List of All Articles with Tag 'world'

A substantial majority of PDC Energy Inc.’s bondholders say they won’t tender their bonds following the company’s acquisition

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that he granted the US attorney investigating President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden special counsel status. Mr Garland announced that David Weiss, who has served as the US Attorney for Delaware since 2018, would serve as special counsel and he had informed relevant members of Congress about the nomination. The move is a shift from July when Mr Weiss informed Congress that he had not requested special counsel designation for his investigation into the president’s son. But on Tuesday, Mr Weiss requested such status. “I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel,” Mr Garland said on Friday. “This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss all the resources he request.” Mr Weiss had previously been investigating Hunter Biden since 2019. Mr Garland and the Department of Justice allowed Mr Weiss to stay on board as US attorney when Mr Biden took office in 2021 to continue his investigation of Mr Biden. In July, Mr Biden looked set to enter into a plea deal for unpaid taxes and lying on a federal application for a firearm. Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, had decried the agreement as a sweetheart deal. Many Republicans argued that the younger Mr Biden received preferential treatment because he is the president’s son despite the fact that Mr Trump nominated Mr Weiss and Republicans in the Senate voted to confirm him in 2018. Then in late July, Mr Biden pleaded not guilty to two of the charges after the presiding judge questioned whether the deal would prohibit the federal government from prosecuting him for other crimes he might have committed in the future. The White House referred to remarks from Mr Garland and the Justice Department when asked by The Independent. Mr Garland said that Mr Weiss’s office would not be subjected to day-to-day supervision but would have to comply with regulations, procedures and policies of the Justice Department. Mr Weiss would also be mandated to write a report of his investigation once it concludes. “ As with each special counsel who has served since I have taken office, I am committed to making as much of his report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and department policy,” he said. “Today's announcement affords the prosecutors agents and analysts working on this matter, the ability to proceed with our work expeditiously and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.” Mr Garland’s announcement comes the same day that former president Donald Trump’s legal team appeared in court in Washington, DC and earned a win as US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that a protective order against Mr Trump would only apply to sensitive material such as jury transcripts, witness interview records and other documents. Mr Trump faces charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after a federal grand jury indicted him in response to a presentation from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office. Mr Garland nominated Mr Smith to investigate Mr Smith to investigate Mr Trump. In addition, the attorney nominated Robert Hur to investigate classified documents found in locations associated with President Biden earlier this year. Read More Hunter Biden’s plea deal appears at risk of falling apart. What happens next? Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to two tax charges after court chaos around deal with prosecutors Attorney General Garland will appoint special counsel in Hunter Biden probe Utah man killed after threats against Biden believed government was corrupt and overreaching Utah man suspected of threatening President Joe Biden shot and killed as FBI served warrant

Argentina’s primary election on Sunday will be key in dictating how asset prices will move going forward —

The 17-year-old boy charged with stabbing O’Shae Sibley to death at a gas station in Brooklyn has pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Dmitriy Popov was previously indicted by a grand jury on murder in the second degree as a hate crime, among other charges. Mr Popov’s next court date is set for October, ABC 7 reported, adding that the teen faces a minimum of 20 years in jail and a maximum of 25 years to life. The outlet reported that Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez underscored the importance of prosecuting this incident as a hate crime. “Many powerful people across this country have talked about this case and have been concerned that justice prevails,” said Mr Gonzalez. “I’m assuring the community that we are taking this case very seriously, that we’re going to make sure that justice prevails.” The 17-year-old is accused of killing Sibley, a gay 28-year-old professional dancer, who, reportedly just after 11pm on 29 July, was dancing to a Beyonce song with a friend at a Mobil gas station in Brooklyn. That’s when a separate group of young men allegedly began hurling homophobic insults saying that they didn’t like “gay dancing” in their neighbourhood, according to eyewitnesses. Sibley suffered “a stab wound to the torso. EMS responded and removed the victim to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased,” a spokesperson for NYPD said. Mr Popov’s lawyer Mark Pollard previously told The Independent that his client was a “good Christian boy” who regularly attended church. “I have no idea where that came from. I just know he’s not Muslim. It’s very strange,” Mr Pollard told The Independent. The teenage suspect turned himself in to authorities after a week of trying to bring him in, although he was easily identified through video footage. “This is a city where you are free to express yourself, and that expression should never end with any form of violence,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference last week. Read More 17-year-old suspect in the New York stabbing of a dancer is indicted on a hate-crime murder charge O’Shae Sibley was stabbed to death for the crime of being ‘Black, gay and dancing’ Teen accused of stabbing O’Shae Sibley in homophobic attack is a ‘good Christian boy’, lawyer says

Alabama Republican SenatorTommy Tuberville no longer possesses any property in the state he represents, according to a report. The Washington Post reported that the lawmaker has sold the last of his properties in Alabama – Tiger Farms LLC, which sits in Macon and Tallapoosa counties just outside of Auburn – for just over $1m. Property records show that he has owned a $3m home in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, for around 20 years. He also owns a condo in Washington that he and his wife purchased for $750,000 in 2021. The former Auburn University head coach recently sold one Florida condo for $850,000 and bought another for $825,000, the Post reported. The Independent has reached out to Mr Tuberville’s office for comment. Mr Tuberville’s office maintained to the Post that the senator’s primary residence is a home in Auburn. “Coach has purchased and invested in real estate for decades,” Mr Tuberville’s communications director told the outlet. “Coach has owned the property in Santa Rosa Beach for two decades – he bought it while he was coaching at Auburn. He goes there upon occasion if he has a free weekend. It is within driving distance of Auburn. I’m sure many senators have vacation homes.” The spokesperson said that the senator purchased his current Auburn residence for his son when his son was a student at Auburn. “After his son graduated, he moved out. After Coach retired from coaching, Coach moved into the Auburn house.” Despite this claim, the Tubervilles actually bought the house nine months after his son Tucker graduated from Auburn University in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. When Mr Tuberville served as the head coach of University of Cincinnati’s football team from 2013 through 2016, Tucker then worked for his father at the school from May through December 2016 after he graduated. Tuberville’s other son, Troy, did not start at Auburn until 2018 and graduated in 2021. After being presented with these details, Mr Tuberville’s communications director backtracked and told the Post that the house was purchased after Tucker graduated from college: “His son lived at the Auburn house briefly and then Coach moved there afterward.” “The Auburn property is his primary residence — although his job requires him to be in Washington four days a week when the Senate is in session,” the communications director added. Under the US constitution, a senator must live in the state they are elected to serve. “No Person shall be a Senator…who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen,” it states. Mr Tuberville isn’t the only member of Congress to face questions around their residency. Arizona Democratic Rep Ruben Gallego was under fire earlier this year after Politico exposed that he claimed both his DC property and his Arizona property as his primary residence. Similarly, Rep Ryan Zinke, the former Trump administration interior secretary, fell under scrutiny when he ran for congress in Montana in 2022 and his wife put her primary residence as California. Read More GOP senator holding up military promotions claims Ukraine ‘can’t win’ in war with Russia Pentagon warns of disruptions as Army, Marines both lack confirmed leaders for first time Manchin, Tuberville introduce college sports bill to standardize NIL rules, regulate collectives Pentagon warns of disruptions as Army, Marines both lack confirmed leaders for first time Who are Trump’s six alleged co-conspirators in the 2020 election probe case? Biden rejects Trump decision to move Space Force from Colorado to Alabama

Donald Trump notched a win in the fight over a protective order in the 2020 election case as the judge ruled that some of the evidence that will be provided to him in the pre-trial discovery process won’t be restricted from dissemination if it’s not deemed “sensitive” by the government. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday that the protective order will only apply to sensitive materials such as grand jury transcripts, witness interview records, and other documents that could identify witnesses or be used to poison the pool of potential jurors who will be responsible for deciding the ex-president’s fate when he goes on trial next year. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office had asked her to impose a more restrictive order which would have applied to any and all materials provided to Mr Trump’s defence team in discovery, while Mr Trump’s attorneys had asked for her to allow the former president leave to talk about non-sensitive materials, citing his ongoing campaign for the Republican nomination in next year’s presidential election. Prosecutors had made the request for a broad protective order with the aim of preventing Mr Trump from poisoning the jury pool ahead of his expected trial next year, citing statements by the ex-president’s legal team which they said indicated a desire to try the case “in the press”. But Judge Chutkan, a former defence attorney and a nine-year veteran of the federal bench who was nominated by then-president Barack Obama and confirmed by a unanimous Senate vote in 2014, rejected the prosecution’s preferred language on the grounds that Mr Trump’s conduct with regard to the non-sensitive discovery is still governed by his release conditions and the rules of the court. More follows...

Authorities in Maryland are hoping to speak to a group of individuals who were on the trail the same time as Rachel Morin on the night the 37-year-old was killed. The group of people who had dogs with them on the trail Saturday evening may have seen something, Harford County officials said as they urged them to come forward. Morin was last seen heading to the Ma & Pa Trail around 6pm on 5 August. Her boyfriend Richard Tobin reported her missing that night after she failed to return home. The mother-of-five’s body was found the next day, and her death is being investigated as a homicide. Detectives said they received information that between 6pm and 7.30pm, the group of potential witnesses were walking on the Ma & Pa Trail from the Rt. 24 tunnel toward the split in the trail that leads to the Williams Street trailhead. The individuals were described as either being three men, two women and two dogs or two men, three women and two dogs. It’s the most recent update in the disappearance and killing of the mother-of-five that has gripped the Bel Air community. Hundreds of tips have come in, but authorities do not yet have a “solid suspect” in the case. “We do not have a solid suspect. Not knowing whether this was a targeted event specific to Rachel, we are going to say, yes, be aware, be thinking there could be somebody out here and this is a random event,” Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said. Mr Gahler urged the public to keep sending in tips, no matter how insignificant it may be. “Together we will solve this crime and find the heinous coward who took Rachel Morin from her family and friends,” he said in a briefing on Wednesday. Anyone who believes they may be the individuals that the detectives are looking for or if anyone has information that could be helpful, contact Sgt. Maddox at maddoxc@harfordsheriff.org. Read More Rachel Morin – update: Police seek mystery group of potential witnesses on Bel Air trail near time of killing Rachel Morin’s mother breaks silence on daughter’s killing Man who described grisly state of Rachel Morin’s body never actually saw it, sheriff says

India is poised to buy the most amount of dirty fuels from Russia in years, as a slump

The captain of the Harriott II riverboat revealed that he has had “trouble” in the past with the group who were arrested and charged with assault for their actions in the Montgomery waterfront brawl. A fight broke out over the weekend along the dock after a deckhand asked the owners of a pontoon boat to move it a few feet, so that the Harriott II—which was carrying 227 passengers—could safely dock. The pontoon boat was partially blocking the riverboat’s designated space, the Montgomery Police chief previously said. The exchange, which was captured on video, quickly got out of hand when one of the men on the pontoon boat allegedly started getting physical with the deckhand. Three men and one woman have so far been arrested in connection with the incident: Richard Roberts, 48, Allen Todd, 23, Zachary Shipman, 25, and Mary Todd, 21. Capt Jim Kittrell told Alabama’s 93.1 radio station that this wasn’t the first time he had encountered the group. “This is the same group that comes every year. They’re from Selma. And, we’ve had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things,” he stated. He went into further detail about the group, citing one example from a few years ago while talking on CNN on Thursday. When the group came to Montgomery, the captain recalled, after a cruise, the riverboat crew tried to retrive “our golf cart that we used to get people up the hills that are handicapped or elderly.” But it was nowhere to be found. Mr Kittrell said he received a call from the Embassy Suites Hotel, saying the golf cart is in the hotel lobby. After being shown video footage of the cart entering the lobby, he said they “find out who it is,” and he called his boss, who “wanted me to press charges” because the property belonged to the city. However, police talked him out of it. Mr Kittrell recounted the police telling him at the time that it was “juust a little prank. Just let it slide.” So they did. But this time, the police didn’t let it slide. Mr Roberts had already been in custody with the Selma Police Department, while Mr Todd and Mr Shipman turned themselves in on Wednesday evening. Mary Todd handed herself in on Thursday and has been charged with assault in the third degree. However, they are still trying to get in touch with Reggie Gray, whom the police chief has described as “wielding that folding chair” in videos, with footage showing him allegedly hitting multiple people over the head. The police chief announced they were looking for him on Tuesday; on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Montgomery Police told The Independent that investigators will “certainly” find Mr Gray. On Wednesday, Mr Kittrell said he believed the attack was driven by race. “The white guys that attacked my deckhand—and he was a senior deckhand first mate—I can’t think of any other reason they attacked him other than it being racially motivated,” he said. However, the captain said, after the initial attack on the deckhand, the rest of the brawl did not fall along racial lines. On CNN on Thursday, Mr Kittrell expanded on that claim, saying, “I saw it like everybody else saw it. It looks like White people attacking a Black man. But, he added, “I don’t know the hearts of those men...Now, I do know the hearts of my crew. And my crew was frustrated because they couldn’t get to the dock” and protect the deckhand, Damien Pickett. The captain said he took Mr Pickett to the hospital after the attack, and although “he’s still having some headaches and stuff,” he said the deckhand is “doing well.” Police said they did not find enough evidence to support hate crime charges. Read More Alabama riverfront brawl suspects finally turn themselves in Alabama dockside brawl was racially motivated, riverboat captain says Riverfront brawl brings unwelcome attention to historic civil rights city in Alabama

Supporters of former president Donald Trump heckled former vice president Mike Pence as a “traitor” as he visited the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Thursday. A video from Iowa Starting Line showed a fellow fairgoer at the former vice president for not being a true Christian. “Pence is a traitor every day,” she said. “Anybody who says they have a higher power, uses those words, he is not a Christian when you say higher power. We don’t buy it as believers, Pence. You are far from a Christian.” Trump supporters have long loathed Mr Pence - who indeed campaigns heavily on his staunch Christian beliefs - for his refusal to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on January 6. During the riot at the US Capitol, some supporters yelled “Hang Mike Pence.” Last week a grand jury handed down an indictment against Mr Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The indictment detailed how Mr Pence took “contemporaneous notes” in the days between the 2020 election and the January 6 riot. The indictment says that Mr Pence repeatedly told Mr Trump that he did not think he had the authority to overturn the election results. On 1 January 2021, Mr Trump reportedly told Mr Pence he was “too honest.” Mr Pence has since been selling merchandise with the words “too honest” and has repeated that he did not have authority to nullify the election results. But he has struggled in his campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination for president. He consistently polls in the single digits and has not raised as much money as either Mr Trump or Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. Mr Pence said that enough people donated to his campaign from enough states for him to participate in the first Republican debate in Wisconsin later this month, Fox News reported. Read More Trump fumes about Jack Smith’s January 2024 date for Jan 6 trial ahead of hearing on protective order – latest Prosecutors seek Jan. 2 trial date for Donald Trump in his 2020 election conspiracy case

Alphabet Inc. is facing a new and, by most accounts, welcome problem — how to spend its rapidly

Air Canada lifted its outlook for the second time in three months, joining US airlines in posting big