Spanish banks, utilities clobbered as election rattles investors
By Amanda Cooper and Jesús Aguado LONDON/MADRID Spanish blue-chip shares dropped Monday after a snap general election at
2023-07-24 17:18
Kai Cenat opens up about mental health, decides to 'never' host DYK livestream again: 'No hard feelings'
During the stream, Cenat openly discussed the topic of mental health and firmly declared his decision to abstain from any future DYK livestreams
2023-09-05 21:16
Fight still ahead for Texas' Ken Paxton after historic impeachment deepens GOP divisions
The historic impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plunged Republicans on Sunday into a fight over whether to banish one of their own in America's biggest red state after years of scandal and criminal accusations that will now be at the center of a trial in the state Senate. Paxton said he has “full confidence” as he awaits judgement from the Senate, where his conservative allies include his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who has not said whether she will recuse herself from the proceedings to determine whether her husband will be permanently removed from office. For now, Texas' three-term attorney general is immediately suspended after the state House of Representatives on Saturday impeached Paxton on 20 articles that included bribery and abuse of public trust. The decisive 121-23 vote amounted to a clear rebuke from the GOP-controlled chamber after nearly a decade of Republican lawmakers taking a mostly muted stance on Paxton's alleged misdeeds, which include felony securities fraud charges from 2015 and an ongoing FBI investigation into corruption accusations. He is just the third sitting official in Texas' nearly 200-year history to have been impeached. "No one person should be above the law, least not the top law officer of the state of Texas,” said Republican state Rep. David Spiller, who was part of a House investigative committee that this week revealed it had quietly been looking into Paxton for months. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has remained silent about Paxton all week , including after Saturday's impeachment. Abbott, who was the state's attorney general prior to Paxton's taking the job in 2015, has the power to appoint a temporary replacement pending the outcome in the Senate trial. It is not year clear when the Senate trial will take place. Final removal of Paxton would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Republican members are generally aligned with the party's hard right. The Senate is led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has served as state chairman for former President Donald Trump's campaigns in Texas. Before the vote Saturday, Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz came to Paxton’s defense, with the senator calling the impeachment process “a travesty” and saying the attorney general’s legal troubles should be left to the courts. “Free Ken Paxton,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, warning that if House Republicans proceeded with the impeachment, “I will fight you.” Paxton, 60, decried the outcome in the House moments after scores of his fellow partisans voted for impeachment. His office pointed to internal reports that found no wrongdoing. “The ugly spectacle in the Texas House today confirmed the outrageous impeachment plot against me was never meant to be fair or just,” Paxton said. "It was a politically motivated sham from the beginning.” Lawmakers allied with Paxton tried to discredit the investigation by noting that hired investigators, not panel members, interviewed witnesses. They also said several of the investigators had voted in Democratic primaries, tainting the impeachment, and that Republican legislators had too little time to review evidence. “I perceive it could be political weaponization,” Rep. Tony Tinderholt, one of the House’s most conservative members, said before the vote. Republican Rep. John Smithee compared the proceeding to "a Saturday mob out for an afternoon lynching.” Rice University political science professor Mark P. Jones said the swift move to impeach kept Paxton from rallying significant support and allowed quietly frustrated Republicans to come together. “If you ask most Republicans privately, they feel Paxton is an embarrassment. But most were too afraid of the base to oppose him,” Jones said. By voting as a large bloc, he added, the lawmakers gained political cover. To Paxton’s longstanding detractors, however, the rebuke was years overdue. In 2014, he admitted to violating Texas securities law, and a year later was indicted on securities fraud charges in his hometown near Dallas, accused of defrauding investors in a tech startup. He pleaded not guilty to two felony counts carrying a potential sentence of five to 99 years. He opened a legal defense fund and accepted $100,000 from an executive whose company was under investigation by Paxton’s office for Medicaid fraud. An additional $50,000 was donated by an Arizona retiree whose son Paxton later hired to a high-ranking job but soon was fired after displaying child pornography in a meeting. In 2020, Paxton intervened in a Colorado mountain community where a Texas donor and college classmate faced removal from his lakeside home under coronavirus orders. But what ultimately unleased the impeachment push was Paxton's relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul. In 2020, eight top aides told the FBI they were concerned Paxton was misusing his office to help Paul over the developer's unproven claims about an elaborate conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties. The FBI searched Paul’s home in 2019, but he has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. Paxton also told staff members he had an affair with a woman who, it later emerged, worked for Paul. The impeachment accuses Paxton of attempting to interfere in foreclosure lawsuits and issuing legal opinions to benefit Paul. The bribery charges included in the impeachment allege Paul employed the woman with whom Paxton had an affair in exchange for legal help and that he paid for expensive renovations to the attorney general's home. A senior lawyer for Paxton’s office, Chris Hilton, said Friday that the attorney general paid for all repairs and renovations. Other charges, including lying to investigators, date back to Paxton’s still-pending securities fraud indictment. Four aides who reported Paxton to the FBI later sued under Texas’ whistleblower law, and in February he agreed to settle the case for $3.3 million. The House committee said the probe was sparked by Paxton seeking legislative approval for the payout. “But for Paxton’s own request for a taxpayer-funded settlement over his wrongful conduct, Paxton would not be facing impeachment,” the panel said. ___ Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton impeached by Republican-controlled Statehouse AP News Digest 3 a.m. Texas' GOP-held House set for impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Ken Paxton
2023-05-28 12:20
'I'll need a new liver!' Taylor Swift at Sunday night football is turning into Internet's newest drinking game
Frustration on social media escalated as broadcasters showed Taylor Swift too often during the game
2023-10-02 18:58
Biden, Sunak vow to stick together on Ukraine, deepen cooperation on clean energy transition, AI
President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are reiterating their commitment to help Ukraine repel Russia’s ongoing invasion, while agreeing to step up cooperation on the clean energy transition and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence
2023-06-09 03:19
Kai Cenat thrilled as his viral backflip video with Duke Dennis garners Chris Brown's attention
This comes after Kai Cenat shared his thoughts on the Midnight Cookies from Myna Snacks, a product launched by streamer Pokimane
2023-12-02 15:56
Vanguard joins BlackRock, cuts support for shareholder items on climate, social issues
By Ross Kerber Vanguard supported just 2% of shareholder resolutions on environmental and social issues at U.S. companies
2023-08-29 05:45
An illicit, Chinese-owned lab fueled conspiracy theories. But officials say it posed no danger
The discovery of an illegal medical lab in central California by a code enforcement officer has unleashed an uproar in a rural community and fed anti-Chinese rumors online
2023-08-10 04:20
Lori Vallow trial - live: Chad Daybell’s salacious texts read to jury as court mulls date for his case
Week six of “doomsday cult mom” Lori Vallow’s trial is underway at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, where the mother-of-three is accused of killing her two youngest children and her new husband Chad Daybell’s first wife. The 49-year-old is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and Mr Daybell’s wife Tammy, 49. Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019. Friday’s testimony included a detailed look at text messages between Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell that spanned their affair, referred to their spouses and children as “obstacles”, and grew increasingly romantic following her husband’s death as she ignored his son’s pleas for more information. Meanwhile, the court is eyeing June 2024 as a possible start date for Mr Daybell’s trial. Read More Lori Vallow’s DNA found on duct tape wrapped around son JJ’s corpse, jury hears A look at who's who in the murder trial of slain kids' mom Chad Daybell claimed Lori Vallow didn’t have children as police launched nine-month search for JJ and Tylee Chad Daybell says wife Tammy is ‘clearly dead’ in disturbing 911 call weeks before he married Lori Vallow
2023-05-08 22:51
Trump to be deposed Tuesday in Peter Strzok and Lisa Page lawsuit
Donald Trump is scheduled to be interviewed under oath in New York on Tuesday for a lawsuit related to his time as president and the termination of a Russia investigation-era FBI official.
2023-10-18 00:28
Supermodel Linda Evangelista accuses ex-husband Gerald Marie of abuse
Supermodel Linda Evangelista has claimed she was abused by her ex-husband, French former modelling agent Gerald Marie. Evangelista, 58, was married to Marie from 1987 until 1993, during his time as head of the European division of Elite Models. In an interview for a new Apple TV+ documentary, The Super Models, Evangelista described her five-year marriage to Marie as an “abusive relationship”. “It’s easier said than done to leave an abusive relationship,” she said in the programme released on Wednesday 20 September. “I understand that concept, because I lived it. If it was just a matter of saying, ‘I want a divorce, see ya’... it doesn’t work that way.” She added: “He knew not to touch my face, not to touch the money-maker, you know?” The Independent has contacted representatives of Marie for comment. In a statement provided to Apple TV+, and obtained by The Telegraph, the 73-year-old denied the abuse allegations, and said he “has never committed the slightest act of violence”. Marie was accused of rape and sexual assault by multiple women during the 1980s and 1990s. He denied all of the allegations. In 2021, French prosecutors decided to close their investigation since the allegations exceeded the country’s statute of limitations for reporting sex crimes. Read More ‘I had to endure the abuse in order to continue working’: Ex-model Carré Sutton accuses former agency boss of sexual assault Former model ‘raped by Linda Evangelista’s ex’ says fashion industry ‘complicit’ in widespread abuse Cindy Crawford calls out Oprah Winfrey for treating her like ‘chattel’ in old interview: ‘Seen and not heard’
2023-09-21 01:26
Russia charges leader of a prominent election watchdog
Russian authorities have charged one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group with being involved with an “undesirable” organization, his lawyer says
2023-08-18 03:52
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