The Full Belmonte, 5/5/2023
Proud Boys
“Four members of the far-right Proud Boys have been found guilty of seditious conspiracy by a jury in Washington, DC, for their roles to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election. The guilty verdict marks the third time that prosecutors have secured convictions for seditious conspiracy in the Justice Department's historic prosecution of those who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. A fifth defendant was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but all five — including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio — were convicted of at least one charge that carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence.” [CNN]
Justice Clarence Thomas let GOP donor pay child’s tuition
FILE - Associate Justice Clarence Thomas joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
“WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican megadonor paid two years of private school tuition for a child raised by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who did not disclose the payments, a lawyer who has represented Thomas and his wife acknowledged Thursday.
The revelation of tuition payments made by Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow is the latest example of Crow’s generosity to Thomas and his family that has raised questions about Thomas’ ethics and disclosure requirements more generally. The payments, along with the earlier examples of Crow’s financial ties to Thomas, were first reported by the nonprofit investigative journalism site ProPublica….” Read more at AP News
Judicial activist directed fees to Clarence Thomas’s wife, urged ‘no mention of Ginni’
Leonard Leo told GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway to bill nonprofit, then use money to pay spouse of Supreme Court justice
“Conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo arranged for the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be paid tens of thousands of dollars for consulting work just over a decade ago, specifying that her name be left off billing paperwork, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
In January 2012, Leo instructed the GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway to bill a nonprofit group he advises and use that money to pay Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the documents show. The same year, the nonprofit, the Judicial Education Project, filed a brief to the Supreme Court in a landmark voting rights case.
Leo, a key figure in a network of nonprofits that has worked to support the nominations of conservative judges, told Conway that he wanted her to ‘give’ Ginni Thomas ‘another $25K,’ the documents show. He emphasized that the paperwork should have ‘No mention of Ginni, of course.’
Conway’s firm, the Polling Company, sent the Judicial Education Project a $25,000 bill that day. Per Leo’s instructions, it listed the purpose as ‘Supplement for Constitution Polling and Opinion Consulting,’ the documents show.
In all, according to the documents, the Polling Company paid Thomas’s firm, Liberty Consulting, $80,000 between June 2011 and June 2012, and it expected to pay $20,000 more before the end of 2012. The documents reviewed by The Post do not indicate the precise nature of any work Thomas did for the Judicial Education Project or the Polling Company.
The arrangement reveals that Leo, a longtime Federalist Society leader and friend of the Thomases, has functioned not only as an ideological ally of Clarence Thomas’s but also has worked to provide financial remuneration to his family. And it shows Leo arranging for the money to be drawn from a nonprofit that soon would have an interest before the court….” Read more at Washington Post
Justice Dept. Intensifying Efforts to Determine if Trump Hid Documents
Prosecutors investigating the former president’s handling of classified material have issued a wave of new subpoenas and obtained the confidential cooperation of a witness who worked at Mar-a-Lago.
By Maggie Haberman, Adam Goldman, Alan Feuer, Ben Protess and Michael S. Schmidt
May 4, 2023
“Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified documents have obtained the confidential cooperation of a person who has worked for him at Mar-a-Lago, part of an intensifying effort to determine whether Mr. Trump ordered boxes containing sensitive material moved out of a storage room there as the government sought to recover it last year, multiple people familiar with the inquiry said.
Through a wave of new subpoenas and grand jury testimony, the Justice Department is moving aggressively to develop a fuller picture of how the documents Mr. Trump took with him from the White House were stored, who had access to them, how the security camera system at Mar-a-Lago works and what Mr. Trump told aides and his lawyers about what material he had and where it was, the people said.
At the heart of the inquiry is whether Mr. Trump sought to hide some documents after the Justice Department issued a subpoena last May demanding their return.
The existence of an insider witness, whose identity has not been disclosed, could be a significant step in the investigation, which is being overseen by Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. The witness is said to have provided investigators with a picture of the storage room where the material had been held. Little else is known about what prosecutors might have learned from the witness or when the witness first began to provide information to the prosecutors….” Read more at New York Times
North Carolina Passes 12-Week Abortion Ban
GOP-led legislature might override expected veto in state that has been crucial access point since Roe was overturned
An exam room at A Woman’s Choice clinic in Charlotte, N.C. PHOTO: ANGELA OWENS/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“North Carolina’s Republican-led legislature passed a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, setting the state on a path to restricting access that could ultimately reverberate across the region.
North Carolina has become a crucial access point for patients in the Southeast seeking abortions after the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and many states in the region enacted near-total bans on the procedure.
Lawmakers passed the 12-week ban Thursday by a vote of 29-20 in the Senate and on Wednesday along party lines in the House. The bill’s passage came quickly after Republicans announced Tuesday they had reached a consensus following months of negotiations within the party. Republicans crafted the legislation behind closed doors, bypassing the usual committee and amendment process.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said Wednesday he would veto the bill. A new Republican supermajority in the legislature might have the votes to override his veto….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
U.S. death rate falls as COVID slips to 4th
Data: National Vital Statistics System. (2022 data is provisional, based on death certificate data to the NCHS.) Chart: Axios Visuals
“Death rates in the U.S. dropped an estimated 5% in 2022 from the previous year, as the overall number of COVID deaths fell, Axios' Tina Reed writes from provisional data released by the CDC yesterday.
By the numbers: COVID slipped from the top three causes of death. But cancer deaths and deaths from heart disease both rose last year.
COVID was the underlying cause or contributing cause in about 7.5% of U.S. deaths in 2022.” [Axios]
Next Joint Chiefs chair
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. speaks in Colorado in March. Photo: Air Force
“President Biden is expected to nominate the chief of staff of the Air Force — Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown Jr., a seasoned officer and fighter pilot — as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Washington Post reports.
Brown would succeed Gen. Mark Milley, whose term expires at the end of September.
Why it matters: The top two Pentagon leadership positions would be held by African American men — Brown and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — for the first time.
Brown would be the second Black man to become chairman, after Colin Powell.”—N.Y. Times
Official: Gunman kills 3, then self in rural Georgia town
By JEFF AMY and RUSS BYNUM
Police vehicles sit parked in front of a McDonald's restaurant as police investigate a shooting in which multiple people were killed Thursday, May 4, 2023, in Moultrie, Ga. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday that there is more than one crime scene, including one at the McDonald’s restaurant. (Kamira Smith/The Moultrie Observer via AP)
“A Georgia man shot two of his relatives and a fast food restaurant manager dead before killing himself on Thursday in rural south Georgia, the local coroner said.
The shooter killed his 50-year-old mother and 74-year-old grandmother at two neighboring homes and killed a woman, age 41, at a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Moultrie, Colquitt County Coroner C. Verlyn Brock told The Associated Press. He said the gunman, 26, then shot himself.
All three women appeared to have been shot multiple times, according to the coroner.
‘I can’t for the life of me figure out what provoked him in that way,’ Brock said in a phone interview.
Brock declined to release the names of those killed, saying his office was still working to notify next of kin.
McDonald’s said the woman slain at its restaurant was a manager, but the company did not name her. Brock said he did not know whether the gunman and the McDonald’s manager knew each other.
Moultrie police called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take the lead in investigating the case, which often happens with major crimes in Georgia. As of Thursday evening, the GBI had released a statement saying only that there had been ‘multiple fatalities’ at different locations….” Read more at AP News
Fox opposes fellow journalists trying to uncover documents
“NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but ‘gratify private spite or promote public scandal.’
The Associated Press, The New York Times and National Public Radio asked a Delaware judge earlier this week to reveal mostly private text messages and conversations between Fox employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election The information was uncovered during the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit.
Fox lawyer Katharine L. Mowery, in a letter sent to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis and accepted by the court Thursday, said much of the material its competitors sought wasn’t relevant to the issues of the lawsuit.
Some material from the vast trove of evidence that Dominion gathered has already been released and proved newsworthy, showing that Fox hosts and executives didn’t believe the false allegations about Dominion’s voting equipment but still continued to air them. Some messages revealed former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s scorn for former President Donald Trump, including one text where he declared, ‘I hate him passionately.’…” Read more at AP News
Florida Republicans pass bills on pronoun usage at schools, ban on diversity programs
By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Laura DiBella, the Florida state secretary of commerce, walks past dozens of activists in shock as they chant ‘Where is Ron,’ as part of a sit-in outside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat via AP)
“TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republicans on Wednesday approved bills to ban diversity programs in colleges and prevent students and teachers from being required to use pronouns that don’t correspond to someone’s sex, building on top priorities of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The two proposals were given final passage by the Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate. DeSantis is expected to sign the bills into law.
DeSantis, who is expected to announce a presidential campaign in the coming weeks, has driven a hardline conservative agenda as he seeks to bolster support of Republican primary voters ahead of his White House run.
The state’s Legislative session, scheduled to end this week, has been dominated by divisive cultural issues, with Republican allies of DeSantis approving his priority bills on sexual orientation, gender identity, race and education that are expected to aid the governor in his presidential bid….” Read more at AP News
Hunter's clash with White House
President Biden is joined by his son, Hunter Biden, and sister, Valerie Biden Owens, while boarding Air Force One for Ireland at Joint Base Andrews last month. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
“Top aides to President Biden have clashed with Hunter Biden's team over strategies for dealing with the legal battles and Republican attacks that surround the president's son, Axios' Alex Thompson reports.
Why it matters: The tensions led Hunter — without involving the president's top aides — to hire prominent lawyer Abbe Lowell in December, as part of a plan to take a more combative approach than the White House and Hunter's previous lawyer had taken.
Hunter's team also is moving toward creating a legal defense fund, and hiring ethics advisers for it. High-level Democrats and others are worried about the idea of the president's son soliciting money to pay for his legal troubles.
‘For this fund to work, it must be extraordinarily transparent and even restrictive by prohibiting foreign citizens and registered lobbyists from contributing,’ Anthony Coley, the former top spokesman for the Justice Department who was senior adviser to Attorney General Merrick Garland, told Axios.
‘Without these type of guardrails, the fund will be a legitimate headache for the White House.’
Lowell's hiring was abrupt — and unwelcome among some involved in Hunter Biden's legal matters. Hunter, 53, is facing a Justice Department investigation into his taxes and a potential gun charge, probes from House Republicans and a child-support court case in Arkansas.
Longtime Biden lawyer Bob Bauer, who is married to White House senior adviser Anita Dunn, had recommended Hunter's previous lawyer for the congressional investigations, Josh Levy. Bauer had no role in hiring Lowell.
Instead, Bauer was simply informed that Lowell was being hired. Levy resigned soon afterward, according to people familiar with the episode.
In January, Lowell — who recently represented Jared Kushner, former President Trump's son-in-law — met privately with Bauer and top White House officials, including Dunn and special counsel Dick Sauber, to clear the air and discuss the new strategy.
White House officials and Bauer asked Lowell to improve the communication from Hunter's team.
President Biden stands with his son, Hunter Biden, and sister, Valerie Biden Owens, as he looks at a plaque dedicated to his late son Beau Biden while visiting County Mayo, Ireland, last month. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP
What's happening: Hunter's team has shifted from largely not commenting on GOP attacks or stories in conservative tabloids to publicly fighting back.
Lowell has become an increasingly powerful force in Hunter's orbit as a result.
The White House press team has been wary of commenting on Hunter, preferring to distance President Biden from the legal matters involving his son as a private citizen.
But White House spokespeople charged with responding to House GOP investigations also have become more aggressive in defending Biden family members, as Republicans try to link Hunter's business activities to Joe Biden's policy moves.
State of play: Hunter's team and allies have not made a final decision on whether to move forward with a legal defense fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
But supporters of President Biden have been approached for potential roles with the fund, in communications and ethics oversight.
They include Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer under George W. Bush who has become an aggressive anti-Trump commentator.
Hunter Biden, a former investor and lobbyist, doesn't have a steady source of income and is reportedly millions of dollars in legal debt.
Lowell said Monday that Hunter has paid $750,000 in child support to Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman with whom Hunter had a child.
Many of Hunter's expenses in recent years have been covered by L.A. attorney Kevin Morris, a confidante and adviser to the president's son.
During a hearing in Arkansas this week on Hunter's paternity case, Lowell was in court with Hunter's local counsel. Lowell attended because he believes conservatives are weaponizing the case as part of a broader attack on the Biden family, according to a person with insight into his moves.
Last week, Clark met with Justice Department lawyers, amid speculation that a decision on whether to charge Hunter could come soon.” [Axios]
What we know about Jordan Neely’s death
Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images
“On Wednesday, the New York City medical examiner ruled that the death of Jordan Neely, a Black man who was choked on a New York subway, died in a homicide caused by compression to the neck. But they left determining culpability to the legal system.” [Vox] [Guardian / Edward Helmore]
“Witnesses say Neely, 30, was behaving erratically and shouting at passengers but had not attacked anyone when a 24-year-old man approached him from behind and took him to the ground in a chokehold. Neely was later pronounced dead at a hospital.” [Vox] [CNN]
“Hundreds protested after police questioned and released the 24-year-old man, a Marine veteran, without charges. Authorities haven’t identified him but promised a full investigation.” [Vox] [USA Today / Trevor Hughes]
“Neely was known for impersonating Michael Jackson and had recently faced homelessness and mental health issues.” [Vox] [New York Times / Maria Cramer and Chelsia Rose Marcius]
“Neely’s death has raised questions about NYC’s treatment of the unhoused and how law enforcement responds to violent crimes.” [Vox] [The Intercept / Akela Lacy]
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin says he will withdraw his private military company from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut due to a lack of ammunition.
Ukraine
“The head of Wagner, a private military company hired by Russia to advance its war on Ukraine, said his fighters will leave the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut due to insufficient support from Moscow. Yevgeny Prigozhin explained he will withdraw his Wagner units on Wednesday ‘because without ammunition, they are doomed to a senseless death.’ The move comes after the Wagner boss unleashed an expletive-laden challenge to Russia's military leadership on Thursday, blaming them for the spike in Wagner casualties. The mercenary group has taken on a growing role in the Ukraine conflict in recent months as Russian forces falter and has been highly visible on the front lines, where Prigozhin has claimed credit for territorial gains.” [CNN]
Serbia
Forensic police operates on a car in the the village of Dubona, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, May 5, 2023.
Armin Durgut, AP
“A 21-year-old gunman suspected of killing at least eight people in Serbia on Thursday has been arrested after a massive manhunt overnight involving hundreds of Serbian Special Forces members, a spokesperson for the country's Interior Ministry said. The massacre took place Thursday night in the village of Dubona, about 37 miles southeast of the Serbian capital Belgrade. It was the country's second mass shooting in just two days. The Balkan country was rocked by news Wednesday of a 13-year-old boy opening fire on classmates at a school in Belgrade. That shooting left at least eight children dead, along with a security guard.” [CNN]
“UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party lost hundreds of local council seats in areas it would need to hold next year to keep power in general elections. While the picture may change as more results come in from yesterday’s ballot, they’re the first clear sign that opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer’s double-digit polling lead is translating into results on the ground.” [Bloomberg]
“The high Arctic is an internationally neutral zone that has long been kept away from geopolitics. But climate change has precipitated an unusual level of activity in the remote, resources-rich polar region, as colliding strategic interests and melting ice stand to reshape it profoundly. As Danielle Bochove, Marie Patino and Hayley Warren show in this graphics-laden piece, stewardship of the Arctic is suddenly in question as a result of the isolation of Russia, the largest Arctic state, over its war on Ukraine.” [Bloomberg]
The Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant oil-producing platform in the Pechora Sea, Russia, in May 2016. Photographer: Sergey Anisimov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
King's coronation draws apathy, criticism in former colonies
“Queen Elizabeth II became ruler of a largely enthralled and still sprawling empire in 1953. But in his Saturday coronation, King Charles III inherits skeptical subjects hailing from a diminishing commonwealth of nations that increasingly question the very need for a monarchy. For many of the Commonwealth's 56 member nations, the coronation is an occasion to recall colonialism’s painful and bloody past. In the Caribbean, especially, the spectacular display of pageantry in London will jar with growing calls to sever all ties with the monarchy.” Read more at USA Today
In 2021 Barbados became the latest country to remove the British monarch as its head of state, replacing Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, with an elected president. That decision spurred similar republican movements in neighboring Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize.
Jeff J Mitchell, AP
$59 Million, Gone: How Bikini Atoll Leaders Blew Through U.S. Trust Fund
The Trump administration lifted spending limits on the fund, which aids descendants of people forced to leave the coral reef because of U.S. nuclear testing.
By Pete McKenzie
“The golden sand of Bikini Atoll is laced with plutonium. The freshwater is poisoned with strontium. The coconut crabs contain hazardous levels of cesium.
In the 1940s and ’50s, the U.S. government used this coral reef, in the Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands, for testing nuclear weapons. Radioactive residue has left Bikini uninhabitable to this day, forcing those whose families once lived on the atoll into exile on a handful of other Marshallese islands and in the United States.
Recognizing the damage its testing caused, the U.S. government established two trust funds in the 1980s to help pay for Bikinians’ health care, build housing and cover living costs. In 2017, after a campaign by Bikini leaders for greater autonomy, the Trump administration announced that the government would lift withdrawal limits and stop auditing the main fund, then worth $59 million.
Six years later, only about $100,000 remains, and the Bikini community is in crisis.
Anderson Jibas, the mayor of the council that oversees the displaced Bikini community, made a series of questionable purchases on Bikini’s behalf, including of a large plot of land in Hawaii and a fleet of new vehicles. He has defended some of the purchases as investments against climate change, as necessary to support isolated Bikinians and as attempts at revenue-generating projects.
Mr. Jibas has also acknowledged using trust fund money for personal expenses and has been accused by a top Marshall Islands official of receiving kickbacks from an investment manager — a charge Mr. Jibas denies.
With the fund virtually depleted, the council’s roughly 350 employees are no longer being paid. Monthly payments of about $150 each to the community’s 6,800 members — a vital lifeline that helped cover food and rent among a population with high rates of poverty — have ceased.
The emergency highlights the lasting consequences of decades of U.S. nuclear testing in the Pacific, including lingering questions about the American commitment to address that legacy, an undertaking made more difficult by pervasive fraud and mismanagement in the region.
‘It’s a disaster,’ said Tommy Jibok, a former member of the Bikini council who challenged Mr. Jibas in an election in 2019. ‘They told us we would be sitting and sleeping on money. Look what is happening now. We’re sleeping on nothing.’
In 1946, the United States relocated the 167 inhabitants of Bikini to clear the way for nuclear tests that it said would “end all world wars.” It then left them virtually alone on a small, desolate island, where many nearly starved. In 1948, the islanders were moved again.
Over 12 years, the United States tested 23 nuclear bombs in Bikini. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that the Bikinians would return home. But after scientists found that radiation levels remained dangerously high, the United States in 1978 evacuated the almost 150 people who had chosen to go back. The Marshall Islands gained independence from the United States the next year.
In 1982, the American government established a $25 million resettlement fund to clean up Bikini and support its people. In 1987, it created a second fund to provide annual payments directly to Bikinians. A year later, it contributed an additional $90 million to the resettlement fund. American officials administered the money and could veto withdrawals.
Bikini representatives argued that the resettlement fund contained too little money to remedy the atoll’s radioactivity. They used the funds instead to support the exiled Bikinians.
But the Bikini leaders were frustrated by American officials’ refusal to release more than a few million dollars each year. The struggle culminated in 2016 with the election of Mr. Jibas, who promised to take control of the resettlement fund. (The other fund is overseen by independent trustees.)
During a 2017 congressional hearing, Mr. Jibas explained that Bikinians “’know far better than the intermediaries or distant agencies of the United States what is needed to make the lives of the displaced population more bearable.’
Douglas Domenech, at the time an assistant interior secretary, announced that the Interior Department would relinquish control of the resettlement fund to ‘restore trust and ensure that sovereignty means something.’
Mr. Jibok, the former Bikini council member, had a different interpretation: that U.S. officials wanted to ‘wash their hands clean’ of responsibility for Bikinians.
Whatever the motivation, the result was a rapid increase in council spending under Mr. Jibas, from $7.6 million in 2016 to $25.7 million in 2018, according to audits from the time. Bank statements provided by Gordon Benjamin, a lawyer for the council, show that the fund, worth $59 million in 2017, was down to just $100,041 in March of this year.
Many of the council’s purchases were popular, including of a small aircraft and two cargo ships to help supply isolated Bikinians, as well as construction equipment to build protections against rising seas that threaten low-lying Pacific islands because of climate change.
But there were also more dubious purchases: $4.8 million for 283 acres of land in Hawaii; $1.3 million for an apartment complex in the Marshall Islands’ capital, Majuro; and multiple new vehicles for the personal use of Bikini council members, according to Mr. Benjamin. Mr. Jibas also introduced an annual $100,000 ‘representation package’ to fund his regular trips to the United States.
Mr. Jibas has said he wants to develop housing in Hawaii for rent or sale, but no development has taken place yet. The Majuro apartment complex was purchased as an investment property, but it appears to be losing money so far.
Lani Kramer, a Bikinian who previously worked as the council’s city manager and is now challenging Mr. Jibas for the mayoralty, said Mr. Jibas and council members had used public funds for personal spending. ‘They were bringing receipts for diapers, chewing gum,’ Ms. Kramer said. ‘It was obviously not for the people, it was for their own grocery shopping.’
The Marshall Islands’ banking commissioner has also accused Mr. Jibas of accepting $50,000 from a local bank manager who is being prosecuted on suspicion of unlawfully investing Bikini funds and laundering money. The Marshallese auditor general did not respond to requests for comment about the allegations.
Starting in 2018, Mr. Jibas refused to disclose council finances to the Marshall Islands’ auditor general, prompting the police to seize council documents in 2021. Late last month, a spokesman for the Interior Department said it had written to bank officials seeking information about the fund and to Mr. Jibas requesting the council’s recent budgets.
That request came after Jack Niedenthal, an American expatriate who served as the Marshallese health secretary, wrote to the Interior Department warning about the depleted trust fund and asking the department to intervene. He was subsequently fired for breaching diplomatic protocol by circumventing the Marshallese foreign ministry and the American Embassy.
Mr. Jibas acknowledged in an interview that he occasionally used his representation package to buy food and other items for his family, which he said council staff members were aware of and had approved, but he denied taking money from the bank manager.
Mr. Jibas said in the interview that he was trying to access the independently controlled second fund, which now holds $28 million, to sustain council spending.
According to Mr. Benjamin, starting in October 2021 the trustees of that fund permitted the council to withdraw roughly $13 million to fund its spending, but reversed their stance earlier this year and halted all payments out of the fund, including the regular living payments to Bikinians, to avoid further depletion. In the interview, Mr. Jibas said he also hoped to tap into new American funding to replenish the main fund.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration promised to provide the Marshall Islands $700 million in one-time aid and to continue underwriting much of the government’s budget. Under a treaty, the United States controls the country’s defense policy, which the American government considers crucial to countering China in the region. The aid has not yet been approved, meaning Bikinians’ future remains uncertain.
In a statement on behalf of Mr. Jibas, Mr. Benjamin said that the mayor’s critics were not pushing the United States hard enough for more funding.
Mr. Jibok, who as a council member opposed Mr. Jibas’s efforts to gain control of the fund, said that the United States had done little to facilitate self-sufficiency in the Bikini community, leaving few financial safeguards in place.
‘I didn’t think we were ready,’ Mr. Jibok said, ‘because I knew that we didn’t have anything in place to control’ mismanagement or fraud.” [AP News]
“A US-based think tank alleged Vladimir Putin likely staged a drone attackon the Kremlin—for which he now blames the US—to ‘set conditions for a wider societal mobilization.’ This after NATO’s intelligence chief said Russia is mapping critical undersea systems and warned of a significant risk that Moscow could target infrastructure in Europe and North America. ‘There are heightened concerns that Russia may target undersea cables and other critical infrastructure in an effort to disrupt western life and gain leverage against those nations that are providing support to Ukraine,’ said David Cattler, the military alliance’s Assistant Secretary General for intelligence and security.” [Bloomberg]
Ukrainian servicemen dig a trench in Chasiv Yar near the frontline city of Bakhmut on May 3. Spring mud may be delaying an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive. Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP
May 5, 2023
The fighting in Sudan is almost three weeks old, and many observers are worried it is on the verge of becoming more intense. To help you understand it, Declan Walsh, The Times’s chief Africa correspondent, is writing today’s newsletter. — David Leonhardt
By Declan Walsh
Good morning. We explain the background of the military conflict in Sudan.
Khartoum on Wednesday.Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
‘A nightmare’
“The starkest warning about the destructive potential of the war in Sudan came from a former leader, who until recently drove the country’s hopes for democracy.
Fighting between rival military factions erupted on April 15. If it descends into a full-blown civil war, it will be ‘a nightmare for the world’ on par with the worst recent conflicts in the Middle East, Abdalla Hamdok, a onetime Sudanese prime minister, warned this week.
‘Syria, Libya, Yemen will be a small play’ in comparison, said Hamdok, who was ousted 18 months ago by the same generals now battling for control.
Whether Sudan’s war could reach that point is unclear, although recent escalation in the fight between two heavily armed military factions, backed by different foreign powers, is an ominous sign.
For now, the U.S. and regional powers in Africa are trying to pressure the belligerents — Sudan’s regular army and the Rapid Support Forces, a well-armed paramilitary group — to stop fighting.
Yet both sides have agreed to and then discarded multiple cease-fires. Yesterday, fighting raged again around the presidential palace and the military headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, as well as in the western region of Darfur.
The clashes between two generals with a longstanding rivalry have already caused widespread suffering and misery in the nation of 46 million. At least 500 people are dead and 5,000 injured as a result of the fighting so far, but those figures are probably gross underestimates. Over 100,000 Sudanese have fled to neighboring countries, several of which are grappling with their own conflicts.
The longer the violence drags on, experts warn, the greater the risk that it will draw other countries into a wider war that could destabilize the entire region.
Today’s newsletter will explain what you need to know about the conflict.
Where is the fighting?
Although the fighting initially occurred across the country, it is now concentrated in two areas: Khartoum and Darfur. In Khartoum, R.S.F. troops control most of the city center and other large neighborhoods, while the regular army holds ground on the city outskirts, including important supply routes.
By The New York Times
Each side has its advantages. The R.S.F. is a highly mobile force of battle-hardened troops, many of whom fought in the war in Yemen. The Sudanese military is a conventional force with a fleet of warplanes and helicopter gunships, which the paramilitaries lack.
Caught in the middle are millions of civilians who have suddenly found themselves living in a battleground. Many are trapped in their homes with no electricity and little food or water. Stray bullets and bombs hit homes, killing many.
Sudan’s already fragile health system is crumbling. Two-thirds of hospitals in conflict areas are closed, according to the health ministry.
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, left, and Lt. Gen. Mohamed HamdanMarwan Ali/Associated Press, Yasuyoshi Chiba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Who are the generals?
The army chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been Sudan’s de facto leader for the past four years.
He rose to power in the tumultuous aftermath of the 2019 uprising that toppled President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan’s dictatorial leader of three decades. Until then, al-Burhan was best known as a commander in the army’s brutal counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur in the 2000s.
For a time he shared power with civilian leaders as part of an agreed transition to democracy. But in October 2021 he joined forces with Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, the powerful commander of the R.S.F., and seized power in a coup.
Hamdan had also risen to prominence in the wars of Darfur, as a commander of the brutal Janjaweed militias that became notorious for their scorched-earth tactics. He went on to acquire money and influence, with a business empire built on gold mining.
But after the 2021 coup he fell out with his boss, al-Burhan. As tensions rose in recent months, the two men publicly squabbled and began to deploy troops to military camps in preparation for war.
Why are other nations invested?
Sudan sits in a pivotal position on the African continent. It has a substantial Red Sea coastline and is surrounded by seven countries. Instability threatens many of them.
Western officials and Sudan experts fear that the new chaos could draw in these neighboring countries. But other powers also have interests.
Russia has pressed Sudan to allow its warships to dock along the country’s coast. The Kremlin-affiliated Wagner private military company operates in Darfur and runs lucrative gold mining operations in Sudan.
The U.S., a key player in political talks that collapsed with the outbreak of war, had hoped to turn a new page with Sudan after decades of American sanctions. It also hopes to fend off the influence of China.
Persian Gulf countries are major players in Sudan. Saudi Arabia, which has helped to evacuate at least 6,000 people in recent days, has longstanding influence there. And the United Arab Emirates has links to both sides, although it is seen as closer to Hamdan.
For more: Fleeing Sudanese are enduring desert journeys and sniper fire.” [New York Times]
Jury finds Ed Sheeran didn’t copy Marvin Gaye classic
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
“NEW YORK (AP) — A federal jury in New York concluded Thursday that British singer Ed Sheeran didn’t steal key components of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s tune ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he created his hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ prompting Sheeran to joke later that he won’t have to follow through on his threat to quit music.
The emotions of an epic copyright fight that stretched across most of the last decade spilled out as soon as the seven-person jury revealed its verdict after more than two hours of deliberations.
Sheeran briefly dropped his face into his hands in relief before standing to hug his attorney, Ilene Farkas. As jurors left the courtroom, Sheeran smiled at several of them and mouthed the words: ‘Thank you.’
He then spoke for about 10 minutes with plaintiff Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye. They hugged and smiled with each other.
Sheeran later addressed reporters outside the courthouse, revisiting his claim made during the trial that he would consider quitting songwriting if he lost the case.
‘I am obviously very happy with the outcome of this case, and it looks like I’m not going to have to retire from my day job, after all. But at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all,’ the singer said, reading from a prepared statement….” Read more at AP News
Churchill Downs investigates 4 horse deaths ahead of Derby
A woman holds a horse after an early-morning workout at Churchill Downs Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Louisville, Ky. The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 6. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
“LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The death of four horses at Churchill Downs over a span of five days has overshadowed preparations for the Kentucky Derby.
Two horses trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. collapsed on the track and died over the past week. Two other horses also died as either a result of racing or training, including Derby entrant Wild On Ice.
Joseph is set to saddle Lord Miles in the first jewel of the Triple Crown on Saturday. But he has said he’s unsure of plans after the two deaths from his barn.
Churchill Downs Racetrack, in a statement Wednesday, expressed concern over the deaths and said officials would press for answers.
‘While a series of events like this is highly unusual, it is completely unacceptable,’ Churchill Downs said. ‘We take this very seriously and acknowledge that these troubling incidents are alarming and must be addressed. We feel a tremendous responsibility to our fans, the participants in our sport and the entire industry to be a leader in safety and continue to make significant investments to eliminate risk to our athletes.’…” Read more at AP News
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
“N.B.A. playoffs: The Warriors beat the Lakers, tying their series at 1-1.
Pink slip: Two years after winning a championship, the Milwaukee Bucks fired the coach Mike Budenholzer after a first-round collapse in this year’s playoffs.
Wunderkind: Connor Bedard, 17, will find out next week who gets to pick him at No. 1 in the N.H.L. Draft.
College baseball scandal: Alabama fired the coach Brad Bohannon, six days after the coach was apparently involved in illicit betting activity.” [New York Times]
“Lives Lived: Pamela Timmins, Jacqueline Kennedy’s press secretary, was the first person to hold that post for an American first lady. Timmins died at 85.” [New York Times]