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☆ J&J advances $6.475 billion settlement of talc cancer lawsuits
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

It will begin a three-month voting period in hopes of reaching consensus on a settlement of all current and future ovarian cancer claims. Ovarian cancer claims account for 99% of the talc-related lawsuits filed against J&J (JNJ), including about 54,000 lawsuits that are centralized in a New Jersey federal court proceeding. In March, J&J received a new chance to contest the scientific evidence linking talc to ovarian cancer in the centralized litigation in New Jersey federal court. But, the litigation has resulted in some large verdicts for plaintiffs, including a $2.12 billion award in favor of 22 women who blamed their ovarian cancer on asbestos in J&J talc. In the past month, J&J was recently ordered to pay $45 million in a mesothelioma case while winning an ovarian cancer case.

Persons: York Reuters — Johnson, Johnson, J, LTL Organizations: York Reuters, J, LTL, & $ Locations: York, New Jersey

☆ Air Force preparing new charges against airman who leaked classified info on Discord
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US Air Force is preparing new charges within the military justice system against the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year to posting a trove of highly classified intelligence reports and other documents on social media, according to an Air Force spokesperson. But after “close coordination” with the Justice Department, the Air Force has“determined that separate and distinct charges” should be referred against Teixeira “for alleged misconduct related to his military duties,” the spokesperson said. The Air Force will hold a first hearing to review evidence on May 14 at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, the spokesperson said. Prosecutors alleged that while working at a Cape Cod airbase, Teixeira posted messages that included classified information in a Discord chat room called “Thug Shaker Central” before eventually posting photos of documents marked as classified. The documents, some of which were reviewed by CNN, included a wide range of highly classified information, such as blunt assessments on the state of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Persons: Jack Teixeira, Teixeira “, Teixeira, “, ”, CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz Organizations: CNN, US Air Force, Massachusetts Air National, Air Force, Prosecutors, Justice Department, Department of Justice, United States Air Force, Military, The Air Force, Hanscom Air Force Base Locations: Massachusetts, Russia, Ukraine, States

☆ Trump Media insider trading trial begins with co-founder testifying, 'I've never been paid at all'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The first witness in the insider trading case against Bruce Garelick was Andy Litinsky, a co-founder of Trump Media. Garelick has decided to take his chances with a jury after his two co-defendants, the brothers Michael Shvartsman and Gerald Shvartsman, pleaded guilty on April 3 to insider trading charges in the case. Garelick, Bach argued, "acted in good faith at all times." Shahabian repeatedly had Litinsky describe the confidentiality agreements in letters of intent that Trump Media signed with two prospective merger partners, DWAC and Bennessere Capital Acquisition Corp. Asked if he traded stock based on the confidential information, Litinsky likewise replied, "No," noting, "It would be against the rules."

Persons: Bruce Garelick, Amr Alfiky, Donald Trump, Andy Litinsky, Litinsky, Garelick, Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman, Gerald, Attorney Elizabeth Hanft, Michael Schvartsman, Jonathan Bach, Bach, Bruce, Michael Shvartsman's, Matthew Shahabian, Wes Moss, Trump, Michael Kovac, Wireimage, Shahabian Organizations: Manhattan Federal Court, Reuters, Trump Media, Trump, Attorney, NBC, Hammerstein, DWAC, Bennessere, Corp Locations: Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Florida, DWAC, Providence , Rhode Island, Miami

☆ Truth Social Co-Founder Says Trump Nearly Derailed Deal That Led to Market Windfall
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Matthew Goldstein | More About Matthew Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company is currently worth over $6 billion. But the agreement that set the stage for its stock market debut in March was nearly derailed years earlier by Mr. Trump, who is now the biggest beneficiary of its richly valued stock, one of the firm’s co-founders said on Wednesday. Andy Litinsky, who helped start Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, testified in federal court that he had doubts about whether Mr. Trump would agree to take the firm public by merging it with a cash-rich shell company, even as the deal-signing ceremony was set to take place at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in late 2021. Mr. Litinsky, a former contestant on Mr. Trump’s reality television show “The Apprentice,” said that before the ceremony, Mr. Trump had asked him whether he should go ahead with the merger of Trump Media and the shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corporation. Mr. Litinsky was in court in Manhattan testifying as a witness in an insider trading trial that arose from an investigation of traders who made millions of dollars with well-timed purchases of Digital World’s stock before the merger announcement on Oct. 20, 2021.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Andy Litinsky, Litinsky, ” Organizations: Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth, Trump Media, Acquisition, Mr, Digital Locations: Manhattan

☆ Donald Trump explains his militaristic plan to deport 15-20 million people
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Trump repeated false claims that many migrants are former prisoners or have been institutionalized in their home countries. John Moore/Getty ImagesTrump promised mass deportation in 2016 tooWhile he did not employ an Eisenhower-like effort the first time he was president, Trump is bringing the pledge back. Trump told Time he would target between 15 million and 20 million people who he said are undocumented in the US. Pew Research Center estimated the number of undocumented migrants in the US was around 10.5 million in 2021. As of 2021, it estimated about 3% of the US population and about 22% of the foreign-born population were undocumented.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, “, ”, ’, Eisenhower, John Moore, Getty Images Trump, Joe Biden, ” Trump, Stephen Miller, We’re Organizations: CNN, Capitol, Historians, Getty Images, Eisenhower, Trump, Pew Research Center, National Guard, Guard, The New York Times, Supreme Locations: reclassifying, Mexico, Rio, El Paso , Texas, China

☆ The Fed could make a big change today. We’re not talking about interest rates
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Wednesday’s Federal Reserve policy decision will likely be pretty boring for investors — officials are widely expected to keep interest rates the same, just as they have since July 2023. They think that the Fed may curtail its quantitative tightening (QT) program — that’s the selling off of its assets to decrease money supply and increase interest rates — by as much as half. Those purchases ended up pushing down interest rates in certain parts of the economy, like housing and auto sales. That led to a “repo crisis”, where the interest rates for overnight loans between banks spiked unusually high. That’s because a taper should send bond prices higher, and interest rates lower.

Persons: there’s, Jamie Dimon, Jerome Powell doesn’t, Krishna Guha, Marco Casiraghi, ”, Bill Adams, Biden, reclassify, General Merrick Garland, Xochitl Hinojosa, “, Nancy Mace, Earl Blumenauer, ” Read, Zhao, Allison Morrow, ” Binance Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Fed, JPMorgan Chase, Comerica Bank, Bank of America, CNN, US Department of Justice, Federal Register, Congress, Associated Press, Republican, CZ, Binance, Bloomberg Locations: New York, South Carolina, Oregon, Seattle

☆ Interest rates staying where they are is a forgone conclusion, but the Fed's decision day still matters
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, what another delay to interest rate cuts means for a market banking on them. The big storyThe waiting game continuesChip Somodevilla/Getty Images; BISpoiler alert: The Federal Reserve won't be lowering interest rates today. The official announcement won't come until this afternoon, but interest rates staying where they are is a forgone conclusion. The CME FedWatch Tool, which calculates the probability of the Fed's decision based on interest rate traders, has the odds of rates staying untouched at 97.5%.) Talk of cutting interest rates has been going on for the better part of a year.

Persons: —, it's, doesn't, We'll, Chip Somodevilla, Jerome Powell, Matt Rourke, Sarah Silbiger, Alyssa Powell, CME's, aren't, Powell, Erin Schaff, Paul Krugman, Donald Trump's, Krugman, Trump, Marko Kolanovic, Rebecca Zisser, Instagram, Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Amazon, Emma Tucker's, Steve Bannon, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, Stagecoach, Trump, Tech, Investors, Bloomberg, Getty, The New York Times, Hunterbrook, JPMorgan, Adobe, Wall Street Journal, Staff, eBay, Pfizer, Google Locations: stagflation, New York, London

☆ DOJ charges 'Bitcoin Jesus' with $48 million tax fraud, seeks extradition
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

(Photo by Danny Lee/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)The Justice Department unveiled criminal tax fraud charges this week against a prolific bitcoin investor named Roger Ver. He came to be known as "Bitcoin Jesus," for getting in early on the digital currency and making a fortune. The DOJ alleges that in preparing those tax filings, Ver underrepresented his bitcoin holdings and evaded taxes on them. The United States is seeking his extradition to face trial on eight counts related to tax evasion, mail fraud and filing false tax returns. According to the indictment, the IRS used a strategy called "clustering analysis" to track the blockchain and identify Ver's bitcoin transactions.

Persons: Roger Ver, Danny Lee, Ver, Bryan Skarlatos, bitcoin Organizations: South China Morning, Getty, Justice Department, Internal Revenue Service, DOJ, CNBC, eBay, IRS Locations: South, California, Caribbean, St, Kitts, Nevis, U.S, Spain, United States, Pest

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks at a Binance fifth anniversary event in Paris, France, July 8, 2022. Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani agrees, adding that Zhao's personal wealth won't be affected by his sentence. That's a different siutation from Sam Bankman-Fried, the controversial ex-CEO and founder of crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison term for crimes connected to the operation of his crypto exchange. "Negative long-term impact on Binance will diminish the value of CZ's investment in the crypto exchange," said Yadav.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Reuters Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Gabriel Abed, Richard Jones, Tre Lovell, Neama Rahmani, David Ryder, Binance, Braden Perry, Sam Bankman, Joshua de Vos, de Vos, Fried, Yesha Yadav, That's, Forbes, he's, Lucas Kiely, Kiely —, —, Yadav, it's Organizations: Staff, Reuters, CNBC, U.S, U.S . Department of Justice, District, Toyota, Bloomberg, Getty, Bank, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Vanderbilt University, Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Locations: Paris, France, Seattle, Zhao, Binance, Los Angeles, Seattle , Washington, Dubai, U.S, bitcoin, Iran

☆ Binance founder is sentenced to 4 months in prison on money-laundering charges
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison after pleading guilty to money-laundering charges last year. The sentence, handed down in a US federal court in Seattle, is far lighter than the three years prosecutors had argued for. Prior to the sentencing hearing Tuesday, Zhao, who goes by CZ, apologized for mistakes he made as CEO of Binance, the crypto exchange he founded in 2017. “Words cannot explain how deeply I regret my choices that result in me being before the Court,” he said in a letter to the judge. Zhao, who is 47 and has a personal fortune of nearly $40 billion, according to Bloomberg, agreed to step down as CEO and pay $200 million in fines.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, ”, “, ” Binance Organizations: New, New York CNN, CZ, Binance, Bloomberg Locations: New York, Seattle

☆ Law Firm Defending Trump Seeks to Withdraw From a Long-Running Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Ken Bensinger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A law firm that has long defended Donald J. Trump’s campaign and businesses from employment lawsuits has abruptly asked to withdraw from a yearslong case over what it calls an “irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.”The firm — LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Rosen, Kittridge, Carlin and McPartland — has represented Mr. Trump’s political operation in numerous suits dating to his first presidential run, helping secure several settlements and dismissals and billing nearly $3 million in the process. But late on Friday, it asked a federal magistrate judge to allow it to withdraw from a suit filed by a former campaign surrogate, A.J. Delgado, who says she was sidelined by the campaign in 2016 after revealing she was pregnant. Delgado in 2016. Credit... via YouTubeIn the request, filed in federal court in Manhattan, the lead lawyer, Jared Blumetti, did not provide any details about the dispute, asking permission to “explain” the matter privately with the judge. Mr. Blumetti did not respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Donald J, ”, —, Hornik, Greenberg, Rosen, Kittridge, Carlin, McPartland —, Delgado, Jared Blumetti, Blumetti Organizations: YouTube Locations: Manhattan

☆ Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao sentenced to four months in prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Changpeng Zhao, founder of crypto exchange Binance, has been sentenced to 4 months in prison. AdvertisementChangpeng Zhao, the founder and ex-CEO of crypto exchange giant Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to charges in a Seattle federal court that the trading platform violated US anti-money laundering requirements. Related storiesAfter pleading guilty, Zhao, once one of the wealthiest people in crypto, was directed to step down from the helm of Binance last November. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of the exchange, was eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of multiple fraud charges. Binance and the US Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider before publication.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, —, Sam Bankman, Binance, US Department of Justice didn't Organizations: DOJ, Service, US Department of Justice, Commodity Futures, Trading Commission, Business Locations: Seattle, Binance, Iran

☆ 8 Daily Newspapers Sue OpenAI and Microsoft Over A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital sued OpenAI and Microsoft on Tuesday, accusing the tech companies of illegally using news articles to power their A.I. All are owned by MediaNews Group or Tribune Publishing, subsidiaries of Alden, the country’s second-largest newspaper operator. In the complaint, the publications accuse OpenAI and Microsoft of using millions of copyrighted articles without permission to train and feed their generative A.I. products, including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. This, it said, reduced the need for readers to pay subscriptions to support local newspapers and deprived the publishers of revenue both from subscriptions and from licensing their content elsewhere.

Persons: OpenAI, Paul, Paul Pioneer Press — Organizations: Alden Global Capital, Microsoft, New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post, Orange County Register, Paul Pioneer Press, U.S . Southern, of, MediaNews Group, Tribune Publishing Locations: Florida, Orange, U.S, of New York, Alden

Changpeng Zhao, former chief executive officer of Binance, arrives at federal court in Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Binance's billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange. The sentence in Seattle federal court was significantly less than the three years that federal prosecutors were seeking for Zhao. In November, Zhao struck a deal with the U.S. government to resolve a multiyear investigation into Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The action against Binance and its founder was a joint effort by the Department of Justice, the CFTC and the Treasury Department, though the SEC was notably absent.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao Organizations: U.S, Bank, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Binance, Department of Justice, CFTC, Treasury Department, SEC Locations: Seattle , Washington, US, Seattle, Binance, U.S

☆ Even as He Faces Prison Time, Binance’s Founder Plans a Comeback
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( David Yaffe-Bellany | Cade Metz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And he chatted about start-ups with Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI. After pleading guilty to a money-laundering violation in November, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, did not sit still. A federal judge denied his request to return home to Dubai, but Mr. Zhao, 47, was free to roam the United States. When he pleaded guilty, Mr. Zhao, once the most powerful figure in the global crypto industry, resigned as Binance’s chief executive and agreed to pay a $50 million fine. But Mr. Zhao, who goes by the initials CZ, is already looking to the future.

Persons: Sam Altman, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Forbes Organizations: OpenAI Locations: Montana, U.S, Telluride, Colo, Moab , Utah, Dubai, United States, Seattle

☆ Eight newspaper publishers sue Microsoft and OpenAI over copyright infringement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Eight U.S. newspaper publishers filed suit against Microsoft and OpenAI in a New York federal court on Tuesday, claiming the technology companies reuse their articles without permission in generative artificial intelligence products and incorrectly attribute inaccurate information to them. The group of eight newspaper publishers takes issue with ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot assistant — available in the Windows operating system, the Bing search engine, and other products the software maker produces. The legal challenge comes four months after The New York Times sued OpenAI over copyright infringement in the ChatGPT chatbot that the startup released in late 2022. The New York Times case also touched on the matter of OpenAI models regurgitating information from its articles. Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the correct day the lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI was filed.

Persons: Sam Altman, Microsoft's, OpenAI, Axel Springer Organizations: Economic, U.S, Microsoft, Bing, Southern, of, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Sun Sentinel, The Mercury, The Denver Post, Orange County Register, Pioneer Press of Minnesota, CNBC, New York Times, OpenAI's, Financial, Google Locations: Davos, Switzerland, New York, U.S, of New York, Florida, California, Orange

☆ This state is one of the last strongholds for machine politics. That's about to change.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

At the end of March, a federal judge sided with Kim, blocking Democrats from using the so-called "county line" system in the state's upcoming June primaries. That's set to bring a stark change to the way ballots look — and potentially, a total overhaul in the state's political culture. AdvertisementHere's what to know about the "county line" and why it may be going away for good. A 2020 Democratic primary ballot in Mercer County, New Jersey. "I think you'll see a more candidate-centric politics," said Jersey City Councilman James Solomon, a longtime opponent of the county-line system.

Persons: —, Andy Kim, Kim, That's, Kim et, Hanlon, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Hanlon et al, Bob Menendez's, Democratic Sen, Bob Menendez, Menendez, Spencer Platt, Tammy Murphy, Phil Murphy, Zahid Quraishi, Tom Williams, Murphy, Rob Menendez —, Ravi Bhalla, James Solomon, They've, they've Organizations: Democratic, Service, Garden State, New York City, Getty, Democratic Gov, Jersey City Locations: New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware, Salem, Sussex, Mercer County , New Jersey, Hanlon et, New York, Hoboken, Jersey

☆ Mark Meadows asked the Supreme Court to recognize his 'just following orders' defense. A right-wing justice wasn't buying it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Mark Meadows has requested Supreme Court to recognize immunity for president's subordinates. One of Trump's own Supreme Court appointees seemed to draw the opposite conclusion. AdvertisementBefore the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in former President Donald Trump's immunity case, Mark Meadows tried to get his foot in the door. AdvertisementJudges have denied Meadows's attempts to move his criminal case to federal court, which could be more favorable legal territory. AdvertisementA Trump appointee had the opposite approachIn Thursday's hearings, the Supreme Court didn't directly take up the issue.

Persons: Mark Meadows, Trump's, —, Donald Trump's, Trump, Joe Biden's, Meadows, doesn't, didn't, Neil Gorsuch —, John Sauer, Gorsuch, Sauer, we've, they're, Anthony Michael Kreis, George Terwilliger, Michael Dreeben, Amy Coney Barrett, Barrett, Donald Trump, Neil Gorsuch, Carolyn Kaster, Samuel Alito, Alito, Kreis, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, That's, it's Organizations: Trump, Service, Republican, Attorney's, Supreme, Constitutional Convention, Georgia State University, Justice Department, Department of Justice, Kreis Locations: Georgia, Meadows, Fulton County, Atlanta, Fulton

☆ Old, unused, and 'twisty' — meet the obscure NY election-conspiracy law that just might get Trump convicted
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Attorneys specializing in state election law believe the statute has never been prosecuted. Jeenah Moon-Pool/Getty ImagesTwo highly respected law professors specializing in New York election law said the same. "I think it's very smart of prosecutors to use this state law, whether it's been used before or not," said Jeffrey M. Wice, who teaches state election law at New York Law School. Related storiesThese same three "underlying crimes" — using state election law, federal election law, and state tax law — were again given equal prominence here in a February 15 decision by Merchan. "You're having an underlying crime within an underlying crime to get to that felony," Connor told BI.

Persons: Alvin Bragg's, Trump, —, Donald Trump's, Donald Trump, Law Trump, Stormy Daniels, Joshua Steinglass, Juan Merchan, Steinglass, I've, Sen, Martin Connor, Joseph T, Burns, that's, it's, Jeffrey M, Wice, — Merchan, Alvin K, Trump's, Attorney Alvin Bragg, Michael Cohen, Daniels, Cohen, Connor, Prosecutors, Jerry H, he's, Goldfeder, Cozen O'Connor Organizations: Service, Manhattan, New York, Court, New, Republican, Democratic NY, Erie, Erie County Republican, New York Law School, Attorney, National Enquirer, Trump, Fordham Law, Democracy Locations: Manhattan, New York, Brooklyn, Erie County, Buffalo , New York

☆ Opinion | This Whole King Trump Thing Is Getting Awfully Literal
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump’s claim that he has absolute immunity for criminal acts taken in office as president is an insult to reason, an assault on common sense and a perversion of the fundamental maxim of American democracy: that no man is above the law. More astonishing than the former president’s claim to immunity, however, is the fact that the Supreme Court took the case in the first place. It is a process so vital, and so precious, that its first occurrence — with the defeat of John Adams and the Federalists at the hands of Thomas Jefferson’s Republicans in the 1800 presidential election — marks a second sort of American Revolution. And if the trial occurs after an election in which Trump wins a second term and he is convicted, then the court will have teed the nation up for an acute constitutional crisis. A president, for the first time in the nation’s history, might try to pardon himself for his own criminal behavior.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, It’s, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson’s Organizations: Supreme, Federalists, Thomas Jefferson’s Republicans, Trump Locations: United States

☆ Ashley Biden, in unsealed letter to judge, detailed ‘pain’ from diary theft
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden, wrote a judge to say she would not attend the criminal sentencing earlier this month of the woman who stole her diary because "it would only increase my pain." The highly emotional letter was unsealed by U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain more than three weeks after the judge sentenced Aimee Harris to one month in federal jail and three months of home detention. "My goal in asking Your Honor to impose a term of incarceration is to ensure that another woman isn't bullied and shamed like this ever again," Biden wrote. Biden also asked Swain to sentence the Florida resident to prison followed by a lengthy probation period, according to the letter unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Project Veritas did not publish the diary, but another right-wing outlet did, shortly before the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won.

Persons: Ashley Biden, Joe Biden, Laura Taylor Swain, Aimee Harris, isn't, Biden, Harris, Swain, David McCaw, Robert Kurlander Organizations: U.S, The New York Times, Veritas, Project Veritas Locations: Angeles, Los Angeles, Florida, Manhattan

☆ FTC is sued by business groups over its ban on noncompete agreements, which may delay enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Another lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas by business tax services firm Ryan. “The FTC contends that by using regulation they can simply declare common business practices to be ‘unfair methods of competition’ and thus illegal. “If the FTC can regulate noncompete agreements, then they can decide to regulate or even ban any other business practice. Long delays may be on tap before the rule takes effectThe FTC rule isn’t set to go into effect until 120 days from the day it is published in the Federal Register. In the near term, “I’m generally telling clients to take a wait-and-see approach with respect to the FTC rule while court challenges play out in the next few weeks,” Turinsky said.

Persons: Ryan, ”, Daniel Turinsky, DLA Piper, Lina Khan, Jake Tapper ”, isn’t, —, ” Turinsky, James Witz, ” Witz Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Trade Commission, US Chamber of Commerce, Business, Eastern District of Texas, Northern District of, US Chamber, FTC, Chamber, Longview Chamber, Commerce, Federal Locations: New York, United States, Eastern District, Northern District, Northern District of Texas, Longview, Longview , Texas, Texas, Littler

☆ Alphabet issues first ever dividend, $70 billion buyback
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Alphabet said Thursday that it's issuing a 20-cent per share dividend, the company's first ever, and that its board authorized the repurchase of up to $70 billion in stock. The dividend is payable to all class of shares, including super-voting Class B shareholders, as well as nonvoting Class C shareholders. Co-founder Sergey Brin, who owns more than 730 million Class B and C shares, will receive a $146 million payout. Co-founder Larry Page, who owns 389 million Class B shares, will get a dividend payment of $78 million. Amazon's largest share repurchase, in 2022, was for up to $10 billion.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Sergey Brin, Larry Page Organizations: Google, Investors, Meta, Amazon Locations: Washington ,

☆ How a Loss in the Emergency Abortion Case Could Become a Win for Biden - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Mary Ziegler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But a decision in the second case, on access to emergency abortions, may have much more profound consequences, both for November’s election and the ongoing struggle over reproductive rights. At issue is whether EMTALA requires physicians to offer emergency abortions even when state abortion bans — including those enacted after the overturning of Roe — do not permit them. The Biden administration brought suit against Idaho in federal court, arguing that federal law does pre-empt state policy on the matter. In such states, emergency rooms “are so scared of a pregnant patient, that the emergency medicine staff won’t even look. They just want these people gone,” Sara Rosenbaum, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University, told The A.P.

Persons: Roe —, Biden, —, ” Sara Rosenbaum Organizations: Labor, Biden, Associated Press, George Washington University Locations: Idaho

☆ Baltimore officials accused the ship that crashed into the Key Bridge of being 'unseaworthy' and leaving port even though its alarms had already gone off
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewCity of Baltimore officials on Monday accused the owner and manager of the ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge of allowing the vessel to set sail despite it being "clearly unseaworthy." "Reporting has indicated that, even before leaving port, alarms showing an inconsistent power supply on the Dali had sounded," the court petition reads. Authorities found that the 984-foot ship lost power as it navigated toward the bridge, causing it to lose propulsion. The crew on board broadcast a mayday call just before impact, allowing traffic police to seal access to the bridge. AdvertisementMeanwhile, President Joe Biden has said that the federal government will fund the reconstruction of the Key Bridge, and has agreed to disburse some $60 million in aid to the region.

Persons: —, Francis Scott Key, Dali, Grace Ocean, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, Joe Biden Organizations: Service, Synergy Marine, Business, Baltimore Mayor, Grace, Synergy, Port, Authorities, National Transportation Safety Board, FBI, Washington Post Locations: Baltimore, Maryland, Singapore, Port of Baltimore, Sri Lanka, Patapsco

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