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Thursday, March 14, 2024

3/14 WAKE-UP CALL: TikTok Clock Could Be Running Out


The House voted to approve a bill that would ban TikTok from operating in the U.S. or force a sale. The measure passed 352 to 65, with one member voting present. The bipartisan support for cracking down on the Chinese-controlled service stems from national-security concerns such as fears that parent company ByteDance would give U.S. users’ data to Beijing. Opponents of the bill raised free-speech issues and said TikTok has addressed ownership concerns. The ban is “based on zero evidence,” according to TikTok.
 

The measure moves to the Senate, where lawmakers are less gung-ho. President Biden has said he would sign the legislation if it reached his desk. Since 2019, ByteDance has spent roughly $21.3 million on federal lobbying, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan platform tracking money in politics, and a WSJ analysis of lobbying disclosure forms. TikTok could also challenge the bill’s legality, arguing that it violates the First Amendment.

NEW POLL SHOWS TIGHT PRESIDENTIAL RACE: Donald Trump edged Joe Biden 40%-38% in an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, a near-tie in a fluid electorate as the candidates head out of the starting gate. The first USA TODAY survey since the two contenders effectively clinched their presidential nominations found a significant group of voters who were unhappy with their options and open to being persuaded, ingredients for a turbulent campaign ahead.

Good news for Biden? An increasing number of Americans said the economy is in recovery, the rosiest assessment of where it stands since the early days of his presidency. On the other hand: Nick Garcia, 40, a mechanic from Cadiz, Kentucky, who plans to vote for Trump, blamed Biden for the downturn he sees. "I think it's just struggling to hang on," he said of the economy. "When Trump was in office, I was doing really good." Don't bet the farm yet: With nearly eight months until Election Day, 1 in 4 of those surveyed said they might change their minds before November.

➤ISRAELI STRIKE KILLS AID WORKER: At least one humanitarian aid worker was killed and 22 others were injured when Israeli forces struck an aid distribution center in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, U.N. officials said Wednesday. What they're saying: “Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine," said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians, who added that the Israeli army was provided with coordinates of the facility a day earlier so it would not be hit. 

➤JUDGE DROPS SOME CHARGES: Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday struck down six counts of the August indictment that alleged felony conduct by former President Donald Trump and 18 others, saying they lacked sufficient detail. In a nine-page ruling, McAfee dismissed counts lodged against Trump, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, lawyer John Eastman, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Ray Smith and Bob Cheeley.

The indictment handed up in August contained 41 felony counts; there are now 35 counts that remain. Trump is still facing 10 felony counts, down from the 13 originally filed against him. Monday’s decision left intact the bulk of Fulton County’s sweeping racketeering case against the former president and his allies. It seemed McAfee wanted to make that clear in his order when he wrote, “This does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed.”

➤HUNTER'S GUN TRIAL IN JUNE: First son Hunter Biden’s trial on felony gun charges will tentatively begin June 3, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, apparently ensuring the case will be a key subplot to his father’s re-election campaign. Delaware US District Judge Maryellen Noreika set the date following a status conference with attorneys for the first son as well as prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ team. Hunter, 54, was indicted by Weiss Sept. 14 on three counts alleging the younger Biden lied about his addiction to crack cocaine while filling out background check forms to purchase a firearm in 2018.


➤SHOOTER'S DAD WON'T TALK:  James Crumbley finally spoke Wednesday at his involuntary manslaughter trial – but only to say that he would not speak further. Crumbley and his wife Jennifer’s teenage son murdered four students and injured seven other people at Michigan’s Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. They are the first parents in America to face criminal accountability for a child’s school shooting. Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. She faces up to 15 years in prison when she’s sentenced April 9. The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case has largely followed the same lines of the mother's. The prosecution portrayed James Crumbley as a careless and neglectful father who bought a troubled son a gun and failed to secure it, while the defense maintained he never saw any signs that his son was dangerous or mentally ill, and that he did not know of his son’s plans to shoot up his school or that he had access to the gun.

➤DOLLAR TREE TO CLOSE ALMOST 1,000 STORES: Dollar Tree announced it will close nearly 1,000 of its Family Dollar stores after the stores experienced a significant underperformance in 2023, according to the press release by the company. During the fourth quarter of 2023, Dollar Tree underwent a review of its stores performance to identify locations to close, relocate or re-banner, the company said. “As a result of this review, we plan on closing approximately 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of fiscal 2024. Additionally, approximately 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores will close over the next several years at the end of each store’s current lease term,” the company said in the press release.

➤ENGLAND BANS PUBERTY BLOCKERS FOR KIDS: The National Health Service England announced Tuesday it will not routinely prescribe puberty blockers for children and young people experiencing gender dysphoria. 

The decision posted online referenced research collected by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2020 that raised concerns of uncertainty in the treatment's efficacy and potential side effects. "We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness of (puberty suppressing hormones) to make the treatment routinely available at this time," the publication by NHS England stated. Fewer than 100 kids and teens in England are on puberty blockers, they will be allowed to continue their treatment, and some youth may still be able to access the treatment as part of a clinical trial, the BBC reported.

➤FL MURDER SUSPECT FACING 60 CRIMINAL CHARGES: A total of 60 new criminal charges have been filed against Stephan Sterns in connection to the death of 13-year-old Madeline "Maddie" Soto. The State Attorney’s Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit filed the charges on Monday. Sterns is the boyfriend of Soto's mother, Jennifer Soto. Madeline went missing from her home in Kissimmee, Florida on Feb. 26. Two days later, Kissimmee police and the Orange County Sheriff's Office took Sterns, 37, into custody and said he was a "prime suspect" in her disappearance. On March 1, investigators confirmed that Osceola County Sheriff's search teams found Madeline's body in a wooded area off of Hickory Tree Road, in an area southeast of Orlando.


⚾COLE COULD BE OUT MONTHS:  After days of uncertainty, multiple reports said Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is expected to miss at least one-to-two months on Wednesday. However, Aaron Boone would not confirm that timeline following the team’s spring training loss to the Red Sox later in the day. “That’s speculation,” the manager said. “We don’t have all the information yet. So until everyone weighs in, out of respect for Gerrit, I’m not gonna put a timeline on anything. There’s still information to gather. “I don’t have a timeline yet.” One source close to Cole told the Daily News that no timelines had been determined by doctors at the time of publication.

⚾WHITE SOX TRADE ACE PITCHER: Dylan Cease was one of the most sought-after pitchers on the trade market. Even Cease couldn’t help get caught up in following every drip of trade speculation. “It’s exciting to people,” Cease said Wednesday morning at Camelback Ranch. “It’s good for the game in the sense of, it’s exciting to fan bases. People like seeing it, so I get it. It’s fun and exciting but it’s just not a main focus.” Cease learned his fate Wednesday evening as the Chicago White Sox traded the right-handed pitcher to the San Diego Padres, a source confirmed to the Tribune. The trade became official late Wednesday, with the Sox receiving right-handed pitchers Drew Thorpe, Jairo Iriarte and Steven Wilson and outfielder Samuel Zavala.

➤1000 -MILE IDITAROD MARRED BY DEATH OF 3 DOGS: Alaska’s annual Iditarod dog sled race ended with a victory for the ages: One of the biggest names in the sport came from behind after a moose attack to win the grueling contest for an unprecedented sixth time, in nine days, two hours, 16 minutes and 8 seconds. Shut it down? Dallas Seavey’s record-setting win late Tuesday was overshadowed by the deaths of three dogs in this year’s storied endurance race across the Alaska wilderness, ending a five-year streak without a dog death and renewing calls from an animal rights group to shut down the race once and for all. A fourth dog, one of Seavey’s, was severely injured by a moose on the trail.

➤THURSDAY'S WEATHER MAP:




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