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  • Aid groups warn of mass death from hunger in Sudan amid war

    Aid groups warn of mass death from hunger in Sudan amid war

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    On a clear night a year ago, a dozen heavily armed fighters broke into Omaima Farouq’s house in an upscale neighborhood in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. At gunpoint, they whipped and slapped the woman, and terrorized her children. Then they expelled them from the fenced two-story house.

    “Since then, our life has been ruined,” said the 45-year-old schoolteacher. “Everything has changed in this year.”

    What You Need To Know

    • Sudan has been torn by war for a year now, torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
    • The conflict has been overshadowed by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza Strip
    • But relief workers warn Sudan is hurtling towards a calamity of starvation, with potential mass death in coming months
    • Food production and distribution networks have broken down and aid agencies are unable to reach the worst-stricken regions
    • At the same time, the conflict has brought widespread reports of atrocities including killings, displacement and rape, particularly in the area of the capital and the western region of Darfur

    Farouq, who is a widow, and her four children now live in a small village outside the central city of Wad Madani, 85 miles southeast of Khartoum. They depend on aid from villagers and philanthropists since international aid groups can’t reach the village.

    Sudan has been torn by war for a year now, ever since simmering tensions between its military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into street clashes in the capital Khartoum in mid-April 2023. The fighting rapidly spread across the country.

    The conflict has been overshadowed by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza Strip, which since October has caused a massive humanitarian crisis for Palestinians and a threat of famine in the territory.

    But relief workers warn Sudan is hurtling towards an even larger-scale calamity of starvation, with potential mass death in coming months. Food production and distribution networks have broken down and aid agencies are unable to reach the worst-stricken regions. At the same time, the conflict has brought widespread reports of atrocities including killings, displacement and rape, particularly in the area of the capital and the western region of Darfur.

    Justin Brady, head of the U.N. humanitarian coordination office for Sudan, warned that potentially tens or even hundreds of thousands could die in coming months from malnutrition-related causes.

    “This is going to get very ugly very quickly unless we can overcome both the resource challenges and the access challenges,” Brady said. The world, he said, needs to take fast action to pressure the two sides for a stop in fighting and raise funds for the U.N. humanitarian effort.

    But the international community has paid little attention. The U.N. humanitarian campaign needs some $2.7 billion this year to get food, heath care and other supplies to 24 million people in Sudan – nearly half its population of 51 million. So far, funders have given only $145 million, about 5%, according to the humanitarian office, known as OCHA.

    The “level of international neglect is shocking,” Christos Christou, president of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, said in a recent statement.

    The situation in fighting on the ground has been deteriorating. The military, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have carved up Khartoum and trade indiscriminate fire at each other. RSF forces have overrun much of Darfur, while Burhan has moved the government and his headquarters to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

    The Sudanese Unit for Combating Violence Against Women, a government organization, documented at least 159 cases of rape and gang rape the past year, almost all in Khartoum and Darfur. The organization’s head, Sulima Ishaq Sharif, said this figure represents the tip of the iceberg since many victims don’t speak out for fear of reprisal or the stigma connected to rape.

    In 2021, Burhan and Dagalo were uneasy allies who led a military coup. They toppled an internationally recognized civilian government that was supposed to steer Sudan’s democratic transition after the 2019 military overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir amid a popular uprising. Burhan and Dagalo subsequently fell out in a struggle for power.

    The situation has been horrific in Darfur, where the RSF and its allies are accused of rampant sexual violence and ethnic attacks on African tribes’ areas. The International Criminal Court said it was investigating fresh allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region, which was the scene of genocidal war in the 2000s.

    A series of attacks by the RSF and allied militias on the ethnic African Masalit tribe killed between 10,000 and 15,000 people in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur near the Chad border, according to a report by United Nations experts to the Security Council earlier this year. It said Darfur is experiencing “its worst violence since 2005.”

    With aid groups unable to reach Darfur’s camps for displaced people, eight out of every 10 families in the camps eat only one meal a day, said Adam Rijal, the spokesman for the Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur.

    In Kelma camp in South Darfur province, he said an average of nearly three children die every 12 hours, most due to diseases related to malnutrition. He said the medical center in the camp receives between 14 and 18 cases of malnutrition every day, mostly children and pregnant women.

    Not including the Geneina killings, the war has killed at least 14,600 people across Sudan and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, according to the United Nations. More than 8 million people have been driven from their homes, fleeing either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries.

    Many flee repeatedly as the war expands.

    When fighting reached his street in Khartoum, Taj el-Ser and his wife and four children headed west to his relatives in Darfur in the town of Ardamata.

    Then the RSF and its allies overran Ardamata in November, rampaging through the town for six days. El-Ser said they killed many Masalit and relatives of army soldiers.

    “Some were shot dead or burned inside their homes,” he said by phone from another town in Darfur. “I and my family survived only because I am Arab.”

    Both sides, the military and RSF, have committed serious violations of international law, killing civilians and destroying vital infrastructure, said Mohamed Osman, Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch.

    Food production has crashed, imports stalled, movement of food around the country is hampered by fighting, and staple food prices have soared by 45% in less than a year, OCHA says. The war wrecked the country’s healthcare system, leaving only 20 to 30% of the health facilities functional across the country, according to MSF.

    At least 37% of the population at crisis level or above in hunger, according OCHA. Save the Children warned that about 230,000 children, pregnant women and newborn mothers could die of malnutrition in the coming months.

    “We are seeing massive hunger, suffering and death. And yet the world looks away,” said Arif Noor, Save the Children’s director in Sudan.

    About 3.5 million children aged under 5 years have acute malnutrition, including more than 710,000 with severe acute malnutrition, according to the World Health Organization.

    About 5 million people were one step away from famine, according to a December assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, considered the global authority on determining the severity of hunger crises. Overall, 17.7 million people were facing acute food insecurity, it found.

    Aid workers say the world has to take action.

    “Sudan is described as a forgotten crisis. I’m starting to wonder how many people knew about it in the first place to forget about it,” said Brady, from OCHA. “There are others that have more attention than Sudan. I don’t like to compare crises. It’s like comparing two cancer patients. … They both need to be treated.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

    Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots, as once-mundane procedural negotiations get caught up in the nation’s fractious politics.

    What You Need To Know

    • Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots

    • Both states’ certification deadlines precede the Democrats’ August national convention

    • Biden campaign lawyers have asked the states’ election chiefs to accept provisional certification until his nomination can be formalized

    • The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with last year’s legal campaign to remove Donald Trump from various state ballots over the U.S. Capitol riot

    Both states, which carry a combined 26 electoral votes, have deadlines for appearing on the ballot that precede the Democratic National Convention from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Chicago. Lawyers for Biden’s campaign have asked their secretaries of state to accept provisional certifications before the cutoff, which would then be updated once Biden is formally nominated.

    That’s where things have gotten sticky. Election chiefs in both states have identified solutions that are putting Democrats in the tenuous position of asking Republicans for help. Though former President Donald Trump is favored to win both states, any absence of a sitting president from the ballot could sway faith in the electoral outcome.

    It also raises the question: Will the divided parties be able to cooperate for the sake of voters?

    Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told The Associated Press that he will not accept a provisional certification because he does not have legal authority to do so. Allen said he sent a letter to the Alabama Democratic Party notifying it of the date problem as a “heads up” so it could address the issue.

    “I’m not denying anybody. I’m just telling them what the law is,” Allen said. “I took an oath to uphold Alabama law and that’s what I’m going to do.”

    The state’s Democratic Party chair, Randy Kelley, accused Allen of “partisan gamesmanship,” pointing out that Alabama has made adjustments to accommodate late Republican conventions in the past.

    Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a similar letter to the Ohio Democratic Party last week. The letter suggested the party needed either to reschedule its convention or obtain a legislative fix by May 9 to get Biden on the Nov. 5 ballot.

    The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with a legal campaign last year to remove former Trump from various state ballots by citing a rarely used clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. After Democratic-dominated states including Colorado and Maine did so, Republicans warned they could counter by barring Biden from ballots in red states if the Supreme Court didn’t reverse the actions.

    The high court did just that last month, ruling that individual states can’t bar a candidate running for national office under the constitutional provision. But Alabama and Ohio have proceeded anyway, citing the technical conflicts between Biden’s official nomination and their own ballot deadlines.

    Biden’s campaign argues there is precedent in Alabama for accepting provisional certification, including when Republicans faced the same issue in 2020. In that year, the state both accepted a provisional certification for Trump and passed legislation containing a one-time deadline change. Democratic lawyers argue it was the provisional certification, and not the legislation, that allowed Trump onto the ballot.

    Regardless, Allen’s Republican predecessor as secretary of state, John Merrill, said Alabama worked it out for Trump and “absolutely the state should do the same” for Biden.

    “Everybody deserves the chance to vote for the major party nominees. That’s why it’s important for the state to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everybody in the state is properly represented,” he said.

    Republicans also submitted provisional certifications for Trump in Montana, Oklahoma and Washington in 2020, as did Democrats for Biden in those three states. On Thursday, the state of Washington agreed to accept a provisional certification for Biden to meet its pre-convention deadline. Oklahoma’s deadline also falls before the convention this year, but a spokesperson said its law already anticipates such occasions by allowing for provisional certifications.

    Since Ohio changed its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of the general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust it twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates of both parties. Each change was only temporary.

    Two Democratic lawmakers in Alabama’s Republican-controlled Legislature introduced legislation Thursday to push back the state’s certification deadline, and it looks like the party also will have to take the lead at Ohio’s GOP-led Statehouse.

    Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican, told reporters this week he does not plan to initiate a legislative solution in his state. He said it’s up to minority Democrats, who control only seven of the chamber’s 33 seats.

    “I think it’s a Democratic problem. There will have to be a Democratic solution,” Huffman said. “That hasn’t been proposed to me.”

    That could leave Biden’s fate in Ohio to LaRose, whom Democrats sharply criticized all spring as he competed in a bitter U.S. Senate primary.

    Democrats are weighing all their options. If pleas for provisional certification or legislation both fail, they could consider litigation or call a portion of their convention early to formalize Biden’s certification.

    A Biden campaign lawyer said that the president already is the presumptive nominee and that keeping him off ballots will strip voters of their constitutionally protected rights.

    “President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris will be the Democratic Party’s candidates for the 2024 presidential election,” Barry Ragsdale, an attorney for the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Convention, wrote in his Alabama letter. “They have already secured the requisite number of pledged delegates through the state primary process. There is no ambiguity on this point.”

    Some Republicans in both states support working with the Biden campaign to assure he is on the ballot.

    Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, the chamber’s Republican leader, said, “My attitude would be trying to be accommodating, if we can, in regards to a topic that’s important for everyone across the board.”

    Republican U.S. Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, said that he doesn’t believe anything “malicious” is going on in his state and that he expects an accommodation to be made for Biden. Vance told The Boston Globe he hopes Ohioans will support Trump, and expects they will, as they did in 2016 and 2020.

    “But the people of Ohio get to make that choice,” he said, “not some weird ballot quirk.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

    Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That’s up to Republicans

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots, as once-mundane procedural negotiations get caught up in the nation’s fractious politics.

    What You Need To Know

    • Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign is wrangling with Republican-dominated state governments in Ohio and Alabama to assure he is listed on their fall ballots

    • Both states’ certification deadlines precede the Democrats’ August national convention

    • Biden campaign lawyers have asked the states’ election chiefs to accept provisional certification until his nomination can be formalized

    • The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with last year’s legal campaign to remove Donald Trump from various state ballots over the U.S. Capitol riot

    Both states, which carry a combined 26 electoral votes, have deadlines for appearing on the ballot that precede the Democratic National Convention from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22 in Chicago. Lawyers for Biden’s campaign have asked their secretaries of state to accept provisional certifications before the cutoff, which would then be updated once Biden is formally nominated.

    That’s where things have gotten sticky. Election chiefs in both states have identified solutions that are putting Democrats in the tenuous position of asking Republicans for help. Though former President Donald Trump is favored to win both states, any absence of a sitting president from the ballot could sway faith in the electoral outcome.

    It also raises the question: Will the divided parties be able to cooperate for the sake of voters?

    Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen told The Associated Press that he will not accept a provisional certification because he does not have legal authority to do so. Allen said he sent a letter to the Alabama Democratic Party notifying it of the date problem as a “heads up” so it could address the issue.

    “I’m not denying anybody. I’m just telling them what the law is,” Allen said. “I took an oath to uphold Alabama law and that’s what I’m going to do.”

    The state’s Democratic Party chair, Randy Kelley, accused Allen of “partisan gamesmanship,” pointing out that Alabama has made adjustments to accommodate late Republican conventions in the past.

    Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a similar letter to the Ohio Democratic Party last week. The letter suggested the party needed either to reschedule its convention or obtain a legislative fix by May 9 to get Biden on the Nov. 5 ballot.

    The notion of striking a presidential candidate from a ballot began with a legal campaign last year to remove former Trump from various state ballots by citing a rarely used clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment prohibiting those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office. After Democratic-dominated states including Colorado and Maine did so, Republicans warned they could counter by barring Biden from ballots in red states if the Supreme Court didn’t reverse the actions.

    The high court did just that last month, ruling that individual states can’t bar a candidate running for national office under the constitutional provision. But Alabama and Ohio have proceeded anyway, citing the technical conflicts between Biden’s official nomination and their own ballot deadlines.

    Biden’s campaign argues there is precedent in Alabama for accepting provisional certification, including when Republicans faced the same issue in 2020. In that year, the state both accepted a provisional certification for Trump and passed legislation containing a one-time deadline change. Democratic lawyers argue it was the provisional certification, and not the legislation, that allowed Trump onto the ballot.

    Regardless, Allen’s Republican predecessor as secretary of state, John Merrill, said Alabama worked it out for Trump and “absolutely the state should do the same” for Biden.

    “Everybody deserves the chance to vote for the major party nominees. That’s why it’s important for the state to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everybody in the state is properly represented,” he said.

    Republicans also submitted provisional certifications for Trump in Montana, Oklahoma and Washington in 2020, as did Democrats for Biden in those three states. On Thursday, the state of Washington agreed to accept a provisional certification for Biden to meet its pre-convention deadline. Oklahoma’s deadline also falls before the convention this year, but a spokesperson said its law already anticipates such occasions by allowing for provisional certifications.

    Since Ohio changed its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of the general election, state lawmakers have had to adjust it twice, in 2012 and 2020, to accommodate candidates of both parties. Each change was only temporary.

    Two Democratic lawmakers in Alabama’s Republican-controlled Legislature introduced legislation Thursday to push back the state’s certification deadline, and it looks like the party also will have to take the lead at Ohio’s GOP-led Statehouse.

    Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican, told reporters this week he does not plan to initiate a legislative solution in his state. He said it’s up to minority Democrats, who control only seven of the chamber’s 33 seats.

    “I think it’s a Democratic problem. There will have to be a Democratic solution,” Huffman said. “That hasn’t been proposed to me.”

    That could leave Biden’s fate in Ohio to LaRose, whom Democrats sharply criticized all spring as he competed in a bitter U.S. Senate primary.

    Democrats are weighing all their options. If pleas for provisional certification or legislation both fail, they could consider litigation or call a portion of their convention early to formalize Biden’s certification.

    A Biden campaign lawyer said that the president already is the presumptive nominee and that keeping him off ballots will strip voters of their constitutionally protected rights.

    “President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris will be the Democratic Party’s candidates for the 2024 presidential election,” Barry Ragsdale, an attorney for the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Convention, wrote in his Alabama letter. “They have already secured the requisite number of pledged delegates through the state primary process. There is no ambiguity on this point.”

    Some Republicans in both states support working with the Biden campaign to assure he is on the ballot.

    Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, the chamber’s Republican leader, said, “My attitude would be trying to be accommodating, if we can, in regards to a topic that’s important for everyone across the board.”

    Republican U.S. Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, said that he doesn’t believe anything “malicious” is going on in his state and that he expects an accommodation to be made for Biden. Vance told The Boston Globe he hopes Ohioans will support Trump, and expects they will, as they did in 2016 and 2020.

    “But the people of Ohio get to make that choice,” he said, “not some weird ballot quirk.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Oil and gas companies must pay more to drill on public lands under Biden rule

    Oil and gas companies must pay more to drill on public lands under Biden rule

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    Oil and gas companies will have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells, according to a final rule issued Friday by the Biden administration.

    What You Need To Know

    • Oil and gas companies will have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells under a final rule from the Biden administration

    • The Interior Department rule finalized Friday raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67%, in accordance with the sweeping 2022 climate law approved by Congress
    • The previous rate of 12.5% paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century

    • The federal rate was significantly lower than what many states and private landowners charge for drilling leases on state or private lands

    The Interior Department’s rule raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67%, in accordance with the sweeping 2022 climate law approved by Congress. The previous rate of 12.5% paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century. The federal rate was significantly lower than what many states and private landowners charge for drilling leases on state or private lands.

    The new rule does not go so far as to prohibit new oil and gas leasing on public lands, as many environmental groups have urged and as Democratic President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign. But officials said the proposal would lead to a more responsible leasing process that provides a better return to U.S. taxpayers.

    The plan codifies provisions in the climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the 2021 infrastructure law and recommendations from an Interior Department report on oil and gas leasing issued in 2021.

    “These are the most significant reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing program in decades, and they will cut wasteful speculation, increase returns for the public and protect taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of environmental cleanups,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said.

    Along with efforts to clean up so-called orphaned, or abandoned, wells, “these reforms will help safeguard the health of our public lands and nearby communities for generations to come,” Haaland said.

    Haaland and other officials said the new rule provides a fair return to taxpayers and focuses oil and gas leasing in areas that are the most likely to be developed, especially those with existing infrastructure and high oil and gas potential. The rule will ease pressure to develop areas that contain sensitive wildlife habitat, cultural resources or recreation sites, officials said.

    The new royalty rate set by the climate law is expected to remain in place until August 2032, after which it can be increased. The higher rate would increase costs for oil and gas companies by an estimated $1.8 billion in that period, according to the Interior Department.

    The rule also would increase the minimum leasing bond paid by energy companies to $150,000, compared with the previous $10,000 established in 1960. The higher bonding requirement is intended to ensure that companies meet their obligations to clean up drilling sites after they are done or cap wells that are abandoned.

    The previous level was far too low to force companies to act and did not cover potential costs to reclaim a well, officials said. As a result, taxpayers frequently end up covering cleanup costs for abandoned or depleted wells if an operator refuses to do so or declares bankruptcy. Hundreds of thousands of “orphaned” oil and gas wells and abandoned coal and hardrock mines pose serious safety hazards, while causing ongoing environmental damage.

    The Interior Department has made available more than $1 billion in the past two years from the infrastructure law to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands. The new rule aims to prevent that burden from falling on taxpayers in the future.

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    Associated Press

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  • Manhattan court must find a dozen jurors for Trump hush-money trial

    Manhattan court must find a dozen jurors for Trump hush-money trial

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    Of the 1.4 million adults who live in Manhattan, a dozen are soon to become the first Americans to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime.

    What You Need To Know

    • A dozen Manhattan residents are soon to become the first Americans ever to sit in judgment of a former president charged with a crime

    • Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial

    • The presumptive Republican nominee has pleaded not guilty

    • The proceedings present a historic challenge for the court, the lawyers and the everyday citizens who find themselves in the jury pool
    • Those problems include finding people who can be impartial about one of the most polarizing figures in American life and detecting any bias among prospective jurors without invading the privacy of the ballot box

    Jury selection is set to start Monday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money case — the first trial among four criminal prosecutions of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The proceedings present a historic challenge for the court, the lawyers and the everyday citizens who find themselves in the jury pool.

    “There is no question that picking a jury in a case involving someone as familiar to everyone as former President Trump poses unique problems,” one of the trial prosecutors, Joshua Steinglass, said during a hearing.

    Those problems include finding people who can be impartial about one of the most polarizing figures in American life and detecting any bias among prospective jurors without invading the privacy of the ballot box.

    There’s also the risk that people may try to game their way onto the jury to serve a personal agenda. Or they may be reluctant to decide a case against a politician who has used his social media megaphone to tear into court decisions that go against him and has tens of millions of fervent supporters.

    Still, if jury selection will be tricky, it’s not impossible, says John Jay College of Criminal Justice psychology professor Margaret Bull Kovera.

    “There are people who will look at the law, look at the evidence that’s shown and make a decision,” says Kovera, whose research includes the psychology of juries. “And the job of the judge and the attorneys right now is to figure out who those people are.”

    Trump has pleaded not guilty to fudging his company’s books as part of an effort to conceal payments made to hide claims of extramarital sex during his 2016 campaign. He denies the encounters and contends the case is a legally bogus, politically engineered effort to sabotage his current run.

    He will go on trial in a criminal court system where juries have decided cases against a roster of famous names, including mob boss John Gotti, disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein and Trump’s own company.

    Over the last year, writer E. Jean Carroll’s sex assault and defamation civil suits against Trump went before juries in a nearby federal courthouse. New York state’s fraud lawsuit against the ex-president and his company went to trial without a jury last fall in a state court next door.

    But the hush-money case, which carries the possibility of up to four years in prison if he’s convicted, raises the stakes.

    Trump lived for decades in Manhattan, where he first made his name as a swaggering real estate developer with a flair for publicity. As Steinglass put it, “There is no chance that we’re going to find a single juror that doesn’t have a view” of Trump.

    But the question isn’t whether a prospective juror does or doesn’t like Trump or anyone else in the case, Judge Juan M. Merchan wrote in a filing Monday. Rather, he said, it’s whether the person can “set aside any personal feelings or biases and render a decision that is based on the evidence and the law.”

    The process of choosing a jury begins when Merchan fills his New Deal-era courtroom with prospective jurors, giving them a brief description of the case and other basics. Then the judge will excuse any people who indicate by a show of hands that they can’t serve or can’t be fair and impartial, he wrote.

    Those who remain will be called in groups into the jury box — by number, as their names won’t be made public — to answer 42 questions, some with multiple parts.

    Some are standard inquiries about prospective jurors’ backgrounds. But the two sides have vigorously debated what, if anything, prospective jurors should be asked about their political activities and opinions.

    Merchan emphasized that he won’t let the lawyers ask about jurors’ voting choices, political contributions or party registration.

    But the approved questionnaire asks, for example, whether someone has “political, moral, intellectual or religious beliefs or opinions” that might “slant your approach to this case.” Another query probes whether prospective jurors support any of a half-dozen far-right or far-left groups, have attended Trump or anti-Trump rallies, and have worked or volunteered for Trump or for organizations that criticize him.

    Potential jurors also will be quizzed about any “strong opinions or firmly held beliefs” about Trump or his candidacy that would cloud their ability to be fair, any feelings about how Trump is being treated in the case and any “strong opinions” on whether ex-presidents can be charged in state courts.

    The process of choosing 12 jurors and six alternates can be chesslike, as the opposing sides try to game out whom they want and whom their adversaries want. They must also weigh which prospective jurors they can challenge as unable to serve or be impartial and when it’s worth using one of their limited chances to rule someone out without giving a reason.

    “A lot of times you make assumptions, and arguably stereotypes, about people that aren’t true, so it’s important to listen to what they say” in court and, if possible, online, says Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a University of Dayton law professor who studies juries.

    In prominent cases, courts and attorneys watch out for “stealth jurors,” people trying to be chosen because they want to steer the verdict, profit off the experience or have other private motives.

    Conversely, some people might want to avoid the attention that comes with a case against a famous person. To try to address that, Merchan decided to shield the jurors’ names from everyone except prosecutors, Trump and their respective legal teams.

    The six jurors and three alternates in each of Carroll’s federal civil cases against Trump were driven to and from court through an underground garage, and their names were withheld from the public, Carroll, Trump, their attorneys and even the judge.

    Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, says that if she were involved in the hush-money case, she would ask the court to do everything possible to ensure that jurors stay anonymous and don’t fear being singled out online or in the media.

    “The main concern, given the world we live in, has to be the potential for juror intimidation,” Kaplan said.

    Jurors were chosen within hours for both trials of Carroll’s claims, which Trump denies. Carroll’s lawyers later tried midtrial to boot a juror who had mentioned listening to a conservative podcaster who criticized Carroll’s case. The judge privately queried the juror, who insisted he could be fair and impartial.

    He remained on the panel, which unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million. Eight months later, the second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.5 million for defamation.

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    Associated Press

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  • Mamas, dads, lawmakers and advocates kick off Black Maternal Health Week

    Mamas, dads, lawmakers and advocates kick off Black Maternal Health Week

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    “Happy Black Maternal Health Week!” Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., said Thursday, addressing a room filled with advocates and fellow lawmakers at the Library of Congress. For Underwood, who cofounded the Black Maternal Health Caucus alongside Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., this week — April 11 to April 17 — is her Super Bowl.

    In five years in championing maternal health, Underwood and the Black Maternal Health Caucus have secured millions of dollars for maternal health priorities, including over $100 million for Black maternal health priorities just last month as part of the 2024 federal budget that President Joe Biden signed into law. Their love letter to moms across America is the “Momnibus,” a bipartisan package of bills that address “all aspects” of the maternal health crisis through a package of 13 bills.

    What You Need To Know

    • Black Maternal Health Week this year is April 11 to April 17

    • Lawmakers from the Black Maternal Health, Dads, and Mamas caucuses met Thursday with outside partners to discuss the maternal healthcare crisis in America and the need for affordable and accessable childcare

    • The Black Maternal Health Caucus has championed the “Momnibus,” a bipartisan package of bills to address all aspects of maternal health, for several years and is calling on their colleagues to act

    • Rep. Jimmy Gomez, founder of the Dads Caucus, tells Spectrum News that Democrats are laying a foundation now — if the House does flip to Democratic control in 2025, childcare and maternal health are among the top priorities

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their white counterparts. The CDC also reports that death from pregnancy-related complications has gone up in recent years, from 861 deaths in 2020, to 1,205 deaths in 2021. 

    That, Underwood says, is unacceptable.

    “We are so close — we have come right up to the finish line and now we need to get across it together,” Underwood said to nods from the audience. “It’s designed to be a solution, not a Band-Aid. Let’s fix it, once and for all. We know how to fix it — let’s just be courageous enough to get this done.”

    Underwood was joined Thursday by Dads Caucus founder Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., Mamas Caucus founder Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and advocate groups such as Chamber of Mothers to discuss the issues mothers are facing, including maternal mortality and lack of affordable childcare.

    “In America, we talk about being pro-life, and we care about our people, we care about the economy. I think of childcare as an infrastructure issue. And that’s part of why it was a part of the care infrastructure package and Build Back Better,” explained Erin Erenberg, CEO of Chamber of Mothers. “If you have a new baby, who’s holding the baby? Just like a bridge is holding transportation over two bodies of water, who’s holding the baby when after you have a child and you head back into work? Childcare is a necessity, it truly is essential.”

    Gomez, who went viral for carrying his son on the House floor during last year’s speakership race, has been a vocal advocate for supporting maternal health and expanding the child tax credit. He says they are laying the groundwork to accomplish these priorities if Democrats are able to take back the House next year.

    “We’re gonna make the issues of the child tax credit that cut poverty rates in this country a top priority and paid family leave — all those issues — childcare, a top priority,” said Gomez. “This year, 2024, it’s a tough election year. But it’s all about laying the groundwork for the new Congress in 2025.”

    When asked why Republicans haven’t signed on to become members of the Dads Caucus and headline this family issues, Gomez admitted he hasn’t done much recruiting of his colleagues across the aisle.

    “I think there is definitely a disconnect on how Republicans view the role of government in people’s lives. They, I often say and history has shown, care about how you are born and how you die, but they don’t really care about anything in the middle. That is something that we have to try to change.”

    Black Maternal Health Week runs from April 11 through April 17.

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    Cassie Semyon

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  • Sen. Bob Menendez, his wife will have separate bribery trials, judge rules

    Sen. Bob Menendez, his wife will have separate bribery trials, judge rules

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    U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife will be tried separately on allegations that they participated in a bribery scheme, a federal judge ruled Thursday, agreeing to sever and delay Nadine Menedez’s trial after her lawyers argued that she requires treatment for a serious medical condition.

    What You Need To Know

    • A federal judge has ruled that Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife will be tried separately on allegations that they participated in a bribery scheme

    • Judge Sidney H. Stein agreed Thursday to sever and delay Nadine Menedez’s trial after her lawyers said she required treatment for a serious medical condition

    • The senator’s trial will remain scheduled for May 6 in Manhattan federal court, while his wife’s was tentatively pushed back to July

    • Nadine Menendez’s lawyers argued for the move in a letter to Stein this week, saying she was recently diagnosed with an unspecified condition that will require surgery in the next four to six weeks

    The New Jersey Democrat’s trial will remain scheduled for May 6 in Manhattan federal court, while Nadine Menedez’s trial was tentatively pushed back to July.

    “This trial is going forward without Mrs. Menendez,” said Judge Sidney H. Stein. “The government is going to have to try this case two times.”

    Nadine Menendez’s lawyers argued for the move in a letter to Stein this week, saying she was recently diagnosed with an unspecified condition that will require surgery in the next four to six weeks. In court on Thursday, they said she needs more time for testing to understand the nature of the condition.

    Prosecutors, meanwhile, contended that the entire trial should just be delayed, arguing that severing Nadine Menendez’s trial from her husband’s would result in “serious inefficiencies and unfairness” that would require dozens of witnesses to be recalled.

    Stein on Thursday also denied motions to dismiss the indictment outright and transfer the case to New Jersey.

    The Menendezes and two businessmen have pleaded not guilty to charges that they participated in a bribery scheme in which prosecutors say cash and gold bars were given to the couple in return for the senator carrying out political favors. Bob Menendez chaired the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee until he stepped down from the role in September because of the allegations.

    A third businessman, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty to bribery charges and agreed to testify against the others at trial. Uribe said he conspired with Nadine Menendez and others to provide her with a Mercedes-Benz in return for access to her husband’s power and influence.

    Prosecutors allege that in return for the bribes, Menendez helped one of the businessmen get a lucrative meat-certification deal with Egypt. Menendez helped another associate get a deal with a Qatari investment fund, an indictment alleges.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden welcomes Japanese PM to the WH ahead of state dinner

    Biden welcomes Japanese PM to the WH ahead of state dinner

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    President Joe Biden on Wednesday welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the White House for an official visit, as Biden seeks to make clear his commitment to a secure Indo-Pacific region and the value the U.S. has placed on Japan as an essential partner in that endeavor. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden on Wednesday welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the White House for an official visit
    • Biden sought to make clear his commitment to a secure Indo-Pacific region and the value the U.S. has placed on Japan as an essential partner in that endeavor
    • Following the ceremony, the two leaders sat down in the Oval Office ahead of a scheduled joint press conference Wednesday afternoon; a formal state dinner will take place Wednesday night
    • Administration officials said the U.S. and Japan will announce more than 70 items on the official visit

    “The alliance between Japan and the United States is the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” Biden said during an arrival ceremony that featured all the pageantry typically bestowed on a foreign leader ahead of an official U.S. visit with a state dinner.  

    “Closer, stronger and more effective than ever before in history,” the president added of the U.S.-Japan relationship. 

    During the South Lawn ceremony, Biden lauded his Japanese counterpart as a “visionary and courageous leader.” He praised Kishida for isolating and condemning Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, presiding over “profound changes in defense” and his leadership of the G-7 last year. 

    Senior administration officials told reporters Tuesday that under Kishida, Japan has committed to raising its defense spending and acquired Tomahawk counterstrike capability, which they say will aid in our collective deterrence.

    “Today our economic relationship is one of the strongest and the deepest in the world,” Biden said. “Our democracies are beacons of freedom shining across the globe and the ties of friendship, family, connect the Japanese and American people.” 

    Kishida noted Japan would “join hands with American friends” to take on the challenges and difficulties facing the world. The Japanese leader announced he is sending an additional 250 cherry trees to the U.S. to mark the country’s upcoming anniversary. 

    Following the ceremony, the two leaders sat down in the Oval Office ahead of a scheduled joint press conference Wednesday afternoon. 

    Administration officials said the U.S. and Japan will announce more than 70 items on the official visit. 

    On Tuesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan noted among the expected announcements will be measures to “enhance” our defense and security cooperation as well as “major deliverables” on space. He added there will be announcements on research partnerships on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum semiconductors and clean energy.

    “Over the course of the visit, the president and the prime minister will highlight the high ambition of our alliance. Yes, in the defense and technology space, but also across the board, deepening our partnerships on space, technology, economic investment and fighting climate change,” Sullivan said, “coordinating global diplomacy and strengthening our people-to-people ties.”  

    On Monday, the Pentagon announced that the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia were considering having Japan join in on the AUKUS partnership, which aims to equip Australia with nuclear-powered and conventionally armed submarines – a move Beijing has opposed. 

    Military coordination will be a theme of the visit — and of the American-Japanese partnership moving forward. Over the weekend, the U.S. and Japan were among a quartet of nations participating in joint military exercises in the South China Sea. Those exercises are part of a change to the force structure in Japan, a senior official said Wednesday, as the U.S. seeks to integrate forces for joint protection in the region.

    The U.S. and Japan will also announce and promote research initiatives, including a a joint AI project between Carnegie Mellon University and Keio University in Tokyo, a venerable private research university; a second AI project between the University of Tsukuba, a national university; and a monetary scholarship to fund cultural exchange programs between American and Japanese high school students.

    Festivities will continue Wednesday night with a formal state dinner in the White House’s East Room. First lady Jill Biden and White House Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo told reporters on Tuesday that the dinner’s decor was partly inspired by Japanese gardens and will seek to celebrate springtime. 

    Wednesday will mark the fifth state dinner of Biden’s presidency, with four of the five honoring fellow Indo-Pacific nations: South Korea, India and Australia. Biden’s first state dinner went to France.  

    But Wednesday’s celebratory events also come at a moment of public disagreement between the leaders of the two nations after Biden announced last month that he does not support a planned sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan. In December, Nippon Steel said it planned to buy the Pittsburgh-headquartered U.S. Steel for $14.1 billion. 

    Senior White House officials, speaking to reporters Wednesday, were quick to discount the idea of the steel deal becoming a major topic of discussion between the leaders.

    “We think the relationship is much bigger than that, and I think everybody understands everybody’s position,” an official said.

    The festivities kicked off Tuesday, when Biden and the first lady greeted Kishida and Mrs. Yuko Kishida at the White House. On Tuesday, Kishida laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, which Biden noted during Wednesday morning’s ceremony he “truly” appreciated.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • EPA imposes first-ever national limit for ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

    EPA imposes first-ever national limit for ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

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    On Wednesday, the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new national standard that will limit the levels of toxic “forever chemicals” linked to cancers and other diseases in Americans’ drinking water.

    It’s the first time a limit has been imposed on PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which often contaminate the water, soil, food and air near industrial and chemical plants. PFAS chemicals are hazardous because they don’t degrade in the environment, lingering and contributing to health issues such as low birth weight and kidney cancer.

    What You Need To Know

    • On Wednesday, the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new national standard that would limit the levels of toxic “forever chemicals” linked to cancers and other diseases in Americans’ drinking water

    • It’s the first time a limit has been imposed on PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are often contaminating the water, soil, food and air near industrial and chemical plants

    • The EPA  says it will reduce exposure for 100 million people and prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancer. Utilities groups, however, say the EPA is underestimating the rule’s cost and overestimating its benefits

    • The EPA also announced $1 billion in new funding to help water systems across the country — including private wells — test and treat their water supply

    The new rule, the Biden administration claims, will protect around 100 million people and “prevent thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of serious illnesses” and protect infants and children from harmful impacts on their immune systems and development.

    “For decades, PFAS, or forever chemicals, have been widely used in industry and consumer products,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said on a press call Tuesday. “They can be found in everything from nonstick cookware to cleaning and personal care products. There’s no doubt that these chemicals have been important for certain industries and consumer uses. But there’s also no doubt that many of these chemicals can be harmful to our health and our environment.

    “These forever chemicals can accumulate in the body over time, and long-term exposure to certain types of PFAS have been linked to serious illnesses, including cancer, liver damage and high cholesterol,” he added.

    Between 6% and 10% of the country’s 66,000 public drinking water systems may be affected by this rule, meaning they will have five years to implement water treatment plans — including the installation of new filtration technologies. EPA officials said they will work closely with local and state-level drinking water agencies to guide them through the testing and, if necessary, treatment processes.

    The new rule is enforceable through the long-standing Safe Drinking Water Act, which empowers the EPA and states to take legal action and fine utilities if they are out of compliance. It’s the first new standard for drinking water contaminants since 1996.

    The EPA also announced $1 billion in new funding, drawn from the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021, to help water systems across the country — including private wells — test and treat their water supply.

    Regan and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory were set to officially announce the new national standard in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the drinking water source for 1 million people has been contaminated with forever chemicals from the local Chemours chemical plant where fluoropolymers are produced. Used in electronics, airplanes, cars and other products, a well-known fluoropolymer is known by the brand name Teflon (which is produced by another company).

    “We asked for this because we know science-based standards for PFAS and other compounds are desperately needed,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday. Before leading the EPA, Regan was North Carolina’s top environmental official.

    Utility groups warn the rules will cost tens of billions of dollars and fall hardest on small communities with fewer resources. Legal challenges are sure to follow.

    The new regulation is “going to throw public confidence in drinking water into chaos,” said Mike McGill, president of WaterPIO, a water industry communications firm.

    The American Water Works Association, an industry group, said it supports the development of PFAS limits in drinking water but argues the EPA’s rule has big problems. The agency underestimated its high cost, which can’t be justified for communities with low levels of PFAS, and it’ll raise customer water bills, the association said. Plus, there aren’t enough experts and workers — and supplies of filtration material are limited.

    But the Biden administration said the new rule is vital to ensuring every American has access to clean drinking water. Officials framed it as part of President Joe Biden’s larger effort to put the country on the road to cutting the cancer death rate in half by 2047. Biden lost his eldest son, Beau Biden, to cancer in 2015. 

    “Studies have shown that over 30 percent of cancers diagnosed today could be prevented through methods like decreasing environmental and toxic exposures to carcinogens,” as well as making lifestyle changes, the president wrote in a proclamation last month. “Beating cancer is personal to my family, as it is to millions of families across America and around the world.

    “Ending cancer is the kind of big and ambitious goal that America has always embraced,” Biden continued. “Let us recommit to this vital work.”

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    Joseph Konig

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  • Peter Higgs, who proposed existence of Higgs boson particle, has died at 94

    Peter Higgs, who proposed existence of Higgs boson particle, has died at 94

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    Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called “god particle” that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said Tuesday.

    What You Need To Know

    • The University of Edinburgh says Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the Higgs boson particle, has died at 94
    • Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle — the so-called Higgs boson — in 1964
    • But it would be almost 50 years before the particle’s existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider
    • Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium

    The university, where Higgs was emeritus professor, said he died Monday “peacefully at home following a short illness.”

    Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle — the so-called Higgs boson — in 1964. But it would be almost 50 years before the particle’s existence could be confirmed at the Large Hadron Collider.

    Higgs’ theory related to how subatomic particles that are the building blocks of matter get their mass. This theoretical understanding is a central part of the so-called Standard Model, which describes the physics of how the world is constructed.

    Edinburgh University said his groundbreaking 1964 paper demonstrated how “elemental particles achieved mass through the existence of a new sub-atomic particle″ which became known as the Higgs boson.

    In 2012, in one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics in decades, scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced that they had finally found a Higgs boson using the $10 billion particle collider built in a 17-mile (27-kilometer) tunnel under the Swiss-French border.

    Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium, who independently came up with the same theory.

    Edinburgh University Vice Chancellor Peter Mathieson said Higgs, who was born in the Scottish capital, was “a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us.”

    “His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

    Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

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    The parents of a Michigan school shooter were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison Tuesday for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021.

    What You Need To Know

    • The parents of a Michigan school shooter have each been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021

    • Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting

    • They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

    • Prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward Ethan Crumbley’s mental health

    Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward the teen’s mental health.

    Ethan Crumbley drew dark images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math assignment, accompanied by despondent phrases. Staff at Oxford High School did not demand that he go home but were surprised when the Crumbleys didn’t volunteer it during a brief meeting.

    Later that day, on Nov. 30, 2021, the 15-year-old pulled a handgun from his backpack and began shooting at the school. Ethan, now 17, is serving a life sentence for murder and other crimes.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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    Associated Press

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  • Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

    Michigan school shooter’s parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

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    The parents of a Michigan school shooter were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison Tuesday for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021.

    What You Need To Know

    • The parents of a Michigan school shooter have each been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021

    • Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting

    • They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter

    • Prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward Ethan Crumbley’s mental health

    Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward the teen’s mental health.

    Ethan Crumbley drew dark images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math assignment, accompanied by despondent phrases. Staff at Oxford High School did not demand that he go home but were surprised when the Crumbleys didn’t volunteer it during a brief meeting.

    Later that day, on Nov. 30, 2021, the 15-year-old pulled a handgun from his backpack and began shooting at the school. Ethan, now 17, is serving a life sentence for murder and other crimes.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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    Associated Press

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  • Spirit Airlines delays airplane deliveries, plans to furlough pilots

    Spirit Airlines delays airplane deliveries, plans to furlough pilots

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    Spirit Airlines plans to furlough pilots and delay aircraft deliveries as it struggles with weak demand and profitability issues.

    What You Need To Know

    • Spirit Airlines announced Monday it is delaying airplane deliveries and will furlough about 260 pilots

    • it’s part of a comprehensive plan to increase profitability

    • Spirit has been struggling with grounded planes resulting from the recall of some of the engines it uses in its fleet of Airbus planes

    • The announcement comes about a month after a judge blocked a merger deal between Spirit and JetBlue

     On Monday, the Florida-based, ultra-low-cost air carrier said it deferred all the Airbus planes it had scheduled for deliveries in 2025 and 2026 until 2030.

    “This amendment to our agreement with Airbus is an important part of Spirit’s comprehensive plan to bolster profitability and strengthen our balance sheet,” Spirit President and CEO Ted Christie said in a statement. “Deferring these aircraft gives us the opportunity to reset the business and focus on the core airline while we adjust to changes in the competitive environment.”

    The airline has been struggling with grounded planes resulting from the recall of certain engines. Last year, Pratt & Whitney said many of the GTF engines that power Airbus planes in Spirit’s fleet were found to have microscopic contaminants in some of its metals.

    The Airbus delivery deferrals and engine issues will result in the furloughing of about 260 pilots starting Sept. 1, the company said.

    “We are doing everything we can to protect team members while balancing our responsibility to return to positive cash-flow and thrive as a healthy company with long-term growth prospects,” Christie said.

    The announcement comes about a month after JetBlue and Spirit ended a $3.8 billion merger agreement. In early March, a U.S. judge blocked the deal citing anti-competition concerns that would hurt consumers. Last month, President Joe Biden said the merger would have resulted in higher fares and less choice. He called the blocked merger “a win for American consumers.”

    Spirit is the country’s seventh largest airline. One of the least expensive carriers in the U.S., it has been experiencing weak demand and increased competition in many of its key markets in Florida.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Pursuing Ruth’s home run record 50 years ago, Hank Aaron endured racist threats

    Pursuing Ruth’s home run record 50 years ago, Hank Aaron endured racist threats

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    Hank Aaron refused to be intimidated by racist hate mail or threats during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record.

    Aaron’s teammates, including Dusty Baker, worried on his behalf even as the future Hall of Famer circled the bases following his record-breaking 715th homer on April 8, 1974. Baker, who was on deck, and Tom House, who caught the homer in the Atlanta bullpen behind the left-field wall, will return Monday for the 50-year anniversary of the homer.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former teammates, Braves executives and family members remember Hank Aaron’s unwavering strength despite receiving racist hate mail and threats during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record
    • Teammates including Dusty Baker and Tom House will return Monday as the Braves celebrate the 50th anniversary of Aaron’s record-breaking 715th homer
    • Baker was on deck and House caught the record homer in the Braves bullpen before delivering the ball to Aaron at home plate
    • MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to attend a preview of a new Aaron exhibit at the Atlanta History Center

    After sprinting from the bullpen to deliver the ball to Aaron at home plate, House found Aaron’s mother giving the slugger a big hug.

    “You could see both of them with tears in their eyes,” House told The Associated Press. “… It was a mother and son. Obviously, that was cool. It was also mom protecting her boy from at that time everybody thought somebody would actually try to shoot him at home plate.

    “So there were all kind of things. I gave him the ball. I said, ‘Here it is, Hank.’ He said ‘Thanks, kid.’”

    Baker referred to Aaron as a father figure or big brother who looked out for him as he began his playing career with the Braves. Baker and other teammates, including Ralph Garr, tried to look out for Aaron during the home run chase.

    “We always felt the need to protect him, always felt that need,” Baker said last week. “I think we were more afraid for him than he was actually afraid because he never showed any fear of the threats or whatever. It seems like it drove him to a higher concentration level than ever before was possible.”

    Baker retired as Houston’s manager following the 2023 season.

    Bob Hope, then the Braves media relations director, said Aaron would not be deterred by the threats issued late in the 1973 season as he approached Ruth’s record of 714 career homers.

    “One time the FBI wanted to come meet with him on a Sunday and asked him not to play because they felt they had legitimate death threats on him,” Hope said.

    “We went down to the clubhouse and sat down with him and Hank just said: ‘What kind of statement would that be? I am a baseball player. You guys do what you need to do to keep things secure, but I’m playing baseball.’ And I thought that was very reflective of his personality all the way through.”

    Hope said most fan mail Aaron received was positive. “The hate mail was not pleasant, but there wasn’t nearly as much as you’re led to believe,” Hope said. “It was just a very, very small percentage of the fans were causing that problem.”

    Hope and Baker remained close to Aaron after Aaron’s career and until his death in 2021 at 86.

    “One of the honors of your life that you don’t want is when Hank died, at his funeral, Dusty and I were the only two nonfamily pallbearers,” Hope said. “When I realized that at the funeral, it was almost overwhelming.”

    Wonya Lucas, Aaron’s niece and the daughter of Bill Lucas, who with the Braves in 1976 became Major League Baseball’s first African American general manager, said she can remember “Uncle Hank” remaining strong during the chase. She said that stayed constant even when threats led to police cars showing up at Aaron’s home and Aaron’s oldest daughter, Gaile, having to return home from college.

    “I certainly understood the gravity of the situation and how the mood shifted is probably a good way to put it,” Wonya Lucas said Friday. “But I do also remember his quiet strength, and despite all those conditions I described I felt safe in the home because I felt he gave us a sense of comfort.”

    To mark the 50-year anniversary of Aaron’s 715th homer, the Atlanta History Center will open a new exhibit to the public celebrating Aaron on Tuesday that will remain open through the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to attend a preview of the exhibit on Monday.

    Aaron’s bat and the ball he hit for the record homer, normally housed at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, will be on display at Truist Park on Monday.

    The Hank Aaron Invitational is designed to encourage high school players from diverse backgrounds to play at higher levels. Alumni of the Hank Aaron Invitational include Cincinnati pitcher Hunter Greene, who participated in 2015, and Braves outfielder Michael Harris II, who played in 2018.

    Major League Baseball also supports other initiatives, including the Andre Dawson Classic, designed to promote diversity in the sport.

    “For me, just having somebody that looked like me that could be that successful and do the things he’s done, the road he paved for players like me, that’s pretty huge,” Harris said Friday.

    Despite those efforts, the number of Black players on major league rosters has declined. A study done by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida revealed African American players represented just 6.2% of players on MLB opening day rosters in 2023, down from 7.2% in 2022. Both figures from the institute’s latest reports were the lowest since the study began in 1991.

    A recent spike in the number of African American first-round draft picks provides hope that MLB’s efforts, including the Hank Aaron Invitational, may make a difference.

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    Associated Press

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  • Trump is demanding a new judge days before hush-money criminal trial

    Trump is demanding a new judge days before hush-money criminal trial

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    Former President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal trial is set to begin, rehashing longstanding grievances with the current judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case.

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal case is set to go to trial, rehashing longstanding grievances with the current judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case
    • Trump’s lawyers urged Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan to step aside from the case, alleging a conflict of interest and bias because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant
    • The judge rejected a similar request last August
    • In court papers made public Friday, Trump’s lawyers said it is improper for Merchan “to preside over these proceedings while Ms. Merchan benefits, financially and reputationally, from the manner in which this case is interfering” with Trump’s presidential campaign


    Trump’s lawyers — echoing his recent social media complaints — urged Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan to step aside from the case, alleging bias and a conflict of interest because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant. The judge rejected a similar request last August.

    In court papers made public Friday, Trump’s lawyers said it is improper for Merchan “to preside over these proceedings while Ms. Merchan benefits, financially and reputationally, from the manner in which this case is interfering” with Trump’s campaign as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

    The trial is scheduled to begin April 15. It is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases scheduled to go to trial and would be the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.

    Merchan didn’t immediately rule. The decision is entirely up to him. If he were to exit, it would throw the trial schedule into disarray, giving Trump a long-sought postponement while a new judge gets up to speed.

    Messages seeking comment were left for a court spokesperson and for Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it sees no reason for Merchan to step aside.

    The defense’s claims that Loren Merchan is profiting from her father’s decisions require “multiple attenuated factual leaps here that undercut any direct connection” between her firm and this case, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in a letter to the judge.

    “This daisy chain of innuendos is a far cry from evidence” that Judge Merchan has a direct, personal or financial interest in reaching a particular conclusion, Colangelo wrote.

    Loren Merchan is president of Authentic Campaigns, which has collected at least $70 million in payments from Democratic candidates and causes since she helped found the company in 2018, records show.

    The firm’s past clients include President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority PAC, a big-spending political committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Senate Majority PAC has paid Authentic Campaigns $15.2 million, according to campaign finance disclosures.

    In a separate development Friday, Merchan blocked Trump’s lawyers from forcing NBC to provide them with materials related to its recent documentary about porn actor Stormy Daniels, a key prosecution witness. He ruled that the defense’s subpoena was “the very definition of a fishing expedition” and didn’t meet a legal burden for requiring a news organization to provide access to its notes and documents.

    On Wednesday, Merchan rejected the presumptive Republican nominee’s request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in another of his criminal cases. The judge has yet to rule on another defense delay request — this one alleging he won’t get a fair trial because of “prejudicial media coverage.”

    The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company’s records to hide the nature of payments to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign. Among other things, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

    Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.

    Trump foreshadowed his lawyers’ renewed push to have Merchan exit the case with posts assailing the judge and his daughter last week on his Truth Social platform.

    Trump suggested, without evidence, that Merchan’s rulings — including his decision to impose a gag order on Trump — were swayed by his daughter’s consulting interests. He wrongly claimed that she had posted a social media photo showing him behind bars. Trump’s attacks on Loren Merchan led the judge to expand the gag order to prohibit him from making public statements about his family.

    “The Judge has to recuse himself immediately, and right the wrong committed by not doing so last year,” Trump wrote on March 27. “If the Biased and Conflicted Judge is allowed to stay on this Sham ‘Case,’ it will be another sad example of our Country becoming a Banana Republic, not the America we used to know and love.”

    Trump similarly pressed the judge in his Washington, D.C., election interference case to recuse herself, claiming her past comments about him called into question her ability to be fair. But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said there was no reason for her to step aside.

    Merchan’s daughter featured prominently in the defense’s calls for his recusal last year. They also seized on several small donations the judge made totaling to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign. They totaled $35, including $15 to Biden.

    Merchan rejected that request, writing last August that a state court ethics panel had found that Loren Merchan’s work had no bearing on his impartiality. The judge said he was certain of his “ability to be fair and impartial” and said Trump’s lawyers had “failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds.”

    Trump’s lawyers contend circumstances have now changed, with Trump locked in a rematch against President Joe Biden, and Democrats — including clients of Loren Merchan’s firm — seeking to capitalize on Trump’s legal troubles with fundraising emails framed around developments in the hush-money case.

    “It would be completely unacceptable to most New Yorkers if the judge presiding over these proceedings had an adult child who worked at WinRed or MAGA Inc.,” Blanche and Necheles wrote, referring to a Republican fundraising platform and a pro-Trump fundraising committee.

    In seeking Merchan’s recusal, Trump’s lawyers also took issue with his decision to give an interview to The Associated Press last month, suggesting he may have violated judicial conduct rules, and they questioned his use of a court spokesperson last week to deny Trump’s claims that she had posted the image of Trump in jail.

    In the interview, Merchan told the AP that he and his staff were working diligently to prepare for the historic first trial of a former president, saying: “There’s no agenda here. We want to follow the law. We want justice to be done.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Meta rolls out new labeling system for AI-generated content

    Meta rolls out new labeling system for AI-generated content

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    Meta announced Friday that it is making changes to the way it handles content generated by artificial intelligence. The company will begin labeling a broader range of photos, audio and video as being “made with AI” on Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

    What You Need To Know

    • Meta will begin labeling a broader range of photos, audio and video as being “made with AI” on Facebook, Instagram and Threads

    • The new label will be used when Meta detects indications of an AI-generated image or people voluntarily disclose they have upaded AI-generated content

    • Meta’s existing AI policy was crafted in 2020 and only covered videos created or altered by AI to make a person appear to say something they did not

    • The new policy addresses AI-generated content that shows a person doing something they did not do

    “We’re taking steps we think are appropriate for platforms like ours. We want to help people know when photorealistic images have been created or edited using AI,” Meta Vice President of Content Policy Monica Bickert said in a statement on the company’s website posted Friday.

    The new label will be used when Meta detects indications of an AI-generated image or when people voluntarily disclose they have uploaded content generated with AI. The decision was made following a recommendation from the company’s oversight board that it needed to provide transparency to “avoid the risk of unnecessarily restricting freedom of speech.”

    Meta’s existing policy was written in 2020, before AI-generated content was widely used. It only covers videos created or altered by AI to make a person appear to say something they did not. Recognizing the policy was too narrow when AI was evolving to generate audio and photos, Meta said its new policy addresses AI-generated content that shows a person doing something they did not do.

    Already, Meta web sites labels photorealistic images created with its Meta AI feature as “imagined with AI.”

    Bickert said Meta began looking at its policies last spring “to see if we needed a new approach to keep pace with rapid advances in generative AI technologies and usage.”

    After consulting with over 120 stakeholders in 34 countries, she said there was widespread support for labeling content generated with AI and for more prominent labeling in high-risk scenarios. A majority of consultants said content removal was warranted in a limited number of “highest-risk scenarios where content can be tied to harm, since generative AI is becoming a mainstream tool for creative expression.”

    Bickert said Meta also conducted public opinion research with 23,000 people in 13 countries to ask them how media companies, including Meta, should handle AI-generated content. It found that 82% favored warning labels for AI-generated content depicting people saying things they did not in fact say.

    Bickert said that Meta will continue to review is approach to AI as technology progresses, doing so in collaboration with peers in the industry and conversations with government and members of the public.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

    U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

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    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates.

    What You Need To Know

    • America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates

    • Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast

    • By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes

    • With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand

    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.

    Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and was far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand.

    Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February. That rate has now come in below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.

    The economy is sure to weigh on Americans’ minds as the November presidential vote nears and they assess President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Many people still feel squeezed by the inflation surge that erupted in the spring of 2021. Eleven rate hikes by the Fed have helped send inflation tumbling from its peak over the past year and a half. But average prices are still about 18% higher than they were in February 2021 — a fact for which Biden might pay a political price.

    The Fed’s policymakers are tracking the state of the economy, the job market and inflation to determine when to begin cutting interest rates from their multi-decade highs — a move eagerly awaited by Wall Street traders, businesses, homebuyers and people in need of cars, household appliances and other major purchases that are typically financed. Rate cuts by the Fed would likely lead, over time, to lower borrowing rates across the economy.

    The central bank’s policymakers started raising rates two years ago to try to tame inflation, which by mid-2022 was running at a four-decade high. Those rate hikes — 11 of them from March 2022 through July 2023 — helped drastically slow inflation. Consumer prices were up 3.2% in February from a year earlier, far below a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

    Yet the sharply higher borrowing costs for individuals and companies that resulted from the Fed’s rate hikes were widely expected to trigger a recession, with waves of layoffs and a painful rise in unemployment. Yet to the surprise of just about everyone, the economy has kept growing steadily and employers have kept hiring at a healthy pace. Layoffs remain low.

    Some economists believe that a rise in productivity — the amount of output that workers produce per hour — made it easier for companies to hire, raise pay and post bigger profits without having to raise prices. In addition, an influx of immigrants into the job market is believed to have addressed labor shortages and slowed upward pressure on wage growth. This helped allow inflation to cool even as the economy kept growing.

    In the meantime, the Fed has signaled that it expects to cut rates three times this year. But it is awaiting more inflation data to gain further confidence that annual price increases are heading toward its 2% target. Some economists have begun to question whether the Fed will need to cut rates anytime soon in light of the consistently durable U.S. economy.

    Biden noted in a statement that Friday’s jobs report pushed the number of jobs added during his administration over 15 million, which he called a milestone.

    “Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink,” he said. ” … Wages are going up. Inflation has come down significantly. We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hardworking families.”

    Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told Spectrum News this month’s jobs report “is a part of a story of President Biden’s leadership and what that has meant for the economy.”

    “Overall, we are pleased with the report,” she said. “But more, it’s a reflection of steady, stable growth that has characterized this economy since the president came into office.”

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    Associated Press

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  • U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

    U.S. employers added a surprisingly robust 303,000 jobs in March

    [ad_1]

    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates.

    What You Need To Know

    • America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates

    • Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast

    • By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes

    • With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand

    America’s employers delivered another outpouring of jobs in March, adding a sizzling 303,000 workers to their payrolls and bolstering hopes that the economy can vanquish inflation without succumbing to a recession in the face of high interest rates. Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February.

    Last month’s job growth was up from a revised 270,000 in February and was far above the 200,000 economists had forecast. By any measure, it amounted to a strong month of hiring, and it reflected the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure of high borrowing costs resulting from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. With the nation’s consumers continuing to spend, many employers have kept hiring to meet steady customer demand.

    Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% in February. That rate has now come in below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.

    The economy is sure to weigh on Americans’ minds as the November presidential vote nears and they assess President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Many people still feel squeezed by the inflation surge that erupted in the spring of 2021. Eleven rate hikes by the Fed have helped send inflation tumbling from its peak over the past year and a half. But average prices are still about 18% higher than they were in February 2021 — a fact for which Biden might pay a political price.

    The Fed’s policymakers are tracking the state of the economy, the job market and inflation to determine when to begin cutting interest rates from their multi-decade highs — a move eagerly awaited by Wall Street traders, businesses, homebuyers and people in need of cars, household appliances and other major purchases that are typically financed. Rate cuts by the Fed would likely lead, over time, to lower borrowing rates across the economy.

    The central bank’s policymakers started raising rates two years ago to try to tame inflation, which by mid-2022 was running at a four-decade high. Those rate hikes — 11 of them from March 2022 through July 2023 — helped drastically slow inflation. Consumer prices were up 3.2% in February from a year earlier, far below a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

    Yet the sharply higher borrowing costs for individuals and companies that resulted from the Fed’s rate hikes were widely expected to trigger a recession, with waves of layoffs and a painful rise in unemployment. Yet to the surprise of just about everyone, the economy has kept growing steadily and employers have kept hiring at a healthy pace. Layoffs remain low.

    Some economists believe that a rise in productivity — the amount of output that workers produce per hour — made it easier for companies to hire, raise pay and post bigger profits without having to raise prices. In addition, an influx of immigrants into the job market is believed to have addressed labor shortages and slowed upward pressure on wage growth. This helped allow inflation to cool even as the economy kept growing.

    In the meantime, the Fed has signaled that it expects to cut rates three times this year. But it is awaiting more inflation data to gain further confidence that annual price increases are heading toward its 2% target. Some economists have begun to question whether the Fed will need to cut rates anytime soon in light of the consistently durable U.S. economy.

    Biden noted in a statement that Friday’s jobs report pushed the number of jobs added during his administration over 15 million, which he called a milestone.

    “Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink,” he said. ” … Wages are going up. Inflation has come down significantly. We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hardworking families.”

    Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told Spectrum News this month’s jobs report “is a part of a story of President Biden’s leadership and what that has meant for the economy.”

    “Overall, we are pleased with the report,” she said. “But more, it’s a reflection of steady, stable growth that has characterized this economy since the president came into office.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Man who used megaphone to lead Jan. 6 attack sentenced

    Man who used megaphone to lead Jan. 6 attack sentenced

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    A Washington state man who used a megaphone to orchestrate a mob’s attack on police officers guarding the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to more than seven years in prison.

    What You Need To Know

    • Taylor James Johnatakis, a Washington state man who used a megaphone to orchestrate a mob’s attack on police officers guarding the U.S. Capitol, has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison
    • Johnatakis led other rioters on a charge against a police line, “barked commands” over his megaphone and shouted step-by-step directions for overpowering officers, the judge said
    • Johnatakis, who represented himself with an attorney on standby, has repeatedly expressed rhetoric that appears to be inspired by the anti-government “sovereign citizen” movement

    • Justice Department prosecutor Courtney Howard said Johnatakis hasn’t expressed any sincere remorse or accepted responsibility for his crimes on Jan. 6


    U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said videos captured Taylor James Johnatakis playing a leadership role during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Johnatakis led other rioters on a charge against a police line, “barked commands” over his megaphone and shouted step-by-step directions for overpowering officers, the judge said.

    “In any angry mob, there are leaders and there are followers. Mr. Johnatakis was a leader. He knew what he was doing that day,” the judge said before sentencing him to seven years and three months behind bars.

    Johnatakis, who represented himself with an attorney on standby, has repeatedly expressed rhetoric that appears to be inspired by the anti-government “sovereign citizen” movement. He asked the judge questions at his sentencing, including, “Does the record reflect that I repent in my sins?”

    Lamberth, who referred to some of Johnatakis’ words as “gobbledygook,” said, “I’m not answering questions here.”

    Prosecutors recommended a nine-year prison sentence for Johnatakis, a self-employed installer of septic systems.

    “Johnatakis was not just any rioter; he led, organized, and encouraged the assault of officers at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

    A jury convicted him of felony charges after a trial last year in Washington, D.C.

    Johnatakis, 40, of Kingston, Washington, had a megaphone strapped to his back when he marched to the Capitol from then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6.

    “It’s over,” he shouted at the crowd of Trump supporters. “Michael Pence has voted against the president. We are down to the nuclear option.”

    Johnatakis was one of the first rioters to chase a group of police officers who were retreating up stairs outside the Capitol. He shouted and gestured for other rioters to “pack it in” and prepare to attack.

    Johnatakis shouted “Go!” before he and other rioters shoved a metal barricade into a line of police officers. He also grabbed an officer’s arm.

    “The crime is complete,” Johnatakis posted on social media several hours after he left the Capitol.

    He was arrested in February 2021. He has been jailed since November 2023, when jurors convicted him of seven counts, including obstruction of the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that certified Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. The jury also convicted him of assault and civil disorder charges.

    Justice Department prosecutor Courtney Howard said Johnatakis hasn’t expressed any sincere remorse or accepted responsibility for his crimes on Jan. 6.

    “He’s going so far as to portray himself as a persecuted victim,” she said.

    Lamberth said he received over 20 letters from Johnatakis, his relatives and friends. Some of his supporters don’t seem to know the full extent of Johnatakis’ crimes on Jan. 6, the judge added. He said he would order the clerk of court’s office to send all them copies of his prepared remarks during the sentencing hearing.

    “There can be no room in our country for this sort of political violence,” Lamberth said.

    Last April, Lamberth ordered a psychologist to examine Johnatakis and determine if he was mentally competent to stand trial. The judge ultimately ruled that Johnatakis could understand the proceedings and assist in his defense.

    Approximately 1,350 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds getting terms of imprisonment ranging from several days to 22 years.

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    Associated Press

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  • Powell: Fed still sees rate cuts this year; election won’t affect decision

    Powell: Fed still sees rate cuts this year; election won’t affect decision

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    Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday, despite recent reports showing that the U.S. economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February.

    What You Need To Know

    • Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, Chair Jerome Powell said, despite recent reports showing that the U.S. economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February
    • Powell also sought to dispel any notion that the Fed’s interest-rate decisions might be affected by this year’s presidential election

    • The Fed will meet and decide whether to cut rates during the peak of the presidential campaign, in July and September

    • The recent pickup in inflation, though slight, has led some economists to postpone their projections for when the Fed will begin cutting rates


    “The recent data do not … materially change the overall picture,” Powell said in a speech at Stanford University, “which continues to be one of solid growth, a strong but rebalancing labor market, and inflation moving down toward 2 percent on a sometimes bumpy path.”

    Most Fed officials “see it as likely to be appropriate” to start cutting their key rate “at some point this year,” he added.

    In his speech, Powell also sought to dispel any notion that the Fed’s interest-rate decisions might be affected by this year’s presidential election. The Fed will meet and decide whether to cut rates during the peak of the presidential campaign, in July and September.

    Though inflation has cooled significantly from its peak, it remains above the Fed’s 2% target. And average prices are still well above their pre-pandemic levels — a source of discontent for many Americans and potentially a threat to President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.

    The recent pickup in inflation, though slight, has led some economists to postpone their projections for when the Fed will begin cutting rates. Rate cuts would begin to reverse the 11 rate increases the Fed carried out beginning in March 2022, to fight the worst inflation bout in four decades. They would likely lead, over time, to lower borrowing rates for households and businesses.

    Many economists now predict that the central bank’s first rate cut won’t come until July or even later. That expectation has fueled some speculation on Wall Street that the Fed might end up deciding to delay rate cuts until after the presidential election. The Fed’s November meeting will take place Nov. 6-7, immediately after Election Day.

    Former President Donald Trump has called Powell “political” for considering rate cuts that Trump has said could benefit Biden and other Democrats. Powell was first nominated to be Fed chair by Trump, who has said that, if he is elected president, he will replace Powell when the Fed chair’s term ends in 2026.

    In his speech Wednesday, Powell noted that Congress intended the Fed to be fully independent of politics, with officials serving long terms that don’t coincide with elections.

    “This independence,” Powell said, “both enables and requires us to make our monetary policy decisions without consideration of short-term political matters.”

    The Fed chair’s remarks follow several reports showing that the economy remains healthy, largely because of solid consumer spending. Yet that strength could make it harder for the Fed to achieve its goal of slowing inflation to its 2% target. Annual inflation ticked up in February to 2.5%, according to the central bank’s preferred measure, though that was down sharply from its peak of 7.1%.

    When they met two weeks ago, Fed officials forecast that they could cut their benchmark rate three times this year. Still, nearly half the 19 policymakers penciled in just two or fewer rate cuts.

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    Associated Press

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