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Friday, April 12, 2024

4/12 WAKE-UP CALL: Prostate Cancer Murdered O-J

O.J. Simpson, the football star criminally acquitted of killing his ex-wife, died of cancer. The 76-year-old was one of the greatest running backs in college and pro football history before becoming an actor and celebrity pitchman. Simpson’s sensational 1995 trial triggered debates over racism in the U.S. criminal justice system. His professional reputation never recovered. Since the case, Simpson lost a wrongful-death suit related to the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, wrote a book that he said was a hypothetical tale of how he would have killed them, and spent nine years in prison on robbery and kidnapping charges. He was paroled in 2017.

➤KATO BELIEVES O-J DID IT: Kato Kaelin, an actor who was living in a guest house on O.J. Simpson's property at the time Simpson’s former wife and her friend were murdered, said he hopes the former football star did penance before he died Wednesday of prostate cancer at 76. Kaelin, who gained worldwide attention when testifying at the criminal trial in which Simpson was acquitted of the murders that took place in 1994, said he thinks Simpson was guilty of the killings.

➤MORTGAGE RATES CLIMB: Mortgage rates climbed again, threatening the housing revival that many people had hoped for this year. The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.88%, up from 6.82% a week earlier, according to mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac’s lender survey, and the Mortgage Bankers Association’s measure of average mortgage rates rose to 7% this week. 


Rates were lower at the start of the year, but now expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates several times—or even once—in 2024 have dropped. Mortgage rates aren’t directly tied to those moves but tend to loosely follow the 10-year Treasury yield, which posted its largest one-day gain in more than 18 months yesterday.

➤IRAN HOPES TO AVOID MAJOR ESCALATION: Iran has signaled to Washington that it will respond to Israel's attack on its Syrian embassy in a way that aims to avoid major escalation and it will not act hastily, as Tehran presses demands including a Gaza truce, Iranian sources said. Iran's message to Washington was conveyed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian during a visit on Sunday to the Gulf Arab state of Oman, which has often acted as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington, the sources said. A White House spokesperson declined to comment on any messages from Iran but said the United States has communicated to Iran that it was not involved in the strike on the embassy.

➤ISRAEL DEBATES EXEMPTIONS: The Gaza war is shaking young Israelis who had been largely spared the violence and existential fears their parents and grandparents endured. More than 300 Israeli soldiers were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks—along with several hundred civilians. At least 260 other soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, the highest number of military fatalities since a three-year war with Lebanon in the 1980s. Among the fallen soldiers, including many as young as 18, are left-leaning residents of kibbutzim, tech workers, members of the country’s non-Jewish minorities and Orthodox Religious Zionist students, who see fighting for Israel as part of their faith. Their growing prominence makes it harder to justify ultra-Orthodox Jews’ exemption from compulsory military service, a controversial privilege dating back to Israel’s founding. Around 33,500 people in Gaza have been killed, most of them civilians, Palestinian health authorities said.

➤HOSTAGES FATE: Fears are rising over the fate of the remaining hostages held in Gaza after Hamas said it was unsure whether it could bring forth 40 Israeli civilian captives as part of a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal, according to officials familiar with the negotiations. The 40 hostages, including women, children, elderly men and those in fragile health, would be released under a U.S.-supported plan for a six-week cease-fire in the war in Gaza. In exchange, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Instead, the militant group has been unable to confirm that it has enough civilian hostages to fulfill its end of the deal in the initial phase of the proposed plan, complicating talks toward a possible cease-fire in the six-month-old war that has left much of Gaza in ruins. A Hamas official said the group wouldn’t commit to releasing 40 living hostages but could commit to 40 hostages total, which could mean dead or alive.


➤UKRAINE SITUATION BECOMING DIRE: Russia’s missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, the bombardment of its second-largest city and advances along the front are stoking worries that Kyiv’s military effort is nearing breaking point. A dire shortage of ammunition and manpower along the 1,200-kilometer (930 mile) front and gaps in air defense show that Ukraine is at its most fragile moment in over two years of war, according to Western officials with knowledge of the situation. The risk is a collapse of Ukrainian defenses, an event that would give Kremlin an opening to make a major advance for the first time since the initial stages of the conflict, at least one official said. The next few months will amount to Ukraine’s toughest test, with a public growing exhausted of war, especially in the city of Kharkiv in the country’s east, which has been particularly targeted.

➤TRUMP IN JAIL? If former President Donald Trump is convicted on all counts in his New York criminal hush money trial that begins April 15, he could theoretically face more than a decade in prison. But most legal experts who spoke to USA TODAY said such a dramatic outcome is unlikely. Instead, he would likely be sentenced to something between probation and four years in prison. And he would probably still be out, free to campaign for president as the presumptive or actual 2024 Republican nominee, while his all-but-certain appeal was pending. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Each count carries a maximum sentence of four years.

➤JUDD'S DAUGHTER CHARGED WITH SOLICITING: Wynonna Judd’s daughter, Grace Kelley, has been formally charged with soliciting prostitution, indecent exposure and obstructing governmental operations, according to the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. The troubled 27-year-old daughter of the country legend was arrested on April 5 in Alabama for the latter two misdemeanors after standing near a highway with her entire chest and southern region exposed. She reportedly did not cooperate with police when they approached her. Kelley was also holding a sign that read “Ride for a Ride” while exposed, the Millbrook, Ala. Police Chief P.K. Johnson told the Daily Mail Thursday. She is reportedly scheduled for a court appearance on April 25.

⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Phillies 5 Pirates 1
  • Orioles 9 Red Sox 4
  • Athletics 1 Rangers 0
  • Royals 13 Astros 3
  • Mets 16 Braves 4
  • Twins-Tigers PP
  • Brewers-Reds PP

⚾OHTANI EX-INTERPRETER CHARGED: Federal authorities charged the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani with bank fraud for allegedly stealing more than $16 million from the two-time AL MVP's account. During a press conference, the government laid out its case against Ippei Mizuhara, saying he transferred millions of dollars to an alleged illegal sports book to pay off debts, using Othani's baseball salary to fund his scheme. “The bets do not appear to have been made on the sport of baseball," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. Estrada said Mizuhara's bets were made between 2021 and 2024. Mizuhara set up the account for Ohtani and didn't have access to Ohtani's financial advisors.

🏈CHIEFS W-R TURNS HIMSELF IN: Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice turned himself into authorities and was booked into a DeSoto jail Thursday, more than a week after he was involved in a multivehicle collision in Dallas. Rice, a former Southern Methodist football player who grew up near Fort Worth, is facing eight charges related to a six-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 75. He admitted to driving a Lamborghini Urus involved in the collision, officials said, which injured four people.

🏌WEATHER INTERUPTS THE MASTERS: Bryson DeChambeau holds the lead at The Masters with a score of minus-7 after completing all 18 holes on Thursday. It’s his career-best round at Augusta. The world’s top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler, sits in second one stroke behind after finishing his first round. Tiger Woods is in one of two groups that didn’t finish first-round play. There was a weather delay, which pushed back start times. The five-time Masters champion has a score of minus-1 and is tied for 17th. He, Jason Day and Max Homa made it through hole No. 13 before the alarm sounded that darkness was starting to descend.

➤FRIDAY'S WEATHER MAP:



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