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House OKs debt ceiling bill to avoid default, sends Biden-McCarthy deal to Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) – Veering away from a default crisis, the House approved a debt ceiling and budget cuts package late Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans against fierce conservative blowback and progressive dissent.
The hard-fought deal pleased few, but lawmakers assessed it was better than the alternative – a devastating economic upheaval if Congress failed to act.Tensions ran high throughout the day as hard-right Republicans refused the deal, while Democrats said “extremist” GOP views were risking a debt default as soon as next week.
With an overwhelming House vote, 314-117, the bill now heads to the Senate with passage expected by week’s end.
McCarthy insisted his party was working to “give America hope” as he launched into a late evening speech extolling the bill’s budget cuts, which he said were needed to curb Washington’s “runaway spending.”
Amid deep discontent from Republicans who said the spending restrictions did not go far enough, McCarthy said it is only a “first step.”
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Fresh Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s capital kills at least 3 people, wounds others
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces began June with a fresh aerial bombardment of Kyiv on Thursday, killing at least three people and کپسول گاز پروپان wounding others, authorities said.
Following up on a reported 17 attacks on the Ukrainian capital in May, mostly using drones, Russian forces hit the capital in the early morning with ground-launched missiles, damaging apartment buildings, a medical clinic, a water pipeline and a car.
Kyiv City Administration reported three people were killed, two children among them, and 10 people were wounded.The casualty toll was the most from one attack on Kyiv in the past month.
After a woman was killed watching an aerial attack from her balcony earlier this week, Kyiv authorities urged residents to heed warning sirens and stay in shelters or other safe locations.
Ukraine’s air defenses have become increasingly effective at intercepting Russian drones and missiles, but the resulting debris sometimes causes fires and injuries in buildings and on the ground.Preliminary indications were that Kyiv’s air defenses intercepted all incoming weapons early Thursday, and that the latest deaths and injuries were caused by falling debris.
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Danny Masterson convicted of 2 counts of rape, `That ’70s Show´ actor faces 30 years to life
LOS ANGELES (AP) – “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
Masterson’s wife, actor and model Bijou Phillips, gasped when the verdict was read and wept as he was taken into custody, while a group of family and friends who sat stone-faced behind him throughout both trials.
The jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after deliberating for seven days spread over two weeks.They could not reach a verdict on the third count, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favor of conviction.
Masterson, 47, will be held without bail until he is sentenced. No sentencing date has yet been set, but the judge told Masterson and his lawyers to return to court Aug.4 for a hearing.
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions – relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness – knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” one of the women, whom Masterson knew as a fellow member of the church and was convicted of raping at his home in 2003, said in a statement.
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Reports: Prosecutors have tape of Trump discussing holding onto classified doc after leaving office
WASHINGTON (AP) – Justice Department prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of former President Donald Trump from after he left office in which he talks about holding onto a classified Pentagon document related to a potential attack on Iran, according to media reports.
CNN, which first reported on the tape, said Trump suggested on the recording that he wanted to share information from the document with others but that he knew there were limitations about his ability to declassify records after he left office.
The comments on the recording, made in July 2021 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, would seem to undercut the former president’s repeated claims that he declassified the documents he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, after leaving office.The recording could also be a key aid for prosecutors looking to prove Trump knew his ability to possess classified documents was limited.
The recording has been provided to special counsel Jack Smith, whose team of prosecutors have spent months investigating the potential mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and whether Trump or anyone else sought to criminally obstruct the probe.The investigation shows signs of being in its final stages, with prosecutors having interviewed a broad cross-section of witnesses before the grand jury.
No one has been criminally charged.
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DeSantis plays up his personal side – and swipes at Trump – during campaign blitz across Iowa
SALIX, Iowa (AP) – Ron DeSantis blitzed through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday, aiming for the kind of personal connections with voters that critics say have long eluded him while stepping up his verbal swipes at former President Donald Trump.
The Florida governor packed in four appearances that took him to cities, rural locales and the conservative heartland following his glitch-filled online campaign kickoff last week.The first was to the floor of Port Neal Welding in Salix, a rural town near Sioux City, where the nearby highway was lined with metal structures including a towering Jesus, a version of the Statue of Liberty and the Minions.
DeSantis also hit Council Bluffs and Pella before concluding his day in Cedar Rapids.All that came after a Tuesday night appearance in the state capital, Des Moines. He didn´t take audience questions – usually a staple at Iowa presidential campaign events – during the five stops in front of more than 2,000 people combined across both days.
Instead, DeSantis gave similar speeches at each appearance, repeatedly talking up his efforts to push Florida farther to the right.While he sometimes seemed energized by the crowds, he barreled through his remarks at other times – talking so fast that there were few pauses for the audiences to applaud. By the final event, though, he was better about allowing time for cheers, especially from an enthusiastic crowd of around 600 in Cedar Rapids.
“The tired dogmas of the past are inadequate for a vibrant future. We have to look forward,” DeSantis said in Salix, speaking in front of a green tractor and a crowd of about 100, many wearing caps bearing seed company logos.”We can´t look backwards. We must have the courage to lead and we must have the strength to win.”
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Beloved New York swan babies rescued after mother was eaten by family, police say
The village of Manlius in upstate New York is mourning the loss of Faye, a swan who was stolen from the town’s pond over the weekend along with her four cygnets.The cygnets, or baby swans, were recovered, but officials say the mama swan was eaten.
“The mother swan was consumed,” Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall said Wednesday. “Sad to say, but that’s what they did.”
Three teenagers were arrested Tuesday on charges including grand larceny and criminal mischief in connection with the swan-napping, Manlius police Sgt.Ken Hatter said.
Mute swans like Faye and her mate, Manny, are not native to North America. They were introduced as an ornamental species and are loved for their beauty but are considered invasive by wildlife officials.
Hunting swans is legal in a few U.S.states but not in New York.
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Judge dismisses criminal charges against California energy company in 2020 fatal wildfire
REDDING, Calif. (AP) – A California judge on Wednesday dismissed all charges against Pacific Gas & Electric in connection to a 2020 fatal wildfire sparked by its equipment that destroyed hundreds of homes and killed four people, including an 8-year-old.
The utility also reached a $50 million settlement agreement with the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office, officials from both announced in separate statements.
The wind-whipped blaze began on Sept.27, 2020, and raged through rugged terrain and small communities west of Redding, killing four people, burning about 200 homes and blackening about 87 square miles (225 square kilometers) of land in Shasta and Tehama counties.
In 2021, state fire investigators concluded the fire was sparked by a gray pine tree that fell onto a PG&E distribution line.Shasta and Tehama counties sued the utility, alleging negligence. They said PG&E failed to remove the tree even though it had been marked for removal two years earlier. The utility says the tree was subsequently cleared to stay.
Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett determined that the company was criminally liable for the fire and charged the utility later that year.
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FTC hits Amazon with $25 million fine for violating child privacy with Alexa voice assistant
WASHINGTON (AP) – Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant.
Separately, the company agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations involving its doorbell camera Ring.
The Alexa-related action orders Amazon to overhaul its data deletion practices and impose stricter, more transparent privacy measures.It also obliges the tech giant to delete certain data collected by its internet-connected digital assistant, which people use for everything from checking the weather to playing games and queueing up music.
“Amazon´s history of misleading parents, keeping children´s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents´ deletion requests violated COPPA (the Child Online Privacy Protection Act) and sacrificed privacy for profits,” Samuel Levine, the FCT consumer protection chief, said in a statement.The 1998 law is designed to shield children from online harms.
FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement that “when parents asked Amazon to delete their kids´ Alexa voice data, the company did not delete all of it.”
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Twitter may be worth one-third what Musk paid for it last fall as Fidelity marks down investment
Twitter may now be worth one-third of what Elon Musk paid for the social media platform just seven months ago.
Financial services company Fidelity has reduced the market value of its equity stake in Twitter for a third time, now putting it at $6.55 billion. That’s down from the nearly $20 billion Fidelity valued its stake at in October.
It is unclear how Fidelity came up with its valuation figures, but as a public company it’s required to provide investors with updates on its holdings.Because Twitter is a private company now called X Holdings Corp., information about its finances can´t be verified.
Musk took control of Twitter in October, after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The CEO of Tesla, who also owns SpaceX, bought Twitter for $44 billion.
The billionaire financed the purchase with funds including loans from a group of banks.Musk has said the $44 billion price tag for Twitter was too high but that the company had great potential.
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Pistons reach agreement to hire former Suns coach Monty Williams, AP sources say
DETROIT (AP) – The Detroit Pistons made a bold move in their latest attempt to become relevant in the NBA again.
Detroit reached an agreement to hire former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams, according to two people familiar with the situation.
One of the people, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced, told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that Williams agreed to a six-year contract.
Phoenix fired Williams two-plus weeks ago, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he won the league’s coach of the year honors.
The 51-year-old Williams won 63% of his games over four regular seasons with the Suns, but they were eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals two years in a row after losing to Milwaukee in the 2021 NBA Finals.