Cohen, Trump’s Ex-Lawyer, Investigated for Bank Fraud in Excess of $20 Million
Federal authorities investigating whether President Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, committed bank and tax fraud have zeroed in on well over $20 million in loans obtained by taxi businesses that he and his family own, according to people familiar with the matter. Investigators are also examining whether Mr. Cohen violated campaign finance or other laws by helping to arrange financial deals to secure the silence of women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump. Any criminal charges against Mr. Cohen would deal a significant blow to the president. Mr. Cohen, 52, worked for the president’s company, the Trump Organization, for more than a decade. He was one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal and visible aides and called himself the president’s personal lawyer after Mr. Trump took office.
Source:New York Times
August 19, 2018 22:55 UTC
Exclusive: Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif says US addicted to sanctions
Tehran, Iran (CNN) The United States is addicted to applying sanctions on Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday in an exclusive interview from Tehran. "I believe there is a disease in the United States and that is the addiction to sanctions," he told CNN, adding that, "Even during the Obama administration the United States put more emphasis on keeping the sanctions it had not lifted rather than implementing its obligation on the sanctions it lifted." The US-educated minister gave the interview in fluent English on the 65th anniversary of a US-backed coup that overthrew democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Zarif retained a clear belief during the hourlong interview in the foreign ministry that the nuclear deal could be revived regardless of the Trump administration denunciation of it. JUST WATCHED How US sanctions hit ordinary people in Iran Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How US sanctions hit ordinary people in Iran 02:08Zarif expressed his dismay that the United States has not learned that sanctions are ineffective in changing the political climate in Iran.
Source:CNN
August 19, 2018 22:52 UTC
Woolworths annual profit rises, boosts dividend
SYDNEY--Australian grocer Woolworths Group Ltd.'s (WOW.AU) annual net profit rose by more than 12% and it boosted dividends, reflecting earnings growth in the Australian food division and benefits from a new petrol alliance. Net profit in the year through June 24 was about 1.73 billion Australian dollars (US$1.27 billion). Woolworths said earnings before interest and tax in its key Australian food division rose by nearly 10%. The company declared a final dividend of 50 Australian cents per share, plus a special dividend of 10 Australian cents. The company recently banned free single-use plastic bags to cut down on waste and is offering sturdier plastic bags to customers for a small fee.
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 19, 2018 22:52 UTC
Monetary Chaos in Caracas
But on the evidence of the plan Mr. Maduro announced Friday, Venezuela could be in for a monetary meltdown. The main feature of the Maduro plan is a giant devaluation. Mr. Maduro also declared that there will be a nationwide price freeze, date uncertain. Mr. Maduro has destroyed confidence in the country’s institutions and currency, and his new plan will make it worse. The only way to stop the descent into chaos might be to dollarize the economy.
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 19, 2018 22:41 UTC
Maryland private school investigating alleged sexual abuse
— A private school in Maryland has launched an investigation into allegations that a culture of sexual abuse existed in the 1970s with administrators’ knowledge, a newspaper reported. The Washington Post reports two Baltimore lawyers are leading the investigation into allegations at the Key School in Annapolis, Maryland. That was a reference to the #MeToo movement in which women have spoken out about sexual harassment and assault. The Associated Press doesn’t generally identify those who report they’ve been victims of sexual abuse or misconduct. The investigation into the allegations at the school will be conducted by Baltimore lawyers Andrew Jay Graham and Jean E. Lewis.
Source:Washington Post
August 19, 2018 22:40 UTC
Social Media Roundup: Free WhatsApp Data Backups On Google Drive, Facebook Fundraisers, Bumble Fund
“Social Media Roundup” is a weekly roundup of news pertaining to all of your favorite websites and applications used for social networking. Published on Sundays, “Social Media Roundup” will help you stay up-to-date on all the important social media news you need to know. BumbleBumble Fund To Focus On Female-Founded StartupsDating app Bumble has announced that it has launched the Bumble Fund, which is an investment arm that focuses on female-founded and female-led businesses. Jones Simmer said that the Bumble Fund is also hoping that investments will surface through Bumble’s professional networking tool Bumble Bizz. However, a number of those publishers benefitted from the revenue from the traffic spikes of their viral stories featuring false information before it gets debunked.
Source:Forbes
August 19, 2018 22:30 UTC
MTV VMAs 2018 viewiing guide
(CNN) The occasionally controversial and always unpredictable MTV Video Music Awards will be presented Monday night at New York's Radio City Music Hall. From Beyoncé and Cardi B to J-Lo and Jay-Z, here's what we know about the Moonman trophies, tributes and must-watch performances in the works. Cardi B will open the show and is leads in the Moonman race with ten nominations. Beyoncé and Jay-Z trail closely with eight nominations, followed by Childish Gambino with seven. Where to watchThe show will air live on MTV at 9pm EST/6 pm PST.
Source:CNN
August 19, 2018 22:18 UTC
Another ‘Belt and Road’ Hostage
Imran Khan’s first task after being sworn in as Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Saturday is averting a financial crisis. The cricketer-turned-politician must choose whether to dial back a Chinese-financed development program or increase the country’s reliance on Beijing. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves dwindled to $10.3 billion at the end of last month, the equivalent of two month’s imports. The government needs to borrow about $10 billion quickly to avoid default on foreign debt. That debt has ballooned as Islamabad borrowed...
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 19, 2018 22:18 UTC
Trump Waives the Privilege
Donald Trump has a credibility problem, but so do the media. A case in point is the weekend story that White House counsel Don McGahn has cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller. Let’s try to navigate through this Beltway Hall of Mirrors. The thesis of the New York Times story is that Mr. McGahn cooperated in a way that could hurt Donald Trump in order to protect himself and because he doesn’t trust the President. This fits the media narrative that Mr. Trump is covering up his collusion with Russia and his obstruction...
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 19, 2018 22:18 UTC
Opinion | Zephyr Teachout Is the Right Choice as Attorney General for Democrats
The most important choice facing New York voters this fall is whom they will pick as their next state attorney general. Only a handful of American institutions are equipped to resist such assaults on constitutional authority, and the New York attorney general’s office, with 650 lawyers and a history of muscular law enforcement, is one of them. The next attorney general will have a full docket in New York as well. Prosecutors said he used his office to pressure businesses to pay his son $300,000 for no-show jobs. The same month, Alain Kaloyeros, a key figure behind Mr. Cuomo’s “Buffalo Billion” economic initiative, was convicted in a bid-rigging scheme.
Source:New York Times
August 19, 2018 22:15 UTC
Cruise passenger rescued 10 hours after falling off ship in Croatia
A British woman has been pulled out of the sea alive 10 hours after falling from a cruise ship off the coast of Croatia. She fell from the Norwegian Star cruise ship about 60m off Croatia's coast late on Saturday night. A Croatian rescue ship was scrambled and found her swimming not far from where she was believed to have fallen. 'HUMILIATED' COUPLE KICKED OFF CRUISE AFTER CAPTAIN ACCUSES PASSENGER OF PUSHING CREW MEMBERThe woman gave an interview to the Croatia news service HRT after her ordeal, in which she said: "I was in the water for 10 hours, so these wonderful guys rescued me." A Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson said: "In the morning of 19 August, a guest went overboard as Norwegian Star made her way to Venice.
Source:Fox News
August 19, 2018 22:07 UTC
Houston man gets more than 6 years in prison for attempting to blow up Confederate statue
(CNN) A 26-year-old man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison after he tried to blow up the Dick Dowling Confederate monument in Houston. Andrew Schneck had been charged with attempting to maliciously damage property receiving federal financial assistance, according to federal court documents. The case went to federal court because Hermann Park, where the Dowling statue is located, receives federal funding for its maintenance. During the Civil War, Dowling had been hailed as a Confederate war hero in Houston, serving in the Jefferson Davis Guards. Schneck's sentencing comes one year after a Houston park ranger spotted him kneeling in the bushes near the Dowling statue on August 19, 2017.
Source:CNN
August 19, 2018 22:07 UTC
What Trump really meant when he tweeted about a 'RAT'
But I allowed him and all others to testify - I didn't have to...""A John Dean type 'RAT'"?! Nowhere in the Times article did the reporters or any of the sources they interviewed mention the word "rat." All the article said was that McGahn was cooperating with the special counsel -- and with Trump's permission. So why would Trump reach for such an ominous term to characterize the way (in his view) the Times piece described McGahn's motivation? Whatever Trump's reasons, it's striking how effectively the word "rat" telegraphs the choices available to someone, like McGahn, who cooperates with the special counsel -- even with the President's assent, as he points out.
Source:CNN
August 19, 2018 22:07 UTC
Republican Rick Scott sends a bilingual message in Florida race: He’s not Trump
Rick Scott (R), left, at a campaign stop at a restaurant in Crestview, Fla., on Aug. 13. “The other side understands this and is spending millions of dollars to confuse Latino voters and to run away from Donald Trump.”Florida Gov. Like Scott, Republican candidates in those districts have charted their own course, often with the help of the national Republican Party and supportive outside groups. The result has been a remarkable bifurcation between the continued rhetoric of the Trump administration and local messaging of some Republican campaigns. But the same survey found only 53 percent of Latino voters said they were certain they would cast a ballot in November.
Source:Washington Post
August 19, 2018 22:07 UTC
A Shot of Competition for EpiPen
A couple of years ago Washington fell into anaphylactic shock over the high cost of EpiPens, devices that shoot adrenaline into someone having an allergic reaction. But the Trump Administration this week injected some overdue competition into the market that could lower prices for millions of Americans. On Thursday the Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic competitor to Mylan’s EpiPen. The competing drug is manufactured by the Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva. One might wonder why a simple spring device...
Source:Wall Street Journal
August 19, 2018 22:07 UTC