WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s decision to go back on his word and issue a categorical pardon for his son, Hunter , just weeks before his scheduled sentencing on gun and tax convictions was a surprise that wasn't all that surprising. Not to those who had witnessed the president’s shared anguish over his two sons after the boys survived a car crash that killed Biden's first wife and a daughter more than a half-century ago. Or to those who heard the president regularly lament the death of his older son, Beau , from cancer or voice concerns — largely in private — about Hunter’s sobriety and health after years of deep addiction. People are also reading... But by choosing to put his family first, the 82-year-old president — who had pledged to restore a fractured public’s trust in the nation’s institutions and respect for the rule of law — has raised new questions about his already teetering legacy. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado's Democratic Gov. Jared Polis wrote in a post on X. He added that while he could sympathize with Hunter Biden’s struggles, “no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.” Biden aides and allies had been resigned to the prospect of the president using his extraordinary power in the waning days of his presidency to ensure his son wouldn't see time behind bars, especially after Donald Trump ’s win. The president's supporters have long viewed Biden's commitment to his family as an asset overall, even if Hunter's personal conduct and tangled business dealings were seen as a persistent liability. But the pardon comes as Biden has become increasingly isolated since the loss to Trump by Vice President Kamala Harris , who jumped in to the race after the president’s catastrophic debate against Trump in June forced his exit from the election. He is still struggling to resolve thorny foreign policy issues in the Middle East and Europe. And he must reckon with his decision to seek reelection despite his advanced age, which helped return the Oval Office to Trump, a man he had warned time and again was a threat to democratic norms. Trump has gleefully planned to undo Biden’s signature achievements on climate change and reverse the Democrat's efforts to reinvigorate the country’s alliances, all while standing poised to take credit for a strengthening economy and billions in infrastructure investments that are in the pipeline for the coming years. And now, Biden has handed the Republican a pretext to carry through with sweeping plans to upend the Department of Justice as the Republican vows to seek retribution against supposed adversaries. “This pardon is just deflating for those of us who’ve been out there for a few years yelling about what a threat Trump is,” Republican Joe Walsh, a vocal Trump critic, said on MSNBC. “‘Nobody’s above the law,’ we’ve been screaming. Well, Joe Biden just made clear his son Hunter is above the law.” Jean-Pierre said Monday from Air Force One that the president wrestled with the decision but ultimately felt his son’s case had been tainted by politics, though she tried to thread the needle — insisting he had faith in the Justice Department. “He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” she said. But Trump has already made very clear his intent to disrupt federal law enforcement with his initial nomination of outspoken critics like former Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general and Kash Patel to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , who nominally still has more than two years left in his term. (Gaetz ended up quickly withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.) Reacting to the pardon, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement: “That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people." In a social media post, the president-elect himself called the pardon “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.” “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked. He was referring to those convicted in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters aiming to overturn the 2020 presidential election result. Biden and his spokespeople had repeatedly and flatly ruled out the president granting his son a pardon. In June, Biden told reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” In July, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “It's still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No." In November, days after Trump's victory, Jean-Pierre reiterated that message: “Our answer stands, which is no." Neither Biden nor the White House explained the shift in the president's thinking, and it was his broken promise as much as his act of clemency that was a lightning rod. He is hardly the first president to pardon a family member or friend entangled in political dealings. Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger for drug charges after he had served his sentence roughly a decade earlier. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner , the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Yet Biden held himself up as placing his respect for the American judicial system and rule of law over his own personal concerns — trying to draw a deliberate contrast with Trump, who tested the bounds of his authority like few predecessors. Inside the White House, the timing of the pardon was surprising to some who believed Biden would put it off as long as possible, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. It came just after Biden spent extended time over the past week with Hunter and other family members on Nantucket in Massachusetts, a family tradition for Thanksgiving. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,” Biden said in a statement announcing the pardon. Some in the administration have privately expressed anguish that the substance of Biden’s statement, including his claim of an unfair politically-tinged prosecution of his son resembled complaints Trump — who faced now-abandoned indictments over his role in trying to subvert the 2020 election — has been making for years about the Justice Department. Biden said the charges in his son's cases "came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.” Many legal experts agreed that the charges against the younger Biden were somewhat unusual, but the facts of the offenses were hardly in dispute, as Hunter wrote about his gun purchase while addicted to illegal drugs in his memoir and ultimately pleaded guilty to the tax charges. The pardon too was unusual, coming before Hunter Biden was even sentenced and covering not just the gun and tax offenses against his son, but also anything else he might have done going back to the start of 2014. It's a move that could limit the ability of the Trump Justice Department to investigate the younger Biden's unsavory foreign business dealings, or to find new ground on which to bring criminal charges related to that time period. Biden, in his statement, asked for consideration: “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision." Associated Press Writer Aamer Madhani in Washington and Will Weissert aboard Air Force One contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Stock market today: Rising tech stocks pull Wall Street to another recordTensions from China’s ongoing dispute with the United States over trade have continued to escalate this week, according to multiple reports. The U.S. and China have been engaged in an ongoing trade battle , with both countries vying for an upper hand. As President Joe Biden’s term comes to an end, his administration has recently rolled out new export restrictions on China. Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that there will be “no winners” in a U.S.-China trade war, according to Chinese broadcaster CCTV. The Chinese president criticized sanctions the U.S. has placed on Chinese companies in April, calling them an “endless stream of measures to suppress China’s economy, trade, science and technology.” China has recently escalated trade tensions, with some Chinese manufacturers beginning to limit sales to Europe and the U.S. of components vital to building unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, which play a vital role in Ukraine’s defense against Russia, according to Bloomberg. Some Western officials expect China to implement broad-ranging export restrictions on drone parts in the coming year, Bloomberg reported. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced on Dec. 2 new restrictions designed to curb the People’s Republic of China’s capacity to produce advanced semiconductors that can be used in advanced weapon systems, artificial intelligence and advanced computing. China’s Ministry of Commerce quickly responded to the move on Dec. 3 by announcing a ban on exports of materials which can be used in the production of semiconductors and ammunition. (RELATED: China Threatens Taiwan With Largest Military Drill In Decades As Biden Quietly Disappears From World Stage) (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images) Despite the president expressing his “full confidence” on Tuesday that the nation would achieve its 2024 growth goal, China’s exports grew at a slower pace than anticipated in November, not meeting economists expectations for a surge in exports ahead of potential new tariffs in 2025, according to The Wall Street Journal. In November, China’s exports increased 6.7% from a year earlier, down from October’s 12.7% growth, The WSJ report noted. President-elect Donald Trump has proposed sweeping tariffs on imported goods when he returns to the White House in January 2025, including on goods imported from China . The U.S. implemented various tariffs against China under Trump’s first presidential administration. Despite many members of the media warning that a trade war with China would tank the U.S. economy, Trump previously spoke positively of the effects on the steel and auto industries from his placing tariffs on China. Trump also threatened to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese goods to pressure China into taking additional steps to prevent the trafficking of Chinese-made chemicals used in fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans in recent years — according to Reuters. If enacted, the president-elect’s proposed tariffs on China could pose major growth risks for China’s economy. Trump’s proposal to sharply raise tariffs could also cause China to accelerate shifting to offshore factories, according to PBS News. All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org .TULSA, Okla. , Dec. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE: OGS ) today announced it will participate in the Jefferies Gas Utilities Mini-Conference virtually on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024 , followed by the Mizuho Power, Energy, & Infrastructure Conference in New York City . On Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 , the ONE Gas executive management team will attend the Wells Fargo Midstream, Energy & Utilities Symposium. Robert S. McAnnally , president and chief executive officer, Christopher Sighinolfi , senior vice president and chief financial officer, and Curtis Dinan , senior vice president and chief operating officer, will be conducting a series of meetings with members of the investment community at these events. Beginning on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 , the materials utilized during the conferences will be accessible on the ONE Gas website, www.onegas.com/investors/events-and-presentations . ONE Gas, Inc. (NYSE: OGS ) is a 100-percent regulated natural gas utility, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "OGS." ONE Gas is included in the S&P MidCap 400 Index and is one of the largest natural gas utilities in the United States. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma , ONE Gas provides a reliable and affordable energy choice to more than 2.3 million customers in Kansas , Oklahoma and Texas . Its divisions include Kansas Gas Service, the largest natural gas distributor in Kansas ; Oklahoma Natural Gas, the largest in Oklahoma ; and Texas Gas Service, the third largest in Texas , in terms of customers. For more information and the latest news about ONE Gas, visit onegas.com and follow its social channels: @ONEGas , Facebook , LinkedIn and YouTube . SOURCE ONE Gas, Inc.
U.S. imposes new controls on chip exports to ChinaAfter a Snoop Dogg figurine and other merchandise was stolen from a St. Thomas games store earlier this week, its owners scored when their Facebook post motivated two shoplifters to return the items a day later. Marty Hancox, founder and co-owner of Fan of the Sport, was unpacking stock on Monday at the shop in the Elgin Centre shopping mall that sells sports memorabilia, trading cards and board games. He discovered a Pop Funko, a type of figurine depicting famous people and pop culture characters, was missing, said co-owner Dionne Turner, Hancox’s partner. After a search of the store failed to turn up the figurine of rapper Snoop Dogg, Hancox checked the store’s surveillance tapes, Turner said. The video showed that around 1:30 p.m., two females had pocketed the Snoop Dogg Pop Funko, a Pop Funko of X-Men character Wolverine, and a Toronto Maple Leafs coffee mug, Turner said. “I said, ‘I’m posting this online because we’ve had issues before,’” she said. “The police, they try to help, but there’s only so much they can do . . . and that’s how it all started.” This time, rather than contacting police, Turner and Hancox decided to post a video and several still images of the two females who had pocketed about $80 worth of merchandise to the store’s Facebook page around 4 p.m. on Monday, Turner said. Both Hancox and Turner said it wasn’t the cost of the items that motivated the post. Hancox said it was “more the principle of they took stuff” with Turner noting money is “out of our pocket ,too.” “We didn’t really like it, to kind of shame them on Facebook, but I thought, we’ll give it a try, and sure enough within 24 hours they contacted us,” Hancox said. He believes the pair were likely “getting pressure from family and friends” who saw their picture, he said. Turner said the two females returned the stolen property on Tuesday evening, and that the names of the shoplifters were never learned, nor were there were hard feelings. “I thanked them for bringing this stuff back,” Turner said, and told them she was “really impressed because it took a lot of guts to come in here and face me.” “We don’t care what their names are, we’re just happy we got our items back,” Hancox said. A spokesperson from the St. Thomas police stated by email that a property crime analyst with the department called shoplifters returning stolen property “very rare.” Turner said the shoplifters had mentioned they were having difficulty affording Christmas gifts, which she empathized with, but “they just went the wrong way about it. “I didn’t want them to get ostracized because everybody knew who they (are) now,” Turner said. “We got this stuff back, we’re going to drop it (and) hopefully they learned their lesson.” The post with the video and images of the shoplifters was removed and another was uploaded to Fan of the Sport’s Facebook page giving thanks to the pair for returning the stolen property and thanking customers and friends for sharing the post. The post has received an outpouring of support and even some kudos to the pair who returned the items. “Glad they came in and had a civil conversation and apologized,” wrote Facebook user Rebecaa Seeley. Tammy Crosby wrote: “That’s amazing news! That takes a lot of accountability on their part. Well done.” Turner appreciated the compassion for the two women as well. “I got teary eyed when I was reading the comments,” she said. “I was really, really impressed that everybody kind of supported them and agreed.”
5th National Sports Festival: ISR U-21 Athletics awarding ceremony heldAES: aims to Building the RWA Digital Banking Unicorn 12-12-2024 09:12 PM CET | Business, Economy, Finances, Banking & Insurance Press release from: Getnews / PR Agency: LianPR RWA, or Real World Asset, refers to the digitization of real-world assets through blockchain technology, enabling seamless interaction and resource synergy between physical assets and the Web3 ecosystem. The value of RWA lies in aligning with the value of tangible assets, providing scalability beyond traditional financial systems. Through blockchain applications, assets can be managed more efficiently, transparently, and equitably, allowing global participants to subscribe to ownership tokens. Key Characteristics of RWA: Asset Digitization: Transforming physical assets into digital representations on the blockchain for enhanced usability and tradability. Increased Liquidity: Tokenization and fractionalization make traditionally illiquid assets more accessible and marketable. Reduced Transaction Costs: Transparent and real-time verification capabilities eliminate intermediaries, significantly reducing fees. The core concept of RWA involves mapping the revenue rights of real-world financial assets-such as U.S. Treasury bonds, fixed-income securities, and equities-onto the blockchain, enabling the collateralization of off-chain assets to access on-chain liquidity. For tangible assets like gold and real estate, blockchain technology enhances transaction efficiency and transparency. Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/b6a0bb4c5400fb501b5c68514a2d526f.jpg Traditional financial giants such as Citigroup, BlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan have entered the RWA space. According to Dune Analytics, RWA narratives have seen a 117% growth this year, ranking second only to "Meme." This article explores the current state and future opportunities of the RWA sector. RWA's Rapid Growth in DeFi RWA has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in decentralized finance (DeFi). Total Value Locked (TVL) doubled in 2023, and on-chain asset value has already grown by 50% in early 2024, reaching $12 billion (excluding stablecoins). The most significant contributors to this growth are private credit markets (76%), U.S. Treasury products (17%), and tokenized gold and real estate. RWA Applications: Real Estate: Blockchain digitization provides platforms for analysis, tokenization, and trading. By leveraging NFTs or other forms of asset-backed digital representations, real estate can be fractionalized to resolve liquidity constraints, invigorate the physical economy, and accelerate asset circulation. Other Industries: Applications extend to hospitality, cultural assets, fine art, and agriculture. AES: The First RWA-Driven Digital Bank Amid the RWA surge, AES Digital Asset Bank has emerged as the world's first digital bank grounded in RWA technology. Inspired by the Aspen Coin model, which tokenized assets of the St. Regis Aspen Resort to offer low-cost investment opportunities, AES Digital Bank expands this concept into the tourism and consumer sectors. By leveraging RWA technology, AES helps enterprises reduce inventory, enhance asset liquidity, and achieve ecosystem integration. Image: https://www.getnews.info/uploads/b0c845a865af9eb6c67122f75aadd1f2.jpg AES Business Model and Innovations: AES employs the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain to tokenize physical assets and enable secure, transparent, and immutable on-chain transactions. Its innovative digital financial services include tokenization of real estate, bonds, fine art, collectibles, and private credit. AES aims to establish a diverse digital financial ecosystem with solutions for enterprises and individuals, including asset evaluation and tokenization. Strategic Collaborations and Investments: AES collaborates with leading financial institutions, including American Express, Barclays Bank, and Western Alliance Bank, involving a total investment of $500 million. AES focuses on core areas such as tourism, consumer products, and digital asset securitization, building a global digital industry ecosystem. American Express' extensive network across tourism, dining, and asset management aligns with AES' vision. By leveraging RWA technology, AES strengthens ecosystem connections and resource flows, expanding on-chain lending capabilities and enabling asset digitization for tangible inventory reduction. AES Ecosystem: The AES ecosystem has reached over 5 million users. With RWA as its foundation, AES drives customer traffic for physical businesses and enriches user experiences through diverse scenarios. Users can redeem AES tokens for products, stay at AES-affiliated hotels, or visit AES-supported attractions, seamlessly integrating online and offline engagement. Technical Framework: AES uses BSC as its foundational blockchain for secure, transparent, and traceable transactions. The bank offers a straightforward application process for asset evaluation and tokenization, ensuring accessibility and efficiency. Vision for the Future: AES aims to build a global RWA-based digital banking framework, bridging physical assets and digital finance. By addressing core user needs through blockchain-powered financial solutions, AES enables the tokenization of assets such as real estate, securities, art, and private credit, alongside a host of financial derivatives. AES' technical, service, and management teams ensure transparency, fairness, and practicality, delivering efficient and reliable transaction services. Aligned with the Web 3.0 era, AES continues to innovate in RWA technology, positioning itself as a leader in the digital finance revolution. Join AES and embrace the new era of asset digitization! Disclaimer: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Media Contact Company Name: AES Email: Send Email [ http://www.universalpressrelease.com/?pr=aes-aims-to-building-the-rwa-digital-banking-unicorn ] Country: United States Website: http://AES.info This release was published on openPR.