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Indictment shows battle between lawyer factions in White House

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

By Farnoush Amiri | Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — A few hours after rioters laid siege to the Capitol, overpowering police in a violent attack on the seat of American democracy on Jan. 6, 2021, the White House’s top lawyer, Pat Cipollone, called his boss with an urgent message.It’s time to end your objections to the 2020 election, Cipollone told Donald Trump, and allow Congress to certify Joe Biden as the next president. Trump refused.Trump was no longer listening to his White House counsel, the elite team of attorneys who take an oath to serve the office of the president. But by all accounts, he hadn’t been listening to them for some time.The extraordinary moment — fully detailed for the first time in the latest federal indictment against Trump unsealed last week — vividly illustrates the extent to which the former president’s final weeks in office were consumed by a struggle over the law, with two determined groups of attorneys fighting it out as the fu...

Google loses bid to toss lawsuit over ‘potentially embarrassing’ Incognito mode data grabbing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

A federal court judge this week shot down Google’s attempt to scuttle a multi-billion-dollar class-action lawsuit accusing it of making an Orwellian grab of “potentially embarrassing” data from users’ “Incognito mode” and other private browsing.The three Californians and two others suing Google on behalf of themselves and tens of millions of other internet users claim Google captured the data despite promising it would not.Google, in its bid to get the case thrown out, argued in a March court filing that it “never made any such promise.”In her order in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she agreed with the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit in 2020 that anyone using Incognito mode in Google’s Chrome browser could reasonably deduce from the mode’s opening “splash” screen that their data would not be accessible by Google. She also noted that Google’s “Search & Browse Pr...

High-profile downtown Walnut Creek retail and dining center lands buyer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

WALNUT CREEK — A restaurant and retail complex in downtown Walnut Creek has been bought in a deal that shows investors still thirst for commercial properties in prime locations.Midtown Plaza, a complex at a high-profile downtown site, has been bought by an affiliate whose controlling entity is the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, according to documents on file with Contra Costa County and the state of California.The buyer, in separate transactions, paid a combined $16.1 million for Midtown Plaza, as well as two adjacent properties, grant deeds filed on July 25 with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office show.1422 North California Boulevard in downtown Walnut Creek. (Google Maps)The Colorado employee pension group paid $12.35 million for Midtown Plaza, which has addresses ranging from 1410 through 1444 North California Boulevard.In a separate transaction, also on July 25, the Colorado pension association paid another $3.75 million for adjac...

Pelosis to open home to DePape's lawyers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi have granted the lawyers representing the man accused of attacking Paul access to their home, KRON4 has confirmed. A representative for Speaker Emerita Pelosi noted that attorneys for the prosecution as well as the defense would be granted access to inspect the home in relation to the case. Silicon Valley Bank vice president sentenced David DePape, the man caught on police body cam footage striking Paul Pelosi in the head with a hammer, has pleaded not guilty. DePape is accused of breaking into the Pelosi's Pacific Heights home with the intent to find and kidnap Nancy Pelosi, an FBI affidavit states. In addition to the hammer allegedly used in the attack, he also had zip ties, tape and rope with him at the time.He is charged with premeditated attempted murder, burglary, inflicting injury on an elder likely to cause great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, and threatening ...

Lil Tay says her Instagram account was hacked, report of her death a hoax

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

Editor's note: Following the publication of this article, Lil Tay has claimed the social media post announcing her death was a hoax.(KTLA) – Lil Tay, a rapper and social media personality who was widely reported to have died on Wednesday, is still very much alive and was the victim of a hoax, she says."My Instagram account was compromised by a 3rd party and used to spread jarring misinformation and rumors regarding me, to the point that even my name was wrong," the social media star's family said in a statement to TMZ. The initial post on Lil Tay's Instagram account, which has since been removed, also said her brother had passed away. "I want to make it clear that my brother and I are safe and alive, but I’m completely heartbroken, and struggling to even find the right words to say. It’s been a very traumatizing 24 hours. All day yesterday, I was bombarded with endless heartbreaking and tearful phone calls from loved ones all while trying to sort out this mess," the statement read...

Police fatally shoot armed man in northeast Arkansas, but his family says he was running away

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

OSCEOLA, Ark. (AP) — A northeast Arkansas man was fatally shot by police who say the 33-year-old pointed a gun at them, but family members say the shooting happened as he was running away from the officers.Three members of the Osceola Police Department say Keivion Jones pointed a rifle at them outside a home before they opened fire Wednesday morning, Arkansas State Police said in a news release. He was pronounced dead at the scene.However, Jones’ family disputes that account. His uncle, Andrew Alexander, told WHBQ-TV in Memphis that he witnessed the episode and that Jones was shot more than a dozen times in the back as he ran away.Alexander said Jones was holding a rifle but did not pose a threat when he was killed.The Osceola Police Department declined to answer questions Thursday or provide details about the shooting. The episode is being investigated by the Arkansas State Police, which is standard when police use deadly force. The file will be turned over to a prosecutor to...

Striking screenwriters will resume negotiations with studios on Friday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The guild that represents striking film and television screenwriters says negotiations with major studios and streaming services will resume Friday.The Writers Guild of America sent a message to its members Thursday saying they expect the studios will respond to their proposals. The two sides met last week to discuss possibly restarting negotiations, but no negotiation dates were immediately set.“Our committee returns to the bargaining table ready to make a fair deal, knowing the unified WGA membership stands behind us and buoyed by the ongoing support of our union allies,” The Writers Guild told its members.The screenwriters have now been on strike for 101 days, surpassing a 2007-2008 work stoppage that ground many Hollywood productions to a halt. This time the writers have been joined on picket lines by Hollywood actors, who are also striking to seek better compensation and protections on the use of artificial intelligence in the industry. It is the first time s...

Antes y después: fotos muestran los daños de devastadores incendios forestales en Hawaii

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

Los incendios forestales devastaron partes de la isla de Maui en Hawaii el miércoles, y las llamas destruyeron cientos de edificios, desplazaron a cientos de familias y mataron al menos a 36.Las fotografías satelitales proporcionadas por la compañía de imágenes Maxar muestran al pueblo de Lahaina, que alguna vez fue la capital del reino y la antigua casa del rey Kamehamaha III, reducida a cenizas en el lado oeste de Maui. Los incendios no perdonaron el puerto de Lahaina, según las actualizaciones de la ciudad, ni dejaron intacto su amado árbol de banyan. Haga clic aquí para ver todas las actualizaciones sobre los incendios forestales de Maui y aquí para saber cómo ayudar a las personas afectadas por los incendios.Source

Laurel MARC station to close for 10 weeks for platform replacement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

FILE - MARC train. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck) FILE - MARC train. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck) Riders of Maryland’s MARC train service should make plans for alternate routes, when construction closes the Laurel station for 10 weeks.The closure starts Aug. 21 for a project that will replace both platforms, stairs and ramps at the station. The closure is scheduled to last until Oct. 29.“We understand this will cause some short-term inconvenience, but working this way will result in a far faster return to service for our riders and ensure the safety of riders and workers during construction,” Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold said in a statement.The construction project costs $2.6 million, and official...

Yemeni military commander and 3 others killed in a suspected al-Qaida attack in southern Yemen

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:02:54 GMT

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suspected al-Qaida attack in southern Yemen on Thursday killed a military commander and three soldiers from a secessionist group, according to the group’s leader, security officials, and an eyewitness.Commander Abd al-Latif al-Sayyid and the three soldiers from the Security Belt Forces, a fighting group loyal to Yemen’s secessionist Southern Transitional Council, were killed in an explosion while traveling in a convoy through southern Abyan province, three security officials and the witness said. They blamed al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen — known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula — for the attack but provided no further details. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. In a obituary statement issued late Thursday by the head of the secessionist council, Aydarous al-Zubaidi said the separatist force was mourning the loss of al-Sayyid and the three fighters “who were touched by the hands of treach...