Law

MIAMI — Dalia Carmeli, who drives a trolley in downtown Miami, voted for Donald J. Trump on Election Day. A week later, she stopped in to see the enrollment counselor who will help her sign up for another year of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. “I hope it still stays the same,” said Ms. Carmeli, 64, who has Crohn’s disease and relies on her insurance to cover frequent doctor’s appointments and an array of medications. Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress are vowing to repeal much or all of the health law, a target of their party’s contempt since the day it passed with only Democratic votes in 2010. If they succeed, they will set in motion an extraordinary dismantling of a major social program in the United States. But for now, with open enrollment for 2017 underway, people are steadily signing up or renewing their coverage, and in conversations last week in South Florida, many refused to believe that a benefit they count on would actually be taken away. … [Read more...] about Many in Florida Count on Obama’s Health Law, Even Amid Talk of Its Demise

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) claimed victory Tuesday over oil companies with the signing of a law that caps their profits and punishes price gouging — though there is little evidence they are engaged in the practice. California gas prices are usually the highest in the nation, a fact that became painfully clear during nationwide price surges last summer. But as been widely documented, including by the New York Times , that has to do with state taxes and with climate change regulations. One oil company CEO responded last year to claims of price gouging by noting that California has a “very hostile regulatory environment for refining,” limiting supply. Still, Newsom searched for a scapegoat, and found the oil companies an easy target in a state whose left-leaning voters returned Democrats to every statewide office. But his early legislative efforts ran into legal trouble. The version of the bill that passed this week is, CalMatters.org noted , “watered-down” from … [Read more...] about Gavin Newsom Claims Victory over Oil Companies in ‘Price Gouging’ Law

Donald Trump has denied he incited violence to be carried out against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in one of his recent Truth Social posts, blaming the outrage on "fake news media." On March 23, Trump shared an article on Truth Social that used an image of the former president holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Bragg, the prosecutor leading the Stormy Daniels hush money investigation in which the Republican faces a potentially historic indictment and arrest over. Hours later, Trump warned on Truth Social of the potential for "death and destruction" should Bragg's investigation result in a criminal charge against the former president, leading to accusations that Trump is inciting his supporters to carry out attacks and violent disorder with his social media activity. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Monday, the Fox News host asked Trump why he would "open yourself up to criticism" with his Truth Social posts. Trump said that he was unaware that … [Read more...] about Donald Trump’s bizarre Alvin Bragg baseball bat “threat” explanation

World Donald Trump North Korea Kim Jong Un Nuclear In the long view of history, North Korea getting a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile in 2017 is the rough equivalent of an army showing up for World War II riding horses and shooting muskets. Nukes are so last century. War is changing, driven by cyberweapons, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. Weapons of mass destruction are dumb, soon to be whipped by smart weapons of pinpoint disruption—which nations can use without risking annihilation of the human race. If the U.S. is innovative and forward-thinking, it can develop technology that ensures no ill-behaving government could ever get a nuke off the ground. Then we might be able to relax and return to laughing at Kim Jong Un for looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man topped by a small furry mammal. This is the argument in a new book , Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules of War , by international law … [Read more...] about Trump Can Destroy N. Korea’s Nukes Without a Land War

The Adnan Syed case, popularized by the podcast Serial , has been forever changed thanks to an appeal launched by the victim's brother. Syed was convicted of the murder of his then-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, who died in January 1999. He was found guilty of a number of charges in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, though he always maintained his innocence. In 2014, the murder of Min Lee and Syed's trial was the subject of the first season of the podcast Serial . Eventually, new evidence in the case was unearthed and by September 2022 all charges against Syed had been dropped . A court in Maryland recently reinstated the murder conviction of Syed, but the ruling suggests Syed will not remain convicted for long, as another hearing is needed to remove the reinstatement. The conviction was reinstated after the victim's brother, Young Lee, filed an appeal in December 2022, arguing that prosecutors violated a state law requiring them to give sufficient notice of … [Read more...] about How victim’s brother in Adnan Syed case turned trial upside down

Before he met and married Meghan Markle , Prince Harry embarked on a number of high-profile relationships with women within the orbit of the royal family and British high society. Of his relationships, the most prominent was with Zimbabwe-born Chelsy Davy, whose family ran a big game farm in South Africa. Within months of their relationship becoming public, Davy was a figure of intense public interest—something Harry has since spoken of his, and her, discomfort over. In court filings, made as part of his ongoing lawsuit against the publishers of the British tabloid Daily Mail over historic phone-hacking and privacy invasion allegations, the prince said that Davy was the victim of unlawful information-gathering techniques such as wiretapping and bugging. The media intrusion, the prince said, made Davy feel as if she was being "hunted." In the end, he said, she questioned whether she wanted a "lifetime of being stalked?" Here, Newsweek looks at who Chelsy Davy is and … [Read more...] about Who is Chelsy Davy—Prince Harry’s ex he feared would be “harassed to death”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's surprise announcement on Wednesday that they will step down as "senior" members of the British family and "work to become financially independent" of the monarchy raised many questions about their income. Now, we have some answers. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched a brand new website on Wednesday— SussexRoyal.com —after the bombshell news they will distance themselves from royal duties. The website expands on where their money currently comes from, who pays for their royal residence, Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, and travel, as well as how they will become financially independent. Meghan, 38, and Harry, 37 , said they will continue to support Queen Elizabeth II and honor their royal patronages—through which they are ambassadors for various charities—but have decided to split their time between the U.K. and North America going forward to "enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, … [Read more...] about Meghan and Harry Financial Independence—Who Pays For House and Travel?

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s highest court on Wednesday turned away the latest attempt to get a sentence reduction for Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for plotting with her teenage lover to have her husband killed in 1990. Smart, 55, was 22 and working as a high school media coordinator when she began an affair with a 15-year-old student who later shot and killed her husband, Gregory Smart. Though she denied knowledge of the plot, she was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes and sentenced to life without parole. Having exhausted her judicial appeal options, Smart asked a state council for a sentence reduction hearing last year. The five-member Executive Council, which approves state contracts and appointees to the courts and state agencies, rejected her request in less than three minutes, prompting the appeal to state Supreme Court. But the court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction on Wednesday, saying that ordering the … [Read more...] about New Hampshire court dismisses latest Pamela Smart petition

Health officials sit at an empty government-run Covid-19 screening clinic in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP] Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 will have to quarantine for five days, not seven, from early May. The mandate could be entirely lifted in July, meaning that people won't have to isolate even if they come down with the virus. Under the current system, patients must report their infection to local health authorities and quarantine for a week. If they refuse to isolate, they face up to a year in prison or 10 million won ($7,700) in fines. The mask mandate for high-risk facilities could also be lifted in July. Since March 20, the Korean government has allowed people to unmask on public transportation, but masks are still required at hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes, welfare centers for the disabled and mental health centers. Visitors to pharmacies in large supermarkets or subway stations, however, do not have to wear masks. If the … [Read more...] about Mandatory quarantine to be cut to five days from May

Chun Woo-won speaks to reportrers after being released from police custody at the Seoul Mapo Police Station on Wednesday. [YONHAP] Chun Woo-won, grandson of former president Chun Doo Hwan, immediately left for Gwangju on his release from police custody on Wednesday. He said he will continue to apologize to the people of Gwangju regarding the atrocity committed by his grandfather during the pro-democracy uprising in 1980. “There is a low possibility that my family will cooperate,” Chun said regarding his family member confessing to the various crimes that he had accused recently through his Instagram and YouTube videos. “They will try to hide whatever crime that they had committed,” Chun said in front of the Seoul Mapo Police Station surrounded by reporters. “And I will apology for my family. “I thank the citizens of Gwangju for accepting this sinner.” He said he decided to expose the dark secrets of his family and close friends including the hidden wealth, drug abuses and … [Read more...] about Chun Doo Hwan grandson heads straight to Gwangju after release