Aurelia Butler

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    Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos Exchange Posts About Trump on X

    The world’s two richest men are longtime business rivals, but now one of them has the ear of the next president of the United States.A few months ago, a three-post exchange between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on Mr. Musk’s X would have passed for petty sniping between billionaire rivals.But times have changed.“Just learned tonight at Mar-a-Lago that Jeff Bezos was telling everyone that @realDonaldTrump would lose for sure, so they should sell all their Tesla and SpaceX stock,” Mr. Musk wrote Wednesday night, referring to two of his companies. He added an emoji for a snickering face, with a hand covering the mouth.“Nope. 100% not true,” Mr. Bezos responded on Thursday morning.“Well, then, I stand corrected,” Mr. Musk wrote back, with a laughing-crying emoji.With President-elect Donald J. Trump’s history of animosity toward Mr. Bezos, the posts carried an unspoken message about Mr. Musk’s growing power within the incoming administration.The exchange — brief, brassy and fairly typical of Mr. Musk’s overwhelming presence on X — could foreshadow a bumpy next few years for Mr. Bezos and the companies he started, Amazon and the rocket maker Blue Origin. It was also a reminder that the power dynamics in the longtime rivalry between the world’s two richest men changed on Nov. 5.Plenty of tech executives have drawn Mr. Trump’s wrath over the last few years. Perhaps none more than Mr. Bezos, largely because he owns The Washington Post, which has frequently written critically about Mr. Trump. (The Post did not endorse a presidential candidate this year, a decision that angered many of its readers and that Mr. Bezos publicly defended.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Why Botham Jean’s Family Won’t Get $100 Million Awarded by Jury

    Cities have paid out billions of dollars in police misconduct cases, but depending on the case, families may not receive any money at all. A recent $100 million penalty for a police shooting case in Dallas may never lead to a payout.The family of George Floyd received $27 million after he was killed by police officers in Minneapolis. The family of Breonna Taylor got $12 million. Richard Cox, who was paralyzed after a ride in a police van in New Haven, Conn., got $46 million.But the family of Botham Shem Jean, who was killed by an off-duty officer, Amber R. Guyger, as he watched television in his apartment in Dallas in 2018, may never see a penny.That is not because the courts did not value his life. On Tuesday, a jury awarded his family almost $100 million. The difference lies, rather, in who was held responsible for his death.How do police violence cases usually work?In many high-profile cases of police violence, the city or county where the misconduct occurred is responsible for any payout connected to wrongful death or injury. Those taxpayer-funded payouts have amounted to billions of dollars: In 2023, New York City paid nearly $115 million in police misconduct settlements, according to an analysis by the Legal Aid Society.Awards to victims or their families can vary greatly, depending on factors such as the projected earnings over a victim’s lifetime, the sympathies of juries in a given jurisdiction and the amount of publicity generated by the case. Some families win money in civil rights claims even when the officers involved are not criminally charged or disciplined.But in order to have a successful case, plaintiffs must surmount at least two significant legal obstacles. First, officers are granted qualified immunity from lawsuits if victims cannot show that the officers have violated their “clearly established” rights. Second, municipalities can be held responsible only if the plaintiff’s rights were violated because of a negligent policy or practice — for example, if the police department had ignored previous bad behavior on the part of an officer or had failed to properly train its officers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Rare ‘Doomsday Fish’ Found on California Beach by Woman Going for a Walk

    In Japanese mythology, the deep-sea-dwelling oarfish is a harbinger of impending disaster. For scientists in California, where three oarfish have washed up in recent months, it’s an exciting find.Everything seemed picture-perfect on a recent day at Grandview Beach in Encinitas, Calif. — the waves shimmered under the California sun, and locals sunbathed and swam.Everything, except for one thing: the mysterious deep-sea creature that had washed up on the shore.“What is that?” Alison Laferriere recalled thinking. She saw something long and skinny on the beach while walking her dog: “It looked like it could be some garbage or something.”But when she got closer, Ms. Laferriere, a doctorate student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, recognized the find immediately. She had a rare close-up view of the oarfish, a striking creature from the depths of the ocean that has eluded researchers over the decades.With its long eel-like body, gaping mouth and bright red dorsal fins, it’s no surprise that the oarfish calls to mind a sea monster. Japanese mythology suggests that the appearance of the fish can signify impending earthquakes: Many have even wondered if reports of a dozen oarfish washing up on various parts of Japan’s coast were perhaps a harbinger of the catastrophic 2011 earthquake that devastated northern Japan. The superstition was so popular that researchers in Japan addressed it, publishing a paper in 2019 that debunked any significant link.Still, the eerie mythology returns with every sighting of the oarfish — hence its nickname as the “doomsday fish.”More superstitious Californians might be spooked, but researchers are thrilled at the rare opportunity. At least three have washed up on Californian shores in recent months, including a 12-foot-long specimen in August, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In all, only 22 have been documented by scientists since the 20th century.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Candidatos anteriores se vieron perjudicados por menos de lo que rodea a los elegidos de Donald Trump

    Impuestos atrasados, consumo de marihuana y niñeras indocumentadas descalificaron a anteriores elecciones presidenciales para altos cargos. Algunos de los candidatos del presidente electo enfrentan mayores cuestionamientos.Un aspirante a la Corte Suprema se retiró tras revelarse que había fumado marihuana en su juventud. Dos candidatos a fiscal general fueron eliminados cuando salió a la luz que habían empleado a inmigrantes indocumentadas como niñeras. Un tercer candidato al gabinete —nada menos que un exlíder del Senado— fue rechazado por no pagar impuestos sobre un automóvil y un chofer que le había prestado un socio. Incluso unos tuits malintencionados bastaron para hundir a un candidato.Los problemas legales y éticos que rodean a algunas de las personas seleccionadas por el presidente electo Donald Trump para ocupar altos cargos en el gobierno, por no hablar de su historial de declaraciones públicas que levantan cejas, son mucho más profundos que el tipo de revelaciones que han acabado con candidaturas en el Senado en el pasado.Lo que antes se consideraba descalificante para un candidato presidencial parece francamente benigno en comparación con las acusaciones de conducta sexual inapropiada y consumo de drogas ilícitas por parte de su candidato a fiscal general, detalladas en un informe secreto del Congreso, una acusación de agresión sexual seguida de un acuerdo pagado por su elección para dirigir el Pentágono y una antigua adicción a la heroína reconocida por el futuro secretario de salud.No hace tanto tiempo que los candidatos a puestos de alto nivel, e incluso algunos de los menos conocidos, tenían que ser irreprochables, hasta el punto de que una cuestión fiscal relativamente menor podía hacerlos fracasar. Pero es evidente que los tiempos están cambiando en lo que respecta a los nombramientos en los albores del segundo gobierno de Trump.“Los estándares aparentemente están evolucionando”, dijo el senador John Cornyn, republicano por Texas y miembro principal del Comité Judicial. El panel consideraría la nominación del exrepresentante Matt Gaetz, republicano de Florida, para fiscal general si se presenta formalmente.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Who Has the ICC Charged With War Crimes?

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has joined a short list of sitting leaders charged by the International Criminal Court.The warrant announced against him on Thursday puts Mr. Netanyahu in the same category as Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the deposed president of Sudan, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. As part of their membership in the court, countries are required to arrest people for whom it has issued warrants, though that obligation has not always been observed.Here is a closer look at some of the leaders for whom warrants have been issued by the court since its creation more than two decades ago.Vladimir Putin of RussiaPresident Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, left, with Maria Lvova-Belova, also subject to an I.C.C. arrest warrant, in a photo released by Russian state media.Pool photo by Mikhail MetzelThe court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Putin in March 2023 over crimes committed during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including for the forcible deportation of children. A warrant was also issued for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights.Mr. Putin has since made several international trips, including to China, which is not a member of the court. His first state visit to an I.C.C. member since the warrant was issued was in September, to Mongolia, where he received a red-carpet welcome.Omar Hassan al-Bashir of SudanThe court issued warrants in 2009 and 2010 for Mr. al-Bashir, citing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the western region of Darfur.Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the former president of Sudan, on trial for corruption in Khartoum in 2019.Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/ReutersThe court has also charged several other Sudanese officials, including a former defense minister, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, with crimes in Darfur.In 2015, Mr. al-Bashir traveled to an African Union summit in South Africa in defiance of the warrant, but was not arrested.Mr. al-Bashir, 80, was deposed in 2019 after three decades in power, and also faces charges in Sudan related to the 1989 coup that propelled him to power. He could receive the death sentence or life in prison on those charges if convicted.Muammar el-Qaddafi of LibyaCol. Muammar el-Qaddafi, then leader of Libya, was charged by the I.C.C. months before being killed by rebels. He is pictured here in Syria in 2008.Bryan Denton for The New York TimesThe court issued arrest warrants in 2011 for Libya’s then leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, along with one of his sons and his intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the first two weeks of the uprising in Libya that led to a NATO bombing campaign.Mr. Qaddafi was killed by rebels in Libya months later and never appeared before the court. His son remains at large.William Ruto of KenyaPresident William Ruto of Kenya, center, in Haiti this year. The court brought charges against him in 2011, and dropped them in 2016.Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York TimesThe court dropped a case in 2016 against William Ruto, then Kenya’s deputy president, who had been charged in 2011 with crimes against humanity and other offenses in connection with post-election violence in Kenya in 2007 and 2008. Mr. Ruto was elected president of Kenya in 2022.Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory CoastThe former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, was also indicted by the court in 2011 over acts committed during violence after the country’s elections in 2010.Mr. Gbagbo and another leader in Ivory Coast, Charles Blé Goudé, were acquitted in 2021.Laurent Gbagbo, the former president of Ivory Coast, in Abidjan, the capital, last year.Sia Kambou/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images More

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    ICC Had Sought Warrants for 3 Hamas Leaders. At Least 2 Are Now Dead.

    The International Criminal Court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for a single Hamas official — not three as the chief prosecutor had initially sought in May. That’s because two of them have since been killed.Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, requested the warrants after investigating Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 and Israel’s subsequent bombardment and invasion of Gaza.In May, Mr. Khan asked the court to issue warrants for Hamas’s top leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar; its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh; and its military chief, Muhammad Deif. He accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the killing of civilians and the capture of hostages during the October 2023 attack, as well as maltreatment of and sexual violence against hostages during their captivity in Gaza.The requests required approval by judges from the I.C.C., the world’s top criminal court. That took months. In the meantime, Mr. Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in July, a killing widely attributed to Israel. The court subsequently announced that it had terminated proceedings against him. And Israeli forces killed Mr. Sinwar in a firefight in Gaza in October.As for Mr. Deif, Israel claimed to have killed him in an airstrike in Gaza in October. On Thursday, the court said it was “not in a position to determine whether Mr. Deif has been killed or remains alive” and was therefore issuing the warrant for his arrest.Matthew Mpoke Bigg More

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    Bribery Charges Against Gautam Adani Strike at Heart of Modi’s India

    The U.S. indictment names Gautam Adani, one of India’s richest businessmen, but it points to an even bigger target: how business is done there.Gautam Adani is no ordinary Indian billionaire. Over the past 10 years, he has become in effect an extension of India’s government. His conglomerate, Adani Group, builds and buys ports, factories and power plants, often under state contract or license. It operates airports. It even owns a TV news channel.Mr. Adani’s business empire has become central to India during the rise of Narendra Modi, first elected as prime minister in 2014.As Mr. Modi brought India to the center of the world stage, he brought Mr. Adani in tow. Today, Mr. Adani’s flagship company is worth about 10 times more than it was at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.On Wednesday, the U.S. government charged Mr. Adani, one of the world’s richest people, with multiple counts of fraud. Federal prosecutors accused him and his associates of offering $265 million to Indian officials and lying about the bribery scheme to Wall Street investors when raising money for a massive renewable energy project.The Adani Group denied prosecutors’ claims, calling the allegations “baseless.” A spokesman said the company wanted to “assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organization, fully compliant with all laws.”Solar panels being installed at a renewable energy park owned by the Adani Group in Khavda, India. Punit Paranjpe/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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    Source: FactSetBy The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Newsom Heads to California Counties That Voted for Trump

    Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged that residents were frustrated by economic problems and said that Democrats needed to address their concerns.On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom will make the first of three post-election visits to California counties that Donald J. Trump won in the presidential race, reaching out to working-class voters in the Central Valley who remain frustrated by economic woes.The appearance in Fresno, to unveil a new economic development system, comes as interviews and polls have shown that economic and class divisions were key to Mr. Trump’s return to power.With Democrats still mulling over their presidential and congressional losses, Mr. Newsom said in an interview on Wednesday that his party needed to learn from the recent election and to address the struggles of American workers.“A lot of people feel like they’re losing their identity or losing their future,” Mr. Newsom said. “Message received.”A leading Democrat who has been viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, California’s governor has long been a pointed critic of Mr. Trump. Over the past two and a half weeks, he has indicated that he expects his state and the Trump administration to repeat the pitched battle they waged during Mr. Trump’s first term, when California sued the federal government more than 120 times.The governor’s immediate response after the Nov. 5 election was to call his state’s Democrat-dominated legislature into an emergency special session that would start in December. Mr. Newsom urged Democrats to “stand firm” against expected efforts by Mr. Trump to deport immigrants, further limit reproductive rights and weaken environmental regulation.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More