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Selena Gomez on her first Spanish album, Grammy-winning band Kings Of Leon release their first hit in 20 years and more.
Selena Gomez on her first Spanish album, Grammy-winning band Kings Of Leon release their first hit in 20 years and more.
The Biden administration may place sanctions on more than 30 Russian entities as soon as Thursday.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is in talks in China on Thursday ahead of President Joe Biden’s climate summit of world leaders. China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment said the discussions in Shanghai running through Saturday aim to boost cooperation on climate change and exchange views on the U.N. Climate Change Conference known as COP 26 to be held in Scotland in November. A brief statement from the ministry said Kerry would be meeting with China’s top climate negotiator, fellow veteran diplomat Xie Zhenhua.
Brown also blamed Gordon for the death of Bobbi Kristina, his daughter with Houston.
The Biden administration is preparing to announce sanctions in response to a massive Russian hacking campaign that breached vital federal agencies, as well as for election interference, a senior administration official said. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code, enabling them to access the networks of at least nine agencies in what U.S. officials believe was an intelligence gathering operation aimed at mining government secrets.
Kori Gauthier, 18, went missing on April 7, and her car was found on top of the Mississippi River bridge when it was struck by another vehicle, the university said social media
NEW YORK, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Credit Suisse Group AG (“Credit Suisse” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CS). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Credit Suisse and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On March 29, 2021, Credit Suisse disclosed that it anticipated significant losses in connection with positions linked to Archegos Capital Management (“Archegos”) after Archegos failed to meet margin calls the prior week, forcing the liquidation of more than $20 billion in holdings. That same day, Bloomberg reported that “[m]uch of the leverage used by [Archegos] was provided by banks including Nomura Holdings Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG through swaps and so-called contracts for difference[.]” On this news, Credit Suisse’s stock price fell $1.48 per share, or 11.5%, to close at $11.39 per share on March 29, 2021. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT:Robert S. WilloughbyPomerantz LLPrswilloughby@pomlaw.com888-476-6529 ext. 7980
BRUSSELS — At its start, America’s war in Afghanistan was about retribution for 9-11. Then it was about shoring up a weak government and its weak army so that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida could never again threaten the United States. Now it's about over. With bin Laden long since dead and the United States not suffering another major attack, President Joe Biden is promising to end America’s longest war and move on to what he believes are bigger, more consequential challenges posed by a resurgent Russia and a rising China. Even so, by withdrawing the remaining few thousand U.S. troops in Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, Biden is taking a calculated risk that extremists in Afghanistan can be countered by U.S. and partner forces elsewhere in the region — and that he won’t become the president who underestimated the resilience and reach of extremists who still aim to attack the United States. CIA Director William Burns told Congress on Wednesday the U.S. unavoidably will lose some intelligence leverage against the extremist threat, although he suggested the losses would be manageable. “The U.S. government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish. That’s simply a fact,” Burns said. "It is also a fact, however, that after withdrawal, whenever that time comes, the CIA and all of our partners in the U.S. government will retain a suite of capabilities, some of it remaining in place, some of them that we will generate, that can help us to anticipate and contest any rebuilding effort.” There were 2,500 to 3,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when Biden took office, the smallest number since early in the war. The number peaked at 100,000 during President Barack Obama’s first term. As U.S. war casualties have declined, so has the American public’s attention. The war was barely mentioned during last year’s presidential contest, and pulling the plug may prove politically popular. Yet worries remain. Stephen Biddle, a Columbia University professor who has advised U.S. commanders in Afghanistan, says it's possible al-Qaida could re-establish its base structure in Afghanistan once the Americans and their coalition partners leave. The Taliban in Afghanistan pledged in a February 2020 agreement with the Trump administration that they would not allow al-Qaida or other extremist groups to use Afghan territory to threaten the United States. But that deal may be imperiled by Biden's decision not to complete the withdrawal of forces by May 1, as the Trump administration had promised. The bigger peril, Biddle said in an email exchange, is that the withdrawal could lead to the collapse of Afghan security forces and multi-sided civil warfare involving Taliban factions and others "in a more-lethal version of the civil war of the 1990s.” “This would be a humanitarian disaster for Afghans — far worse than today’s insurgency," he said. More broadly, the absence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan could lead to further instability in a region with two rival nuclear powers — Pakistan and India, which have insurgencies of their own to contend with. “This is already a dangerous part of the world; making it worse by allowing the collapse of the Afghan government is the biggest risk here,” Biddle said. At a previously pivotal moment in the war, Obama took a similar view. When he announced a surge of 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan in December 2009, he argued against trying to contain extremist threats in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region only with what the U.S. military calls “over-the-horizon” forces — troops and aircraft positioned beyond Afghan borders. “To abandon this area now — and to rely only on efforts against al-Qaida from a distance — would significantly hamper our ability to keep the pressure on al-Qaida and create an unacceptable risk of additional attacks on our homeland and our allies,” Obama said. So Obama went ahead with a troop buildup aimed at hitting the Taliban so hard that they would agree to negotiate a peace deal. It didn't work. The Taliban kept fighting. Even after President Donald Trump authorized a more muscular military approach to the Taliban in 2017, the hard-hit militant group did not give up. It agreed to negotiate with the Afghan government, but those talks have stalled. It's difficult to judge what has been gained in the 12 years since Obama escalated the war. Afghan security forces likely are stronger, although their resilience will be tested in the absence of U.S. support they grew to rely upon. The Afghan government has not strengthened its authority across the country, and the Pentagon argues that its intense focus on countering insurgents there and in the Middle East has been such a drain on resources that the U.S. is losing ground against China and Russia. The war has cost more than 2,300 U.S. lives and immeasurable suffering among Afghans since the United States invaded in October 2001. Ten years into the war, in May 2011, U.S. forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan, and for a short time it seemed possible that Washington would see an opening for ending the war. A few weeks after bin Laden's death, a young American soldier at a dusty outpost in eastern Afghanistan asked visiting Defence Secretary Robert Gates what effect the al-Qaida leader's demise would have on the war, suggesting hope that it would hasten its end and allow troops to go home. “It is too early to tell,” Gates replied. Ten years later, Biden has decided the time has come, although for Afghans the war may be far from over. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — Robert Burns has reported on the war in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S. invasion and has covered national security issues from Washington since 1990. ___ Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report. Robert Burns, The Associated Press
Esa-Pekka Salonen walked on stage to join the New York Philharmonic, which had not gathered before an audience for exactly 400 days. The philharmonic gave its first public performance after of a historic hiatus of more than 13 months caused by the coronavirus pandemic, playing at the Shed in Brookfield Place, about 2 miles from its under-renovation Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Flipkart Flagship Fest sale kicked off in India on 12 April and will end on 15 April.
WASHINGTON — The top watchdog for the U.S. Capitol Police will testify for the first time on Thursday about the department's broad failures before and during the Jan. 6 insurrection, including missed intelligence predicting a “war” and weapons that were so old that officers didn't feel comfortable using them. Capitol Police Inspector General Michael A. Bolton has investigated the force's missteps since the siege, when hundreds of President Donald Trump's supporters broke into the building and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives. In a report obtained by The Associated Press, he paints a dire picture of his agency's ability to respond to future threats and casts serious doubt on whether the force would be able to respond to another large-scale attack. The Capitol Police have so far refused to publicly release the report — prepared in March and marked as “law enforcement sensitive” — despite congressional pressure. Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who heads the House Administration Committee, said last month that she found the report, along with another the department had circulated internally, “detailed and disturbing.” Lofgren's committee is holding Thursday's hearing. Bolton found that the department’s deficiencies were — and remain — widespread: Equipment was old and stored badly; officers didn't complete required training; and there was a lack of direction at the Civil Disturbance Unit, which exists to ensure that legislative functions of Congress are not disrupted by civil unrest or protest activity. That was exactly what happened on Jan. 6 when Trump supporters violently pushed past police and broke into the Capitol as Congress counted the Electoral College votes that certified Joe Biden's victory. The report also focuses on several pieces of missed intelligence, including an FBI memo sent the day before the insurrection that then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund told lawmakers he never saw. The memo warned of threatening online postings by Trump backers, including one comment that Congress “needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in” and blood being spilled. “Get violent ... Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest," read one post recounted in the memo. "Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.” A separate report prepared by the Department of Homeland Security in December alerted the police to messages on a blog where people appeared to be planning for Jan. 6. One online post included a map of tunnels under the Capitol used by lawmakers and staff. “Take note,” the message said. The Capitol Police said in a statement Wednesday that officials had already made some of the improvements recommended in the report, and that the siege was “a pivotal moment” in history that showed the need for “major changes” in how the department operates. Still, they said that they would need more money and staff to make improvements. “It is important to note that nearly all of the recommendations require significant resources the department does not have,” the statement said. The report also provides new information on the movements of the Capitol Police as officers scrambled to evacuate lawmakers. An appendix to the document details previously unknown conversations among officials as they disagreed on whether National Guard forces were necessary. It quotes an Army official telling Sund, after the insurrectionists had broken in, that “we don’t like the optics of the National Guard standing in a line at the Capitol." The riot has pushed the Capitol Police force toward a state of crisis, with officers working extra shifts and forced overtime to protect the Capitol. The acting chief, Yogananda Pittman, received a vote of no confidence from the union in February, reflecting widespread distrust among the rank and file who were left exposed and injured as the violent mob descended on the building. Morale has plummeted. The entire force is also grieving the deaths of three of their own. Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed and died after engaging with protesters on Jan. 6. Officer William “Billy” Evans was killed April 2 when he was hit by a car that rammed into a barricade outside the Senate. Evans laid in honour in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday. A third officer, Howard Liebengood, died by suicide in the days after the insurrection. The report describes in detail how department equipment was substandard, including at least 11 different types of munitions that appeared to have expired. Some equipment hadn't been replaced in more than two decades. Riot shields that shattered upon impact as the officers fended off the violent mob had been improperly stored. Weapons that could have fired tear gas were so old that officers didn’t feel comfortable using them. Other weapons that could have done more to disperse the crowd were never staged before a Trump rally held near the White House, and those who were ordered to get backup supplies to the front lines could not make it through the aggressive crowd. In other cases, weapons weren't used because of “orders from leadership,” the document says. Those weapons — called "less lethal" because they are designed to disperse rather than kill — could have helped the police repel the rioters as they moved toward the Capitol after Trump's speech, according to the report. The timeline attached to the report also gives a more detailed look at Capitol Police movements, commands and conversations as the chaos unfolded. It recounts several instances in which police and SWAT teams rescued individual lawmakers trapped in the Capitol and sheds new light on conversations in which Sund begged for National Guard support. Sund and others, including the head of the D.C. National Guard, have testified that Pentagon officials were concerned about the optics of a military response. The document quotes Army Staff Secretary Walter Piatt telling Sund and others on a call that “we don't like the optics” of the National Guard at the Capitol and he would recommend not sending them. That was at 2:26 p.m.; rioters had already smashed their way into the building. The Pentagon eventually did approve the Guard's presence, and Guard members arrived after 5 p.m. While they were waiting, Sund also had a teleconference with Vice-President Mike Pence, the timeline shows. Pence was in a secure location in the Capitol because he had overseen the counting of the electoral votes. Some rioters were calling for his hanging because he refused to try and overturn Biden's win. The AP reported Saturday that Pence also had a conversation that day with the acting defence secretary, Christopher Miller, in which Pence demanded, "Clear the Capitol.” ___ Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Colleen Long contributed to this report. Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press
Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) with a dunk vs the Oklahoma City Thunder, 04/14/2021
NEW YORK, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (“Nomura” or the “Company”) (NYSE: NMR). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Nomura and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On March 29, 2021, Nomura disclosed that it anticipated significant losses in connection with positions linked to Archegos Capital Management (“Archegos”) after Archegos failed to meet margin calls the prior week, forcing the liquidation of more than $20 billion in holdings. That same day, Bloomberg reported that “[m]uch of the leverage used by [Archegos] was provided by banks including Nomura Holdings Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG through swaps and so-called contracts for difference[.]” On this news, Nomura’s stock price fell $0.93 per share, or 14.07%, to close at $5.68 per share on March 29, 2021. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT:Robert S. WilloughbyPomerantz LLPrswilloughby@pomlaw.com888-476-6529 ext. 7980
Kevon Looney (Golden State Warriors) with an alley oop vs the Oklahoma City Thunder, 04/14/2021
Ty Jerome (Oklahoma City Thunder) with a deep 3 vs the Golden State Warriors, 04/14/2021
A fourth night of protests was underway in Minnesota and throughout the nation Wednesday over the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by police.
The Raptors put forth a full team effort and collected an unlikely win over the Spurs on Wednesday,
WASHINGTON — Until Bernie Madoff’s scheme came crashing down and the biggest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street’s history came to light, he appeared as a charming wizard with a Midas touch. His investment advisory business attracted a devoted legion of clients, including A-list celebrities, rewarding them with steady returns that defied market fluctuations. But he not only conned investors, he seduced regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission esteemed him as a Nasdaq Stock Market chairman and prominent Wall Street figure — and failed to detect his fraudulent scheme despite receiving warnings and credible complaints over 10 years. After it was exposed in December 2008, a shaken SEC scrambled to put controls in place to prevent such episodes from recurring and uncover them early. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in jail for his crimes. He died behind bars Wednesday at age 82. A look at federal regulators’ actions with regard to Madoff before his conduct became publicly known and afterward with an eye to prevention: ___ WHAT WAS MADOFF’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SEC? For years, Madoff was a bright star in the SEC’s constellation, a legendary investment manager with celebrity clients, as well as multitudes of ordinary investors. He was chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market in 1990, 1991 and 1993. He sat on SEC advisory committees. All the while, the financier was running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme: the classic swindle in which early investors are paid with later investors’ money rather than actual profits on their investments. By all accounts, Madoff's scam wasn’t terribly sophisticated or high-tech, utilizing phoney account statements sent to clients, for example. But it wiped out thousands of people’s life savings. In Madoff’s words in 2009, it seemed “it never entered the SEC’s mind that it was a Ponzi scheme.” Agency examiners “never asked” for basic records to corroborate his operations, he said in a prison interview with the SEC inspector general. ___ DID THE RELATIONSHIP CAUSE THE SEC TO IGNORE MADOFF’S CONDUCT? That was the question posed in Washington after Madoff was arrested and confessed in December 2008, when the SEC already was dealing with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression that struck in the previous fall. Top SEC officials were hauled before Congress. Lawmakers from both parties said Madoff’s fraud exposed deep, systemic problems at the SEC. The agency’s enforcement and inspections staff had received credible complaints about Madoff, including specific red flags on his operations from financial analyst whistleblower Harry Markopolos and his investigators, which were conveyed to SEC staff in Boston, New York and Washington headquarters. Criticism mounted from lawmakers and investor advocates that Wall Street and regulators in Washington had grown too close. Some called for a shakeup of the SEC. A 2009 report by the inspector general detailed how SEC investigations of Madoff were bungled, with disputes among inspection staffers over the findings, lack of communication among SEC officials in various cities and repeated failures to act on legitimate complaints from outside the agency. ___ WHAT ABOUT OTHER REGULATORS? An internal review by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities industry’s regulator, found a breakdown on the part of the organization in the Madoff case. Like the SEC, FINRA made periodic examinations of Madoff’s brokerage operation, which functioned separately from his secretive investment business, and did not catch wind of Madoff's fraud. ___ WHAT PREVENTIVE ACTION AGAINST FUTURE FRAUDS DID THE SEC TAKE? Under public pressure, the SEC took a series of actions and made rule changes, starting in 2009. The most significant were changes in how the agency carries out inspections of investment advisers and brokerage firms. It also took steps aimed at providing better protection of customers’ assets held by brokerages and advisers against theft and abuse. Investment advisers were pushed toward putting clients’ assets in the custody of an independent firm, something Madoff hadn’t done. Also, the SEC and the stock exchanges were given greater oversight of how brokerages manage custody of their clients' funds. Inspection practices were revised to focus more closely on assessing potential risk to investors, and financial firms were required to submit more information. In addition, the agency put in a centralized electronic system for taking tips and complaints to help detect fraud. And the enforcement division was reorganized to emphasize more significant cases; specialized units were created, including one for asset management. Industry experts were hired to work with staff attorneys and accountants. ___ HOW EFFECTIVE WERE THE CHANGES? “The examinations and inspection systems and programs have all been enhanced,” says James Fanto, a professor at Brooklyn Law School who specializes in banking and securities law. “Moreover, the specific problem in the Madoff case — verifying what an adviser does with the assets — was specifically addressed, and we have had few problems at the level of Madoff since then.” Even in Madoff’s case, the SEC likely would have found the problems if staff had done a thorough inspection, Fanto noted. “Things have improved but SEC examiners run the risk of missing problems in successful firms because the success deters them from actually seeing the problems before them,” he said. ___ Follow Marcy Gordon at https://twitter.com/mgordonap Marcy Gordon, The Associated Press
Advances mean all new US vehicles can be electric by 2035, study finds
It means Harry will not have to face being one of the only close family members who is not in uniform at the service
Australia would complete its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in September in line with the United States and other allies, the prime minister said Thursday. Australia’s contribution to the NATO-led mission had once exceeded 15,000 personnel, but only 80 remain. “In line with the United States and other allies and partners, the last remaining Australian troops will depart Afghanistan in September,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, without nominating a day.