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Testimony ends in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial, but the verdict isn’t expected until next month

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — After 10 weeks, 40 witnesses and bursts of courtroom fireworks, testimony wrapped up Wednesday in former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial. But a verdict is at least a month away. Closing arguments are set for Jan. 11, and Judge Arthur Engoron has said he hopes to decide the case by the end of that month. The verdict is up to him because New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the case under a state law that doesn’t allow for a jury. “In a strange way, I’m gonna miss this trial,” Engoron mused aloud Wednesday before the last hours of testimony, which were about accounting standards.James’ lawsuit accuses the Republican presidential 2024 front-runner, his company and key executives — including sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — of deceiving banks and insurers by giving them financial statements that padded the ex-president’s wealth by billions of dollars. The suit claims the documents larded the value of such...

A military court convicts Tunisian opposition activist Chaima Issa of undermining security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A military court in Tunisia convicted a prominent opposition activist of undermining state security and gave her a one-year suspended prison sentence Wednesday, according to a defense lawyer. The lawyer representing Chaima Issa denounced the verdict but expressed satisfaction that she would remain free and plans to appeal. “Chaima Issa should have been acquitted because all she did was to peacefully use her right to freedom of expression,” attorney Samir Dilou told The Associated Press. Public prosecutors began investigating Issa, a leader in a coalition of parties opposed to President Kais Saied, after she criticized authorities on Tunisia’s most prominent radio station in February. She was jailed from that month to July. According to her lawyer, Issa was charged with spreading fake news and accused of trying to incite the military to disobey orders and undermine public security as part of an alleged plot hatched after she met with foreign diplomats and other opp...

Court upholds judge’s ruling ordering new election in Louisiana sheriff’s race decided by one vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A divided state appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling ordering a new election for a Louisiana sheriff’s race that was decided by a single vote.In a 3-2 ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport, Louisiana, said Tuesday the Republican candidate for sheriff in Caddo Parish, John Nickelson, had shown two people illegally voted twice in the Nov. 18 election and four others voted though they were ineligible to cast ballots.The majority, additionally, found no error in the lower court judge’s determination that Nickelson could not have known about the problematic votes before election day. “Considering the one-vote margin between the candidates, the invalidation of these six votes is alone sufficient to make it legally impossible to determine the result of the election,” Judge Jeff Robinson wrote for the majority.Democrat Henry Whitehorn, the declared winner in the sheriff’s race, had argued that Nickelson had not challenged the ...

EU unblocks billions for Hungary even though its leader threatens to veto Ukraine aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday relented and granted Hungary access to billions of euros in frozen funds just as Prime Minister Viktor Orban appeared ready to defy his EU partners and veto the opening of membership talks and vital financial aid for Ukraine.A year ago, the European Union’s executive branch blocked substantial amounts of money out of concern that democratic backsliding by Orban’s nationalist government could put the bloc’s budget at risk.The billions withheld mostly concern “cohesion funds” earmarked for Hungary. This envelope of money, one of the biggest slices of the 27-nation bloc’s budget, helps countries maintain their infrastructure at EU standards. They must apply for the money to fund building and other projects.Now, the European Commission has ruled that Orban’s government has addressed some of its concerns, notably on justice reforms. So it’s willing to grant access to 10.2 billion euros ($11 billion) to reimburse project spending on approved...

Appeals court denies Trump’s ‘presidential immunity’ argument in defamation lawsuit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that former President Donald Trump gave up his right to argue that presidential immunity protects him from being held liable for statements he made in 2019 when he denied that he raped advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling that Trump had effectively waived the immunity defense by not raising it when Carroll first filed a defamation lawsuit against him four years ago.Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said in an emailed statement that the ruling was “fundamentally flawed” and that the former president’s legal team would be immediately appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.Roberta “Robbie” Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll, said the ruling allows the case to move forward with a trial next month. “We are pleased that the Second Circuit affirmed Judge Kaplan’s rulings and that we can now move forward with trial next month on Janua...

New EU gig worker rules will sort out who should get the benefits of full-time employees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

LONDON (AP) — In a bid to improve working conditions for people who deliver food and offer rides through smartphone apps, the European Union gave provisional approval Wednesday to rules that determine who should get the benefits of full-time employees and restrict the way online platforms use algorithms to manage their workers.The European Parliament and the EU’s 27 member countries agreed on a platform worker directive that has been years in the making. It aims to boost protections and benefits for the growing number of gig economy workers, while raising accountability and transparency for apps that rely on independent contractors.Gig economy workers and platforms have fallen between the cracks of existing employment legislation, so the directive is designed to clear up those gray areas. It still needs to be ratified by lawmakers and member states, which will then have two years to transpose it into their local laws. The new rules “ensure platform workers, such as drivers and...

Cardinals, Anheuser-Busch agree to marketing extension, including stadium naming rights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have been playing in Busch Stadium for seven decades, and that won’t change anytime soon.The team and Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday that they have agreed to a five-year marketing agreement extension that will run through 2030. In addition to stadium naming rights, the maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers maintains exclusive rights to all alcoholic beverage advertising on Cardinals radio and TV broadcasts, stadium signage rights and other marketing benefits.Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.“Anheuser-Busch and the Cardinals are part of the fabric of St. Louis, and this continued investment in our shared hometown is an exciting next chapter in our decades long story,” Matt Davis, vice president of partnerships for Anheuser-Busch, said in a news release.Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III, in the release, said the partnership with the brewery “is such an important part of our identity as an organization.”St. Lou...

Commuters stranded in traffic for hours after partial bridge shutdown in Rhode Island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The sudden westbound closure of one of the busiest bridges in Rhode Island has stranded commuters for hours and sent others driving way off their normal path as the state’s congressional delegation sought federal funds to speed up emergency repairs. State authorities said a critical structural failure in the Washington Bridge resulted in the closure late Monday afternoon. The bridge carries Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River from Providence to East Providence and serves as a key gateway to the state’s largest city. The bridge carries close to 100,000 vehicles every day.“What’s normally a morning commute time of a 40-to-45-minute drive was 4 1/2 hours,” John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said Tuesday. He was able to work from home on Wednesday. The repair work could take months. Traffic was being redirected to two lanes on the eastbound side for now. Gov. Dan McKee and state and local officials planned to give an updat...

Police identify 14-year-old boy, grandfather killed in Chicago Lawn shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

CHICAGO — A 14-year-old boy and his 65-year-old grandfather are dead after a shooting on the city's Southwest Side.Chicago police say the deadly shooting happened just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 3500 block of West 61st Place in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. Police seek help identifying woman found dead after south suburban fire According to police, the victims were standing outside in the area, when a grey vehicle approached and two men inside opened fire. Officers say the 14-year-old boy, who has been identified as Juan Medina Jr., suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene. It appears the teen may have been targeted in the shooting.The man, who has been identified as Mario Medina, was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his injuries. Police say the vehicle was spotted fleeing westbound on 61st Place. 2 hospitalized after crash involving school bus in Glenview Currently, it is unclear what led to the shooting and polic...

SCOTUS will rule on limits on a commonly used abortion medication

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to take up a dispute over a medication used in the most common method of abortion in the United States, its first abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade last year.The justices will hear appeals from the Biden administration and the maker of the drug mifepristone asking the high court to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off access to the drug through the mail and impose other restrictions, even in states where abortion remains legal. The restrictions include shortening from the current 10 weeks to seven weeks the time during which mifepristone can be used in pregnancy.The nine justices rejected a separate appeal from abortion opponents who challenged the Food and Drug Administration's initial approval of mifepristone as safe and effective in 2000.The case will be argued in the spring, with a decision likely by late June, in the middle of the 2024 presidential and congressional ...