US stock market hits record high after three-day lull
S&P 500 rises 0.9 percent as major players including Apple and Tesla see gains. The US stock market has hit a record high after a string of downbeat trading sessions. All three leading stock indexes rose on Wednesday, ending a three-day lull. The S&P 500, which tracks the performance of 500 of the largest US companies, finished up 0.9 percent on Wednesday, surpassing last week’s record. The rise leaves the benchmark index up more than 10 percent so far in 2024. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite rose 1.22 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively. Among the big corporate players, Apple and Tesla climbed 2.12 percent and 1.22 percent, respectively, while semiconductor company Nvidia Corp declined 2.5 percent. Pharmaceutical giant Merck climbed 5 percent after announcing that the US Food and Drug Administration had approved its drug Winrevair to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. Cruise line Carnival rose 1 percent after the company raised key earnings and revenue projections and revised its costs downward. Cintas, an office supplies company, surged 8.2 percent after reporting a better-than-expected profit for the latest quarter. Trump Media & Technology Group, former US President Donald Trump’s social media company, rose 14.2 percent, continuing its rally after surging 16 percent in its market debut the previous day. Investors are anticipating the release of key US economic data this week, including updated figures on jobless claims, gross domestic product and consumer sentiment. Adblock test (Why?)
Can we talk about Tate? The ‘manosphere’ in Australian schools
Young fans of self-styled “manfluencers” like Andrew Tate, currently facing charges including rape in a Romanian court, are increasingly bringing misogynist views into Australian schools, leaving other children, teachers and parents searching for answers. In response, the Australian government is offering 3.5 million Australian dollars ($2.3m) in grants in a trial aimed at tackling “harmful gender stereotypes perpetuated online”. The manosphere’s reach into Australian schools has gotten so bad that some Australian teachers are quitting their jobs, according to a recent study published by Monash University in Melbourne. The Monash researchers found that students were openly expressing “male supremacist” views in class. One teacher says a student told her “I hate women”, while another said boys as young as 13 were made “sexual moaning noises” in her class. “People are crying out for what to do,” Naomi Barnes, a senior lecturer in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at the Queensland University of Technology, told Al Jazeera. A former teacher who now lectures aspiring teachers, Barnes says that teachers and parents have come to her asking what to do about the ideas peddled by people like Tate, and how to discuss them with their children, Drawing on her research on how misinformation from bad faith actors spreads, Barnes developed guidelines she’s used in her own classrooms. But she acknowledges it is not easy. “Andrew Tate has already given them all the comebacks,” she said, noting how Tate tries to use arguments of free speech in response to critics, even when what is being said is not true, and potentially harmful. She encourages parents and teachers to be prepared to listen and to try to understand what a child is trying to say. Young people may be more likely to respond when a conversation is brought up by a trusted adult, Barnes adds, including on questions like what it “means to be a part of a fair and just society”. In her classrooms, she tries to “open up a space where students feel comfortable to tell me what they’re really thinking”. Instead of telling students their ideas are wrong, she asks them to explain their thinking. “Be careful. Think through what you said,” she advises, as well as telling them, “You’ve taken a group of people’s humanity away.” ‘He has your children’ Currently facing charges of rape, human trafficking and being part of an organised crime group, Tate’s particular brand of toxic masculinity has attracted some 9 million followers on X, and billions of views on TikTok and YouTube. A former kickboxer, Tate gained notoriety after he was removed from the United Kingdom’s version of the Big Brother reality television show after a video showing him attacking a woman emerged. He then turned his attention to social media, where bans from major platforms have done little to dampen his popularity. “You can listen to 20 hours of Andrew Tate, and not hear anything misogynistic. But his fans listen to hundreds of hours. And these things cohere together into a narrative that he’ll never say in one soundbite,” explained author and senior lecturer Tyson Yunkaporta. Yunkaporta’s most recent book Right Story, Wrong Story delves into the spread of disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to high school students late last year he says he asked them to “put your hands up, who’s into Andrew Tate?” “Almost all of the boys. And surprisingly, more than half of the girls put their fists in the air [and] cheered,” Yunkaporta told Al Jazeera. Yunkaporta says the English teachers he spoke to from the school were aware of Tate’s influence. “English teachers are the best with staying on top of the problematic discourses that infect the world,” he said. But he noted some of the other teachers had no idea who Tate was. “He’s in the top five most influential people on the planet right now. And he has your children,” he told them. But it is not only schools where followers of the manosphere are making themselves known. Sharna Bremner, the founder of End Rape on Campus Australia, says similar ideas are now “flowing onto university campuses”. Australian teachers say students are increasingly spreading ‘manosphere’ ideas inside their classes [File: Dan Peled/EPA-EFE] And Bremner says it’s not just students who are sharing Tate’s views in class. “It’s something that people are hearing from their classmates or sometimes even from their tutors,” she told Al Jazeera. Homegrown misogyny While much of the recent focus has been on Andrew Tate, who is currently awaiting trial in Romania and extradition to the United Kingdom, the ideas he is spreading are hardly new to Australia, which has long struggled with sexism and gendered violence. “Manfluencers or manosphere-type” influencers “have been around forever”, said Barnes, who thinks Tate will inevitably be replaced by someone else. In recent years, sexual abuse and domestic violence have attracted significant discussion in Australia, something Bremner attributes to the “Rosie Batty effect”. Batty became a prominent advocate against domestic violence after her 11-year-old son Luke Batty was murdered by his father. She was named Australian of the Year in 2015. But the problems have persisted, including in Australia’s parliament where reports of widespread sexism led to protests across the country in 2021 and efforts to address gender inequality in Australia continue to be met with resistance. Last month, Australian senator Matt Canavan referenced Tate in response to new data on the gender wage gap in Australia. “I’m sick and tired of this bulls***,” Canavan, a member of the Nationals party, told reporters. “Young men in particular feel like they are now being discriminated against and that’s why they are going to watch the likes of Andrew Tate.” Minister for Families and Social Services Amanda Rishworth described Canavan’s comments as “dangerous”. “Linking Australia’s first major report on the gender pay gap to influencers like Andrew Tate who glorify violence against women is unacceptable,” she said. “By contrast, we’re investing 3.5 million [Australian dollars; $2.28m] to counter harmful gender stereotypes perpetuated online as part of our
‘States are expected to…’: India strongly objects to US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest
AAP, all of whose main leaders are now imprisoned in connection with the case, says CM Kejriwal has been “falsely arrested” in a “fabricated case”. It has an electoral alliance with the Congress party and others who aim to challenge the ruling BJP.
Texas criminal appeals court takes man off death row over intellectual disability
Since Randall Mays was sentenced to death in 2008 for the murder of two sheriff’s deputies, his lawyers have argued his intellectual disability exempts him from execution.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to make big ‘expose’ on ED’s probe in excise policy case today: Wife Sunita
On Wednesday, Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, announced that her husband would unveil significant revelations regarding an alleged excise policy scam. She emphasized that despite multiple raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), no incriminating evidence was found.
Republicans’ budding interest in Texas’ housing crisis could create strange political bedfellows
Republican lawmakers may try to force Texas cities to allow greater housing density as the state faces a housing crunch.
Former Watergate prosecutor calls Trump gag order ‘so unusual’: ‘This never happens’
Nick Akerman, a former Watergate prosecutor, said that in his 50-some years in law, he has never seen a gag order like the one imposed on former President Trump in his hush money payments case this week. New York Judge Juan Merchan issued the gag order on Tuesday following a request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “This is so unusual,” Akerman told CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield on Wednesday. “This never happens, in over 50 years in law practice, both as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer.” He added, “It’s not done, and the reason it’s not done is because once you start disparaging the judge, disparaging people in the courtroom, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way because that’s the judge that’s going to sentence you.” TRUMP’S $454m JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULING Akerman added that Trump is “the only one I have ever seen do this and do it in such an outrageous way that it’s really forced the courts – to where does the First Amendment stop and where do we need a gag order in order to protect the judicial system?” Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been highly critical of the judge, calling the gag order “illegal, un-American, unconstitutional,” saying that Merchan was “wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement.” Trump even suggested that the gag order was related to Merchan’s adult daughter’s work as the president of a political consulting firm. “Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. MANHATTAN DA BRAGG REQUESTS JUDGE IMPOSE GAG ORDER ON TRUMP DURING HUSH MONEY CASE In issuing the gag order, the judge cited Trump’s “prior extrajudicial statements,” saying they establish “a sufficient risk to the administration of justice.” Merchan ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses concerning their potential participation, or about counsel in the case — other than Bragg — or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff. Merchan also ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about any prospective juror or chosen juror. Merchan said in his decision that Trump has made statements in the past during other trials — likely referring to the months-long non-jury civil fraud trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case. “lndeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating, and the targets of his statements ranged from local and federal officials, court and court staff, prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty,” Merchan writes. “The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof.” Akerman added later on X, “Trump’s unprecedented pattern of disparaging and threatening judges, prosecutors and witnesses is self-destructive and makes it more likely he will end up in the slammer.” Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who served under Trump, told Fox News, “I think these gag orders are very dangerous… The First Amendment is fairly broad in its protection of our right to speak and speak our minds, and I think ultimately this judge is going to have to tread very carefully.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Trump has had two other gag orders issued against him in recent months. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Yellen says China’s rapid buildout of its green energy industry ‘distorts global prices’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called out China’s ramped-up production in solar energy, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, calling it unfair competition that “distorts global prices” and “hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world.” GOP LEADERS UNLEASH ON JANET YELLEN OVER $110B ENERGY TAX HIKE Yellen, who is planning her second trip to China as Treasury secretary, said Wednesday in Georgia that she will convey her belief to her Chinese counterparts that Beijing’s increased production of green energy also poses risks “to productivity and growth in the Chinese economy.” “I will press my Chinese counterparts to take necessary steps to address this issue.” China is the dominant player in batteries for electric vehicles and has a rapidly expanding auto industry that could challenge the world’s established carmakers as it goes global. The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based intergovernmental group, notes that in 2023 China accounted for around 60% of global electric car sales. Yellen delivered remarks Wednesday afternoon at Suniva — a solar cell manufacturing facility in Norcross, Georgia. The plant closed in 2017 in large part due to cheap imports flooding the market, according to Treasury. It is reopening, in part, because of incentives provided by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which provides tax incentives for green energy manufacturing. The firm’s history is something of a warning on the impact of oversaturation of markets by Chinese products — and a marker of the state of U.S.-China economic relations, which are strained due to investment prohibitions, espionage concerns and other issues. China on Tuesday filed a World Trade Organization complaint against the U.S. over what it says are discriminatory requirements for electric vehicle subsidies. The Chinese Commerce Ministry didn’t say what prompted the move. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in response to the complaint that the U.S. subsidies are a “contribution to a clean energy future” while China “continues to use unfair, non-market policies and practices to undermine fair competition.” The European Union, also concerned about the potential threat to its auto industry, launched its own investigation into Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles last year. “In the past, in industries like steel and aluminum, Chinese government support led to substantial overinvestment and excess capacity that Chinese firms looked to export abroad at depressed prices,” Yellen said. “This maintained production and employment in China but forced industry in the rest of the world to contract.” “These are concerns that I increasingly hear from government counterparts in industrialized countries and emerging markets, as well as from the business community globally,” she said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The tone of Yellen’s speech stands in contrast to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who met with American business leaders in Beijing Wednesday and called for closer trade ties with the U.S. amid a steady improvement in relations that had sunk to the lowest level in years. Xi emphasized Wednesday the mutually beneficial economic ties between the world’s two largest economies, despite heavy U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and Washington’s accusations of undue Communist Party influence, unfair trade barriers and theft of intellectual property.
First week of NC sports betting sees almost $200M in wagers: ‘strong start’
Legalized statewide sports wagering in North Carolina from smartphones and desktops that began two weeks ago is off to a “strong start,” a state lottery official said on Wednesday, likely buoyed by betting on college basketball at its season’s apex. Preliminary monetary numbers for the first day and first week of sports wagering were presented at a meeting of the North Carolina State Lottery Commission, which was directed in last June’s sports wagering law to license operators and suppliers and set rules. Eight interactive sports wagering operators could begin taking bets at noon March 11, the day before the men’s Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament began. The first week ended just after brackets for the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments were released. STATEWIDE LEGAL SPORTS BETTING UNDERWAY IN NORTH CAROLINA By midnight March 11, over $23.9 million had been wagered, of which almost $12.4 million were “promotional wagers” — incentives for new customers offered by the companies once an initial bet is made. And bettors were paid $12.2 million in winnings during the first 12 hours, according to the commission presentation. Through the first week, over $198.1 million had been wagered, with $141.6 million in bet winnings paid. “Gross wagering revenue” — the base upon which the state will receive its 18% cut in taxes — was close to $42.7 million. Sterl Carpenter, a commission executive overseeing sports gambling, said it was too early to make informed comparisons of the launch to those in other states. But he did say that North Carolina’s launch appeared “on par” to last year’s rollout in Massachusetts. Still, “by all accounts, mobile sports wagering in North Carolina is off to a strong start,” Carpenter said, citing public comments by some operators. And he said the early level of winnings “has to do with N.C. State and North Carolina doing pretty well” in the basketball post season. The North Carolina State University men’s team won its first ACC title since 1987 on March 16 by winning five games in a row, capped by a tournament championship victory over UNC-Chapel Hill. The 2023 sports gambling legislation, signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper, also authorizes for the future in-person wagering, statewide betting on horse races and rules to permit live horse racing. Before the law was carried out, sports gambling was legal in North Carolina only at three casinos operated by two American Indian tribes. Among North Carolina Education Lottery games, the full commission also heard Wednesday about the early popularity of “digital instants” that the lottery launched on Nov. 15. Accessed through a log in-protected computer or smartphone screen, the instants play in part like slot machines, with various number and symbol matchings resulting in cash prizes. Through January, digital instant game sales — reduced by distributed prize proceeds — are more than five times the amount that was projected in the lottery’s annual budget, according to a presentation. Over 147,000 people have played digital instants since the launch, helping overall lottery gaming revenue, with multistate draw games not included, increase so far this fiscal year compared to last year rather than decrease. Commission Deputy Executive Director Randy Spielman attributed the high sales numbers in part to the lottery already selling draw-game tickets to customers online and a longtime lottery player rewards program on its website. “Our success can be attributed to how long we’ve been kind of engaging our players from a digital standpoint,” Spielman said. The education lottery took in record sales of more than $4.3 billion during the fiscal year ending last June 30, resulting in net earnings of $1.015 billion, also a record.
Prosecutors slam Hunter Biden attorneys in federal court: ‘You attack the facts’
Prosecutors went after Hunter Biden’s attorneys during an hours-long hearing Wednesday on several motions to dismiss criminal tax evasion charges against the president’s son. The first son did not appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, but his attorney Abbe Lowell argued in favor of dismissing what he claimed were politically motivated charges. He said the government was perpetrating “the least ordinary prosecution a person could imagine.” The tax charges against President Biden’s son stemmed from a years-long investigation conducted by Special Counsel David Weiss. Lowell claimed that the timeline of the case showed misdemeanor charges against the Hunter Biden into several felonies. As Special Counsel Attorney Leo Wise made his arguments against dismissing the case, Lowell shook his head multiple times, appearing annoyed. HUNTER BIDEN FILES TO DISMISS INDICTMENT ON GUN CHARGES IN DELAWARE, CITING COLLAPSED PLEA DEAL “When you don’t have the facts you attack the law. When you don’t have the law you attack the facts. When you don’t have the facts or the law, you attack the prosecutors,” Wise said at one point in reference to Lowell, calling his arguments in favor of dismissal “fact-free pleadings.” Wise said Abbe Lowell has attacked the prosecution for working for Jim Jordan, Biden and Putin. “These are fact-free pleadings.” Judge Mark Scarsi, who presided over the proceedings in the packed courtroom, cut off representatives for both sides several times. He said he plans to rule on several motions to dismiss federal tax charges against Hunter Biden by April 17. As the hearing wrapped, Scarsi noted that all sides had agreed on a next pre-trial hearing in Los Angeles on May 29 at 1 p.m. Previously, Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to all nine federal tax charges stemming from Weiss’ investigation. Hunter’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 20. Weiss charged Hunter Biden in December, alleging a “four-year scheme” when the president’s son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports. The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid. In the indictment, Weiss alleged that Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.” HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO TAX CHARGES BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS The special counsel alleged that Hunter “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” and that in 2018, he “stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015.” Lowell is also seeking to dismiss gun charges Weiss brought against Biden in Delaware. The president’s son pleaded not guilty to all counts in October. Lowell also argued in court Wednesday that a diversion agreement on the tax charges was still in effect. The diversion agreement was included as part of the original plea deal that collapsed in July. Biden was set to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, which would allow him to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. That deal fell apart during his last court appearance. The president’s son, in July, was then forced to plead not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge when the deal collapsed in court. Fox News’s Lee Ross contributed to this report.