Asian Stocks Set for Gains With Economy in Focus: Markets Wrap
Asian stocks looked poised to follow US equities higher, with traders awaiting a raft of economic figures over
1970-01-01 08:00
Brazil Beef Shipper Minerva to Buy Rival Assets for $1.5 Billion
Minerva Foods SA, South America’s top beef exporter, agreed to buy some assets from rival Marfrig Global Foods
1970-01-01 08:00
Korea Pension Fund Bets on Private Credit to Fight Global Swings
As stocks and bonds remain vulnerable to gyrations in global markets, one of South Korea’s major pension funds
1970-01-01 08:00
Trump Sees Immunity Fight as Path to Delay 2020 Criminal Trial
Staring at a March 4 trial on 2020 election obstruction charges, Donald Trump’s legal team has one possible
1970-01-01 08:00
Georgia official told by Trump to ‘find’ votes testifies phone call was ‘extraordinary’
Georgia’s top elections official received a phone call from Donald Trump on 2 January, 2021, with a warning that he would be taking a “big risk” declaring Joe Biden the victor weeks after then-President Trump lost the state in the 2020 presidential election. “I just want to find 11,780 votes,” then-President Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during the hour-long call, four days before a joint session of Congress convened to certify the electoral college results – a ceremony violently interrupted by a mob of Mr Trump’s supporters. Mr Raffensperger, a Republican, told a federal courtroom on 28 August that Mr Trump’s “outreach to that extent was extraordinary.” That call is central to a sweeping racketeering indictment from state prosecutors charging Mr Trump and 18 co-defendants for their alleged criminal enterprise to keep him in power at whatever cost. Mr Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was on that call, is asking a judge to remove the case from the jurisdiction of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and into federal court. Mr Meadows also testified during the hearing on Monday. Mr Raffensperger, who was subpoenaed by Ms Willis to appear in US District Court in Atlanta, testified that he believed a call with White House would be inappropriate. “I told my deputy I don’t think this is in our best interest,” he said, according to CNN. He also said he did not initially return a call because Mr Meadows didn’t leave him a phone number. Mr Meadows sent a text message to Mr Raffensperger in December 2020 asking him to call the “White House switchboard” because his voice mailbox was full, according to messages he provided to the House select committee separately investigating the events surrounding the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 Prosecutors played audio clips from the call during the hearing; Mr Raffensperger noted that there were no officials from the US Department of Justice or the White House counsel’s office on the call. “I thought that it was a campaign call,” Mr Raffensperger said. He also stressed that the White House nor presidential campaigns do not play any role in the state certification of election outcomes – an argument that undermines arguments from Mr Meadows and his attorneys that he was merely fulfilling his duties as part of his federal duties on behalf of the president. Asked by prosecutors whether he believed Mr Trump won the 2020 election, Mr Raffensperger said: “They lost the election.” Defending the integrity of the state’s election results and ongoing attempts to undermine them, he said: ”We spoke the truth.” Monday’s hearing comes two weeks after a Fulton County grand jury indictment presented the largest and most significant case yet facing Mr Trump and others connected to an alleged racketeering scheme in which they “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election” to ensure he remained in power. Mr Meadows faces two counts in the sprawling 41-count indictment outlining dozens of acts that encompass the conspiracy: one count of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO statute, and one count of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer. The 19 defendants were booked in Fulton County jail and released on bond last week. They are scheduled to appear in court for their arraignment hearings on 5 September. Attorneys for Mr Meadows have asked for the “prompt removal” of the case from Fulton County, citing federal law that allows US officials to remove civil or criminal trials from state court over alleged actions performed “under color” of their offices, with Mr Meadows performing such acts during his “tenure” as White House chief of staff, they wrote in court filings. Prosecutors, however, have argued that Mr Meadows was acting on behalf of the Trump campaign, performing acts that were “all ‘unquestionably political’ in nature and therefore, by definition, outside the lawful scope of his authority” as chief of staff. “Even if the defendant somehow had been acting as authorized under federal law (rather than directly contrary to it), that authority would be negated by the evidence of his ‘personal interest, malice, actual criminal intent,’” they wrote. Read More Trump handed two key court dates as bid to delay trials until after election falls apart - latest Mark Meadows grilled on witness stand over Trump’s Georgia call to ‘find’ votes and false election claims Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump Trump has raised more than $7m off of his Georgia mug shot Trump made life hell for two Black women election workers. He will have to answer for it in court
1970-01-01 08:00
Asian Loan Volumes Plunge to Six-Year Low on China Slowdown
Bank loan volumes in Asia Pacific have fallen to a six-year low due to rising interest rates and
1970-01-01 08:00
UK’s Labour Faces Backlash Over Pledge for No Further Tax Rises
Britain’s opposition Labour party is facing a backlash from its left wing after ruling out wealth taxes and
1970-01-01 08:00
Trump Trial in DOJ 2020 Election Case Is Set for March 4, 2024
Donald Trump’s Washington trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election was set for March 4 —
1970-01-01 08:00
Florida mom kills her two children and herself in murder-suicide after losing custody battle
A Florida mother killed her two children and then herself in an apparent murder-suicide after losing a custody battle. Brandy Hutchins “from every indication in our investigation now, has murdered her 10-year-old child and her 19-year-old child. Murdered them,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Sunday. “And then subsequent to that, she shot herself.” The murders of Hutchins’ 10-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter happened inside a mobile home over the weekend, just days after a judge ordered her to turn over custody of the boy to his father. Sheriff Judd called the tragedy “absolutely devastating for everyone,” including his deputies who responded to the tragic scene on Friday. Hutchins had been ordered to hand over the 10-year-old boy by 6pm Friday. He was later identified online by his father as Aiden Hutchins. When Hutchins failed to comply with the order, a search was launched for the boy so his father could take him back to Maine. On Sunday afternoon, police found the bodies of Hutchins and her two children inside a mobile home in the Waverly neighborhood of Lake Wales. “We’re devastated for this beautiful 10-year-old child, all because mom did not want to turn the child over to the rightful father pursuant to a court order,” the sheriff said. Aiden’s father shared a heartbreaking post after learning the news on Sunday. “[i]t is with a heavy heart that I am writing this to give everyone an update about my son Aiden Hutchins who was missing and taken by his mother on August 25 2023 who decided to murder him.” “[H]e was killed by her today August 27 2023. he will forever be in my heart and did not deserve this. Rest in peace my sweet boy I will see you again. I love you,” he said. Sheriff Judd also noted at the press conference that there was no indication of possible violence as a result of this custody battle or any history of mental illness. “There was no indication that there should be any violence, but it was violent,” Judd said. “This was a domestic event, a court-ordered event, where she had to turn custody over to the ex-husband and she wasn’t going to do that, so she murdered the 10-year-old. The 19-year-old daughter was there and [she] murdered her as well.” “There was absolutely zero evidence in the court order or testimony that there was any violence or threat of violence or a danger,” Judd added. The sheriff said that his office deals with “hundreds and thousands” of court orders, so for one to turn out like this has left them “heartbroken and devastated over this horrible, horrible event.” “I can’t imagine a more horrific set of circumstances.” Read More Rachel Morin’s mother shares ‘unbearable’ pain as Bel Air killer still at large weeks after murder Couple who considered making Lucy Letby their son’s godmother now believe she was trying to kill him
1970-01-01 08:00
Yen to Retreat to 1990 Levels If BOJ Stays Dovish, Goldman Says
Expect the yen to weaken to levels last seen more than 30 years ago if the Bank of
1970-01-01 08:00
Puerto Rico Electric Power Bonds Fall on Proposed Debt Deal
Some municipal bonds sold by Puerto Rico’s bankrupt power utility have plunged after a group of investors reached
1970-01-01 08:00
PG&E Warns of Potential Power Cuts Due to Wildfire Risk
PG&E Corp. said it will likely have to cut power in some parts of Northern California on Wednesday
1970-01-01 08:00
