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  • Iranian authorities release prominent actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail | CNN

    Iranian authorities release prominent actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    One of Iran’s best-known actresses, who was arrested after she criticized the execution of a man involved in nationwide protests, was released on bail on Wednesday, state-aligned ISNA said.

    Taraneh Alidoosti, who starred in the 2016 Oscar-winning film “The Salesman,” had condemned the hanging of Mohsen Shekari, who was killed last month in the first known execution linked to the protests. Shekari was reportedly convicted of “waging war against God” for allegedly stabbing a member of the Basij paramilitary force at a protest in Tehran on September 23.

    Alidoosti’s lawyer told ISNA that she was released on bail and reformist outlet Shargh Daily published a picture showing her on the street after her release from the notorious Evin prison without the traditional Islamic hijab covering.

    Another picture on social media showed her holding flowers with supporters after her release.

    Alidoosti, who has appeared in various popular Iranian TV shows, is known for her activism in the MeToo movement in Iran’s cinema industry and was one of several Iranian celebrities to express support for the protests.

    More than 500 celebrities, actors, playwrights, novelists and directors had signed an open letter calling for the release of Alidoosti. The open letter, titled “Free Taraneh Alidoosti,” was signed by notable figures including Emma Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Penélope Cruz, Kate Winslet and Kristen Stewart.

    Alidoosti was not formally charged but was initially arrested for “lack of evidence for her claims” in relation to her protest against the hanging of Shekari.

    Known as a feminist activist, Alidoosti last month published a picture of herself on Instagram without the Islamic hijab and holding a sign reading “Women, Life, Freedom” to show support for the protest movement.

    Several Iranians have been sentenced to death by execution during the nationwide protests, which were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was apprehended by the state’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.

    Her death touched a nerve in the Islamic Republic, with prominent public figures coming out in support of the movement. The protests have since coalesced around a range of grievances with the authoritarian regime.

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  • Damar Hamlin’s doctors are working to get him breathing without a ventilator after his mid-game cardiac arrest left him in critical condition | CNN

    Damar Hamlin’s doctors are working to get him breathing without a ventilator after his mid-game cardiac arrest left him in critical condition | CNN

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    Cincinnati
    CNN
     — 

    After suffering a cardiac arrest mid-game on Monday, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin remains sedated on a ventilator as doctors work toward getting him to breathe on his own, his uncle said, while uneasy supporters across the nation await word of his fate.

    The 24-year-old player still was in critical condition Tuesday night, his uncle Dorrian Glenn told CNN, after his collapse on the field the prior night halted the Bills game against the Cincinnati Bengals, stunning a packed stadium that had only moments earlier been rippling with excitement over the catch and run ahead of Hamlin’s tackle of a Bengals wide receiver.

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    In just seconds, medical personnel were rushing onto the field to administer CPR and resuscitate Hamlin in front of his teammates, many of whom fell to their knees, sent up a prayer or were openly weeping and embracing one another.

    Hamlin would be resuscitated twice that night – once on the field and again when he was hurried into the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was still being treated Tuesday night, his uncle said.

    “I’m not a crier, but I’ve never cried so hard in my life. Just to know, like, my nephew basically died on the field and they brought him back to life,” Glenn said.

    Hamlin is on a ventilator to relieve some of the strain on his lungs, which have been damaged, according to Glenn. The doctors told Glenn his nephew has also been “flipped over on his stomach” in the hospital to help with the blood on his lungs, he said, adding, “It seems like he’s trending upwards in a positive way.”

    The game was suspended with nearly six minutes left in the first quarter and was later officially postponed. It will not be resumed this week, and no decision has been made on whether to continue it at a later date, the NFL said Tuesday.

    On-field injuries are not uncommon in the league, which often resumes play even after severe cases. But several current and former players have said Hamlin’s cardiac arrest felt especially disturbing as medical personnel fought to save his life while fans and players looked on.

    Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins realized the gravity of his teammate’s condition when Hamlin stayed on the ground as more and more medical staff were called over, he said.

    “In that moment, you’re just thinking like, ‘What can I do? What can we do?’ And it just immediately breaks you down into prayer,” Dawkins told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. “Whether you’re a believer or not, only a higher power can really take control of what is next. And our people that help also assisted that higher power.”

    Hamlin’s collapse marks the latest in a series of tragic blows for the players and Buffalo community, which in the past few months has endured a racist mass shooting and a historic blizzard that left at least 41 people dead in Erie County, New York. “It has been, you know, just (a) constant beating for Buffalo,” Dawkins said.

    A swell of support has surrounded Hamlin and his family as messages of prayers and well wishes have flooded in from star athletes, fans and national leaders. A fundraiser that Hamlin previously had started for his Chasing M’s Foundation toy drive has raised more than $6 million since his hospitalization.

    At a prayer service for the player Tuesday night, community members described the heartbreak of watching “one of our own” endure such a crisis.

    “All you can do right now is pray for Damar. The man, not the football player, not the Buffalo Bill, but the person. He has to pull through,” the city’s poet laureate Jillian Hanesworth said.

    It is still unclear what led to Hamlin’s cardiac arrest – a condition that results from electrical disturbances that cause the heart to suddenly stop beating properly. Death can occur quickly if help isn’t rendered immediately. It is not the same as a heart attack or heart failure.

    When the heart is not beating well, fluid can sometimes back up into the lungs and make it hard for medical staff to oxygenate the patient, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explained. So, they will flip the person on their stomach into a prone position to make breathing easier.

    It sounds like Hamlin is still having a significant amount of cardiac dysfunction and his heart cannot pump enough blood, Gupta said.

    One of the treatment options is to decrease the body’s demand for oxygenated blood, he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday.

    “So, you want to improve the amount of circulation, but in the interim, you can also decrease the demand by sedating somebody, by keeping them on a breathing machine,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll even use cooling agents, hypothermia it’s called, to basically almost put the body in more of a hibernation-like state so it’s not demanding as much oxygenated blood. That’s part of the reason he would be on a breathing machine as well.”

    Hamlin’s family on Tuesday thanked the UC Medical Center staff “who have provided exceptional care to Damar.”

    “On behalf of our family, we want to express our sincere gratitude for the love and support shown to Damar during this challenging time. We are deeply moved by the prayers, kind words, and donations from fans around the country,” its statement said.

    Damar Hamlin, 24, has been with the Buffalo Bills for two years and played every game this season.

    Several star athletes – including tennis player Coco Gauff, the NFL’s JJ Watt and NBA legend LeBron James – have applauded the NFL’s decision to postpone the game and have emphasized the importance of Hamlin’s safe recovery over the game’s outcome

    Former NFL player Donté Stallworth said the league’s decision to postpone the game wouldn’t have happened years ago. “Five, 10 years ago, the game probably would have resumed,” he told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Tuesday.

    “I don’t know if you can make the game any much safer,” he said. “This is a brutal sport. I think people forget that. They look at players more as commodities sometimes, especially with fantasy football.

    “Sometimes we forget the human side, that these players are actually human beings and they have families and they have wives and kids,” he added, pointing out that Hamlin’s “mother was there witnessing this with her own eyes.”

    Dawkins was relieved and grateful that his team did not have to continue playing, he said.

    “The fact that we did not have to go back out there on that field and play just shows that there is care, and that’s all we can ever ask for is that we get treated as people,” he said. “Because most people just treat us as athletes, as superstars, and some people like celebrities, but in that moment they treated us like people.”

    Bills players and staff are still processing Monday night’s events, a source within the team told CNN’s Coy Wire on Tuesday.

    The continued shock of Hamlin’s hospitalization – on top of the city’s mass shooting in May, deadly December blizzard, having a home game in November moved to Detroit and getting stuck in Chicago during the holidays – has been heavy on everyone associated with the club, the source said.

    “Everyone is exhausted,” the source told Wire, adding that the team’s flight back to New York didn’t land until 3:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

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  • Inflation fears fade as geopolitical risks rise | CNN Business

    Inflation fears fade as geopolitical risks rise | CNN Business

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    A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Inflation fears roiled the markets in 2022. Now, investors may have scarier things to worry about in 2023, according to a report from global research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. Most notable? Concerns about the increasingly chaotic geopolitical landscape.

    “Inflation shockwaves” still feature as one of Eurasia’s top political risks for 2023 in a new report.

    But perhaps surprisingly, inflation ranks fourth on the list, behind worries about a rogue Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power in China.

    Eurasia’s third biggest fear — the increased use of artificial intelligence technology to wreak havoc on the global economy — only adds to jitters about disruption from Russia and China. Eurasia called AI “a gift to autocrats.”

    Eurasia, led by political scientist and author Ian Bremmer, pointed out that Russia’s war with Ukraine may become an even bigger problem for the United States and Europe.

    “Nuclear saber-rattling by Moscow will intensify. Putin’s threats will become more explicit,” Eurasia said in its report. It is also concerned that “Kremlin-affiliated hackers will ramp up cyberattacks on Western firms and governments.”

    That could mean attempts to disrupt oil pipelines, American and European satellites and other telecom and tech infrastructure, as well as further efforts to influence and sabotage global elections.

    “Moscow will step up its rogue behavior…with newly empowered influence operations targeting NATO countries,” Eurasia said in the report.

    Eurasia pointed to upcoming Polish elections in 2023 as “the most obvious target” but that other Western nations “will be vulnerable, too.”

    Autocracy in China is a potential economic and market headache as well.

    “Xi’s drive for state control will produce arbitrary decisions and policy volatility. China’s economy is in a fragile state after two years of harsh Covid-19 controls,” Eurasia noted, pointing out that “plummeting homebuyer and market sentiment have ground growth in the critical real estate sector to a halt, depleting local government revenue.”

    Eurasia added that the “backdrop of weakening global growth and deepening domestic challenges demands competent economic management from Beijing.” Instead, “the Chinese leadership is delivering opacity and unpredictability.”

    Chinese officials announced in October that they were delaying the release of key economic data, news that Eurasia said “was an ominous sign of things to come for global markets.”

    All of this uncertainty comes as China continues to face the growing Covid outbreak in the country. Eurasia fears that “if a severe new strain of Covid were to emerge,” it is “more likely that it would spread widely in China and beyond.

    “China would be unlikely to identify the new variant because of reduced testing and sequencing, to recognize more severe disease due to an overwhelmed health system, and to let news of a more severe variant get out given Xi’s track record on transparency,’ Eurasia said. “The world would have little or no time to prepare for a deadlier virus.”

    Meanwhile, Eurasia also is worried that Beijing “will deploy new technologies not only to tighten surveillance and control of its own society, but also to spread propaganda on social media and intimidate Chinese language communities overseas.”

    None of this is to suggest that worries about rising prices have dissipated.

    While inflation is listed as the fourth-biggest risk, Eurasia is still concerned that “rising interest rates and global recession will raise the risk of emerging-market crises.”

    Energy prices in particular will remain a sticking point for the global markets and economy as Eurasia notes that “higher oil prices will also increase frictions between OPEC+ and the United States.”

    And Eurasia also listed concerns about instability in Iran, shrinking water levels and economic inequality as major global challenges.

    Then there’s another new and distinctly 21st century worry: the rise of social media.

    “Gen Z has both the ability and the motivation to organize online to reshape corporate and public policy, making life harder for multinationals everywhere and disrupting politics with the click of a button,” Eurasia said, referring to the phenomenon as the “Tik Tok Boom.”

    Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, had another day in court on Tuesday.

    Bankman-Fried, more commonly referred to by his initials, SBF, plead “not guilty” to charges ranging from wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering to conspiracy by misusing customer funds.

    SBF appeared in a Manhattan court Tuesday after he was arrested last month in the Bahamas, extradited to the United States and then released by a judge on a $250 million bail package. But as my colleague Kara Scannell reports, the legal drama for SBF is only beginning. The judge set a trial date of October 2.

    Prosecutors allege that SBF was in charge of “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.” They claim that he moved (or stole) billions of dollars from FTX customers to cover losses at the firm’s companion hedge fund, Alameda Research.

    The cryptocurrency world was already in turmoil before FTX imploded. The prices of bitcoin, ethereum and other digital coins all plummeted in 2022. But FTX and Alameda were each forced to file for bankruptcy in December after investors rushed to pull deposits.

    FTX was once valued at $32 billion, based on funding from private investors. The company was expected to be one of the hottest initial public offerings of 2023 as recently as the middle of last year. Not any more.

    Covid woes hurt Apple

    (AAPL)     last year, as the world’s largest iPhone factory in China faced production disruptions since October due to the pandemic.

    But the giant campus, owned by top Apple supplier Foxconn, is reportedly now back at 90% production capacity following worker protests and Covid-related restrictions.

    Apple needs to get more of its latest smartphones into people’s pockets. Delays with the various iPhone 14 models have cost the company — and its investors — dearly.

    Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives estimated in November that disruptions in China led to about $1 billion a week in lost revenue.

    And analysts at UBS also said in November that wait times for the new iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max in the US were more than a month long due to supply chain woes. That couldn’t have come at a worse time since it was just before Christmas and other winter holidays.

    Apple’s stock had a tough 2022, like the rest of Big Tech, and it didn’t start off 2023 in a festive fashion either. Shares of Apple hit a new 52-week low Tuesday. Apple’s market value dipped below $2 trillion in the process. Just a year ago, Apple was the first company in the world to reach a $3 trillion market valuation.

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  • Israel’s rightward shift leaves its new Arab allies in an awkward spot | CNN

    Israel’s rightward shift leaves its new Arab allies in an awkward spot | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


    Abu Dhabi, UAE
    CNN
     — 

    It was a rare embrace between one of Israel’s most controversial politicians and an Arab ambassador. Itamar Ben Gvir and the United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja clutched each other’s hands in a warm greeting in Tel Aviv in early December.

    “Birds of a feather flock together,” wrote a columnist in Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, arguing that the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel gain recognition from four Arab states including the UAE in 2020, did little to moderate Israel’s position on the Palestinians. Ben Gvir, he said, was “a superstar in the UAE.”

    Israel on Thursday swore in what is likely to be the most right-wing government in its history, led by six-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ben Gvir, an extremist who has been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism, became national security minister. Bezalel Smotrich, who supports abolishing the Palestinian Authority and annexing the West Bank, became finance minister.

    Both politicians were invited to national day celebrations in December hosted by the UAE and Bahrain, which were among the nations that normalized relations with Israel, along with Morocco and Sudan in 2020.

    “The Emirates are here to show that unity equals prosperity,” Al Khaja was cited by the Times of Israel as saying at his country’s national day celebration, where he was photographed with Ben Gvir. “We will continue to use diplomacy to deepen connections through friendship and mutual respect.”

    The public embrace of figures that are hated in the Arab world – and are divisive within Israel itself – is a rare gesture on the part of Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel.

    Egypt and Jordan, who recognized Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively, have had what observers have called a “cold peace” with Israel.

    In his phone call to congratulate Netanyahu on returning as prime minister, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi “emphasized the need to avoid any measures that would lead to tension and complicate the regional situation.” Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned in a CNN interview last month that his nation was “prepared” for conflict should the situation change at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, of which he is the custodian.

    The rightward direction of Israeli politics puts Israel’s new Arab partners in an awkward position regarding the Palestinian cause, which remains a central issue among Arab publics.

    “It is awkward not just for us (in the UAE), but for everybody, in America, and all over the place,” Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political science professor in the UAE, told CNN. “It is a dilemma, but the way to deal with it is just to wait and see.”

    An opinion poll by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy in July 2022 showed that support for the Abraham Accords had dropped in Gulf countries to a minority view, including the UAE and Bahrain, where more than 70% of the public views the agreement negatively. The data however also showed that around 40% of people in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain support maintaining business and sporting ties with Israel.

    The normalizing states appear to be cognizant of that. On Friday, all four Arab states continued the tradition of supporting the Palestinians at the United Nations by voting at the General Assembly to seek the International Criminal Court’s opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Netanyahu called the vote “despicable.”

    But Israeli media has reported that behind the scenes, the Emiratis have also been sending messages of concern to Netanyahu about the inclusion of extremists in his government. Ahead of the Israeli elections, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed warned Netanyahu against including Ben Gvir and Smotrich in his government, the Times of Israel reported, citing a senior official. Axios, which first reported the news, said Netanyahu didn’t respond.

    The move would be a rare case of one of Israel’s Arab partners showing a preference for the country’s domestic politics.

    The UAE foreign ministry didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    Israeli analyst Zvi Bar’el wrote in Haaretz that the December move to embrace Ben Gvir may have been linked to Abu Dhabi’s desire to steer Israeli policy, adding that it made the UAE “the Arab country with the greatest influence on the new Israeli government.”

    The effectiveness of the UAE’s diplomacy within Israel remains to be seen. So far, Israel’s extremist minister seems unrestrained.

    Less than a week since he was sworn in, Ben Gvir made a controversial visit to the al-Aqsa mosque compound escorted by Israeli police on Tuesday. The mosque, which lies in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, is in an area known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. It is the third holiest site for Muslims and the holiest for Jews, who know it as the Temple Mount. Under current arrangements, non-Muslims aren’t allowed to pray there and Ben Gvir wants to change that.

    The UAE “strongly” condemned Ben Gvir’s visit without naming the minister, and called for the need to respect Jordan’s custodianship of the holy site. It later joined China in calling for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the matter.

    “However unhappy they (Bahrain and the UAE) might be towards the emergence of Israel’s most right-wing government, it’s clear that they’ve chosen to air these concerns privately, and have stopped short of letting them stand in the way of what they see as an important strategic relationship,” Elham Fakhro, a research fellow at the Centre for Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, England, told CNN.

    But the UAE has said earlier that the more friendly ties with the Arab world weren’t a green light for Israel to expand its territory. In June 2020, Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States, warned Israel that its relations with Arab nations would suffer if there is any “illegal seizure of Palestinian land.”

    Abdullah, the professor from the UAE, said that Abu Dhabi may have some leverage over Israel that it may use privately at times, but added that ultimately “everybody knows that nobody today has any leverage over Israel. Even America.”

    Still, the UAE-Israel relationship is not everlasting, he said. “This relationship is going to be dictated by the UAE… When it doesn’t serve the interest of the UAE… it can collapse at any time.”

    With additional reporting by Nadeen Ebrahim

    Turkey’s ruling party mulls bringing elections ‘slightly’ forward

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party is considering a “slight change” on the date of elections scheduled for mid-June, Reuters cited AK Party spokesman Omer Celik as saying on Monday. Since the date of the elections corresponds with the summer holiday season, the party is evaluating bringing it “slightly forward,” he said.

    • Background: Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled to be held on June 18, and Erdogan previously said elections would be held in June. The date change would not amount to snap elections, Celik said.
    • Why it matters: The elections are set to take place as Turkey faces soaring inflation and an economic downturn that could hurt Erdogan’s prospects for re-election. But the government has of late tried to win back voter support through populist moves including wage hikes, retirement benefits, social aid, energy and agriculture support.

    Amnesty condemns Iran for upholding protester death sentence

    Amnesty International on Monday condemned the Iranian supreme court’s decision to uphold the death sentence of protester Mohammad Boroughani, who according to Iranian state media is accused of stabbing a security guard during a protest.

    • Background: Boroughani will be executed under the “moharebeh law,” or waging war against God, the state-aligned Tasnim news agency said. Prior to the supreme court’s confirmation of the sentence, he was sentenced to death by a revolutionary court during a group trial in Tehran presided by notorious judge Abolghasem Salavati, Amnesty said.
    • Why it matters: The protester is among 26 others identified by Amnesty last month as being at risk of execution in connection to the country’s nationwide protests. Iran has already carried out two protest-related executions over the past months of unrest. CNN has verified that at least 43 detainees are facing execution. The situation has drawn strong criticism from several European countries, including Germany, France and Britain.

    Iran’s judiciary indicts two French nationals and a Belgian for espionage

    Iran has indicted two French nationals and a Belgian for espionage and working against the country’s national security, Reuters reported, citing the semi-official Student News Network on Tuesday. The agency did not give the names of the three or say where or when they were indicted.

    • Background: Belgium’s justice minister said last month that Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele had been sentenced to 28 years in prison in Iran for what he called a “fabricated series of crimes.” Iranian media aired a video in October in which two French citizens appeared to confess to spying. The video sparked outrage in France, which said the detainees were “state hostages.”
    • Why it matters: A total of seven French citizens are being held in Iran, France’s foreign minister said in November. Iran has accused foreign adversaries of fomenting the wave of unrest that erupted three months ago. The protests mark one of the boldest challenges to the country’s leadership since its 1979 Islamic Revolution and have drawn in Iranians from all walks of life.

    Regional: #HalaRonaldo (Hello, Ronaldo)

    Soccer fans in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are celebrating the arrival of famed Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh, who touched down in the kingdom on Tuesday ahead of his unveiling ceremony with the Al Nassr Football Club.

    Twitter was flooded with images of Ronaldo wearing the club’s yellow and blue colors, smiling on large billboards in the Saudi capital. Memes showed “sheikh Ronaldo” dressed in Arab attire, and another showed him wearing a jersey with the “Just do it” slogan for his sponsor Nike crossed out and replaced with “inshallah” – God-willing in Arabic.

    A magazine in Saudi Arabia even put out ads for a full-time “Ronaldo correspondent,” Esquire magazine reported.

    “Welcome to the greatest player in the world,” tweeted one Saudi user, sharing a video of a framed photograph of Ronaldo holding his Al Nassr jersey.

    “The streets of Riyadh welcome Ronaldo,” tweeted one Kuwaiti social media influencer, saying Saudis are lucky their country has become home to such a high-status player.

    The celebrations quickly faded for some, however, when a video showing Ronaldo mistakenly refer to his new home as “South Africa” on Tuesday went viral. “So, for me it’s not the end of my career to come in South Africa. This is why I wanna change. And to be honest I don’t really worry about what the people say,” the soccer star said at a press conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.

    Some joked that Ronaldo accepted a large sum to play in Saudi Arabia only to get the country’s name wrong.

    Al Nassr FC announced on December 30 that the footballer was joining their team, tweeting a photo of Ronaldo in its jersey. The 37-year-old was a free agent and immediately available due to his high-profile break-up with Manchester United last month.

    By Nadeen Ebrahim

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  • NYC subway shooter pleads guilty to terrorism charges | CNN

    NYC subway shooter pleads guilty to terrorism charges | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The man who opened fire on a crowded New York City subway train last April and wounded 10 people pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to terrorism charges, admitting his intention “was to cause serious bodily injury to the people on the train.”

    After initially pleading not guilty last May, Frank James, 63, on Tuesday admitted to 10 counts – one for each gunshot victim – of committing a terrorist attack and other violence against a mass transportation system and vehicle carrying passengers and employees. He also pleaded guilty to one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

    James’ plea comes nearly nine months after prosecutors said he put on a gas mask, set off a smoke device and fired a handgun at least 33 times on a crowded N train traveling toward the 36th Street station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood on April 12. Along with the 10 people wounded by gunfire, others were injured by the smoke. In all, 29 people were hospitalized.

    “While it was not my intention to cause death, I was aware that a death or deaths could occur as a result of my discharging a firearm in such an enclosed space as a subway car,” James said.

    In a statement after the hearing, James’ attorneys said he has accepted responsibility for the shooting “since he turned himself in to law enforcement.”

    “A just sentence in this case will carefully balance the harm he caused with his age, his health, and the Bureau of Prisons’ notoriously inadequate medical care,” attorneys Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Amanda David said in their statement.

    James is expected to be sentenced at a later date. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors, who have argued James aimed to kill when he fired, are willing to recommend a sentence in the range of 31 to 37 years in prison if James shows enough remorse, per a letter from Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, to District Court Judge William Kuntz.

    If James “does not clearly demonstrate acceptance of responsibility,” prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 40 years to life, the letter said.

    In a statement on Tuesday, Peace said the guilty plea was an “important step toward holding James fully accountable and helping the victims of the defendant’s violence and our great city heal.”

    The shooting rattled the city, which was already on edge as commuters started to return to the subway following the Covid-19 pandemic.

    One of the wounded, Hourari Benkada, 27, said he was on the N train and sat next to a man with a duffel bag and reflective vest who let off a “smoke bomb.”

    “And all you see (is) smoke – black smoke … going off, and then people bum-rushing to the back,” Benkada said. “This pregnant woman was in front of me. I was trying to help her. I didn’t know there were shots at first. I just thought it was a black smoke bomb.

    “She said, ‘I’m pregnant with a baby.’ I hugged her. And then the bum-rush continued. I got pushed, and that’s when I got shot in the back of my knee.”

    James was arrested a day later in Manhattan’s Lower East Side after calling in a tip on himself. Items left behind at the scene, including a credit card, a set of keys, a construction jacket and a gun – were tied back to James by investigators.

    The accused has a lengthy criminal history and had posted rambling videos on a YouTube channel in which he talked about violence and mass shootings, and said he’s thought about killing people who have presumably hurt him.

    In one posted just a day before the shootings, James talked about someone who engaged in violence and ended up in jail. He said he could identify but talked about the consequences.

    “I’ve been through a lot of s**t, where I can say I wanted to kill people. I wanted to watch people die right in front of my f**king face immediately. But I thought about the fact that, hey man, I don’t want to go to no f**king prison.”

    In another video posted in February criticizing New York Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to address safety and homelessness in the subway, James spoke about his negative experience with city health workers during a “crisis of mental health back in the ’90s ‘80s and ‘70s.”

    Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated James’ age. He is 63.

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  • Idaho killings suspect waives extradition from Pennsylvania | CNN

    Idaho killings suspect waives extradition from Pennsylvania | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The suspect in the November slaying of four University of Idaho students waived extradition from his home state of Pennsylvania to face murder charges in the state of Idaho.

    Bryan Kohberger arrived at Pennsylvania’s Monroe County Courthouse Tuesday by prison transport van, cuffed and in a prison jumpsuit, and was escorted to the back of the courthouse by armed law enforcement.

    Kohberger answered “no” when the judge asked if he had any mental health issues that would impede his ability to waive his extradition, and Kohberger’s father, also in the courtroom, shook his head “no.” The defendant signed the waiver at the defense table with shackles still around his wrist.

    Judge Worthington ordered Kohberger must be handed over to the custody of Latah County District Attorney’s Office within 10 days.

    Kohberger has invoked his right to be silent going forward, his state-appointed extradition attorney, Jason LaBar, said.

    Tuesday’s move was expected after the attorney earlier indicated his client planned to waive extradition from his home state and called the hearing a “formality proceeding.”

    All the commonwealth needed to prove is that his client resembles or is the person on the arrest warrant and that he was in the area at the time of the crimes, Monroe County Chief Public Defender LaBar told CNN’s Jean Casarez.

    Kohberger did not answer reporters’ questions as he was escorted in. He made eye contact with and nodded to his family seated in the first row of the courtroom behind the defense table as officers brought him in.

    Kohberger’s mother and father sat on either side of his sisters, accompanied by a representative from the public defender’s office, and when the judge told Kohberger he faces charges of murder when he returns to Idaho, his mother collapsed into his sister’s arms, both sobbing openly.

    Arrangements are currently being made to transfer Kohberger to Idaho, according to state police, but no timeline has been announced.

    “My heart goes out to the families of the victims, their friends, the community of Moscow and the University of Idaho,” Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Robert Evanchick said at a news conference. “No words can heal the pain associated with the loss of a child. Their young lives were ended far too soon.”

    The Monroe County Correctional Facility warden informed officials that Kohberger has been a “model prisoner” who has not caused any problems during his time in detention, according to a source familiar with Kohberger’s status at the facility.

    Kohberger, considered a maximum status prisoner, is being held in a cell monitored by an officer at all times. 

    He has been “quiet” and “followed directions,” according to the source. 

    Kohberger was arrested Friday in Pennsylvania, almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found dead November 13 in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.

    Kohberger was “shocked a little bit,” LaBar told CNN a day after his client was arrested. Kohberger is presumed innocent until proven guilty, LaBar added in a statement. He “believes he’s going to be exonerated.” LaBar said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday.

    Kohberger has been “very easy to talk to,” is “in a calm demeanor” and understands the proceedings, including what to expect concerning his transport to Idaho and what to expect when he gets there, LaBar said.

    Vehicles belonging to the University of Idaho victims were towed away on November 29, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho.

    The 28-year-old suspect last month finished his first semester as a PhD student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University’s campus in Pullman, about a 15-minute drive west of Moscow.

    He drove home to Pennsylvania for the holidays, accompanied by his father, LaBar told CNN on Saturday. The two arrived in the commonwealth around December 17.

    A white Hyundai Elantra authorities had been looking for in connection with the killings was found at Kohberger’s parents’ house, LaBar confirmed.

    Investigators focused on Kohberger as a suspect after tracing ownership of the Elantra, which had been seen in the area of the killings, to him, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. Also, his DNA was matched to genetic material recovered at the home where the students were slain, the two sources said.

    An FBI surveillance team tracked Kohberger for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to get a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

    Other than the DNA and the car, details such as whether Kohberger knew the victims – or a possible motive in the slayings – are not publicly known. The probable-cause affidavit, which would contain information to justify the suspect’s arrest, remains sealed until he appears in an Idaho court.

    With those details still unknown, much public interest has focused on Kohberger’s criminal justice studies.

    He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and this year completed his Master of Arts in criminal justice at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, according to a spokesperson for the university.

    In a post removed from Reddit after his arrest was announced, a student investigator associated with a DeSales University study named Bryan Kohberger sought participants for a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”

    “In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post read.

    Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry said after the arrest that the investigation of the complex, extensive case was not over.

    Investigators are still searching for pieces of evidence, Fry said, including the weapon used, believed to be a fixed-blade knife.

    “We developed a clear picture over time,” he said, “(but) be assured that the work is not done. This is just started.”

    Kohberger is being held without bail in Pennsylvania, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said Friday. Once Kohberger is in Idaho, he is expected to make an initial appearance before a magistrate, and further hearings will be scheduled.

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  • FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to appear in court Tuesday | CNN Business

    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to appear in court Tuesday | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, is set to appear in person in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday to face charges that include cheating investors out of billions of dollars.

    Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, is charged with eight criminal counts ranging from wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering to conspiracy by misusing customer funds. He is expected to plead not guilty. He could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

    Last month, a US judge released him on a $250 million bond in his first appearance on American soil since his arrest in the Bahamas, where he lived and ran his businesses. The judge agreed to a bail package proposed by federal prosecutors and lawyers for Bankman-Fried that also requires the former “crypto king” to wear an electronic ankle monitor and remain under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.

    Bankman-Fried’s parents, both law professors at Stanford who co-signed his bond, have “become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats,” defense lawyers wrote in a letter to the court, while asking to redact the names of two other co-signers, known as “sureties.”

    “There is serious cause for concern that the two additional sureties would face similar intrusions on their privacy as well as threats and harassment if their names appear unredacted on their bonds or their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed,” the letter states.

    Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried orchestrated “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history,” stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to cover losses at its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research.

    FTX and Alameda both filed for bankruptcy in December after investors rushed to pull their deposits from the exchange, sparking a liquidity crisis and triggering contagion and panic across the crypto industry.

    Two senior executives associated with the collapse — Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, who served as Alameda’s CEO — have since pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges and are cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to unsealed court records.

    In addition, the pair face civil fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Wang faces up to 50 years in prison in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines referenced in court. Ellison faces up to 110 years in prison for the seven criminal counts she’s pleaded guilty to, per federal sentencing guidelines.

    FTX’s new CEO, John Ray III, who made his name overseeing the liquidation of Enron in the early 2000s, said in a congressional hearing that customer funds deposited on the FTX site were commingled with funds at Alameda, which made a number of speculative, high-risk bets.

    Ray described the situation at the two companies as “old-fashioned embezzlement” at the hands of a small group of “grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals.”

    — CNN’s Allison Morrow and Kara Scannell contributed to this report.

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  • New York Times: Brazilian authorities intend to revive fraud case against George Santos | CNN Politics

    New York Times: Brazilian authorities intend to revive fraud case against George Santos | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Law enforcement officials in Brazil will likely reinstate fraud charges against US Rep.-elect George Santos as the New York Republican officially assumes his role in the US House Tuesday under a cloud of suspicion over his dubious resume, the New York Times reported Monday.

    According to the Times, prosecutors said they will seek a “formal response” from Santos related to a stolen checkbook in 2008, after police suspended an investigation into him after they were unable to find him for nearly a decade.

    Authorities, having verified Santos’ location, will make a formal request to the Justice Department to notify him of the charges, Nathaly Ducoulombier, a spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office, told the Times.

    CNN has reached out to a lawyer for Santos for comment.

    The criminal case, according to the Times, citing court records it has reviewed, stems from a visit Santos made to a small clothing store in Niterói, a city outside of Rio de Janeiro, where Santos spent nearly $700 out of the stolen checkbook using a fake name.

    CNN previously confirmed reporting from the Times last month that Santos was charged with embezzlement in a Brazilian court in 2011, according to case records from the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice. However, court records from 2013 state that the charge was archived after court summons went unanswered and they were unable to locate Santos.

    In an interview with the New York Post last week, Santos denied that he had been charged with any crime in Brazil, saying: “I am not a criminal here – not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world. Absolutely not. That didn’t happen.”

    Santos flipped a Democratic-held seat, helping Republicans win a narrow House majority. And he is set to take office on Tuesday.

    The New York Republican has admitted to lying about parts of his resume after The New York Times first revealed on December 19 that Santos’ biography appeared to be partly fictional.

    CNN confirmed details of that reporting about his college education and employment history and uncovered even more falsehoods from Santos, including claims he was forced to leave a New York City private school when his family’s real estate assets took a downturn and that he represented Goldman Sachs at a top financial conference.

    Santos’ claims that his grandparents fled the Holocaust as Ukrainian Jewish refugees and that his mother died as a result of being present in the South Tower during 9/11 have also come under scrutiny, CNN’s KFile found.

    In interviews with WABC radio and the New York Post on December 26, Santos admitted to lying about attending Baruch College and New York University as well as misrepresenting his employment at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup but said at the time he still intended to serve in Congress.

    Two days later, CNN reported that the US attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York had begun investigating the finances of Santos, who faces questions over his wealth and loans totaling more than $700,000 he made to his successful 2022 campaign.

    The same day, the Nassau County district attorney’s office announced it was also looking into fabrications from Santos.

    “No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at the time.

    The district attorney’s office did not specify what fabrications it was exploring and the US attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.

    CNN has reached out to a representative for Santos for comment on the probes.

    Santos’ FEC reports contain a number of unusual expenditures, including exorbitant expenses on air travel and hotels, as well as a number of expenses one penny below the dollar figure above which the FEC requires campaigns to keep receipts.

    “Campaign expenditures for staff members including travel, lodging, and meals are normal expenses of any competent campaign. The suggestion that the Santos campaign engaged in any unlawful spending of campaign funds is irresponsible, at best,” Joe Murray, a lawyer for Santos, said in a statement to CNN on Saturday.

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  • Whitmer urges both parties to ‘stand up’ to violent rhetoric and threats as she embarks on second term | CNN Politics

    Whitmer urges both parties to ‘stand up’ to violent rhetoric and threats as she embarks on second term | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, sworn in for a second term Sunday, called the sentencing last week of two men convicted of plotting to kidnap her “just,” while urging both parties to confront threats and violent rhetoric.

    “Whether it is someone harassing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh or Congressman Fred Upton here in Michigan, or me, or our attorney general, or secretary of state, it’s unacceptable,” she told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in an interview the day she was sworn in. “But I do think it’s important that people on both sides of the aisle, who care more about our democracy than their political agenda, stand up and take it on.”

    Thirteen people were charged in the kidnapping plot, with the group discussing sending a bomb to the governor. The co-leaders of the plot were sentenced last week to 16 years and nearly 20 years in federal prison, respectively, after prosecutors had sought a life sentence in both their cases.

    Whitmer, who had dealt with an unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and issued stay-at-home orders that made her a target, expressed concern over how the plot has been described, saying, “There’s a tendency to minimize some of these threats.”

    “They weren’t planning to ransom me, they weren’t going to keep me, they were planning to assassinate me. And the plot has been covered as a kidnapping plot,” she said. “There was one person who showed up on, you know, on a Supreme Court justice’s lawn and turned himself in, and it was covered as an assassination attempt. And so I think that when you look at the facts of both of those, and you see how differently they’re covered, I do, you know, have concern about the language that we use, especially when women are a target as opposed to men.”

    The Justice Department charged the man who was arrested near Kavanaugh’s house in Maryland with attempting or threatening to kidnap or murder a US judge.

    Whitmer, first elected governor in 2018, said the threat against her had “changed how I assess going into situations” and “changed my concern for all the people around me.”

    “I would be lying if I told you I was unfazed,” she said, adding, “I think it’s important to understand, I’m an ordinary person. I’ve got an extraordinary job and have served in extraordinary times. I’m a mom. I’m a daughter.”

    After the challenges of the past few years, Whitmer said she’s “excited” about starting a new term.

    “There was so much chaos, politically and in the environment, I didn’t know if I would, you know, get an opportunity to serve for four more years,” the Democratic governor said. “I never imagined I’d win by almost 11 points and come in with a whole new legislature.”

    Whitmer sailed to a resounding victory in November, beating her Republican challenger Tudor Dixon 55% to 44%, while Democrats also won a majority in the Michigan legislature – giving them control of both chambers and the governorship for the first time in nearly four decades. Among her top priorities, Whitmer listed public education, economic development, protecting the Great Lakes and ensuring people have access to safe drinking water and high-speed internet. She also mentioned repealing the retirement tax that Republicans passed last legislature and getting a 1931 state law banning abortion “off the books.”

    With her reelection in a pivotal swing state, Whitmer has furthered cemented her status as a national figure in the Democratic Party, but she has brushed off speculation about a 2024 White House bid while not completely closing the door to running for something else down the line.

    “I think doing my job well is the best way that I can contribute to the national Democratic Party – is to be able to be someone that they can point to and say, ‘This is what happens when you elect Democrats,’” she said, reflecting on how her 2022 campaign “talked about abortion in the most personal terms” and how she thinks that contributed to Democrats’ success.

    She anticipates President Joe Biden running for the White House again in 2024, telling CNN that he would have her “enthusiastic support” if he does.

    “I do not have plans to run for anything other than to spend the next four years serving this state as governor with a majority Democratic legislature for the first time in a long time,” Whitmer said, while also noting that she felt similarly when she left the state legislature in 2015, only later to run for governor in 2018.

    “I know enough about myself to know if there is something that needs to get done, and if there’s a role I can play, I will want to play it,” she said.

    But regardless of whether she runs for something again or not, Whitmer said she “will stay engaged one way or another,” reflecting on what’s to come after the governor’s mansion. “Michigan will always play an outsized role in the national politics, so I look forward to making sure that our voices are impactful and Michigan gets what we need and we’ve got leaders who serve every person.”

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  • Diary investigators believe belongs to Times Square machete attack suspect includes last will and testament, sources say | CNN

    Diary investigators believe belongs to Times Square machete attack suspect includes last will and testament, sources say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A diary investigators believe belongs to the suspect in the attack on three police officers outside Times Square on New Year’s Eve ends with a last will and testament.

    According to multiple law enforcement sources, the last entry, dated December 31, begins with, “This will likely be my last entry,” and goes on to leave instructions on how to divide the author’s belongings among his family and instructions for his burial, according to sources familiar with the diary’s contents.

    Even before the attack, Trevor Bickford was on the FBI’s radar.

    Bickford, the 19-year-old being held by New York City police as a suspect in the machete attack against the officers, was interviewed by FBI agents in Maine in mid-December after he said he wanted to travel overseas to help fellow Muslims and was willing to die for his religion, according to multiple law enforcement sources.

    Bickford’s mother and grandmother became increasingly concerned about his desire to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban and reported this to the Wells, Maine, police department out of concern for him on December 10, the sources said.

    When the FBI opened its wider investigation they also placed him on a terrorist watch list, according to sources. Because the Taliban is not designated a foreign terrorist entity, planning to travel to Afghanistan to join the group does not constitute the federal crime of “attempted material support of a terrorist group.”

    Multiple law enforcement sources told CNN Bickford traveled to New York via Amtrak, so those travels would not have tripped any watch list databases.

    His original destination was Miami, the sources said, but he stopped in New York and checked in at the Grand Hotel near the Bowery in Manhattan on December 29. He checked out on New Year’s Eve with all his luggage before allegedly conducting the Times Square machete attack, the sources said.

    The suspect has not been charged, and it is unclear whether he has an attorney. The US Attorney’s office declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the Manhattan DA’s office for comment.

    Just after 10 p.m. he went to the Times Square checkpoint at West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue where officers would check bags for weapons or suspicious items, NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and police said.

    Bickford pulled out a machete, striking one officer with the blade and another officer in the head with the handle before swinging the blade at a third officer, who then shot him in the shoulder, according to the sources and the NYPD.

    The diary expressed his desire to join the Taliban and was found in a bag he discarded before carrying out the attack, according to sources.

    Bickford remains in custody and under police guard at Bellevue Hospital, where he is being treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder sustained during the attack, sources said.

    The three officers – injured at one of New York’s most high-profile events just a day after their department had warned of an “ISIS-Aligned” video calling for “Lone Offender Attacks” – have all been treated and released, according to the New York Police Department.

    On Sunday, federal authorities from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office were discussing whether to charge Bickford federally or under state law or both in relation to the attack, the sources said.

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  • Suspect in New Year’s Eve machete attack on police near New York’s Times Square expressed desire in diary to join Taliban, die a martyr, sources say | CNN

    Suspect in New Year’s Eve machete attack on police near New York’s Times Square expressed desire in diary to join Taliban, die a martyr, sources say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The 19-year-old being held by New York City police as the suspect in a New Year’s Eve machete attack against three police officers just outside a Times Square security screening zone carried a handwritten diary that expressed his desire to join the Taliban in Afghanistan and die as a martyr, law enforcement sources said.

    Trevor Bickford remains in custody and under police guard at Bellevue Hospital, where he is being treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder sustained during the attack, sources said.

    The three officers – injured at one of New York’s most high-profile events just a day after their department had warned of an “ISIS-Aligned” video calling for “Lone Offender Attacks” – have all been treated and released, according to the New York Police Department.

    On Sunday, federal authorities from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office were discussing whether to charge Bickford federally or under state law or both in relation to the attack, the sources said.

    The suspect has not been charged, and it is unclear whether he has an attorney. The US Attorney’s office declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the Manhattan DA’s office for comment.

    Investigators believe Bickford arrived Thursday in New York and checked into a hotel on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the sources said. Then Saturday, he went just after 10 p.m. to the Times Square checkpoint at West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue where officers would check bags for weapons or suspicious items, NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and police said.

    Bickford pulled out a machete, striking one officer with the blade and another officer in the head with the handle before swinging the blade at a third officer, who then shot him in the shoulder, according to the sources and the NYPD.

    Investigators on Sunday were seeking search warrants for the suspect’s phone and online activities to determine if he had been viewing violent extremist propaganda, law enforcement sources said.

    The NYPD had sent a bulletin Friday to law enforcement partners across the country titled, “ISIS-Aligned Media Unit Releases Video Ahead of New Year’s Eve, Demanding Lone Offender Attacks,” according to the sources. The video, being circulated in online chat rooms, shows “selected video clips, suggesting various means of attack, including explosives, handguns, knives, and toxins,” according to the bulletin, obtained by CNN.

    It’s not clear if the checkpoint attack suspect has viewed terrorist propaganda. The tactics appear to follow a familiar model of prior attacks against New York City by lone offenders.

    If deemed a terrorist attack, it would be the first by a suspected terrorist on the event in Times Square, one of the world’s most watched New Year’s Eve celebrations.

    Bickford is from Wells, Maine, according to sources, a beach town with a population of just over 11,000 people.

    Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when the NYPD sent a bulletin about a video released by ISIS-aligned media. It was Friday.

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  • Mexico prison attack kills 14, dozens of inmates escape | CNN

    Mexico prison attack kills 14, dozens of inmates escape | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least 14 people died in a brazen armed assault on a prison in the Mexican border city of Juarez on Sunday, officials said.

    The Chihuahua state attorney general’s office said in a statement that 10 security guards and four prisoners were killed and 13 others were injured.

    The incident began around 7 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) on Sunday when gunmen in armored vehicles arrived at the prison and opened fire on security personnel, the prosecutor’s office said.

    Authorities said inmates took advantage of the situation and 24 prisoners escaped.

    It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

    Relatives of inmates gather outside the prison, hugging and consoling each other amid news of the incident within.

    CNN has reached out to the attorney general’s office for more details about the status of the investigation.

    Ciudad Juarez, just across the US-Mexico border from El Paso, Texas, is one of Mexico’s deadliest cities and an epicenter of drug cartel violence. The rival Juarez and Sinaloa cartels have been fighting a bloody turf war in the region over lucrative smuggling routes and for drug-dealing territory in the city.

    Sunday’s violence was not the first time violence has erupted at the prison. Last August, hundreds of Mexican troops were sent there after a clash between the two cartels caused a riot and shootouts that killed 11 people.

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  • 2 dead and 4 others injured in New Year’s Day shooting in Florida | CNN

    2 dead and 4 others injured in New Year’s Day shooting in Florida | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Two people died and four others were injured in a shooting in Ocala, Florida, early Sunday, authorities said.

    Gunfire broke out around 4:30 a.m. near the 1600 block of Southwest 5th Street, in an area where a crowd of about 100 people were gathered, police said in a news release.

    Davonta Harris, 30, and Abdul Hakeem Van Croskey, 24, were identified by the police as the two people killed. Four other victims, whose names were not released, were in stable condition.

    “Detectives are investigating the crime and are working diligently to determine the facts behind the fatal shooting and are actively working on leads,” Ocala police said.

    “The tragic event has left many devastated and mourning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this terrible act,” police said.

    Ocala is about 75 miles northwest of Orlando.

    A few hours earlier, a New Year’s Eve shooting left a 24-year-old dead and nine others injured in Mobile, Alabama, police said. The shooting happened just blocks from where people had gathered for the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

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  • From increases in minimum wage to recreational marijuana, these new laws take effect in 2023 | CNN Politics

    From increases in minimum wage to recreational marijuana, these new laws take effect in 2023 | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    As President Joe Biden scored several legislative wins last year, voters across the country headed to the polls in November to decide on local measures.

    The passage of several of those measures will lead to new state laws this year. And Americans in 2023 will also feel the impact of several provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that was enacted over the summer.

    Here are some of the state and federal measures set to take effect in 2023.

    Nearly half of all US states will increase their minimum wages in 2023.

    The hike went into effect in the following states on January 1: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.

    Minimum-wage workers in Connecticut will have to wait until June 1 to see the increase, while the change goes into effect in Nevada and Florida on July 1 and September 30, respectively. The hike went into effect in New York on Saturday for workers outside New York City, Long Island and Westchester County.

    Of all states, Washington state has the highest minimum wage at $15.74, up from $14.49, followed by California, which now has a minimum wage of $15.50 for all workers, up from $14 for employers with 25 or less employees and $15 for employers with 26 or more employees.

    However, Washington, DC, continues to have the highest minimum wage in the country. The increase from $16.10 to $16.50 went into effect Sunday and another hike to $17 is set for July 1.

    The push for a higher wage across the country comes as the federal minimum wage has remained the same since 2009, the longest period without change since a minimum wage was established in 1938, according to the Department of Labor.

    Efforts by Democrats to pass a $15 minimum wage bill stalled in the Senate in 2021.

    Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg/Getty Images

    Five states – Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota – had recreational marijuana on the ballot in the November midterm elections, and voters in Maryland and Missouri approved personal use for those 21 and older.

    While legalization has taken effect in Missouri with an amendment to the state constitution, the Maryland law goes into effect on July 1.

    The law will also allow those previously convicted of cannabis possession and intent to distribute to apply for record expungement.

    Starting January 1, the amount of cannabis a person can possess in Maryland for a fine instead of a criminal penalty increases – from just over a third of an ounce, or 10 grams, to 2.5 ounces.

    One of the most significant victories for Biden in 2022 was the Inflation Reduction Act, a $750 billion health care, tax and climate bill, which he signed into law in August.

    As part of the legislation, the price of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries will be capped at $35 starting January 1.

    About 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries used insulin in 2020 and spent an average of $54 per insulin prescription the same year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

    The cap does not apply to those with private insurance coverage after Senate Democrats failed to get at least 10 Republican votes to pass the broader provision.

    02 new laws in 2023

    Keith Srakocic/AP

    There will be changes to the tax credits for those with electric vehicles, also thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.

    The new rule stresses the use of vehicles that were made in North America, requiring much of their battery components and final assembly to be in the continent to be eligible for tax credits. It also mandates at least 40% of the minerals used for the battery to be extracted from the United States or a country that has free trade with the US.

    Upon meeting the requirements, new vehicles are eligible for a tax credit of up to $7,500.

    Those purchasing used electric vehicles can receive up to $4,000 in credits but it may not exceed 30% of the vehicle’s sale price.

    Initially, buyers who purchase vehicles in 2023 will need to wait to receive the tax credit when they file their tax returns for the year in 2024. But starting on January 1, 2024, electric vehicle buyers will be able to receive the money immediately, at the point of sale, if they agree to transfer the credit to their dealership.

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  • ‘Kaleidoscope’ adds color to a bland heist story with a you-pick-the-order format | CNN

    ‘Kaleidoscope’ adds color to a bland heist story with a you-pick-the-order format | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The puzzle-like gimmick at the heart of “Kaleidoscope” – watch the episodes in any order that you want – can’t conceal how otherwise uninspired this “Ocean’s Eleven”-esque heist series actually is. Chalk that up in part to stiffly written characters, familiar situations and drawn-out logistical sequences. It’s moderately watchable, but all told, color me unimpressed.

    Color plays a prominent role in this limited series, since each of the eight episodes corresponds with a color – red, orange, white, etc. – instead of a number, allowing the audience to essentially choose their own adventure. Details thus unfold differently depending on when they’re consumed, which in theory personalizes the viewing experience.

    The big picture, however, is pretty drab, in a story that plays out over a quarter-century: Leo Pap (Giancarlo Esposito), an accomplished thief, spent nearly two decades in prison, and has now assembled a team to pursue an elaborate heist that will also provide him with a measure of revenge.

    His target: Billions in bonds (as someone notes, the stuff they were after in “Die Hard”), held by a former associate of Leo’s, Roger Salas (Rufus Sewell), so hence the personal connection. Leo is joined by his partner Ava (Paz Vega) and an assortment of specialists assembled to carry out various specific tasks, although their squabbling (and worse) risks derailing the plan at practically every juncture.

    The episodes take place at various key points, from events before Leo went to prison (which requires youth-ifying the principals) to a few weeks before the heist, the big day itself and its aftermath.

    Created by Eric Garcia (who in addition to heist movies has cited “Pulp Fiction” and “Memento” as sources of non-linear inspiration), the freedom to snap the component parts together in different ways joins interactivity, a la “Black Mirror’s” “Bandersnatch,” among TV tricks employed to try serving what amounts to old wine in a new bottle. Yet it also has the unintended effect of blunting interest in the characters, who certainly go through some things – there are extremely violent moments – without evoking much of a response.

    Nor does it help that there’s an element of sappiness to the underlying story, which has Leo pining for the daughter who grew up without him. While the meticulous planning of the heist adds zest to something like the aforementioned “Ocean’s” series, those intricacies yield less satisfying results when spread out as they inevitably are in this more expansive series format.

    Ultimately, consider this another one of those exercises that exhausts most of its ingenuity on the basic concept, hoping that – coupled with Esposito’s steely charms in a leading role – would provide enough of a payoff.

    Netflix might well achieve that in terms of people opting to sample the series with its holiday debut, but the rainbow-hued vision behind “Kaleidoscope” turns out to be more intriguing than the pictures that come out of it.

    “Kaleidoscope” premieres January 1 on Netflix.

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  • 1 killed, at least 9 others injured in New Year’s Eve shooting in Alabama | CNN

    1 killed, at least 9 others injured in New Year’s Eve shooting in Alabama | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    One person was killed and nine others were injured in a shooting in Mobile, Alabama, Saturday night, just blocks from where people had gathered for the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration, according to CNN affiliate WPMI.

    Police got a call about shots fired at 11:15 p.m. in the 200 block of Dauphin Street, Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine told WPMI.

    Officers arrived to find one person dead and several others injured, Prine told the station.

    The chief said the surviving victims were all transported to local hospitals, but no information was available on the extent of their injuries.

    No arrests have been made and it’s unclear what motivated the shooting, which happened as crowds were in the downtown area for the MoonPie Over Mobile event.

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  • Suspect in the Idaho college student killings returned home for the holidays weeks after the crime. Here’s what we know about him | CNN

    Suspect in the Idaho college student killings returned home for the holidays weeks after the crime. Here’s what we know about him | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The man arrested in connection with the November killings of four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death attended a nearby university in Washington state and traveled across the country in December to spend the holidays with his parents.

    Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on Friday on an arrest warrant for first-degree murder charges issued by the Moscow, Idaho, Police Department and the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the criminal complaint.

    The four slain students – Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20 – were each stabbed multiple times in the early morning hours of November 13 at an off-campus house in the small college town of Moscow.

    Kohberger was apprehended at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania, where Kohberger went several days before Christmas, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar told CNN. A white Elantra authorities had been looking for in connection with the killings was also at the parents’ house, the attorney added.

    “He was home for the holidays,” LaBar said.

    Kohberger’s father traveled with him from Washington state to Pennsylvania, according to the public defender and a person who claims to have interacted with the father and son earlier in December.

    That person, who asked not to be identified, said they did not know the father and son but engaged in friendly conversation with them at an auto maintenance shop on December 16 in Pennsylvania, while the two were getting their Elantra serviced. (A separate person also confirmed to CNN the father and son did business at the location on December 16.)

    The father told the individual he flew to Washington state and made the cross-country trip with Kohberger, adding his son would be traveling to the west coast alone after the holidays. Police have not indicated the suspect’s father is in any way implicated in the killings. CNN has attempted to contact the father for comment.

    The person described the younger Kohberger as “a little awkward,” but not suspiciously so. The suspect reportedly told the person he wanted to go into the field of behavioral criminal justice and become a professor.

    Kohberger is a graduate student at Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, according to a now-removed university graduate directory, which was seen by CNN earlier Friday.

    Kohberger had finished his first semester as a PhD student in the school’s criminal justice program earlier in December, the university said in a Friday statement.

    Earlier that day, university police assisted authorities in executing search warrants at his office and apartment, both located on the school’s Pullman campus.

    Pullman is about a 15-minute drive from Moscow, where the killings took place.

    Kohberger intends to waive his extradition hearing to Idaho, set for January 3, to expedite his transport to the state, LaBar said, adding his client is “eager to be exonerated” of the charges.

    Kohberger was previously an undergraduate and graduate student at DeSales University, according to a statement on the school’s website. DeSales is a Catholic university in Pennsylvania, according to its official Facebook page.

    He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and earlier this year completed his “graduate studies for the Master of Arts in criminal justice program,” according to a university spokesperson.

    Kohberger’s attorney described his client as “very intelligent,” adding “he understands where we are right now.”

    In a post removed from Reddit after the arrest was made public, a student investigator associated with a DeSales University study named Bryan Kohberger sought participation in a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”

    The post said, “In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience.”

    CNN reached one of the principal investigators of the study, a professor at DeSales University, but they declined to comment on the matter. The university has not responded to comment.

    A spokesperson for Northampton Community College, also in Pennsylvania, confirmed Kohberger was a student there and graduated with an Associate of Arts and Psychology degree in 2018.

    Earlier in December, authorities asked the public for information about a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra they believed was in the “immediate area” of the crime scenes around the time of the killings.

    After an overwhelming number of tips, investigators narrowed their focus to Kohberger by tracing ownership of the Elantra back to him, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

    His DNA also matched DNA recovered at the crime scene, according to the sources, who also explained authorities believed Kohberger left the area and went to Pennsylvania after the crime.

    A surveillance team with the FBI tracked the suspect for several days in the area where he was arrested, the sources added.

    One law enforcement source said Kohberger is believed to have driven across the country to his parents’ house in the Elantra. Authorities had also been surveilling his parents’ house, the source said.

    Authorities kept Kohberger under surveillance while investigators from Moscow’s police department, the Idaho State Police and the FBI worked with prosecutors to develop sufficient probable cause for an arrest warrant.

    The suspect’s family is “very shocked,” LaBar, the attorney, said, adding they are in “awe over everything that’s going on” and believed this was “out of character for Bryan.”

    Authorities still want to hear from people who may be able to shed more light on Kohberger.

    “This is not the end of this investigation, in fact, this is a new beginning,” Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said Friday. “You all now know the name of the person who has been charged with these offenses, please get that information out there, please ask the public, anyone who knows about this individual, to come forward.”

    “Report anything you know about him, to help the investigators, and eventually our office and the court system, understand fully everything there is to know about not only the individual, but what happened and why,” Thompson added.

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  • MGM Resorts sells land on Las Vegas Strip where 2017 mass shooting took place | CNN

    MGM Resorts sells land on Las Vegas Strip where 2017 mass shooting took place | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The land on the Las Vegas Strip where the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting took place has been sold, the company that owned the land said.

    The sale, finalized on Friday, was for land across from The Luxor hotel known as the Village property and does not include a plot of land where a memorial is slated to go, MGM Resorts International said in a letter that was distributed to employees announcing the sale and its details.

    “In 2021, we were honored to commit to donating a portion of the land to Clark County to house the permanent memorial honoring the victims and heroes of 1 October,” MGM Resorts CEO & President Bill Hornbuckle said in the letter.

    On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock shot into a crowd of concertgoers, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500. The FBI has since concluded its investigation of the attack, without finding a clear motive.

    Hornbuckle acknowledged that having a permanent memorial “is essential to our community’s healing, and we’ll continue working with and supporting the county as they move forward in the development and construction process.

    “We know the importance this location holds to so many and have always put tremendous thought into every consideration involving the site,” Hornbuckle said. “This is no exception.”

    The remaining portion of the Village property has been sold to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, according to the letter.

    “The Three Affiliated Tribes have demonstrated that they care about our community, its future and, of course, its past. I’d like to thank them for their commitment to the community and wish them the best moving forward,” Hornbuckle said. “They will announce their plans for the space on a future date.”

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  • Juvenile warrant issued for 17-year-old charged with second-degree murder in Mall of America shooting | CNN

    Juvenile warrant issued for 17-year-old charged with second-degree murder in Mall of America shooting | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Minnesota prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old with second-degree murder and second-degree assault in connection with a deadly shooting at the Mall of America.

    This comes after Hennepin County Attorney’s Office filed charges against one adult and two juveniles.

    The office charged the 17-year-old, identified by police as Lavon Semaj Longstreet, with “Murder-2nd Degree- With Intent – Not Premeditated (Aid/Abet) and Assault- 2nd Degree- Dangerous Weapon (Aid/Abet).”

    A 19-year-old man, Johntae Raymon Hudson of Saint Paul, died in the shooting December 23, police say. One bystander was grazed by a bullet.

    The mall, near Minneapolis, is the country’s largest shopping center.

    Longstreet is not in custody and police say they do not know his whereabouts. A juvenile warrant has been issued for his arrest and anyone with information about his location is asked to contact the Bloomington Police Department.

    Police said an altercation between about five to nine people occurred inside Nordstrom. Store surveillance video showed a male pulling out a gun and shooting the victim, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said.

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  • Authorities tracked the Idaho student killings suspect as he drove cross-country to Pennsylvania, sources say | CNN

    Authorities tracked the Idaho student killings suspect as he drove cross-country to Pennsylvania, sources say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Authorities carefully tracked the man charged in the killings of four Idaho college students as he drove across the country around Christmas and continued surveilling him for several days before finally arresting him Friday, sources tell CNN.

    Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of murder in the first degree, as well as felony burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in November, according to Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson.

    Still, investigators have not publicly confirmed the suspect’s motive or whether he knew the victims. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.

    In the nearly seven weeks since the students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home, investigators have conducted more than 300 interviews and scoured approximately 20,000 tips in their search for the suspect. News of the killings – and the long stretch of time without a suspect or significant developments – have rattled the University of Idaho community and the surrounding town of Moscow, which had not seen a murder in seven years.

    Investigators honed in on Kohberger as the suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

    Kohberger, who authorities say lived just minutes from the scene of the killings, is a PhD student in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the school confirmed.

    He drove cross-country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania around Christmas, according to a law enforcement source. Authorities were tracking him as he drove and were also surveilling his parents’ house, the source said.

    An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

    Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case tells CNN. The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to him as the suspect, the source said.

    Kohberger was arraigned Friday morning in Pennsylvania and is being held without bail pending his extradition hearing on January 3, records show.

    The suspect has the option to waive extradition and return to Idaho voluntarily. But if he chooses not to, Moscow police will have to initiate extradition proceedings through the governor’s office, which could take some time, Fry said.

    Even with a suspect charged, law enforcement’s work is far from over, prosecutors said.

    Bryan Kohberger

    “This is not the end of this investigation. In fact, this is a new beginning,” Thompson said Friday night.

    Thompson urged people to continue submitting tips, asking anyone with information about the suspect “to come forward, call the tip line, report anything you know about him to help the investigators.”

    Since the killings of the four students – Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 some community members have grown frustrated as investigators have yet to offer a thorough narrative of how the night unfolded. Authorities have released limited details, including the victims’ activities leading up to the attacks and people they have ruled out as suspects.

    Fry told reporters Friday state law limits what information authorities can release before Kohberger makes an initial appearance in Idaho court. The probable cause affidavit – which details the factual basis of Kohberger’s charges – is sealed until the suspect is physically in Latah County, Idaho and has been served with the Idaho arrest warrant, Thompson said.

    Kohberger is a resident of Pullman, Washington, a city just about nine miles from the site of the killings, authorities said. His apartment and office on the Washington State University’s Pullman campus were searched by law enforcement Friday morning, the university confirmed in a statement.

    In June 2022, he finished graduate studies at DeSales University, where he also was an undergraduate, according to a statement on the school’s website. He also got an associate degree from Northampton Community College in 2018, the college confirmed to CNN.

    In a Reddit post removed after Kohberger’s arrest was announced, a student investigator named Bryan Kohberger who was associated with a DeSales University study sought participation in a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”

    “In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post said.

    CNN reached one of the principal investigators of the study, a professor at DeSales University, but they declined to comment on the matter. The university has not responded to requests for comment.

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