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Biden visits Louisiana as Gulf Coast, Northeast recover from Ida's toll

 
Millions of sleep apnea machines recalled over potential cancer risk

 
A man plunged nine stories from a high-rise in Jersey City, New Jersey, landed on a BMW — and miraculously survived, according to officials and a witness.

The 31-year-old crashed through the roof of the black Beemer 330i parked below 26 Journal Square at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, then stood up with his right arm dangling at his side and asked, “What happened?” onlooker Christina Smith, 21, told The Post.

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https://nypost.com/2021/10/07/new-jersey-man-survives-9-story-plunge-by-landing-on-a-bmw/
 
https://resistthemainstream.org/todd...ource=telegram

Toddler Found Alive in Woods Days After He Went Missing: ‘God’s Still in the Miracle Business’


A three-year-old who went missing in Texas on Wednesday was found alive Saturday five miles from his home, according to the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office.

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A delayed transportation infrastructure project moves forward in the Northeast Corridor

 
California High School Is Teaching Teens to Drive 18-Wheelers

At first glance, it may sound odd to hear that high schoolers are learning to drive big rigs, but that’s exactly what’s happening at California’s Patterson High School. As NPR reports, Patterson High recently began offering a students the opportunity to attend a truck driving school as part of its Career Technical Education Program.

To be clear, it’s an elective course, so students who don’t want to go into commercial trucking aren’t expected to participate. But seniors who are interested have the opportunity to learn about the industry itself, proper safety practices, and how to obtain their commercial driver’s license all before they graduate high school.

According to the school’s website, after completing the year-long class, students will need to apply to a partner trucking company for real-world training before they can earn their CDL. It’s not all classroom instruction for the high schoolers, though. They also spend time in a lab setting, including about 20 hours on a simulator where they learn basics such as how to shift, reverse, and drive defensively.

“A lot of [students] who enroll in the course have never considered trucking as a career. Trucking doesn’t have a great reputation and it comes with a lot of misconceptions about what exactly a truck driver is,” said instructor Dave Dein in an interview with NPR. “If we don’t start promoting trucking to our youth, they only can make decisions on the information that they have.”

Speaking to NPR, senior Eduardo Dominguez-Sotelo — one of those aforementioned students who previously had no interest in trucking — said, “It was not an elective I would’ve chosen because I didn’t think that truck driving was for me. In the end, it actually ended up being a good fit for me.”

That doesn’t mean he plans to make trucking his entire career. Instead, Dominguez-Sotelo said he thinks it will be a good way to earn money part-time while studying computer engineering. Even if he only drives over the summer, he can expect to make quite a bit more than he would in food service or retail. Potentially as much as $12,000 according to the school’s website.

https://jalopnik.com/california-high-school-is-teaching-teens-to-drive-18-wh-1847895765
 
How unfair Amazon!! He was just giving her a full service!!!


Amazon Driver Fired After Video of Woman Exiting Back of Truck Goes Viral

An Amazon driver's now jobless after a video went viral of a woman slipping out the backdoor of his delivery truck ... sparking racy speculation about what she and the driver were doing.

The clip, shot in a Florida neighborhood, shows a woman in a black dress and flip-flops hopping out the rear door. Worth nothing, the Amazon delivery guy's quite the gentleman ... he holds the door open for her.

It's unclear who the woman is, or exactly why she was inside the truck -- but Amazon certainly didn't think it was prime conduct by the driver.

A rep for the company tells us, "This does not reflect the high standards we have for our Delivery Service Partners and their drivers. Allowing unauthorized passengers to enter delivery vehicles is a violation of Amazon policy, and the driver is no longer delivering packages to Amazon customers.”

We've tried to get in touch with the driver to get his side of the story but so far, no luck. Probably busy making a delivery ... of some sort.

https://www.tmz.com/2021/10/29/amaz...27EBdtw_QZ06GAfAbTrTV78erTI4hOcgt8oOVMTWOvm5I
 
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Three wedding guests reportedly shot dead in Afghanistan for playing music at reception


Three guests were shot dead at a wedding reception in eastern Afghanistan on Friday night, apparently because music was being played, according to the Taliban.

The attack was carried out by three assailants who claimed to be members of the Taliban before opening fire, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters at a press conference Sunday.

Mujahid said the gunmen attacked a reception taking place in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar Province. A local journalist also told CNN at least two people had been killed and 10 others injured.

The Taliban spokesman added that it was not permissible to kill anyone for playing music, and an investigation was underway to establish whether the incident was due to a personal feud.

"In the ranks of the Islamic Emirate no one has the right to turn anyone away from music or anything, only to try to persuade them. That is the main way," Mujahid told the press conference, according to AFP.

Mujahid later reiterated in a series of Twitter posts that the suspects had claimed to be Taliban members, and had asked for the music to be stopped before firing before opening fire -- but did not verify whether or not they were. He said two people connected to the incident had been arrested, but a third had escaped.

Although they disapprove of playing music at weddings and other public events, the Taliban has not issued a decree banning it since coming to power in August.

However, in late August folk singer Fawad Andarabi was dragged from his home and killed by the Taliban, while musicians in the country told CNN's Clarissa Ward they had been told not to play their instruments.

During their previous period of rule in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned most forms of music as un-Islamic.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...eption/ar-AAQa55A?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&pfr=1
 
William Shatner's flight mate to edge of space killed in New Jersey plane crash

William Shatner’s crew mate in last month’s historic rocket trip to the edge of space was one of two men killed Thursday in a plane crash in New Jersey, officials said.

Glen de Vries, 49, of New York City, and Thomas P. Fischer, 54, of Hopatcong, New Jersey, died following the small aircraft crash shortly before 3 p.m. in Hampton Township, according to New Jersey State Police.

De Vries joined Shatner and other crew members aboard the Oct. 13 flight developed by Blue Origin, the private spaceflight company founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Thursday's crash, police said. The FAA could not be immediately reached Friday for comment.

The New Jersey Herald reported the FAA alerted public safety authorities that a single-engine Cessna 172 went missing near Kemah Lake, about 50 miles northwest of Newark. Emergency crews found the wreckage about an hour later, the newspaper reported.

The aircraft was “destroyed” in the crash, which occurred “under unknown circumstances,” an initial report by the FAA states, according to the Herald.

De Vries co-founded software company Medidata Solutions, which specializes in management of electronic data from clinical trials. He also served as a trustee for Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

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“We will truly miss Glen, but his dreams — which we share — live on: we will pursue progress in life sciences & healthcare as passionately as he did," Medidat said in a statement.

De Vries received his undergraduate degree in molecular biology and genetics from Carnegie Mellon University, worked as a research scientist at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and studied computer science at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematics, according to his biography on the Medidata website.

A statement from Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian called de Vries one of the university's greatest science advocates.

"The entire Carnegie Mellon University community is devastated by the loss of alumnus and trustee Glen de Vries, and our hearts go out to his family, friends and loved ones," Jahanian said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/w...-crash/ar-AAQDEtx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&pfr=1
 
More than 500 injured by scorpion stings in Egypt after storms

After heavy rain and flooding in one of Egypt’s southern provinces left at least three people dead, a staggering number of people were also hurt by scorpion stings.

Aswan province Gov. Ashraf Attia said the storm forced scorpions from their natural shelters, usually underground, into people’s homes. The deluge of scorpions led to more than 500 people being hospitalized with stings.

All 503 people were administered anti-venom and quickly discharged, Attia said.

Those who were stung said they experienced a range of symptoms, including severe pain, fever, sweating, vomiting and diarrhea.

No deaths were reported from the stings, acting health minister Khalid Abdel-Ghafar said.

According to Al Jazeera, the Aswan region is mountainous and home to the Arabian fat-tailed scorpion, which has highly toxic venom. They are known to cause several human deaths a year.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...after-storms/ar-AAQMqNG?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

AAQMkah.img
 
Under Taliban, Kabul's drug addicts forced into withdrawal

 
New York MTA Manager Caught Using A Bizarre Blowup Doll To Cheat His Way Into Carpool Lanes
The manager claims the doll is there for "the company".


One New York MTA manager, a person who should absolutely know better, has been caught cheating in HOV lanes. And as the New York Post reports that he did it in the most obvious way possible, with this Carpool Kenny Blowup Doll.

The Post confronted Giulio Di Virgilio outside of his office building as he pulled in to park. They also pointed out he makes $122,000 per year which…I don’t know what that has to do with anything. People making six figures shouldn’t try and get around HOV laws? I don’t know. Anyway, he claims he’s not trying to skirt the laws, and his excuse is hilarious.

Confronted by The Post outside the East New York building, Di Virgilio denied he had the inflatable suit-sporting businessman in tow to illegally cruise in lanes reserved for high-occupancy vehicles.

“I don’t use it for the HOV,” the $122,000-per-year government official insisted. “I use it for the company.”

Yeah ok. Company. You live in New York City. If you want company you could take the subway and be around plenty of people. Di Virgilio’s coworkers were the first to notice him using the dummy, which sorta looks like the dad from Netflix’s F is for Family.

“It was weird when we saw that thing [in his car] in the morning. Why would anyone have that there except to do HOV stuff?” said one Buses employee who requested anonymity.

One union official said, “It’s unbecoming of a manager. We laugh, but what else is he doing in secret that we don’t know about?”

Di Virgilio is a former NYPD officer so he probably knows what he’s doing in regards to getting around laws. And while carpool dummies are too easy to get, don’t do it. A bizarre inflatable doll in the passenger seat of a car without tinted windows isn’t slick.

https://jalopnik.com/new-york-mta-manager-caught-using-a-bizarre-blowup-doll-1848227940
 
Navient plans to cancel some student borrowers' loan debt. Who qualifies?


Student borrowers who took out loans that were serviced by Navient, one of the largest student loan collection companies in the country, were cautiously celebrating Thursday's announcement that tens of thousands of them would get their loans canceled under an agreement with more than three dozen states.

The total amount of debt to be canceled, as well as an accompanying restitution agreement, is major — a deal worth about $1.85 billion.

A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general are calling the resolution "a victory for student loan borrowers" in holding Navient accountable, after suing the company for allegedly misleading borrowers with deceptive lending practices and offering risky subprime loans. For its part, Navient is denying it violated consumer protection laws or caused borrowers harm, insisting it is settling the agreement "to avoid the additional burden, expense, time and distraction to prevail in court."

But for the average Navient customer hoping for immediate relief, they may be left disappointed, said Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, a consumer advocacy group.

"Yesterday was a very big deal for certain people that have really been forgotten in our national conversation in the student debt crisis," Pierce said. "This will be life-changing for a specific group of those people. But for everyone else, the fight continues."

Who qualifies for debt cancellation?
About 66,000 student borrowers with Navient loans may see their debts forgiven.

These are borrowers with private loans — specifically, subprime student loans taken out through Navient's predecessor company, Sallie Mae, between 2002 and 2014. (Navient was formed in 2014 after Sallie Mae split into two business entities.)

In addition, those borrowers must have had more than seven consecutive months of delinquent payments prior to June 30, 2021.

Student borrowers who don't have subprime loans may still qualify if their private loans were made between 2002 and 2014 and they attended a for-profit school that was later the subject of state or federal law enforcement actions. Those schools include Corinthian Colleges, DeVry University and ITT Educational Services. A full list can be found on a website for the agreement.

Who qualifies for a restitution payment?
About 350,000 federal student loan borrowers whom Navient placed into a long-term forbearance plan would be eligible for a payment — about $260 per borrower.

State attorneys general say those forbearance arrangements had driven student borrowers further into debt because while those borrowers were able to pause or reduce their payments temporarily, their loans still continued to accrue interest.

Certain conditions apply to get the restitution, such as having at least one federal loan that was eligible for income-driven repayment and the borrower not having enrolled in income-driven repayment prior to the forbearance period.​

Borrowers whose federal loans were recently transferred to another servicer, Aidvantage, may still be eligible for restitution.

Which states were involved in the settlement?
Qualifying residents of the following states will be covered under the restitution agreement: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Washington, D.C., is also included.

In addition, borrowers who qualify for debt cancellation must also reside in one of the aforementioned states or in the following states: Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia.

What actions should borrowers take?
If a borrower qualifies for either debt cancellation or a restitution payment, they will be contacted directly.

A settlement administrator is expected to send those borrowers a postcard in the mail this spring, and checks would go out in mid-2022.

For those borrowers who are set to get their private loans forgiven, they would be contacted in writing by July 2022.

The agreement among Navient and the states is still awaiting final court approval.

In the meantime, should borrowers keep paying off their loans?
Pierce recommends borrowers with private loans to keep paying or, if they can, consult an attorney about their situation.

Those with federal students loans are still benefiting from a moratorium on such payments through May 1, after the Biden administration extended the pause last month.

But there is permanent good news for those whose debt is forgiven, including under this latest settlement agreement with Navient, Pierce said.

Student loan forgiveness is tax-free as part of the White House's coronavirus stimulus package signed into law last year. Previously, any student loan debt canceled by the government was taxable.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/educat..._ma#anchor-Whoqualifiesforarestitutionpayment
 
Ukrainian Refugees Are Hitting a Wall at the US-Mexico Border


The ripple effect from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reached the United States border, with the first trickle of people displaced by the conflict starting to arrive in Tijuana, Mexico, hoping to cross into the U.S. to seek protection.

The arrival of Ukrainian and Russian asylum-seekers — including at least one woman and her three children who were allowed into the U.S. on Thursday, and eight others currently stuck in Tijuana — is testing the limits of President Joe Biden’s willingness to continue enforcing a Trump-era policy that has blocked thousands of asylum-seekers from crossing the border.

The first Ukrainians arrived Monday at the port of entry near San Diego, a 34-year-old mother who’s been identified only as Sofiia, accompanied by her kids, ages, 14, 12, and 6. They were turned away twice, once in a car on Tuesday and later on foot, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, which had a reporter present when Sofiia and her family tried to walk across into the U.S. on Wednesday.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents reportedly cited the policy known as Title 42 when turning the family away, according to immigration attorneys who were helping the family and tweeting from the scene on Wednesday. Enacted under President Donald Trump at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Title 42 puts tight restrictions on who can cross the border “in the interest of public health.”

In years past, migrants who reached the U.S. border could seek asylum or other humanitarian protections. They were typically detained or released into the country pending a final immigration court decision, a process that could take years due a large case backlog. Today, under Title 42, some people are flown back to their home countries but most are simply returned to Mexico, where they face threats of kidnapping, robbery, and worse at the hands of cartels and criminals along the border.

That was nearly the case with Sofiia.

“I’m not asking for anything from the United States, just to be let in,” she told the Union-Tribune after being turned away on Wednesday. “All we need is to be safe. All we want is to keep our lives safe.”

Sofiia reportedly worked as a Hebrew teacher in Ukraine and has family members in the U.S. who have helped her flee the Russian invasion. When the war began, Sofiia drove from Ukraine to neighboring Moldova, then Romania, and then flew to Frankfurt, Germany. From there, she flew to Mexico City and then took another flight to Tijuana.

“We left our lives, our jobs, our families and houses in Ukraine just to escape from this horrible war,” Sofiia told the Union-Tribune. “All my friends and family are far, far away from me, and I don’t know if they will be alive tomorrow. I just want to keep my kids’ lives safe.”

Erika Pinheiro, policy and litigation director for Al Otro Lado, an organization that provides legal aid and support for people trying to cross the border, told VICE News that what happened to Sofiia is an everyday occurrence for thousands of Central Americans, Haitians, and asylum-seekers from other countries who have been desperately trying to enter the U.S. since Title 42 began. The only recourse is to seek a “humanitarian exemption,” Pinheiro said.

“Usually those requests are only granted to refugees at imminent risk of death or those with extremely serious medical issues for which they cannot access care in Mexico, but I am hoping that we will have more success here given the situation in Ukraine,” said Pinheiro.

Blaine Bookey, legal director of Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, who helped Sofiia and her family in Tijuana, said CBP agents were hostile.

“They’re telling families that Title 42 is in place, no exceptions,” Bookey said “They’re telling them to leave. They’ve been yelled at, told to move, just generally it’s an abusive environment.”

According to Al Otro Lado’s data, the approval rate for humanitarian exemption requests for Title 42 is around 25 percent for all nationalities aside from Haitians, and around 14 percent for Haitians. The approval rates differ drastically depending on the port of entry, Pinheiro said, with some regularly allowing exceptions and others granting virtually none.

“And those are almost all extreme medical cases,” Pinheiro said. “So, if [Sofiia] were not Ukrainian, she would most definitely be trapped in Tijuana until Title 42 is lifted.”

Sofiia was ultimately allowed to enter the U.S. on Thursday morning, but it’s unclear whether border officials will extend Title 42 exemptions to other Ukrainians. A spokesperson for CBP told VICE News that Sofiia and her family were permitted entry after the agency “reviewed the facts of their case.” The CBP spokesperson said the government is “continuing to exempt particularly vulnerable individuals from Title 42 on a case-by-case basis.”

Asked about the situation with Ukrainians at the border, a White House spokesperson told VICE News that “Title 42 continues to be in place and is enforced – regardless of country of origin.”

But with mass displacement from the conflict and more Ukrainians seeking to reunite with family members in the United States, the Biden administration may soon face a reckoning with Title 42. As of Friday morning, according to Pinheiro, there were six Ukrainians and two Russians in Tijuana trying to cross into the U.S. and seek asylum.

One Ukrainian family was separated after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this week, leaving a father and his six-month-old baby on the U.S. side while the mother was held in immigration detention, according to an attorney who represents the family.

Immigration attorney Jacob Sapochnick told VICE News the family fled Ukraine a day before the first Russian attack, traveling through Poland to Germany, then taking a flight to the Mexican resort city of Cancún, then onto Mexico City and finally Tijuana. Ukrainians need a visa in order to fly to the United States, but they can book travel to Mexico without any special travel documents. With a tourist visa, Ukrainians can legally stay in Mexico for up to 180 days.

Sapochnick said his client Kirill Kara is a dual Ukrainian-American citizen but his wife Lena is not. The couple rented a car in Tijuana and drove with their baby to the border crossing.

“When they arrived at the CBP station the officer told them ‘I know why you are here’, and took her into custody,” Sapochnick said. “At the port of entry she was separated from her six-month-old baby. CBP had her in custody for six days before releasing her and that was only because I involved the media.”

Sapochnick said Lena Kara was released Friday and reunited with her husband and baby in the U.S. They are now planning to “explore all possibilities to allow her to stay with her family."

The U.S. reluctance to unconditionally accept Ukrainians has drawn sharp criticism in light of the praise the Biden administration has heaped on European countries for welcoming refugees from the conflict with mostly open arms. As of March 11, most Ukrainian refugees have fled to neighboring countries, with 1.5 million going to Poland, 225,000 to Hungary, and 176,000 to Slovakia, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency. Tens of thousands have also crossed into Russia, Romania, and Moldova, and more than a quarter-million others have left for other European countries, including Germany.

The U.S. State Department announced last week that Ukrainians can apply for a temporary visa at any American consulate, with the location in Frankfurt designated as the processing hub. Ukrainians already living in the U.S. now qualify for “Temporary Protected Status” or TPS, which will allow them to remain in the country indefinitely without fear of deportation. But the same TPS protections do not apply for new arrivals at the border.

The Biden administration has reportedly been quietly preparing to roll back Title 42 in April, according to a report Thursday from BuzzFeed News, which obtained documents indicating that U.S. officials plan to notify their Mexican counterparts about the plan in the coming week. News agency Reuters also reported Wednesday that Biden is “leaning” toward ending Title 42.

With more Ukrainians en route to the border, the White House may be forced to act soon. Sapochnick, the attorney for the family that was separated, said he’s been getting “more and more calls” from Ukrainians trying to apply for asylum in the U.S.

“Right now it is very unclear to know who CBP is using Title 42 on,” Sapochnick said. “It's very arbitrary.”

 
Florida woman impregnated with doctor's sperm in artificial insemination awarded $5.25 million


A federal court jury in Vermont on Wednesday awarded a Florida woman $5.25 million from a doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate her during an artificial insemination procedure in 1977.

The federal court jury in Burlington began deliberating on Tuesday and returned the verdict on Wednesday.

The verdict form filed in federal court in Burlington said the jury awarded plaintiff Cheryl Rousseau $250,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from Dr. John Coates III.

Rousseau's attorney Celeste Laramie said in an email Wednesday after the verdict was announced, the jury awarded the amount they had requested and the jurors found Coates' behavior “to be wrongful and offensive."

“The jury through its punitive damages verdict sent a message to any physicians who might think about lying to their patients or using their own semen to inseminate their patients," she said. "Such behavior will have serious consequences.”

Laramie said Rousseau's husband, Peter, was initially a party to the lawsuit, but the judge ultimately found that Peter Rousseau had failed to prove he had suffered damages. His claims did not go to the jury for consideration.

Coates' attorney did not say if they planned to appeal the verdict.

“We were surprised and disappointed with the verdict," Defense attorney Peter Joslin said in an email.

Last month, the Vermont Medical Practice Board permanently revoked Coates' medical license. Coates, who practiced obstetrics and gynecology in the central Vermont area in the 1970s, is now retired.

Coates is also facing a second, similar lawsuit filed last year that remains pending in U.S. District Court in Vermont.

The original complaint says Coates agreed to inseminate Cheryl Rousseau with donor material from an unnamed medical student, who resembled Rousseau’s husband and had characteristics that she required.

Rousseau had wanted a child with her husband but he had a vasectomy that could not be reversed, according to the complaint.

Coates performed the artificial insemination but inserted his own genetic material, the lawsuit said.

The Rousseau lawsuit said they discovered what had happened when their now-grown daughter sought information about her biological father through DNA testing. The daughter determined Coates was her father, according to the lawsuit.

 
Mexico suspends gasoline subsidy as Americans cross border for deals
The subsidy suspension will cover Mexico border states as well as one of the world's busiest border crossings

Mexico, which has been subsidizing gasoline to soften price spikes, said on Saturday the policy would not apply in the U.S. border region this week, citing shortages as more Americans drive south to fill their tanks.

The suspension of the subsidy from April 2-8 covers cities in the border states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora and Baja California, including Tijuana, one of the world's busiest border crossings.

Mexico's finance ministry said in a statement there was a gasoline shortage in the area "from an imbalance between supply and demand."

"In the United States, gasoline prices are higher than in Mexico, and citizens of that country cross the border to stock up," the finance ministry said.

As fuel prices have spiked after Russia invaded Ukraine, more people living in the United States are driving across the border into Mexico in search of lower gas prices.

Mexico's subsidy has been championed by the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has long promised to insulate consumers from sharp price hikes at the pump.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio said Mexico planned to use the extra revenue from higher oil prices to subsidize domestic gasoline and diesel prices.

 
Trump ordered to pay ex-aide Omarosa Manigault Newman $1.3M in legal fees

Former President Donald Trump's presidential campaign has been ordered to pay nearly $1.3 million in legal fees to former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman by a New York court arbitrator.

The award, handed down on Tuesday, comes after Trump filed a complaint against Manigault Newman over her 2018 book, "Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House," in which she called Trump a racist and suggested that he was in "real and serious" mental decline.

A source with the Trump campaign told ABC News that Trump intends to appeal the ruling.

Trump's arbitration complaint against Manigault Newman, with the American Arbitration Association in New York City in 2018, alleged that she was in breach of a 2016 confidentiality agreement.

Brown said in the ruling that the terms of the nondisclosure agreement were "highly problematic" because it did not adhere to typical legal standards -- describing it as "vague, indefinite, and therefore void and unenforceable."

In Tuesday's decision, Brown said that Manigault Newman was "defending herself in a claim which was extensively litigated for more than three years, against an opponent who undoubtedly commanded far greater resources than did Respondent."

Following the order, Manigault Newman's attorney tweeted, "$1.3 Million Attorney Fee and Cost Order Against the Trump Campaign Issued! (Highest known prevailing party attorney fee assessment against a President or Presidential Campaign)."

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Manigault Newman served as a liaison to the Black community. In her subsequent role as director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, she was the highest-ranking African American woman in the White House.

She resigned from the position in December 2017 after reports of tension between her and then-Chief of Staff John Kelly.

 
Hillary Clinton on why losing abortion rights would be a threat to democracy

 
Manifesto of teen charged with killing 10 in Buffalo mentions 3 N.J. towns, authorities say


The 180-page document allegedly written by the white teenager charged with killing 10 people in a grocery store in a predominantly Black Buffalo neighborhood Saturday mentions the Jewish communities in Lakewood, Toms River and Jersey City, authorities say.

Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said he was notified Saturday that Lakewood and Toms River were in the document authorities said was written by alleged shooter Payton Gendron, according to Patch.

The towns are listed among others in New York that have large Jewish communities, which Gendron wrote are “deplorable.”

“We reached out to those communities earlier today, and are working with our partners, departments and chiefs,” Mastronardy told the Asbury Park Press. “We monitor the activity at those locations.”

There was no specific threat to the communities in Ocean County, the sheriff said.

Gendron is charged with murder in a terrorist attack that authorities have said was a planned assault on nonwhite and non-Christian people meant to drive them from the country. He drove 200 miles to Upstate New York from his home in a small town near the Pennsylvania border. He said he planned to keep killing if he escaped the scene of the supermarket shooting, Buffalo police said.

Federal authorities were working to confirm the authenticity of the 180-page document allegedly written by Gendron.

The document also outlines a racist ideology rooted in a belief that the U.S. should belong only to white people. All others, the document said, were “replacers” who should be eliminated by force or terror.

In the portions of the manifesto that mentions Jewish communities, first reported by the Lakewood Scoop, Gendron verbally attacks areas with Hasidim populations, saying they are insular, care only about furthering their religious beliefs and are a drain on local populations’ resources. He also allegedly wrote that anyone who speaks against them are labeled antisemitic.

Lakewood is home to a majority Orthodox Jewish community, as well as a smaller Hasidic, or Hasidim, community. Towns that border Lakewood, including Toms River and Jackson, also have large Jewish populations.

Jersey City is also home to a Hasidic community, which was also targeted in an attack.

In the fall of 2019, a man and woman went on a shooting rampage, killing a Jersey City police officer, then firing in a kosher market in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood, killing three more people. The suspects died in a gun battle with police.

And last month in Lakewood, Jews were targeted by a man who stabbed one, carjacked another and struck two with a vehicle in a crime spree authorities allege was motivated by hate. That suspect, who faces a federal terrorism charge, allegedly said in an interview with detectives that “the Hasidic Jews (are) the real devils.”

In Buffalo, the community mourned the 10 people who died in the shooting and prayed for the three others who were injured.

At State Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, Deacon Heyward Patterson was mourned during services Sunday. Pastor Russell Bell couldn’t wrap his mind around the attack and Patterson’s death.

“I don’t understand what that is, to hate people just because of their color, to hate people because we’re different. God made us all different. That’s what makes the world go ‘round,” he said.

 
Burger King Employee Trending After Receiving Goodie Bag for 27 Years of Perfect Attendance

An unidentified Burger King employee is trending right now due to a video of them receiving a goodie bag after working at the company for 27 years, with no days missed.

The viral video first appeared on Reddit's ABoringDystopiaPage, as it showed the employee displaying to the camera a goodie bag he received as a reward for his nearly three decades of service at Burger King. Its contents were a movie ticket, a bag of Reese’s Pieces, a Starbucks tumbler, a lanyard, two pens, some keychains and two packs of Lifesavers.

Despite the worker appearing genuinely grateful for the reward, many on social media were upset at how modest it seemed in comparison to 27 years of perfect attendance at Burger King.

And though some assumed that the goodie bag gift was from his co-workers, the comments section was still fiercely opinionated, with thoughts ranging from being appalled at how Burger King allegedly treated this employee's loyalty to admiration of the humble and thankful attitude the man showed.

One person tweeted,"We trying to figure out why after 27 years of loyalty you gifted one of your most loyal employees some back to school supplies."

Another chimed in, "People are talking down on him, it’s weird. Some people really don’t need much in life and y’all forget it was only a few hundred years ago where all we did was hunt and gather."

 
David Spade Donates Thousands to Viral Burger King Employee


David Spade seems moved by the Burger King employee who got a mediocre goodie bag in recognition of 27 years without missing work ... giving him money and making him laugh.

Kevin Ford, who went viral this week after showing off his company gifts, tells TMZ ... his daughter let him know someone named David Spade donated $5,000 to his GoFundMe, but he wasn't sure it was the comedian himself, until he checked his Instagram inbox.

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David slid in Kevin's direct messages ... telling him to keep it up after 27 years on the job without a break, and even cracking a joke about waiting a few more years before finally taking a day off.

Kevin tells us he's a huge fan of David's, so to get a donation plus some fun back and forth with Spade is surreal.

With David's $5k donation, Kevin's GoFundMe has now raised over $30,000 ... with the money going to help him visit his daughters and grandkids in Texas. He also says he wants to use the dough to buy a new Ford hybrid.

Kevin's going to take a day off eventually ... and hopefully before David's deadline.

 
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No, King Charles III won't pay any inheritance tax on his massive gain

King Charles III has ascended to the U.K. throne, but he won't have to pay the U.K.'s inheritance tax on the massive wealth he inherits from his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. That's because of a deal the royals made with the government nearly 30 years ago.

Regular citizens must pay the standard inheritance tax rate of 40% on any part of an estate that's valued above a threshold of 325,000 pounds (about $374,000). There are common exceptions, such as money left to a spouse or a charity.

But under an agreement with the monarchy that then-Prime Minister John Major announced in 1993, assets passing from a sovereign to their successor aren't subject to the inheritance tax.

The exemption was part of a broader tax deal

As Charles becomes king — at a time when the U.K. government and its constituents are struggling to cope with an energy crisis, soaring food prices and a troubled health care system — the arrangement is now under fresh scrutiny.

At the time, Major warned of "the danger of the assets of the monarchy being salami-sliced away by capital taxation through generations, thus changing the nature of the institution in a way that few people in this country would welcome."

In the 1993 deal, both Queen Elizabeth II and Charles agreed to pay a personal income tax, after reaching out to the government to ask how they might voluntarily pay taxes.

The queen would pay her taxes in "precisely the same way as every other taxpayer," Major said. But he also stated, "In the unique circumstances of an hereditary monarchy, special arrangements are needed for inheritance tax."

Pass the duchy

Queen Elizabeth II's death does more than trigger Charles becoming king. It also sets in motion two lucrative holdings that generate millions in income each year: the late queen's Duchy of Lancaster, which now goes to Charles, and the Duchy of Cornwall, which transfers from Charles to Prince William.

The two portfolios have been linked to the reigning sovereign and his or her heir since the 1300s. They stand apart from the queen's personal fortune, which is estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Duchy of Lancaster includes prime real estate in London, along with 10 castles, swaths of farmland and an airfield. It was recently valued at $750 million and delivered a net surplus of about $27.6 million for the queen. As an expert on royal finances has noted to NPR, the monarchy forcibly seized most of the land holdings hundreds of years ago.

"In many ways, the queen shouldn't own the Duchy of Lancaster," David McClure, author of The Queen's True Worth, said last winter. "It really should be owned by the state. But because it's gone on for so long and it's embarrassing, no one has done anything about it. You know, it's a cash cow."

The Duchy of Cornwall is also a money-maker. Its most recent audit lists net assets of about $1.2 billion, and $26.4 million in "distributable surplus" for the financial year that ended on March 31, 2022.

Calculating the monarchy's wealth is complicated, due to their extensive holdings and the challenge of discerning the financial affairs of royalty — people whose identity and livelihood are intertwined with their official, state-supported roles.

In addition to the Duchy of Lancaster, for instance, the sovereign also gets millions of dollars through an annual grant from the Crown Estate, a massive property portfolio that includes much of Regent Street in London. As the Crown Estate website notes, it "belongs to the reigning monarch," but it isn't their private property, and they get only a share of the revenue it generates.

 

Pro-Bolsonaro protesters storm Brazil’s Congress in capital​


RIO DE JANEIRO — Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress in the capital on Sunday, climbing on top of its roof and breaking the glass in its windows.

Others demonstrators were gathering outside the presidential palace and Supreme Court, although it was not immediately clear whether they had managed to break into the buildings.


The incidents, which recalled the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, come just a week after leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in on Jan. 1.

Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting against Lula’s electoral win since Oct. 30, blocking roads, setting vehicles on fires and gathering outside military buildings, asking armed forces to intervene.

 
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