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Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer fails to hurt credibility of the government’s star witness at fraud trial

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer did little to dent the credibility of the government’s key witness in the former crypto mogul’s fraud trial Thursday, meandering through a cross-examination of Caroline Ellison that at times left even the judge puzzled and impatient. During the prior two days of testimony, the prosecution presented Ellison as a high-level insider who had, at Bankman-Fried’s direction, overseen the improper borrowing of funds from customers at the FTX crypto exchange run by Bankman-Fried. The funds often were used for investments at an affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research, that was headed by Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s one-time girlfriend. Bankman-Fried’s lead defense attorney, Mark Cohen, was expected to try to shift the blame for the problems at Alameda to Ellison, following up on his opening statement in the trial where he said Bankman-Fried didn’t commit fraud and instead was trying to clean up a mess largely created by his lieu...

Vermont police get more than 150 tips after sketch of person of interest released in trail killing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

CASTLETON, Vt. (AP) — More than 150 tips have come in since Vermont State Police released a sketch of a person of interest in the killing of a retired college dean who was shot dead a week ago on a recreation trail in the small college town, authorities said Thursday. The composite sketch was made public Wednesday afternoon and is based on witnesses’ accounts of a man they saw on the trail before they came across the body of Honoree Fleming, 77, police said. Fleming died of a gunshot wound to the head while walking along the trail on the afternoon of Oct. 5, about 1 mile (1.61 kilometers) south of the Vermont State University Castleton Campus. Detectives have been pursuing leads in response to the tips, state police said. The person of interest is described as a 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) white male in his 20s with short, red hair. He was wearing a dark gray T-shirt and carrying a black backpack and is considered armed and dangerous, police said.Witnesses reported that the man was actin...

Ronald Isley, founding member of Isley Brothers and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, dies at 84

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

Rudolph Isley, a founding member of the Isley Brothers who helped perform such raw rhythm and blues classics as “Shout” and “Twist and Shout” and the funky hits “That Lady” and “It’s Your Thing,” has died at age 84.“There are no words to express my feelings and the love I have for my brother. Our family will miss him. But I know he’s in a better place,” Ronald Isley said in a statement released Thursday by an Isley Brothers publicist. Further details were not immediately available.A Cincinnati native, Rudolph Isley began singing in church with brothers Ronald and O’Kelly (another sibling, Vernon, died at age 13) and was still in his teens when they broke through in the late 1950s with “Shout,” a secularized gospel rave that was later immortalized during the toga party scene in “Animal House.” The Isleys scored again in the early 1960s with the equally spirited “Twist and Shout,” which the Beatles liked so much they used it as the closing song on their debut a...

France has banned pro-Palestinian protests and vowed to protect Jews from resurgent antisemitism

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s interior minister on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home.Soon before Macron spoke in a televised address to the nation about the Mideast conflict, Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had defied a ban and demonstrated Thursday against the Israeli government.’’Let us not bring ideological adventures here (to France) by imitation or by projection. Let us not add national fractures … to international fractures,″ Macron pleaded. ’’Let us stay united.″With several French-Israeli citizens believed held hostage by Hamas, Macron pledged that France would protect its Jewish citizens and be ’’ruthless toward all those who bear hate,″ and noted concerns about hostility toward France’s Muslims...

Former Mountie tells court he was unaware of secrets sent to investigative targets

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

OTTAWA — A former RCMP investigator who worked on a money laundering probe says he was unaware at the time that someone had sent secret information to people who were of interest to authorities. Disclosure of the material in question could have tipped off suspects or even jeopardized the safety of police, retired staff sergeant Patrick Martin testified Thursday in the trial of Cameron Jay Ortis, a former RCMP intelligence official charged with breaching Canada’s secrets law. Ortis, 51, has pleaded not guilty to violating the Security of Information Act by allegedly revealing secrets to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance. The Crown alleges that Ortis anonymously sent secret information to people who were of interest in the money laundering investigation, including Salim Henareh and Muhammad Ashraf. Ortis’s lawyers have said they will argue their client had the authority to take the actions he did. Martin, who was involved in the probe known...

N.W.T. premier presses for infrastructure as Trudeau promises new homes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — The premier of the Northwest Territories said Thursday she doesn’t expect the North to get essential critical infrastructure before the next climate disaster, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the fire-ravaged region.“The longer we wait, the more in danger we are and the more at risk we are to climate change,” Caroline Cochrane said.Cochrane joined Trudeau in Yellowknife to announce a jointly funded project between the federal government and the N.W.T., with the city providing the land. Fifty new affordable homes are to be built in the capital under the federal government’s rapid housing project. Trudeau acknowledged remote communities face unique challenges with supplies and workers.“The people who are, of course, hardest hit by this lack of supply are vulnerable people, including seniors, Indigenous peoples and those experiencing homelessness,” he said.“Housing is a complex issue, and we have to tackle it from different angles.”Trudeau ...

White House poised to announce winners of competition to produce hydrogen fuel

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The White House is poised to announce the winners of a $7 billion federal competition to produce and deliver hydrogen fuel, with the Philadelphia area and West Virginia among those selected, according to a person familiar with the program.President Joe Biden is expected to make the official announcement during an economic-themed visit to Philadelphia on Friday.There were 23 finalists for the hydrogen fuel program, a key component of the president’s clean energy plan.Among those selected are the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, based in West Virginia, and the Philadelphia-area Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, according to the person briefed on the plan. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss the selection before Biden’s appearance and spoke on condition of anonymity.Pennsylvania, a presidential battleground state of the highest importance to Biden in next year’s election, is in line to benefit from both the Philadelphia-area hub a...

WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon is the next Chicago Sky coach

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky have chosen one of the best-known players in the history of the Women's National Basketball Association to lead the team moving forward.Teresa Weatherspoon is coming to the Windy City to begin a new era of the franchise.Now official: The @chicagosky have hired Teresa Weatherspoon as their new head coach..The Basketball Hall of Famer has been an assistant for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans since 2020..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/q4zvN9i5tA— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) October 12, 2023The Basketball Hall of Famer has been named the sixth full time head coach in the history of the Sky, with the news becoming official on Thursday afternoon. She replaces James Wade, who resigned as the head coach and general manager of the team in July to take an assistant coach position with the Toronto Raptors. Emre Vatansever served as interim head coach for the rest of the 2023 season, with the Sky qualifying for the WNBA playoffs for a fifth straight year. They lost in ...

Can a solar eclipse poison your food? Debunking 5 popular myths

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – The so-called "ring of fire" annular eclipse will blaze a path across the western half of the United States Saturday. As exciting as the event will be for millions of Americans, eclipses also have a history of myths and misconceptions.Since eclipses themselves pre-date the scientific breakthroughs that allow us to understand and predict them, so do some of humanity's early beliefs about eclipses. MAP: Where, when and how to get the best view of the 2023 annular eclipse "Some older ideas seem remarkably resistant to replacement by the more scientifically-correct explanations," NASA wrote on a page dedicated to dispelling those myths.In no particular order, here are a few of the most popular ones:1. The sun's rays are more dangerousDr. Kelly Korreck, NASA's program manager for solar eclipses, told Nexstar that a recurring theme has to do with sunlight."One common one that comes to mind is that somehow the sun's light and rays that come from the sun are dangerous or diff...

Illegal dam in Mason County blocking water from refilling Highland Lakes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:56:21 GMT

MASON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) -- A dam that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say was constructed illegally in Mason County is blocking water from flowing toward the Highland Lakes, which serve as Austin's drinking water supply. NEXT: Houston oil executive wants to build private dam for recreation on South Llano River This new dam came to KXAN's attention following our investigation of a different, proposed private dam on the South Llano River.A hydrologist told KXAN the sudden rise of new dam construction is part of a growing trend statewide, stressing dwindling water resources during a multi-year drought.Mason County residents are concerned"We share the rivers with everybody. We always have," Mason County resident Kathy Zesch-Bradley said. "This land has been in my family since the 1850s, and no one has ever attempted to do this, but especially not having any permits.""Unfortunately, it's a situation where people that have enormous amounts...