Friday, Apr 18th
Last update09:15:21 PM GMT
Special Interest Glance
A federal judge Friday sentenced Douglas Hodge, a former CEO of a major investment management firm, to nine months in prison for paying $850,000 over more than a decade to get four of his children admitted to elite private universities as fake athletic recruits.
It marks the longest prison sentence so far in the nation's college admissions scandal, topping a 6-month sentence handed down to a parent in November.
Europe sought to bolster the world’s faltering battle against climate change on Wednesday with its “Green Deal” to slash fossil fuel dependence, while teen activist Greta Thunberg rebuked global leaders for dragging their feet.
With fires, floods and droughts ruining millions of lives around the world, the European Union’s new executive cast the plan as the bloc’s “man on the moon moment,” kindling hopes among campaigners that other big emitters may follow suit.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted President Trump's emergency request to temporarily block a congressional subpoena for his financial records from Deutsche Bank.
The court's order came just hours after the president's legal team asked for a temporary stay of an appellate court decision ordering Deutsche Bank to comply with subpoenas from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees for a broad range of documents concerning Trump's finances and his businesses.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who oversees the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, issued an administrative stay of that court's decision that will be in effect until Dec. 13 while the court deliberates on whether to grant a longer stay and to give Trump's lawyers time to prepare a formal appeal.
Chile has pulled out of hosting two major international summits, including a UN climate change conference, as anti-government protests continue.
President Sebastián Piñera said the decision "caused him a lot of pain" but his government needed "to prioritise re-establishing public order".
The COP25 climate summit was scheduled for December, while the Apec trade summit was due next month.
The UN said it was now "exploring alternative hosting options".
Chile's decision comes amid global climate protests, including a week of strikes led by environmental activist Greta Thunberg last month.
Stephanie Grisham, a top aide to First Lady Melania Trump, will be the next White House press secretary, replacing Sarah Huckabee Sanders and taking on an elevated role as President Donald Trump's communications director.
Melania Trump announced the news on Twitter on Tuesday. “She has been with us since 2015 - @potus & I can think of no better person to serve the Administration & our country. Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the @WhiteHouse. #BeBest,” she wrote.
Grisham, who serves as the first lady’s deputy chief of staff and communications director, had long been seen as the leading candidate for the job. She won the trust of both the president and the first lady after working on Trump’s campaign and as a deputy to then-press secretary Sean Spicer before moving to the East Wing.
The compromise with the House Intelligence Committee represented a rare example of cooperation during a period of tension and multiple investigations of the Trump administration by Congress.
The House Judiciary Committee found Attorney General William Barr in contempt this month for defying a subpoena for all redacted parts of the Mueller report and millions of pages of evidence underlying the report. Former White House counsel Don McGahn defied a subpoena Tuesday to testify to the Judiciary Committee.
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