has conducted numerous military exercises on its own or with other countries, such as China or South Africa.

☆ The bullish bet on Amgen
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe bullish bet on AmgenKevin Kelly, Kelly Intelligence CEO, discusses his bullish bet on Amgen with CNBC's Tyler Mathisen and the Options Action traders.

☆ Zelenskiy invites Xi to visit Ukraine - AP
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has extended an invitation to Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Xi has not talked to Zelenskiy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year but China published a 12-point plan for "a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis" last month. But the United States has been dismissive of the proposal, given that China has declined to condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The United States says a ceasefire now would lock in Russian territorial gains and give Putin's army more time to regroup. Ukraine has welcomed China's diplomatic involvement but Zelenskiy has said he will only consider peace settlements after Russian troops leave Ukrainian territory.

☆ Kyiv urges Russians not to adopt Ukraine's 'stolen' children
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Children remove their shoes at a facility for people with special needs, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, June 6, 2022. REUTERS/Edgar SuMarch 29 (Reuters) - Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged Russians on Tuesday not to adopt children who she said were "stolen" in Ukraine during the war and deported to Russia. The war that Russia has been waging on its neighbour for 13 months now has seen millions of people displaced, including families and children. According to Ukraine's Ministry of Integration of Occupied Territories, 19,514 Ukrainian children are currently considered illegally deported. Russia has not concealed a programme under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.

☆ Russia fires supersonic anti-ship missile at mock target in Sea of Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 28 (Reuters) - Russia's navy fired supersonic anti-ship missiles at a mock target in the Sea of Japan, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday. "In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile ships of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target," it said in a statement on its Telegram account. "The target, located at a distance of about 100 kilometres (62.14 miles), was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missiles." The P-270 Moskit missile, which has the NATO reporting name or SS-N-22 Sunburn, is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile of Soviet origin, capable of destroying a ship within a range of up to 120 km (75 miles). Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia to complete infrastructure for Poseidon torpedo carriers in 2024 - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Russia plans to complete in early 2024 the construction of its coastal infrastructure in the Pacific Ocean for basing nuclear submarines that will carry the Poseidon nuclear capable super torpedoes, TASS news agency reported on Monday. Russia said in January that it had produced the first set of the Poseidon torpedoes, four years after President Vladimir Putin announced the fundamentally new type of strategic nuclear weapon, confirming it would have its own nuclear power supply. The torpedoes are being developed for deployment on the Belgorod and Khabarovsk nuclear submarines, TASS reported. Russia Pacific Fleet's ballistic nuclear missile submarine base is located on the southeastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East. Russia's major upgrade of the nuclear base comes amid rising U.S.-China tensions over influence in the Western Pacific.

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