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ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge who rejected efforts by former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his charges in the Georgia election subversion case to federal court is set to hear arguments Monday from former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on the same issue. Clark is one of five defendants seeking to move his case to federal court. While the ruling could signal an uphill battle for Clark and the others, Jones made clear he would assess each case individually. The practical effects of moving to federal court would be a jury pool that includes a broader area than just overwhelmingly Democratic Fulton County and a trial that would not be photographed or televised, as cameras are not allowed inside federal courtrooms. The law allowing federal officers to move a case to federal court “is designed to protect legitimate federal authority from state and local interference, not to afford a federal forum to individuals who blatantly sought to misuse the weight of federal authority to interfere with matters of state control,” prosecutors wrote.

Persons: Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, Fani Willis, Clark, Donald Trump, Joe Biden's, Steve Jones, Meadows, Trump, Jones, he’s, of Georgia ”, Brian Kemp, ” Clark, ”, Willis, ’, Richard Donoghue, “, Trump's, Jack Smith, Biden Organizations: ATLANTA, —, Trump White House, Justice, Trump, U.S, District, Democratic, Justice Department, Georgia Gov, Fulton County Superior Court, State, U.S . Department of Justice, Prosecutors, Department Locations: Georgia, Fulton County, Meadows, Democratic Fulton County, of Georgia, United States, Virginia

☆ Austrian prosecutors drop bribery investigation into ex-finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Austrian anti-corruption prosecutors said on Tuesday they had dropped a bribery investigation into former conservative Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel for lack of proof. A concrete donation by the gambling company to the party could not be proven," the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) said in a statement. Kurz led his conservatives to victory in a parliamentary election following the government's collapse in 2019 but was forced to resign as chancellor in 2021 when he was placed under investigation over corruption allegations. He is also under investigation for possible perjury in testimony to a parliamentary commission. Their party remains in government and leads a coalition with the Greens formed in 2020.

Persons: Gernot Bluemel, Christian Strache, Strache, Sebastian Kurz, Bluemel, Kurz, Francois Murphy, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Finance, Party, Heinz, Central Prosecutors, Economic, Greens, Thomson Locations: VIENNA, Austrian, Austria

☆ SpaceX, US FAA close Starship launch probe with dozens of fixes
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"The closure of the mishap investigation does not signal an immediate resumption of Starship launches at Boca Chica," the agency said, referring to SpaceX's sprawling Starship launch site in south Texas. It was unclear how many of the corrective actions SpaceX has already implemented, which will impact Starship's next launch timeline. Later on Friday, SpaceX's CEO and founder Elon Musk asked the FAA "what are the 63 corrective actions?" In line with FAA regulations, Musk's space company led the Starship investigation and largely created the list of 63 corrective actions for the FAA to approve. The agency requires SpaceX complete those actions before it can obtain a new Starship launch license.

Persons: SpaceX's, Joe Skipper, Elon Musk, Musk, Joey Roulette, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter, Josie Kao, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Boca Chica, REUTERS, Rights, U.S . Federal Aviation Administration, SpaceX's, FAA, SpaceX, NASA, Boca, Thomson Locations: Brownsville , Texas, U.S, Texas, Boca Chica

☆ Peter Navarro: How a former Trump official's conviction could echo in ex-president's cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —The swift conviction of Donald Trump’s former trade adviser Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress sent two warnings to the multiple co-defendants in the ex-president’s approaching criminal trials. The second is that loyalty to Trump can be hazardous and often gets those who show it cross-wise with the law. Navarro, for example, who is is unrepentant and a true Trump believer, pledged to appeal based on executive privilege issues. (A CNN poll released Thursday found no clear leader in a hypothetical matchup between Biden and Trump.) Up until now, Trump associates often paid a heavy price for falling afoul of the law while their leader escaped.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Peter Navarro, Trump, Navarro, He’s, ”, –, Steve Bannon, Trump’s, Fani Willis, Willis, Yuscil Taveras, Taveras, Tavares, Jack Smith, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, “, you’ve, …, Walt Nauta, Carlos de Oliveira, Mark Meadows, Meadows, he’ll, Rudolph Giuliani, Giuliani –, Giuliani, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Paula Reid, Bannon, Allen Weisselberg, Michael Cohen, It’s, Paul Manafort, Robert Mueller’s, Michael Flynn Organizations: CNN, White House, Republican House, Trump, GOP, Central ”, White, New York, Giuliani, Trump Organization, Biden Locations: Washington ,, Georgia, Florida, Fulton County, Lago, North Carolina, Meadows, Bedminster , New Jersey, Congress, Russia, Washington

☆ Green Thumb Industries CEO talks HHS official's call to reclassify marijuana as low risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | 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 EmailGreen Thumb Industries CEO talks HHS official's call to reclassify marijuana as low riskHosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC.

Persons: Brian Sullivan, “ Organizations: Thumb, CNBC

☆ Ukraine angered by NATO official's suggestion that it could 'give up territory' to Russia and get NATO membership in return
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A NATO official said Ukraine could give territory to Russia in order to join the military alliance. Ukraine's NATO membership has been a divisive issue among its Western allies. "I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return," he said, per the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang. Ukraine's NATO membership has been a sticking point among its Western allies. "It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership," Zelenskyy said last month.

Persons: Stian Jenssen, Jenssen, Mihaylo Podolyak, Podolyak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: NATO, Service, Ukrainian, Norwegian, Gang Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Arendal, Norway, Baltic States, France, Germany

☆ Wagner suffered staggering losses in Ukraine, official says: 28% dead, a further 51% wounded, totaling 62K casualties in just over a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

28% of the Wagner Group's force sent to Ukraine was killed, according to a group official. A Wagner Group official identified as Marx said that 78,000 fighters went to Ukraine with the mercenary group, and 22,000 were killed, according to Telegram channel Razgruzka Vagnera. That means the Wagner Group had 62,000 casualties in total, according to the official's figures. The UK defense ministry on Friday also pointed to huge losses of Russian prisoners fighting in Ukraine. While the Wagner Group is not the only group that recruited prisoners for Ukraine, it was the most prolific group to do so.

Persons: Wagner, Marx, Yevgeny Prigozhin's, Razgruzka Vagnrea, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Putin Organizations: Kremlin, Service, Group, Moscow Times, Wagner Group, Wagner Locations: Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Bakhmut, Russian, Moscow, Africa

☆ These secret US Navy underwater microphones built to detect Soviet submarines may be what caught the sounds of the Titan submersible imploding
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Navy system detected what is believed to have been the implosion of the Titan submersible lost touring the Titanic. That system, a naval expert said, is likely the undersea hydrophones of the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System. That system, which was initially just the Sound Surveillance System, has been listening for enemy submarine activity for decades. This system, first constructed in the early 1950s, is called the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). Clark said the reporting indicated that the SOSUS hydrophones are likely what detected the final moments of the Titan submersible.

Persons: —, Bryan Clark, they've, Clark Organizations: Navy, Titan, Undersea Surveillance, Service, US Navy, US Coast Guard, Expeditions, Street, Atlantic, Soviet, Hudson Institute, NPR, New York Times Locations: West, Russia, China, sonobuoys

☆ Russian soldiers really did stand still for 2 hours for their commander's speech, leaving them sitting ducks for a HIMARS strike, Ukrainian official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian soldiers stood still for two hours, making them sitting ducks, a Ukrainian official said. Russian bloggers were angry after reports said the soldiers stood in the open waiting for a speech. The Ukrainian official said it was more than enough time to transport HIMARS and "hit them." Rybar said the attack, which he said involved HIMARS and Ukraine's artillery, happened in the city of Kreminna, in Luhansk. Another Russian blogger, who goes by the name Two Majors, wrote: "Stand in a column for two hours in one place!

Persons: —, Rybar, Insider's Sam Fellman, Russian milbloggers, Matthew Loh, Russia's, Sam Fellman Organizations: Service, Ukraine's High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Kyiv, Arms Army, Moscow Times Locations: Kyiv, Russian, Kreminna, Luhansk, Ukraine

☆ The EU is losing patience with European banks still making money in Russia. A top official is now pressuring them to exit the market 'as soon as they can.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A top ECB official called on EU banks still operating in Russia to exit the market asap. His comments followed news that some Western firms are still operating in Russia, despite sweeping sanctions. It's unclear how many Western banks are still doing business in Russia. The Financial Times reported in January that just a handful of the 45 Western banks with subsidiaries in Russia have managed to exit. Still, EU banks have managed to reduce their exposures to Russian counterparties by 37% in 2022, he said.

Persons: —, Russia —, Andrea Enria, Enria, it's Organizations: ECB, Service, European, European Central Bank, European Financials Conference, Financial Times, Novaya Gazeta Europe, Austria's, Raiffeisen, Reuters, Yale University, Russia Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Novaya

☆ Some European banks are still making money in Russia. The EU is losing patience and pressuring them to exit the market ASAP.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

☆ The indictment against Donald Trump quotes his own 2016 campaign promises slamming Hillary Clinton's emails
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Rhea Mahbubani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In a federal indictment, prosecutors displayed Trump's own campaign promises about handling classified information. "In my administration I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information," he said in August 2016. According to the federal indictment, Trump said on August 18, 2016: "In my administration, I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. A screenshot of a federal indictment unsealed on Friday features Trump's own public statements about how classified information should be handled under the law. The damning indictment also says Trump praised Clinton's lawyers for deleting some of her emails and helping to keep her out of trouble.

Persons: Trump, —, Donald Trump's, Hillary Clinton, Trump's, I'm Organizations: Service, Oval, Department of Justice, Records Locations: Government, Mar

☆ Trump waved classified military documents in front of a writer and a member of his PAC, and said 'it is like, highly confidential', feds allege
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Paul Squire | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donald Trump knew he wasn't supposed to share classified docs, prosecutors allege in an indictment. But he showed off a classified battle plan after he was president, saying "Look what I found," feds allege. He also showed a classified map to a member of his political team at Mar-A-Lago, the indictment says. Look, look at this." Trump also claimed — as his lawyers have in previous media interviews — that he always had the ability to declassify documents.

Persons: Donald Trump, —, Trump, official's, NICHOLAS KAMM, Biden, Jack Smith, Smith, I'm, Sean Hannity Organizations: feds, Mar, Service, White, Getty, PAC, Justice Department of, Records, Fox News, Trump Locations: Lago, Florida, Bedminster , New Jersey, Palm Beach , Florida, Mar

☆ Secret Service agents didn't see an intruder get into a Biden official's home because they were distracted on their cellphones
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Paul Squire | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Secret Service agents missed an intruder at a Biden official's home because they were on their phones. The agents were on their personal cellphones and didn't realize the intruder got in until he had already left, CNN reported. Sullivan confronted the man inside his house and told him to leave, the Washington Post first reported. The Secret Service agents guarding Sullivan's house didn't even realize someone had gotten inside until Sullivan had the confused man leave and then went outside to tell the agents what happened, according to the Post. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: Jake Sullivan's, —, Sullivan Organizations: Biden, CNN, Service, Washington Post, Secret Service

☆ Indian athletes to toss medals into Ganges as they demand official's arrest
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, May 30 (Reuters) - India's top wrestlers have threatened to hurl their medals into the river Ganges on Tuesday as they demand the arrest of the head of the Wrestling Federation of India over sexual harassment allegations. Singh has been stripped of his administrative powers but the wrestlers are seeking his arrest over allegations of sexual harassment against female wrestlers. "For us, our medals are sacred, and so is the river Ganges," they said in a statement in Hindi. "This holy river is the perfect custodian of our medals, not the system that shields the offender." The athletes said that after throwing their medals into the river they would return to New Delhi to begin a hunger strike at the India Gate war memorial.

☆ F-16s for Ukraine: Kyiv would face big hurdles in using US-made jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Ukraine’s quest for US-made F-16 fighter jets received a big boost over the weekend when US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Kyiv’s pilots to be trained to fly them. In fact, one active duty F-16 pilot told CNN that expectations may be way too high. An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft has its landing gear extended to land at the US military airfield at Spangdahlem, Germany. This is a multi-year process, and that’s just for the basic tactical unit of employment,” the F-16 pilot said. “To bring in Western aircraft, Ukraine might need to repave and potentially extend a number of runways, a process which Russia would likely detect.

☆ Ukraine tells Chinese envoy it won't accept ceding land to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine's foreign minister told a top Chinese envoy at talks in Kyiv on Wednesday that Kyiv would not accept any proposals to end the war with Russia that involved it losing territory or freezing the conflict, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said. Li Hui, China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and former ambassador to Russia, visited Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday, and met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the ministry said in a statement. The visit is the first to Kyiv by a senior envoy from China, which has burgeoning ties with Russia, since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. "He stressed that Ukraine did not accept any proposals involving the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict," it said. The senior Chinese official's trip to Europe is expected also to include talks in Russia, Poland, France and Germany.

KARACHI, Pakistan, May 13 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday gave authorities 72 hours to identify and arrest all those involved in violent acts after former Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrest this week sparked deadly unrest. Khan departed court premises late Friday night and headed towards his hometown Lahore amid high security, after a court granted him bail. Following Sharif's announcement, Punjab's government released pictures of unidentified protesters involved in an attack on a military official's residence on Wednesday. Khan, 70, is a cricket star-turned-politician who was ousted as prime minister in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-confidence vote and Pakistan's most popular leader according to opinion polls. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were inaccessible in Pakistan on Saturday, Reuters journalists said, after access was briefly restored late on Friday.

He had remained inside for hours after being granted bail, saying he was not being allowed to leave by security officials. It's not the security agencies, it's one man – the army chief," he said, without naming him. He has since been a vocal critic of current army chief General Asim Munir. [1/7] Security officers escort Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, as he appeared in Islamabad High Court, Islamabad, Pakistan May 12, 2023. "The Islamabad High Court has given a two-week bail and also ordered the (anti-graft body) not to arrest Imran Khan during this period," another of Khan's lawyers, Faisal Chaudhry, told Reuters.

Those concerns intensified in February after U.N. inspectors revealed their discovery of uranium particles of 83.7% purity at an Iran nuclear facility built deep underground to protect it from air strikes. Western officials fear a nuclear-armed Iran could threaten Israel, Gulf Arab oil producers, and spark a regional arms race. A senior Iranian nuclear official said Tehran would not take the revival of U.N. sanctions lying down. But Western officials and analysts say that Iran's production of 90% uranium would demand a significant response. 'FACE A CRISIS AT SOME POINT'While Western officials want to leave the door open for diplomacy, tensions with Russia and China make that harder.

At issue is whether a public official's social media activity can amount to governmental action bound by First Amendment limits on government regulation of speech. The Garniers sued O'Connor-Ratcliff and Zane in federal court, claiming their free speech rights under the First Amendment were violated. Zane and O'Connor-Ratcliff each had public Facebook pages identifying them as government officials, according to the Garniers' court filing. O'Connor-Ratcliff also had a public Twitter profile. Circuit Court of Appeals last July agreed, finding that the school board members had presented their social media accounts as "channels of communication with the public" about school board business.

☆ China criticises Indian minister's visit to Arunachal Pradesh
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] India's Home Minister Amit Shah greets the media upon his arrival at the home ministry in New Delhi, India, June 1, 2019. REUTERS/Altaf HussainBEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China firmly opposes a visit by India's home minister to Arunachal Pradesh and views his activities in the area as violating Beijing's territorial sovereignty, a foreign ministry spokesperson told a news briefing on Monday. China has renamed some places in what India regards as its eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of its territory. "Zangnan is China's territory," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on the visit by Indian Home Minister Amit Shah. "The Indian official's visit to Zangnan violates China's territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation."

☆ India launches villages programme in Arunachal, ignores angry China
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] India's Home Minister Amit Shah greets the media upon his arrival at the home ministry in New Delhi, India, June 1, 2019. In December last year, troops from the two sides engaged in scuffles in the state's Tawang sector, and last week India rejected the renaming by China of 11 places, including five mountains, in Arunachal Pradesh. A map released last week showed the 11 places renamed by China as being within "Zangnan", or southern Tibet in Chinese, with Arunachal Pradesh included in southern Tibet. "Today we proudly say, gone are the days when anyone could encroach on our territory," Shah said, speaking in Hindi and without naming China. "Zangnan is China's territory," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said earlier on Monday in response to a question on Shah's visit.

☆ The US is flying drones farther from Russia to be less 'provocative' after a Russian jet harassed and smashed into one, making it crash: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Russian fighter jet clipped a US military drone operating above the Black Sea last week. US officials say drones are flying farther south and away from Russia, according to a report. US officials, however, told CNN that the drones are now flying farther south over the Black Sea and moving away from Russia and occupied Crimea. A Russian Su-27 fighter jet approaches a US military MQ-9 Reaper drone operating above the Black Sea on March 14, 2023. "We are the adults in the room when it comes to international military forces," the former defense official continued.

☆ U.S. bank deposit outflows, unrelated to Credit Suisse, have stabilized, U.S. official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. bank deposits have stabilized, with outflows slowing or stopping and in some cases reversing, an official said on Sunday, adding the problems of Credit Suisse are unrelated to recent deposit runs on U.S. banks. After officials in Switzerland announced a deal for UBS to acquire Credit Suisse on Sunday, the U.S. official said that U.S. banks have limited exposure to Credit Suisse, after reducing their exposures to the No. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that U.S. banking regulators were in touch with Swiss counterparts on the Credit Suisse situation. The official's comments on U.S. deposit outflows from smaller and mid-size banks to larger institutions prompted by Silicon Valley Bank's failure follow similar comments by U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Friday. Adeyemo attributed the stabilization to the systemic protection guarantees granted to uninsured depositors in Silicon Valley and Signature Bank, along with the creation of new Fed facilities that allow banks to access adequate liquidity to cover outflows.

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