Thursday, April 25, 2024

4/25 WAKE-UP CALL: DOJ's Non-Compete Ban Challenged


Top business groups and a national tax-services firm sued the FTC over its ban on noncompete agreements. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with other business groups, and the tax firm Ryan LLC challenged the regulation in Texas federal courts. The rule, issued by the FTC yesterday, prohibits companies from enforcing existing noncompete agreements on anyone other than senior executives. Ryan says in its lawsuit that noncompete agreements covering more than 200 partners protect the firm’s confidential information and the strategies that its employees develop. The Chamber’s lawsuit says policymakers and courts have for decades recognized the value of noncompete agreements, and the federal government has never regulated them. An FTC spokesman defended its authority to issue the measure. The agency argues that noncompete clauses hamper competition for labor and result in lower pay and benefits for workers.

➤META REPORTS BEST-EVER 1Q:  Meta recorded its best-ever first-quarter revenue thanks to growth in its advertising business, as investors soured on forecasts of rising AI costs. Shares initially fell by more than 12% after the company said it would increase its spending levels for the year by up to $10 billion to support its AI investments. The decline came in spite of an increase in sales to $36.5 billion, up more than 27% compared to a year prior and a record for the January-to-March period, exceeding analyst expectations. Earlier in the day, Boeing reported a $355 million loss as revenue fell 8% from a year ago in quarterly results that were slightly better than expected. The jet maker burned through nearly $4 billion in the most recent quarter as fallout from the Alaska Airlines midair accident exacted a financial toll. Meanwhile, regional banks posted steep profit declines in the first quarter and predicted more pain ahead. Their business model has become less profitable because of higher-for-longer interest rates.

➤MORE STAFFERS OUT AT GOOGLE: Google has fired more than 50 staffers in the wake of in-office protests over the company's cloud computing deals with Israel, according to an activist group representing the former employees. No Tech for Apartheid has protested the cloud computing contracts Google and Amazon have with the Israeli government since 2021. The group said that Google fired more than 20 employees Monday night, bringing the number of total firings to more than 50 since last week, the group said in a statement posted on Medium. The firings came after nine employees were arrested on April 16 during sit-in protests at Google offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, CA.

➤SURPEME COURT HEARS ARGUMENT ON WOMEN AND MEDICAL EMERGENCIES: The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that pits the health of pregnant women suffering medical emergencies against an Idaho law banning abortion. The Biden administration filed suit to establish that, under federal law, emergency room doctors can provide abortions they judge medically necessary to treat a woman experiencing a serious health scare. Idaho’s lawyer told the court that it was the state’s prerogative to define the scope of permissible medical treatments. Liberal justices challenged that view, while Justice Samuel Alito questioned how broad the government believed the health exception should extend. The Supreme Court has permitted Idaho to enforce its abortion ban while its appeal proceeds. A decision is expected by mid-June.

➤TRUMP LAWYERS TAKES IMMUNITY CASE TO SUPREME COURT:  After Donald Trump was impeached in 2021 for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, his attorney told senators they should acquit the former president because the appropriate place for such charges to be made is in the courts, not Congress. “We have a judicial process in this country,” lawyer David Schoen argued. “We have an investigative process in this country to which no former officeholder is immune.” On April 25, Trump’s lawyers will make the opposite case to the Supreme Court. Trump wants the court to dismiss criminal charges filed against him for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. His lawyers say former presidents can’t be prosecuted for actions they took while in office unless Congress first impeaches and convicts him.

➤SECRET SERVICE AGENT RELIEVED OF DUTY: A U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris exhibited "distressing behavior" Monday morning at Joint Base Andrews and was hospitalized, authorities said. Harris was not present at the airbase at the time. In a statement provided to CBS News, the U.S. Secret Service said that at about 9 a.m. local time Monday, the agent "began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing. The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned."
Two sources briefed on the situation told CBS News the agent spouted gibberish, was speaking incoherently and provoked another officer physically. According to sources, the agent in question pushed the special agent in charge while they were near the lounge of Joint Base Andrews. Harris was at the Naval Observatory at the time, USSS said, and the incident had "no impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews." Sources said it occurred about one hour before Harris arrived at the airbase for a flight to Wisconsin.

➤STUDENTS START BREAKING-DOWN ENCAMPMENT: Pro-Palestinian students at Columbia agreed to start breaking down their encampment amid discussions with the university. Columbia imposed a deadline for protesters to leave by midnight Wednesday then extended it 48 hours after almost a week of intense protests that it has struggled to contain. The university said discussions between the school and protesters are continuing and the student demonstrators have agreed to take down some of their tents. Protesters have called on Columbia to divest from companies with business ties to Israel and for a cease-fire in Gaza. 


In the seven months since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, more than 8,000 pro-Palestinian protests have taken place in over 850 cities and towns across the U.S., according to data compiled by researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut.

➤UKRAINE USING LONGER-RANGE MISSLES:  Ukraine used longer-range ATACMS missiles secretly provided by the U.S. against Russian forces. The strike east of Berdyansk occurred less than 24 hours before President Biden signed a law that includes money for more of those weapons, U.S. officials said. It was only the second time Kyiv had used the longer-range variant of ATACMS, an American-provided capability that hadn’t been previously disclosed. The Senate voted 79-18 Tuesday night to approve a $95.3 billion foreign-aid bill, which funds weapons and other military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Of that, $60.8 billion is for Ukraine. The Biden administration plans to send this week the first $1 billion of aid, including munitions for Himars rocket launchers, armored vehicles, artillery, Stinger antiaircraft missiles, air-defense missiles and tactical vehicles.


⚾MLB YANKEES 7 ATHLETICS 3: Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning after nearly striking out and the host New York Yankees recorded a 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night. Judge hit his fourth homer of the season after Oakland starting pitcher Joe Boyle (1-4) was called for a balk. Doyle was called for the balk after throwing a called third strike to Judge, who began walking back to the dugout before returning to finish the at-bat.

After the balk, Judge lined a fastball into the right-field seats to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. It was Judge's 261st career homer and the slugger passed former captain Derek Jeter for ninth place on the Yankees' all-time list. Judge also singled in the third for his first multi-hit game since April 13 and fourth of the season. Anthony Rizzo homered for the second straight game and Juan Soto also homered as the Yankees won for the fifth time in seven games.

Braves Sweep
⚾MLB SCORES:

  • Yankees 7 Athletics 3
  • Rays 7 Tigers 5
  • Reds 7 Phillies 4
  • Padres 5 Rockies 2
  • Rangers 5 Mariners 1
  • Royal 3 Blue Jays 2
  • Twins 6 White Sox 3
  • Cubs 4 Astros 3
  • Braves 4 Marlins 3
  • Dodgers 11 Nationals 2
  • Brewers 3 Pirates 2
  • Red Sox 8 Guardians 0
  • Orioles 6 Angels 5
  • Mets 8 Giants 2
  • Cardinals D-Backs 1
Shohei Ohtani has 13 doubles in 2024. No one else has yet to reach 10

🏀HEAT 111 CELTICS 101: Tyler Herro sank six of Miami's franchise playoff-record 23 3-pointers as the Heat evened their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Boston Celtics by earning a 111-101 road victory in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Miami shot 23-for-43 from long distance, with Herro going 6-for-11 on 3-point tries en route to a team-high 24 points. Herro also had 14 assists.

🏀NBA SCORES:

  • Heat 111 Celtics 101
  • Thunder 124 Pelicans 92
➤THURSDAY'S WEATHER:



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