The Full Belmonte, 9/20/2022
Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is taken into Westminster Abbey ahead of the state funeral.
PHOTO: GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY IMAGES
Britain said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II in one of the biggest set-piece events in its history.
“Hundreds of dignitaries attended the funeral at Westminster Abbey, which also drew hundreds of thousands of people to London and Windsor Castle, her final resting place. Millions more around the world watched on TV or online. The six hours of tightly choreographed pageantry included the first British state funeral since Winston Churchill’s in 1965.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Members of the Puerto Rico National Guard rescue a woman stranded in her house in the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona.
“Three powerful storms are wreaking havoc around the world, prompting officials to issue urgent alerts and evacuation orders. In the Dominican Republic, more than 1 million people are without running water today after Hurricane Fiona ripped through the country. That's after the storm slammed Puerto Rico, leaving the island in a blackout. Damage assessments are still being compiled, but some residents said the flooding and mudslides are reminiscent of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in 2017 -- which caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. In Alaska, extreme winds and a storm surge from the remnants of a typhoon were powerful enough to uproot buildings. And in southern Japan, Typhoon Nanmadol has killed at least two people and injured more than 120 others.” Read more at CNN
Adnan Syed released from Maryland prison after 22 years. Would his murder conviction have been overturned without 'Serial' podcast?
“More than two decades after Adnan Syed was sentenced to life in prison and eight years after the shaky case against him became the center of the hit podcast ‘Serial,’ a Baltimore judge on Monday ordered that Syed’s conviction be vacated and he walked out of court a free man.
There were cheers inside the court as officers unleashed Syed's shackles.
Syed, 41 and imprisoned for over two decades, was led into the crowded courtroom in handcuffs Monday. But after Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn ordered that Syed’s conviction be vacated, his shackles were removed and he left wearing a white shirt with a tie. His mother and other family representatives left with him.
Phinn ruled that the state violated its legal obligation to share exculpatory evidence with Syed’s defense. She ordered him released from custody and placed in home detention with GPS location monitoring. She also ordered the state to decide whether to seek a new trial date or dismiss the case within 30 days.
The move came after prosecutors said they no longer have faith in their original case – something that many followers of ‘Serial’ have been saying for years.
The first season of the podcast, spanning 12 episodes, spawned investigations into Syed's conviction, books, documentaries and national media attention. The podcast concluded with host, Sarah Koenig, saying she was unsure who killed Hae Min Lee, Syed's ex-girlfriend.
That ambiguity captured national attention as Koenig examined glaring problems with both Syed's defense and the prosecution's case, exploring shoddy cellphone data, inconsistent timelines, ignored witnesses and other possible suspects.
Syed was sentenced to a lifetime in prison, plus 30 years after he was convicted of the 1999 murder. He has maintained his innocence since age 17.
Despite public attention, legal representation, and mass advocacy pushing to overturn Syed's conviction, multiple appeals were denied and it took prosecutors admitting errors years later to reach this point.
Experts say the vast majority of prisoners don't have such opportunities, making their struggle even more difficult.” Read more at USA Today
U.S. arrests along Mexico border surpass 2 million in a year for the first time
“U.S. authorities have made more than 2 million immigration arrests along the southern border during the past 11 months, marking the first time annual enforcement statistics have exceeded that threshold, according to figures provided by senior Biden administration officials Monday.
In August, U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained more than 203,000 migrants were detained crossing into the United States from Mexico, the latest figures show, putting authorities on pace to tally nearly 2.3 million arrests during the government’s 2022 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The total, which includes some people arrested more than once, far exceeds last year’s record 1.73 million arrests.
This year’s historic migration wave has been driven by extra large numbers of border-crossers from outside Mexico and Central America, the two largest traditional sources of illegal entries. In recent months, soaring numbers of Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Cuban asylum seekers have been taken into custody, crossing primarily through remote areas near Yuma, Arizona and the Del Rio, Texas.” Read more at Washington Post
Video appears to undercut Trump elector’s account of alleged voting-data breach in Georgia
“On Jan. 7, 2021, a group of forensics experts working for lawyers allied with President Donald Trump spent eight hours at a county elections office in southern Georgia, copying sensitive software and data from its voting machines.
Under questioning last month for a civil lawsuit, a former Georgia Republican Party official named Cathy Latham said in sworn testimony that she briefly stopped by the office in Coffee County that afternoon. She said she stayed in the foyer and spoke with a junior official about an unrelated matter at the front desk.
‘I didn’t go into the office,’ Latham said, according to a transcript of her deposition filed in court. She said she had seen in passing a pro-Trump businessman who was working with the experts. She said they chatted for ‘five minutes at most’ — she could not remember the topic — and she left soon after for an early dinner with her husband.
Surveillance video footage reviewed by The Washington Post shows that Latham visited the elections office twice that day, staying for more than four hours in total. She greeted the businessman, Scott Hall, when he arrived and led him into a back area to meet the experts and local officials, the video shows. Over the course of the day, it shows, she moved in and out of an area where the experts from the data forensics firm, SullivanStrickler, were working, a part of that building that was not visible to the surveillance camera.
She took a selfie with one of the forensics experts before heading out at 6:19 p.m.
A Post examination found that elements of the account Latham gave in her deposition on the events of Jan. 6 and 7, 2021, appear to diverge from the footage and other evidence, including depositions and text messages. Many of those records, including Latham’s Aug. 8 deposition, were filed in a long-running federal civil court case involving election security in Georgia.” Read more at Washington Post
Trump lawyers acknowledge Mar-a-Lago probe could lead to indictment
Explaining whether Trump declassified documents could be ‘a defense’ to a future criminal charge, attorneys say
“The Justice Department and lawyers for Donald Trump filed separate proposals Monday for conducting an outside review of documents seized at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home, with key disagreements over how the process should work and Trump’s team acknowledging that the criminal probe could lead to an indictment.
Both sides referenced a ‘draft plan’ given to them by Judge Raymond J. Dearie, the newly appointed special master. Trump’s lawyers expressed concern that Dearie posed questions about the documents that the judge who appointed Dearie has left unasked, arguing that Trump might be left at a legal disadvantage if he answered them at this stage of the process.
Specifically, the legal team objected to what it said was Dearie’s request that it ‘disclose specific information regarding declassification to the Court and to the Government.’
Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who is overseeing the special master and document-review process, has not asked Trump’s lawyers to address whether about 100 documents with classified markings that were seized by the FBI on Aug. 8 might in fact not be classified.
Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly suggested in court filings that the former president could have declassified the documents — but they have not actually asserted that he did so.
In Monday’s filing, Trump’s lawyers wrote that they don’t want Dearie to force Trump to ‘fully and specifically disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment without such a requirement being evident in the District Court’s order’ — a remarkable statement that acknowledges at least the possibility that the former president or his aides could be criminally charged.
Documents seized at Mar-a-Lago include material on foreign country's nuclear capabilities
The Justice Department is investigating the possible mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and the possible hiding or destroying of government records. A key issue in the probe is that even after Trump’s team responded to a grand jury subpoena requesting all documents with classified markings that were being kept at Mar-a-Lago, with aides reportedly saying all relevant material had been handed over, the FBI search turned up about 100 more such documents.
The Honorable Raymond J. Dearie, U.S. District Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
The government’s filing Monday evening did not address how Dearie should review the classified documents. Prosecutors said they were waiting to see if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta would grant their request to stay Cannon’s decision to include the classified documents in the special master review — leaving about 11,000 nonclassified documents and other items.
Prosecutors have said the classified material is by definition the property of the government and cannot be shielded from them by privilege. Cannon’s order barred prosecutors from using the classified materials in their criminal probe until the outside review is complete.
Justice filing points to new legal peril for Trump and lawyers, experts say
Dearie — a former chief federal judge in New York — is scheduled to meet for the first time with Trump’s lawyers and Justice Department prosecutors Tuesday afternoon. The session, in Dearie’s courtroom in the Brooklyn federal courthouse, will focus on how to proceed.
The Justice Department’s filing said a third-party vendor should be hired to scan the seized documents into a secure software system. Trump’s lawyers would then review the nonclassified documents and decide which should be shielded from criminal investigators because of attorney-client or executive privilege. Prosecutors would note any disagreement with Trump’s defense team, and Dearie would settle any disputes.
‘FBI agents will attend and observe the scanning process to maintain the chain of custody of the evidence,’ the government wrote.
In earlier filings, the Justice Department had unsuccessfully argued that a special master was unnecessary and that, as a former president, Trump could not assert executive privilege in this investigation. Prosecutors also said that temporarily barring the government from using the documents in its investigation could pose a national security risk.” Read more at Washington Post
Trump Was Warned Late Last Year of Potential Legal Peril Over Documents
A former White House lawyer sought to impress on him the need to return material he had taken with him upon leaving office.
“A onetime White House lawyer under President Donald J. Trump warned him late last year that Mr. Trump could face legal liability if he did not return government materials he had taken with him when he left office, three people familiar with the matter said.
The lawyer, Eric Herschmann, sought to impress upon Mr. Trump the seriousness of the issue and the potential for investigations and legal exposure if he did not return the documents, particularly any classified material, the people said.
The account of the conversation is the latest evidence that Mr. Trump had been informed of the legal perils of holding onto material that is now at the heart of a Justice Department criminal investigation into his handling of the documents and the possibility that he or his aides engaged in obstruction.
In January, not long after the discussion with Mr. Herschmann, Mr. Trump turned over to the National Archives 15 boxes of material he had taken with him from the White House. Those boxes turned out to contain 184 classified documents, the Justice Department has said.
But Mr. Trump continued to hold onto a considerable cache of other documents, including some with the highest security classification, until returning some under subpoena in June and having even more seized in a court-authorized search of his Mar-a-Lago residence and private club by F.B.I. agents last month.
The precise date of the late 2021 meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Herschmann is unclear. It was also unclear what, if any, awareness Mr. Herschmann had of what was in the boxes when the subject was discussed.
But by then, the National Archives had told associates of Mr. Trump that it was missing documents like original copies of his presidential correspondence with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and the letter left for him by President Barack Obama. Archives officials said they had been told by then that there were roughly two dozen boxes of documents that had been in the White House residence and which qualified as presidential records, which had never been sent to the archives.
By the time of the meeting, Mr. Herschmann, a former prosecutor, was not working with or for Mr. Trump, from whom the National Archives had spent months trying to procure missing material.
Mr. Trump thanked Mr. Herschmann for the discussion but was noncommittal about his plans for returning the documents, the people familiar with the conversation said.” Read more at New York Times
“Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia plans to campaign next month for Kari Lake, the election-denying Arizona governor candidate, Politico reported.” Read more at New York Times
“President Biden declared the pandemic over. Some experts say his words are at odds with the reality of a virus still killing hundreds a day.” Read more at New York Times
“Republican governors in US border states have been sending thousands of people north to Democratic-led cities including New York, Washington and Chicago, saying they should help handle the results of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. Now a sheriff in Texas says he’s opened a criminal investigation into who “lured and transported” migrants in his state to Martha’s Vineyard, a resort island off the coast of Massachusetts, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has called for a Department of Justice probe.”
Venezuelan migrants and volunteers outside of St. Andrew’s Parish House in Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 16. Photographer: Boston Globe
“Financial markets are on edge as the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting begins today. The big announcement is expected on Wednesday as the Fed will almost certainly raise rates by three-quarters of a point for the third consecutive time, or it will hike them by an unprecedented full percentage point. But what happens after that is anybody's guess. Wall Street is divided on whether the Fed will keep hiking rates aggressively in November, or if inflation pressures will cool enough to allow the central bank to slow the pace for a bit. This comes as inflation is undoubtedly a major problem and amid worries that the stock market, which has already had a dismal 2022, could be in for more prolonged pain.” Read more at CNN
Dems go all-in on abortion ads
Screenshot: American Bridge video
“Democrats are pumping an unprecedented amount of money into ads about abortion rights, AP reports.
Dems have already invested more than $124 million this year in TV ads referencing abortion — 20 times more than Ds spent on abortion-related ads in the 2018 midterms.
Why it matters: The estimates — based on AP's analysis of data from the nonpartisan research firm AdImpact — show the extent to which Democrats are betting their congressional majorities and key governorships on one issue.
By the numbers: Since the Supreme Court ruling in June, 1 in 3 dollars spent on TV ads by Democrats and allies has focused on abortion.
Democrats' TV spending on abortion is larger than the GOP's combined tab for ads relating to the economy, crime and immigration.
Republicans are shying away:
The number of Republican ads referencing abortion has dropped each month since May, as primary season wound down.” Read more at Axios
Georgia poll: Kemp up big on Abrams; Warnock-Walker tied
Data: Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll. Chart: Simran Pawrani/Axios
“Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has a commanding and expanded lead over Democratic rival Stacey Abrams seven weeks out from midterms, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll out this morning.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) is in a statistical dead heat with Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
Why it matters: The poll in this pivotal swing state offers a modest counterpoint to reports of Democratic gains in recent months, Axios' Michael Graff writes.
The Warnock-Walker match, which could be key to Senate control, was one of the only reasons for Democrats' optimism in the poll, conducted by the University of Georgia's School of Policy and International Affairs.” Read more at Axios
“For the first time in history, the House of Representatives includes a Native American, a Native Alaskan and a Native Hawaiian — fully representing the U.S.' Indigenous population. Mary Peltola's election in Alaska sealed the deal.” Read more at NPR
“Protests in Iran over the death of a young woman detained by authorities who police how people dress have spilled into violence, underlining tensions at home as President Ebrahim Raisi prepares to speak at the United Nations.
Mahsa Amini fell into a coma while in custody after being hauled into a ‘morality police’ van last week during a visit to Tehran with her family. The outpouring of anger over her death is one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic’s strict dress codes for women in the four decades since they’ve been enforced.
Key reading:
Tehran Protest Over Woman’s Police-Custody Death Turns Violent
Iran’s President Says He Wants Guarantee US Won’t Quit New Deal
Blinken Says Revival of Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Unlikely’ for Now
The police units — which crack down on dress they say violates Islamic codes — have drawn criticism for an arbitrary approach and embodying state efforts to enforce fundamentalist religious beliefs on women and girls. They are especially resented in urban, middle-class centers where young people are desperate for better job prospects and fed up with politicians often seen as prioritizing ideology over economic pragmatism.
The protests come as hardliners, who’ve held all levers of the state since Raisi won last year’s presidential election, appear to be dragging their heels on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement at a time of record-high inflation.
The US and Iran are deadlocked again over how to restore the deal that would lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for caps on its atomic program. It’s a Gordian knot that some Western diplomats may try to tackle on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly.
It’s against this messy backdrop that Raisi makes his first personal appearance at the General Assembly. He lacks the oratory, experience or bravado of his predecessors Hassan Rouhani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (who emptied the hall in 2011 with a diatribe against NATO, Israel and the West).
Raisi is unlikely to return to Tehran with any sort of breakthrough on the nuclear deal. He may find his time taken up with questions about Amini’s death and the strict laws he has championed throughout his career.” — Golnar Motevalli Read more at Bloomberg
Protesters at Allameh Tabataba'i University on Monday following Amini’s death. Source: AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Hostage Exchanged for Afghan Drug Lord in Prisoner Swap
The Taliban said it had freed an American engineer, Mark R. Frerichs, in exchange for the release of a prominent Afghan tribal leader convicted of drug trafficking.
“KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban government of Afghanistan on Monday said that it had freed an American engineer, Mark R. Frerichs, in exchange for the release by the United States of a prominent Afghan tribal leader who had been convicted of drug trafficking.
The release of the tribal leader, Haji Bashir Noorzai, who has close ties to the Taliban, was hailed by supporters of the group as a major symbolic victory and a public sign of the Taliban’s enduring loyalty to its supporters.
During a news conference in Kabul, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, said that Mr. Frerichs, who had been held by the Taliban since 2020, had been handed over to the U.S. authorities at Kabul International Airport on Monday morning.
In return, the United States released Mr. Noorzai, a prominent financier of the Taliban in the 1990s who is known for his close ties to the group’s founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar. Mr. Noorzai was convicted in the United States in 2008 of being part of an international narcotics trafficking conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.” Read more at New York Times
Witnesses: Myanmar air attack kills 13, including 7 children
By GRANT PECK
“BANGKOK (AP) — Government helicopters have attacked a school and village in north-central Myanmar, killing at least 13 people including seven children, a school administrator and an aid worker said Monday.
Civilian casualties often occur in attacks by the military government on pro-democracy insurgents and their allies. However, the number of children killed in the air attack last Friday in Tabayin township in Sagaing region appeared to be the highest since the army seized power in February last year, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The army’s takeover triggered mass nonviolent protests nationwide. The military and police responded with deadly force, resulting in the spread of armed resistance in the cities and countryside. Fighting has been especially fierce in Sagaing, where the military has launched several offensives, in some cases burning villages, which displaced more than half a million people, according to a report issued by UNICEF this month.” Read more at AP News
“Russian redirect | Russia is likely to ship more fuel to Asia and the Middle East as Europe tightens sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. With the European Union preparing to ban most Russian crude imports starting Dec. 5, followed by a prohibition on oil products from February, Russian sellers are using new tactics to redirect energy flows that may spur competition and drive prices lower.
The German government released another 2.5 billion euros ($2.5 billion) and has set aside 15 billion more in credit lines to securegas supplies as it writes off Russia as a reliable energy supplier.
The Netherlands is set to unveil some 16 billion euros in supportfor households today as Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag attempts to ease the pain of skyrocketing energy prices and inflation.” Read more at Bloomberg
World Leaders Meet in New York for UNGA
“Nearly 150 world leaders have touched down in New York for the 77th session of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA)—this year’s largestdiplomatic gathering—as the world confronts a grim reality of war, humanitarian crisis, painful energy shocks, food shortages, climate change, and economic turmoil.
‘The General Assembly is meeting at a time of great peril,’ U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said last week. ‘Geostrategic divides are the widest they have been since at least the Cold War. They are paralyzing the global response to the dramatic challenges we face.’
The General Debate, the week’s main event, kicks off today and gives world leaders an opportunity to speak on their key priorities and concerns. Following tradition, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will be the first to go; the hosting U.S. leader would typically be second, although President Joe Biden—delayed by Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral—will instead deliver his speech tomorrow.
Noticeably absent from the roster are the leaders of China, Russia, India, and Ethiopia, all of whom skipped the event and instead will have representatives standing in for them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also is not in attendance due to the war, but was granted a rare exception to give a pre-recorded speech.
On the sidelines of the General Debate, expect a spate of private meetings and other sessions and summits, including discussions over global food security, the Iran nuclear deal, and the pandemic. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid plan to meet, as do Biden and new British Prime Minister Liz Truss. The Quad is also set to convene this week.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rages on, observers expect the war and its global ramifications to dominate discussions. ‘We want to see Ukraine be in a position where it is strong when it goes to the negotiating table with the Russians,’ Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., told Foreign Policy last week. ‘It’s been our goal to consolidate support for Ukraine at the United Nations.’
But at UNGA, Thomas-Greenfield said that she hopes to draw attention to three key issues: food insecurity, global health, and reforming the U.N. ‘The war in Ukraine has made an already bad situation even more dire,’ she said. ‘So we will be hosting a ministerial, working with countries to commit to addressing the food insecurity issues.’
This year’s gathering comes as the U.N. grapples with a ‘profound crisis of faith,’ as FP’s Robbie Gramer and Anusha Rathi report. Although calls for reform have mounted, exactly what those changes would look like remains far more hazy.
‘The problem is everyone wants reform. There isn’t a country on Earth that doesn’t say in public it feels the U.N. needs to change and catch up with current realities of the world,’ Richard Gowan, the U.N. director at the International Crisis Group, told them. ‘But everyone’s vision of what U.N. reform should look like is different.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
Mexico earthquake
“A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the southwestern coast of Mexico on Monday, killing at least one person, with shaking reported as far away as Mexico City. The earthquake's epicenter occurred in a sparsely populated region of Michoacan state, according to US Geological Survey data. A tsunami warning was initially issued immediately after the quake but has since been revised. Waves reaching up to 9.8 feet were earlier predicted to hit Mexico and occur along the Pacific coasts of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru. The news came on the fifth anniversary of the 2017 earthquake that killed 216 people in Mexico City.” Read more at CNN
“China’s deadly bus crash. Twenty-seven people were killed and 20 more injured in Guizhou, China, after a bus moving them to a quarantine center under Beijing’s harsh COVID-19 policy crashed at around 2:40 am.
News of the crash quickly spread on social media, triggering an outpouring of anguish and anger over the country’s rigid pandemic restrictions. Earlier in September, locked-down residents in Chengdu, China, were prevented from leaving their apartment compounds during an earthquake in order to adhere to government rules.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“U.S.-Taliban prisoner swap. The Taliban have freed Mark Frerichs, an American contractor who had been the group’s hostage since 2020, in exchange for the United States’ release of the drug lord Bashir Noorzai, who had previously been imprisoned for 17 years.
‘Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark’s freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly,’ Biden said in a statement. ‘Our priority now is to make sure Mark receives a healthy and safe return and is given the space and time he needs to transition back into society.’” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Puerto Rico’s hurricane nightmare. A devastating hurricane dumped 30 inches of rain on Puerto Rico this past weekend, leaving the majority of the island in the dark and in need of drinking water. As the resulting floodwaters triggered landslides and inundated roads, hundreds of Puerto Ricans have been evacuated while authorities have reported at least two deaths. ‘The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,’ said Governor Pedro Pierluisi.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“New debt deal. Ecuador has inked a debt restructuring agreement with China for $4.4 billion of debt, President Guillermo Lasso told the Wall Street Journal. The deal is expected to help Ecuador save $1 billion over the next three years. ‘This is a great development for Ecuador,’ Lasso said.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“Hard Rock casinos, hotels and cafes announced $100 million worth of wage hikes that would impact 95 different job titles.Housekeepers, cooks and security guards will see the biggest increases, the company said Monday.” Read more at NPR
Judge, Pujols get back to pursuits of home run history
“After an off day Monday, the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge and the St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols will resume their chases at home run history Tuesday. Judge, who hit his 58th and 59th home runs Sunday, can become the first American League player since Roger Maris in 1961 to hit 60 home runs in a season. He can break the AL record with three more homers. The Yankees face the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. The 42-year-old Pujols, who is retiring at the end of the season, is trying to become the fourth major leaguer to reach 700 home runs. The Cardinals will play on the road against the San Diego Padres.” Read more at USA Today
The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge hits his 58th home run of the season during the third inning of the Yankees' game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Milwaukee.The Associated Press
A billboard for “Phantom of the Opera” in Times Square.Damon Winter/The New York Times
Farewell to ‘Phantom’
“‘The Phantom of the Opera’ will end a 35-year run on Broadway in February. By the time it closes, it will have played for 13,925 performances — more than any other show.
‘You don’t want to run a great show into the ground,’ the producer Cameron Mackintosh told The Times. ‘It’s always been one of my mantras throughout my long career: There’s an art to closing a show, as well as opening one.’
It will be years before any show approaches the record set by ‘Phantom.’ The next-longest-running productions (as of Sept. 11) are: ‘Chicago’ (1996), 10,114 performances; ‘The Lion King’ (1997), 9,740 performances; ‘Wicked’ (2003), 7,268 performances; and ‘The Book of Mormon’ (2011), 4,131 performances.” Read more at New York Times
Stolen Grand Theft Auto footage dumped online in hack
FILE - A ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ billboard is displayed at Figueroa Hotel on Sept. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. Video game producer Rockstar Games said Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, that early development footage from the next version of its popular title Grand Theft Auto was stolen in the hack of its network. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
“NEW YORK (AP) — Video game producer Rockstar Games said Monday that early development footage from the next version of its popular title Grand Theft Auto was stolen in the hack of its network.
Someone claiming to be the hacker, posting on Telegram, dumped 90 video clips from the theft online on Sunday and claimed also to have source code, which they were seeking to sell for a minimum of $10,000.
The Associated Press downloaded and viewed the development footage to confirm its authenticity.
In a statement on Twitter, the company said it did not anticipate any disruption in live game services or any impact on ongoing projects. A spokesperson for its New York-based parent company, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., declined to answer questions from the AP about when it learned of the breach, whether source code was indeed stolen and whether the hacker had tried to extort the company.
The hacker claimed to have been involved in the recent hack of Uber but provided no evidence.” Read more at AP News