Georgia state lawmaker switches from Democrat to Republican
A Georgia lawmaker who represents part of Atlanta in the state House of Representatives switched her party affiliation to Republican this week after repeatedly breaking with her former party on several key votes this session.
2023-07-14 07:20
Conservative Mike Johnson elected new House Speaker
Louisiana's Mike Johnson won with 220 votes in his favour in the lower chamber of Congress.
2023-10-26 02:15
How tall is Patrick Mahomes? NFL star’s height gives him competitive edge on field
NFL star Patrick Mahomes boasts a commanding height, giving him an edge on the field and making him taller than most players
2023-08-16 17:51
Ireland's Wild Youth gear up for Eurovision semi-final
Wild Youth face strong competition against favourites Sweden and Finland in Tuesday's semi-final.
2023-05-09 17:59
Moderna/Merck begins late-stage study of skin cancer vaccine combination
Moderna said on Wednesday it has begun enrolling patients in a late-stage study evaluating its personalised mRNA-based skin
2023-07-26 20:18
Rahul Gandhi: Supreme Court to rule on Congress leader's political future
The Supreme Court will hear Rahul Gandhi's appeal against his conviction in a defamation case.
2023-07-21 12:47
'Take the mighty down hard': Boston University students hailed as they chant 'pay your writers' during David Zaslav's speech
David Zaslav drew criticism during a commencement address at Boston University amid the Writers Guild of America strike
2023-05-22 16:27
Trump campaign knocks DeSantis over Disney’s cancelled Florida expansion
Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign wasted no time in knocking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the news that Disney is cancelling a $1bn plan to expand its business in Florida. The campaign for the former president to return to the White House sent out a fundraising email on 18 May after the news broke about the shelving of the planned relocation of some thousands of staff to the Orlando area. Headlined: “President Trump is always right”, the email included a Truth Social post from Mr Trump dated 18 April. The post reads: “DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney. His original P.R. plan fizzled, so now he’s going back with a new one in order to save face. Disney’s next move will be the announcement that no more money will be invested in Florida because of the Governor.” He continues: “In fact, they could even announce a slow withdrawal or sale of certain properties, or the whole thing. Watch! That would be a killer. In the meantime, this is all so unnecessary, a political STUNT! Ron should work on the squatter MESS!” Walt Disney has pulled the plug on a $1bn office complex in central Florida, following a warning from Disney leadership that billions of dollars in projects were on the line after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis escalated his feud with the company. The development scheduled for construction in the Orlando area was set to bring 2,000 jobs to the region, with 1,000 employees expected to be relocated from southern California. In an email to employees on 18 May, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chair Josh D’Amaro pointed to “changing business conditions” for the cancellation of the 60-acre Lake Nona Town Center project, according to The New York Times, which first reported the move. “I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” he added, noting that the company has still planned $17bn in projects over the next decade at its Disney World campus. “I hope we’re able to,” he said. For years, Florida legislators and the governor’s office enjoyed a close relationship with the state’s largest taxpayers, among the state’s largest employers, which has wielded enormous political influence while bringing in billions of dollars to the state each year. Now, the company and DeSantis allies are suing one another, following a year-long feud over opposition to what opponents have called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that boiled over into political and legal battles that could shape the company’s business in the state. Moments after a board appointed by Mr DeSantis voted to strip the company’s control of its Florida park, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and state officials alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” for “expressing a political viewpoint.” The lawsuit follows the governor’s state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, now the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, made up of conservative activists and DeSantis loyalists, a move that followed Florida Republicans’ punitive measures against the company after its public opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Days later, the board voted to sue Disney in state court. In March, Disney slammed the governor’s “anti-business” approach to the company, which Mr DeSantis has accused of advancing a “woke agenda” while his administration targets LGBT+ people and their families with sweeping laws to control public school education, healthcare access and speech. The governor dissolved a decades-old municipal district that allowed Disney to control its own land use, zoning rules and public services, without putting a tax burden on Florida residents. In effect, Disney taxed itself to foot the district’s bill for its municipal needs. “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on a conference call with analysts last week. A statement from Disney said the company has decided to pull out of the new campus construction “given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions.” Governor DeSantis’s office said in a statement: “Disney announced the possibility of a Lake Nona campus nearly two years ago. Nothing ever came of the project, and the state was unsure whether it would come to fruition. “Given the company’s financial straits, falling market cap and declining stock price, it is unsurprising that they would restructure their business operations and cancel unsuccessful ventures.” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings released his own statement reading: “It is unfortunate that Disney will not be moving forward with construction of the Lake Nona campus. However, these are the consequences when there isn’t an inclusive and collaborative work environment between the state of Florida and the business community.” He concluded by saying: “We will continue to work closely with our valued partners at Disney.” Read More Disney cancels $1bn Florida theme park extension amid war with DeSantis Ron DeSantis mocked over bizarre video of roaring laughter: ‘A faulty robot’ Pete Buttigieg says GOP falling in ‘delicious’ trap: ‘Coca-Cola, Disney and Bud Light are on the other side’ Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement
2023-05-19 05:46
Jokic outduels LeBron as Nuggets reach NBA Finals for first time
Nikola Jokic outdueled LeBron James as the Denver Nuggets completed a 4-0 Western Conference championship sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday to reach the NBA Finals for...
2023-05-23 14:49
Facial recognition technology jailed a man for days. His lawsuit joins others from Black plaintiffs
A Georgia man says authorities wrongly arrested him based on a match generated by facial recognition technology
2023-09-25 12:25
Death toll rises to at least 10 in Thai warehouse explosion
The death toll from a powerful explosion that levelled an unlicensed fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand rose to at least 10 on Sunday, the local governor said as police sought...
2023-07-30 14:29
Trump doubles down on 'overrated celebrity' Kim Kardashian in scathing rant
Donald Trump has doubled down on his apparent dislike of Kim Kardashian, dubbing her the “most overrated celebrity”. It’s the second time the controversial former president has had something to say about the star, despite seemingly having a good relationship with the reality star during his time in office. In Jonathan Karl's book about the last few tumultuous weeks of Trump’s presidency, he suggested that the relationship first soured after Trump made a deal with Kardashian that he would help her with a clemency case, in return for her having some of her football star friends visit him in the White House – something that never transpired. Karl claimed Trump ultimately hung up a phone call from Kardashian in a rage, and after some “choice words”, over the alleged broken promise and his belief that she supported Joe Biden. Now, Trump has taken to social media to publically call out Kardashian in a scathing rant calling her “overrated”. In his post on Truth Social, he claimed that Karl’s version of events are “fake news”. He wrote: “In the ‘book’ he has the World’s most overrated celebrity, Kim Kardashian, supposedly telling me that she ‘would leverage her celebrity to get football stars to come to the White House,’ if I would commute the sentences of various prisoners. “This story is Fake News in that she would be the last person I asked to get football players.” Elsewhere in the long post, he wrote: “I did help with prisoner commutation, but only if deserving, and much more so for Kanye West than for Kim, who probably voted for Crooked Joe Biden.” Kardashian and Trump met in the Oval Office in 2018 to talk about prison reform and sentencing, as well as the pardoning of Alice Johnson, who was serving a life sentence for nonviolent drug and money laundering charges. The former president granted Johnson clemency days after their meeting. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-11-16 16:52
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