Elon Musk bashed by heavy metal drummer who cost him $56 billion

Thu, February 1, 2024


By Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Elon Musk suffered one of the biggest legal losses in U.S. history this week when the Tesla CEO was stripped of his $56 billion pay package in a case brought by an unlikely opponent, a former heavy metal drummer.

Richard Tornetta sued Musk in 2018, when the Pennsylvania resident held just nine shares of Tesla. The case eventually made its way to trial in late 2022 and on Tuesday a judge sided with Tornetta, voiding the enormous pay deal for being unfair to him and all his fellow Tesla shareholders.

Tornetta could not be reached for a comment and his attorney declined to comment.

Until Tornetta's case, Musk prevailed in a string of trials accusing him of defamation, of breaching his duty to shareholders and of violating securities laws.

Based on his online presence, Tornetta seems to have more of an interest in creating audio gear for car-customizing enthusiasts than going after corporate excess and malfeasance.

He has posted light-hearted videos about gadgets he has created or mishaps, including describing how he torched his eyebrows.

Tornetta also turned up in videos drumming at the legendary former New York club CBGB with his now-defunct metal band "Dawn of Correction", which described its sound as "a swift kick to the face with a steel-toed work boot."

On social media, fans of Tesla and Musk seemed to find the case a travesty of justice and speculated about Tornetta's intentions and political affiliations, asking how an investor with such miniscule holdings could wield such power.

Delaware corporate case law is full of cases bearing the names of individual investors with tiny shareholdings who wound up shaping America's corporate law.

Many law firms that represent shareholders keep a stable of investors they can work with to bring cases, says Eric Talley, who teaches corporate law at Columbia Law School. They might be pension funds with a broad range of stock holdings but they are also often individuals like Tornetta.

The plaintiff signs paperwork to file the lawsuit and then generally gets out of the way, says Talley. The investors don't pay the law firm, which takes the case on contingency, as the lawyers did in the Musk case.

Tornetta benefits from winning the case the same way other Tesla shareholders benefit: saving the company billions of dollars that a subservient board of directors paid to Musk.

Business groups have long criticized cases brought by individuals as an indication of potentially abusive litigation. Delaware 10 years ago was plagued with lawsuits led by retail investors owning a few shares challenging merger deals. The cases were often quickly resolved with meaningless settlements that always included payments to the attorneys bringing the cases. Delaware judges and lawmakers eventually reined in the practice.

Experts said people like Tornetta are vital for policing boardrooms. Lawmakers and judges have long wanted large investment firms to lead such corporate litigation since they are better equipped to keep an eye on their lawyers' tactics. But experts said fund managers do not want to jeopardize relationships on Wall Street.

So it was up to Tornetta to take on Musk.

"His name is now etched in the annals of corporate law," Talley said. "My students will be reading Tornetta v Musk for the next 10 years."

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder and David Gregorio)


Elon Musk's $56 billion Tesla pay package has been tossed out by the court

The judge called Musk's compensation an 'unfathomable sum.'

Mariella Moon
·Contributing Reporter
Wed, January 31, 2024 


Omar Marques via Getty Images

In 2018, Tesla awarded Elon Musk a $56 billion pay package that helped propel him to the top of world's richest lists. Now, a judge in Delaware has rendered the deal between the company and the CEO to be invalid and called the compensation an "unfathomable sum" that's unfair to shareholders. As initially seen and reported by Chancery Daily on Threads, the court of Chancery in Delaware has released its decision on the lawsuit filed by Richard Tornetta. The Tesla shareholder accused the automaker of breaching its fiduciary duty by approving a package that unjustly enriches its chief executive.

Judge Kathaleen McCormick wrote in the decision that Musk "enjoyed thick ties" with the directors who were in charge of negotiating his pay package on behalf of Tesla, which means there "was no meaningful negotiation over any of the terms of the plan." The judge also talked about how Musk owned 21.9 percent of the automaker when the package was negotiated. That gave him "every incentive to push Tesla to levels of transformative growth," because he stood to gain $10 billion for every $50 billion in market capitalization increase.

"Swept up by the rhetoric of 'all upside,' or perhaps starry eyed by Musk’s superstar appeal, the board never asked the $55.8 billion question: Was the plan even necessary for Tesla to retain Musk and achieve its goals?" the judge wrote in the court document. As The Washington Post notes, she ruled that Tornetta is entitled to a "rescission" and has ordered Tesla and its shareholders to carry out her decision and undo the deal. Musk's camp, however, can still appeal her ruling.

Musk has sold some of his Tesla stocks to help pay for his acquisition of Twitter, now X, from the time his pay package was approved. At the moment, he owns around 13 percent of Tesla, though he recently said that he wants 25 percent control over the company before he's comfortable growing it to be a leader in AI and robotics.

In response to the court's decision, Musk tweeted: "Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware." He also posted a poll asking followers whether Tesla should change its state of incorporation to Texas, where its physical headquarters are located.

Heavy Metal Drummer Cost Elon Musk $55.8 Billion

Noor Al-Sibai
Thu, February 1, 2024 


Hate Breed

Elon Musk will not be $55.8 billion richer anytime soon — and it wouldn't have happened without a ticked off metal band drummer.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Musk won't be granted all those additional billions from Tesla, per his strangely-negotiated pay package deal, thanks to one Richard Tornetta, a one-time thrash band drummer who also happens to be a shareholder convinced that the CEO should not be making so much money off his back.

A self-described "car guy," Tornetta used to work for a company that made audio parts for automobiles and currently works in marketing, per an archived version of his LinkedIn that the WSJ viewed that paints him as very much the type of person who would buy stock in Tesla.

The more exciting side of his backstory, however, goes back to 2008, when as Newsweek reports, the shareholder's old band Dawn of Correction, whose name seems to be taken from a folk song that was a response to another folk song, titled "Eve of Destruction," released its one and only album, "Dead Hand Control." Not long after, the band's members left the project for greener pastures — which in this case included suing the world's richest man.

Electric Wizard

Ten years after the album dropped, Tornetta sued Tesla, alleging that its board members misled investors at the CEO's behest when deciding to award Musk a whopping $56 billion as compensation. It's been tied up in Delaware courts ever since, with the COVID-19 pandemic and a months-long surgery leave for the judge, Chancellor Kathleen McCormick, putting it off until now.

"Was the richest person in the world overpaid?" the original filing in Delaware Chancery Court reads in its introduction. "The stockholder plaintiff in this derivative lawsuit says so. He claims that Tesla, Inc.’s directors breached their fiduciary duties by awarding Elon Musk a performance-based equity-compensation plan."

In her ruling, Chancellor McCormick agreed that the compensation negotiations and subsequent shareholder vote were "deeply flawed," and that it should therefore be rescinded.

"This would be as though it never happened," Greg Varallo, Tornetta's lawyer, told the WSJ.

Incredibly, as Al Jazeera reports, Tornetta only owned nine shares in Tesla when he sued in 2018, which are worth about $1,700 today. His lawyers, the outlet reported, will be compensated by Tesla — which if nothing else shows that when you go up against giants like Musk, sometimes you can at least get your legal bills paid.

More on Tesla: Elon Musk Voted "Most Overrated CEO" by His Colleagues

A Bone-Chilling Discovery Has Emerged From the Ice Age—and It's Still Shaping Humanity

Tim Newcomb
Thu, February 1, 2024 

Ancient Gene's Modern Twist UncoveredJupiterimages - Getty Images


Researchers have connected the propensity for certain neurological disorders in modern humans to a gene we inherited from ancient Denisovans.

The gene may have also helped ancient humans better survive colder climates.

Tracking genes from ancient humans can help us pinpoint differences in modern human populations.

When Homo sapiens ventured from Africa into the colder lands of Eurasia, those ancient humans encountered other species of ancient humans and began... mixing their genes. Those DNA-mixing events have passed genetic material down over tens of thousands of years, and now, researchers believe that they can pinpoint where a surviving mental health issue among modern humans came from.

But for once, we can’t blame the Neanderthals. The DNA in question comes directly from Denisovans. Researchers published a study in the journal PLOS Genetics in which they stated that the Denisovan-originated human gene variant SLC30A9 has passed into a majority of modern populations, and could be to blame for knocking off modern mental equilibrium.

SLC30A9 helps control the transportation of zinc across cell membranes. The gene, coding for the ZnT9 protein, has some real benefits—especially in cold climates, as its role in cellular metabolism helped humans adapt to cold weather. But it has some cons as well. Namely, zinc imbalances may result in neurological abnormalities such as depression, hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and schizophrenia.

“We propose that adaption to cold may have driven this selection event,” the authors wrote, “while also impacting predisposition to neuropsychiatric disorders in modern humans.”

After finding the adaptive variant, the team tracked it back to the extinct Denisovan population. “Through genomic analysis, we noted that the genetic variant observed came from our interbreeding with archaic humans in the past, possibly the Denisovans,” Ana Roca-Umbert, co-first author on the study, says in a statement. They also found that Neanderthal populations don’t have the same mutation.

The researchers believe that this newfound link to the past may offer a window into understanding the Denisovan DNA that still exists in modern humans. While Neanderthal DNA has been found to impact everything from nose shape to disease susceptibility in a wide variety of people, Denisovan DNA has largely been seen in smaller groups. For example, in one Tibetan population,it has been seen to help humans adapt to life at high altitudes.

The zinc link goes much further. Even though the variant was established in Asia, it spread to European and Native American populations, and is now found in populations across the planet (although, it is found much less frequently in Africa). “In our case, the impact extends to all populations outside Africa,” Elena Bosch, Institute of Evolutionary Biology principal investigator, said in a statement.

The research team first noticed that the mechanism behind zinc transport differed between modern human populations in Africa and Asia. From there, they started looking for answers. Zinc—an important messenger used by the body to transfer information from the outside of cells to their insides, as well as between different cellular compartments—can also cause neurological and immune disorders when it isn’t present in the body in high enough amounts.

While the variant could potentially provide a metabolic advantage for coping with hostile, cold climates, the adverse impacts have also lived on well beyond those original ancient encounters.

Mexico City residents protest 'unprecedented' water shortages

Cassandra Garrison
Wed, January 31, 2024 






Millions go without water in Mexico City as drought hits capital

By Cassandra Garrison

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Frustrated Mexico City residents have been protesting weeks of water shortages, with officials warning of "unprecedented" low levels in a main system that supplies millions of people.

The bustling metro area of 21 million people - one of Latin America's largest cities - is struggling after years of low rainfall blamed on climate change, as well as chaotic urban growth and outdated infrastructure.


In the community of Acambay, about 80 miles (130 km) outside the Mexican capital, protesters forced open the gates of an office of Mexico's National Water Commission (Conagua), breaking windows and ripping shingles off the roof, local media reported.

In the Azcapotzalco neighborhood of Mexico City, residents lined up to fill buckets and trashcans with water piped from a truck.

Azcapotzalco resident Maribel Gutierrez said she had been without water at her home for more than a month. Neighbors have started fighting over the limited supplies, residents said.

"I think they should be empathetic," Gutierrez said of government officials. "We understand there was a serious water problem, but they must understand that water is vital for everyone."

The Mexican capital, situated in a high-altitude valley and built on a former lake-bed, has struggled to supply its residents for years. It relies mostly on water pumped from its underground aquifer and reservoirs outside the city to meet demand.

Officials from Mexico City's water utility SACMEX have said the Cutzamala System, a network of pumping plants, dams and other infrastructure that is the source of water for about 6 million people, is the most stressed it has ever been. They have asked residents to change habits in order to conserve as much water as possible.

"Due to ... the number of residents, plus the population that comes to work in our city, it is in an unprecedented condition. It is something that we had not experienced during this administration, nor in previous administrations," said Rafael Carmona, director of SACMEX.

The Cutzamala System was at 39.7% capacity on Jan. 29, down from about 41% in December and 54% this time last year, government data show.

Mexico City gets at least half its annual rainfall from the North American Monsoon between May and August. With recent seasons drier than usual, the city's reservoirs are now depleted with no chance at rebounding until the summer months, said Andreas Prein, an atmospheric scientist for the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

"In Mexico, you have to wait until May or June until you can really get a significant boost of precipitation to have a chance to recover water in the reservoirs," Prein said.

The situation puts Mexico City and other major world capitals at risk for the so-called "whiplash effect," Prein said - when a city experiences a rapid swing to wet conditions that can spark flooding.

"The swings are getting more extreme due to climate change," Prein said. "This is what we see on a global scale."

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison, Diego Delgado and Rodolfo Pena Roja, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

Mexico City teeters on 'unprecedented' water shortage

Reuters Videos
Updated Wed, January 31, 


STORY: In this Mexico City suburb, residents gather with their buckets - waiting for the water truck.

It’s their new norm - as the bustling metro area of 21 million people faces a water crisis.

Officials says less rainfall and longer dry seasons are to blame, with 'unprecedented' low levels in a main water system that millions rely on.

Neighbors have started to fight over water in this Mexico neighborhood.

In recent days, protests have even emerged.

Resident Maribel Gutierrez says she's been without water for more than a month now.

"We understand that Mexico City has a serious water problem," she says, but "officials should be empathetic."

Officials have asked them to change their habits to conserve as much water as possible.

Resident Juan Ortega lists some of the changes his community has made.

"We have already made it a rule that cars are no longer washed. The garden, the grass, is never watered, only the plants so that they don't die, we are going to start reusing water from washing machines for watering.”

Water shortages aren't unusual in many parts of Mexico, but officials say the capital's Cutzamala water system is the most stressed it's ever been.

Rafael Carmona is the system’s director.

"Rainfall has been decreasing from 2019 to date and the reduction in rainfall has been constant over the last four or five years. This has led to the Cutzamala system dams having very little stored water. So it has been necessary for gradual reductions in collaboration with the National Water Commission and the Water Commission of the State of Mexico, so at the moment we only have half the water we received in 2019 from the Cutzamala system."

The system's capacity continues to inch lower... at just about 40% capacity at the end of January, down from 54% this time last year.

Mexico City’s water shortages reach dangerous levels

Jenna Moon
Thu, February 1, 2024 


Semafor Signals

Insights from Excelsior, Americas Quarterly, The Globe and Mail, and Fortune
The News

Mexico City residents are protesting dangerous levels of water shortages in Latin America’s second-biggest city caused by a drought gripping half of the country, as well as outdated infrastructure, Reuters reported. Nations across Latin America are grappling with the twin impacts of climate change and El Niño.

SIGNALSSemafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Mexico City could run out of water by AugustSources: Excelsior, Americas Quarterly

Three dams which supply water to the Valley of Mexico are only 30% full, Mexican outlet Excelsior reported this week. The National Water Commission estimates that Mexico City and some surrounding areas could run out of water by Aug. 26 if reservoirs aren’t replenished or consumptions isn’t cut significantly. Mexico is now one of the largest consumers of bottled water, along with China and the U.S., Americas Quarterly noted last year, and 57% of the population lacks access to safe drinking water. The country needs to overhaul and update its dams and distribution systems to ensure water supply to residents, the outlet wrote. The issue has taken on a fresh urgency in the lead up to Mexico’s upcoming elections: Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s former mayor, is the frontrunner to win.

El Niño, climate change have rocked South AmericaSource: The Globe And Mail

South America suffered under the heat this summer, with climate change and El Niño — a weather phenomenon which causes ocean currents to warm — both battering the continent. As temperatures rise, researchers believe that the effects of El Niño will worsen. A string of heat waves that hit Brazil lasted for days, and sometimes weeks at a time. Not only are “heat waves more widespread compared to past El Niño events, but they are also much more recurrent and intense,” one researcher told The Globe and Mail.
Panama Canal drought causes shipping mayhemSource: Fortune

Ships attempting to cross the Panama Canal are stuck in massive queues brought about by dramatically low levels of water due to the ongoing drought. Vessels can sometimes wait for weeks for space to cross, or pay millions of dollars to jump to the front of the line. A drought from El Niño meant that Gatun Lake, a major route in the canal system, received limited rain last year. “It’s just astronomically out of control,” one industry expert told Fortune.

Sixty years on from their only meeting, why it's time to reassess Martin Luther King and Malcolm X

Chris Harvey
Fri, 2 February 2024 

The series uses the only meeting between Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X as a hook to explore their lives - Richard DuCree/National Geographic

“My whole career has been about racism and injustice,” says Kelvin Harrison Jr. “My first job was 12 Years a Slave, my second was Roots.” Being on the set of the former set a tone for his life, he says, after coming from an educational system that didn’t want to “divulge the atrocities of what this country is built on”. Since those striking entries in his early CV, the New Orleans actor has been turning heads in almost every role, most recently as blues great BB King in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. Now he’s taking on an American icon, Martin Luther King Jr, in the eight-part instalment of National Geographic’s Genius: MLK/X.

MLK/X dramatises the parallel lives of King and his radical counterpart Malcolm X. For Harrison, it was intimidating. “Dr King is more famous than Michael Jackson,” he says, adding that the singer wouldn’t have been who he was if it wasn’t for the murdered Civil Rights leader. Yet the 29-year-old notes, every time he’s seen King – who was 39 when he was assassinated in Memphis in 1968 – portrayed on screen, “it’s been an older actor, someone with a bigger resumé, more mature. I immediately retreated and got so insecure and fell into my own imposter syndrome. I was like, ‘I can’t do this’”.

Like previous series of Genius, which explored the lives of Einstein, Picasso and Aretha Franklin, MLK/X is richly detailed historical drama with an emphasis on character and performance. One of the reasons Harrison took the role, he says, is because the British actor Aaron Pierre had already signed up to play Malcolm X. He recalls seeing Pierre playing the escaped slave Caesar in Barry Jenkins’s poetic, moving adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. “I remember sitting watching it in one of my friends’ living rooms, and the presence he holds and the weight he carries from our experience is so profound.”

It’s true. Pierre has a natural gravitas on screen. Jenkins, the Oscar-winning director of Moonlight, saw it at once, plucking him if not from obscurity, then from his debut stage role, as a dashing Cassio alongside André Holland’s Othello and Mark Rylance’s Iago at the London’s Globe theatre in 2018. “That was a very surreal moment,” Pierre tells me. He and Jenkins, he says, now “have a very deep friendship. I consider him a big brother”. In fact, both Pierre and Harrison will appear this year as the voice leads in Jenkins’s long-awaited prequel to The Lion King. It pits the two as warring royal brothers Mufasa (Pierre) and Taka (Harrison), before the latter takes on the identity of the usurping Scar. “Barry has a way of making everything look beautiful,” Harrison says. “I’m sorry to everyone else, but it’s the most artistic and exciting Disney movie I think I’ve seen.”

"The man had huge lungs": Kelvin Harrison Jr as Martin Luther King Jr - Richard DuCree/National Geographic

On the surface, MLK/X sets two oppositional figures on collision course towards their one and only meeting on March 26, 1964, at the seat of the US Congress in Washington DC, where, inside the Capitol, the Senate debated the passage of the Civil Rights Act, as Southern Democrats attempted to filibuster it out of existence.

Prior to their meeting, Malcolm X had openly criticised King’s strategy of non-violent resistance in the face of individual, state- and government-backed violence, in which Civil Rights activists were attacked with guns, bombs, boots, bottles, bricks, dogs, batons and water cannons. He blamed King for putting defenceless children at risk on marches and suggested that black people had a right to defend themselves “by any means necessary”. He was, of course, labelled “dangerous” for this perspective. “I think he was operating from a place of love,” Pierre says. “There is a lot of misinformation out there about both men and I think what this [series] does is reconfirm that they are not opposing forces.”

King, though, must have been stung by Malcolm X’s criticisms. “It’s hurtful when anyone you respect says something about you that is not positive,” Harrison says, noting that King’s approach was clearly strategic. “He’s trying to make sure we weren’t blowing the game.” The drama leans heavily on Peniel E Joseph’s twin history The Sword and the Shield, as well as Jeff Stetson’s 1987 play The Meeting, which imagines a secret hotel-room encounter between the two men. Stetson wrote the show’s opening episode.

Harrison says he had to have a negotiation with himself about how far towards an impersonation it was possible to go without it feeling like one, especially in relation to King’s voice, familiar to so many from his “I have a dream” speech in Washington in 1963. “I did decide ultimately that I wanted to get as close to the voice as possible,” he says. There was a biological component to think about, though. “The man had huge lungs,” he laughs.

"I walked how he walked, gestured the way he gestured": British actor Aaron Pierre as Malcolm X - Richard DuCree/National Geographic

For his part, Pierre watched countless hours of footage of Malcolm X and immersed himself deeply in the role. “I wouldn’t describe myself as a method actor,” he says, but “maybe two thirds of the crew didn’t even know I was from London, because I stayed in accent the whole time. I walked how he walked, gestured the way he gestured.” After filming ended, he says, “it took me a while to relearn my own gestures, because I’d spent six months trying to not imitate, but embody him”.

The actor grew up on a council estate in West Croydon (a stone’s throw from where Stormzy comes from, in south London) and was able to draw on being subjected to racism “multiple times” to inform his portrayal – “it’s a deeply hurtful experience, and it’s a deeply saddening experience,” he says. Yet he insists, “I’m fortunate to have grown up where I did – acceptance and understanding of race, heritage and religion wasn’t something I had to learn in my adulthood. I had friends who were Muslim, who were Christian, who were Rastafarian, it was just normality for me.”

He’s not the only Brit in the production. I May Destroy You’s Weruche Opia plays King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, and Lennie James, a veteran of Line of Duty and The Walking Dead, plays King’s father, Martin Luther King Sr. James was one of the first wave of British actors to try their hand in America, partly because of the lack of roles for black actors. Pierre notes that in theatre in the UK, “I’ve always felt I could play any role, but in terms of television and film, my opportunities seemed considerably more limited”. Harrison says that working with the Brits was a revelation. “I felt like I came into this with a lot of discipline,” he laughs. “But those are real thespians.”

The meeting: Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X shake hands in Washington DC, 

March 26, 1964 

- Universal Images Group/Marion S Trikoskor

As for his own experience of racism, he says, “I’ve always looked at people as, we’re just brothers and sisters, that’s it,” but he has experienced “people not giving me the same respect... I’ve also experienced a lot of tokenism. Now is that blatant racism? Not necessarily.” But, he adds: “I know it’s still in the air. I can feel it.” He won’t always call it out, he says, unless he thinks, “This is just disrespectful and inappropriate”. He notes that because he grew up in the 2000s, his experience of racism “is more nuanced. I don’t get it as explicitly as we get to see it in the show”.

Of course, both King and Malcolm X had direct experience of white supremacists – Malcolm’s father had been repeatedly threatened and died in a suspicious streetcar accident when his son was six, which his mother maintained was a racist murder. King’s family home was bombed when he led a city-wide bus boycott against segregation in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. I wonder if Harrison thinks that it is still a significant problem in American society, given that clear links have been established between the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and white supremacist organisations. “Yeah, of course it is still a problem,” he says. “There are people out there that believe that and feel that way.”

There is a “looming anxiety” about the possibility of a second Trump presidency in his “internal conversations”, he says, but he adds: “I think it’s one of those things, where you have to be really patient and you have to listen to what everyone has to say. And just see where we end up. I am not a believer in allowing the anxiety to create a new monster.”

Genius: MLK/X begins on National Geographic on Saturday 3 February at 9pm

40 years in prison for ex-CIA coder who leaked hacking tools to WikiLeaks

POLITICAL PRISONER OF THE DEEP STATE

AFP
Thu, 1 February 2024 

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) seal is displayed in the lobby of CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia (SAUL LOEB)

A former CIA programmer was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday for leaking the US spy agency's most valuable hacking tools to WikiLeaks.

Joshua Schulte, 35, was found guilty in 2022 of espionage and other charges in what the CIA called a "digital Pearl Harbor" -- the largest data breach in the history of the intelligence agency.

"Schulte betrayed his country by committing some of the most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history," US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

"He caused untold damage to our national security in his quest for revenge against the CIA for its response to Schulte's security breaches while employed there."

US District Judge Jesse Furman sentenced Schulte to 40 years in prison for espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI and child pornography.

Schulte worked for the CIA's elite hacking unit from 2012 to 2016 when he quietly took cyber tools used to break into computer and technology systems, according to court documents.

After quitting his job, he sent them to WikiLeaks, which began publishing the classified data in March 2017.

"Schulte's theft and disclosure immediately and profoundly damaged the CIA's ability to collect foreign intelligence against America's adversaries; placed CIA personnel, programs, and assets directly at risk; and cost the CIA hundreds of millions of dollars," prosecutors said.

The leaked data included a collection of malware, viruses, trojans, and "zero day" exploits that, once leaked out, were available for use by foreign intelligence groups, hackers and cyber extortionists around the world, they said.

Schulte was an early suspect after WikiLeaks began publishing the secrets, but was quietly charged in September 2017 only with having a large cache of child pornography on his computer.

Charges related to the theft and transmission of national defense information, under the Espionage Act, were added later.

In 2020, a jury convicted him on two lesser charges of lying and contempt of court, but it was hung on the other charges.

In 2022, a new jury convicted Schulte on eight counts under the Espionage Act and one count of obstruction. He was convicted of child pornography charges last year.

The leak spurred the US government to consider tough action against WikiLeaks, which then-CIA director Mike Pompeo called a "hostile intelligence service."

The US government then moved to indict WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges. Assange is currently in Britain fighting extradition to the United States.

cl/mdl


Joshua Schulte: Former CIA employee jailed for 40 years for largest leak in agency's history

Sky News
Thu, 1 February 2024 


Joshua Schulte
Suspect accused of leaking documents to Wikileaks

A former CIA employee has been jailed for 40 years over the largest leak of classified information in the agency's history.

Joshua Schulte, a software engineer from New York, passed the data to whistleblowing agency WikiLeaks in the so-called Vault 7 leak in 2017.

Prosecutors, who had pushed for a full life term, said in a statement on Thursday, Schulte was guilty of espionage, computer hacking, contempt of court, making false statements to the FBI, and possession of child sex abuse images and videos.

Schulte was sentenced in a federal court in New York.

The Vault 7 leak exposed secret hacking tools and led to a series of embarrassing revelations about the agency's activities.

That year, WikiLeaks exposed details of how the CIA monitored foreign governments, alleged extremists and others by compromising their electronics and computer networks.

It was, prosecutors said, "the largest data breach in the history of the CIA, and his transmission of that stolen information to WikiLeaks is one of the largest unauthorised disclosures of classified information" in US history.

Investigators working on the leak case found thousands of child sex abuse pictures and videos in Schulte's Manhattan flat, in an encrypted container beneath three layers of password protection.

He was convicted in July 2022 on four counts each of espionage and computer hacking, one count of lying to FBI agents and was also found guilty of possessing child sex abuse images.

UK

Miners’ Strike 1984 viewers draw parallels with Mr Bates Vs the Post Office

Viewers of the Channel 4 documentary were outraged to learn the events of the Battle of Orgreave and called for a public enquiry.


Albertina Lloyd
·Contributor
Updated Thu, 1 February 2024 

Viewers were shocked and outraged by Channel 4 documentary Miners Strike 1984: Battle of Britain (Getty Images)

What did you miss?

Viewers of Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain drew parallels between the documentary and recent docu-drama Mr Bates Vs the Post Office.

The Channel 4 series marking the 40th anniversary of the miners strikes left many viewers outraged to learn the events of the Battle of Orgreave and called for a public enquiry. Several saw similarities between the perjury of police officers who exaggerated the violence of the miners and the injustice experienced by the 700 sub-postmasters falsely prosecuted in the Horizon scandal.

What, how, and why?

Viewers drew parallels with the injustices in Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. (ITV)

The second episode of the three-part documentary looked back at events that took place during the Battle of Orgreave in South Yorkshire in June 1984 when there were violent clashes between the police and the picketers. In June 1991, the South Yorkshire Police paid £425,000 in compensation to 39 miners for assault, wrongful arrest, unlawful detention and malicious prosecution. It has since been called a brutal example of legalised state violence.


Several viewers compared the injustice to the 700 sub-postmasters falsely prosecuted between 2000 and 2014 of of theft, fraud and false accounting based on incorrect information from the Post Office's Horizon computer system. Their story was recently highlighted in ITV drama Mr Bates Vs the Post Office starring Toby Jones as trailblazer Alan Bates.

Ranks of police face the picketing line outside Orgreave Coking Plant near Rotherham. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)

One viewer wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter: "It's like the post office saga, it makes you so angry, all these people lying. Like Hillsborough. #minersstrike"

Another declared: "The government finally did something about the Post Office Scandal after a TV drama. Can guarantee they won’t do anything about Orgreave after this C4 doc. #MinersStrike" And another commented: "It’s about time there was a public enquiry into the miners strike. The biggest cover up in British history. Anyone would think they are hoping all the miners have passed before the truth comes out !!" Another said: "Absolutely obvious we need a full inquiry into what happened at #Orgreave - disgusting lies from the police and cover up by the establishment #MinersStrike @orgreavejustice"

Many were shocked to learn about the brutality of the events for the first time. One tweeted: "#MinersStrikeHard watch on Orgreave on Ch 4. Shameful chapter in Britain's history. A disgrace."


Another posted: "Terrifying and shocking watching 'The Battle of Orgreave' on #MinersStrike doc. Police brutality. Corruption. Another stain on British history." And a third shared: "The miners’ strike is perhaps the most profoundly shameful period of this country’s 20th century history #MinersStrike #channel4"

And many praised the documentary. One wrote: "This miners’ strike documentary on C4 is a spectacular piece of work." Another agreed: "#MinersStrike compulsive viewing - wish this was longer than a 3 part documentary @Channel4"

Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain, airs continues at 9pm on Thursday, 8 February.

Read more: Mr Bates Vs the Post Office

Mr Bates vs The Post Office star Will Mellor on apology to victims: ‘Talk is cheap’ (BANG Showbiz, 2 min read)


Real-life Mr Bates opens up on Post Office scandal in ITV drama (Independent, 1 min read)


Mr Bates vs The Post Office confirms record-breaking viewing figures (Digital Spy, 2 min read)


What happened to the sub-postmasters on Mr Bates vs The Post Office? (Yahoo UK, 6 min read)

No 10 angers Alan Bates with claim he was offered ‘fair’ Horizon compensation


Dominic Penna
Thu, 1 February 2024 

Alan Bates has spent two decades in search of justice after being wrongfully accused of fraud - Alamy

Downing Street has come under fire over its compensation for Post Office Horizon scandal victims after it insisted Alan Bates was offered a “fair” deal.

Mr Bates, a former sub-postmaster who has fought a two-decade battle for justice, has said he will turn down a “cruel” and “derisory” payout offer that he claims was only around a sixth of the sum that he requested.

The Telegraph understands Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, was saddened to hear his comments and called a meeting with Kevin Hollinrake, the postal minister, to look into the matter further.

Mr Bates, whose story inspired Mr Bates vs The Post Office – a recent ITV drama that sparked fresh public outcry – was forced to stop running his branch in 2003.

He is one of hundreds of sub-postmasters to have been affected by Horizon, a faulty Fujitsu accounting system that made it seem as though money was missing from their businesses.

Asked about the offer made to Mr Bates, a government spokesman said on Thursday: “We pay tribute to the incredible campaign that Alan has led and his determination to get justice for the thousands of innocent postmasters affected by this scandal.

“However, the financial compensation scheme has been designed to treat everyone affected fairly and equally.”

But in a sign that his compensation could yet be increased, a source close to Mrs Badenoch said: “We will make sure Mr Bates gets the compensation he deserves.”


Responding to No 10’s remarks on Thursday evening, Mr Bates noted most Horizon victims were still waiting to hear back about their compensation claims.

“If Rishi [Sunak] has said that I should get what I deserve, then he should just pay it and stop arguing with me,” he said.

“I’m not just singling out the politicians, but also the bureaucrats who are handling this process.”

On Thursday night, MPs from across the political spectrum urged Downing Street to rethink its response.

Nadhim Zahawi, a Conservative MP and former chancellor, said: “Mr Bates and his fellow sub-postmasters have waited too long to receive the justice they deserve, so we have an even greater duty to ensure that they are compensated in full.

“A great deal of this duty falls on Fujitsu. They should be coming forward with considerable financial remedy now, rather than waiting until the inquiry is over. I would urge the Government to look at the matter of Mr Bates’s compensation again.”

Kevan Jones, a Labour member of the Horizon compensation advisory board, called on ministers to “speed up the compensation and ensure offers are made that aren’t an insult”.

‘Rectify this heartless response’

Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrats’ Cabinet Office spokesman, added: “The Government has known since the High Court ruling in 2019 that postmasters such as Alan Bates deserved compensation, and they should have moved heaven and earth to pay out.

“Instead, they have dragged their heels. A minister should rectify this heartless response immediately.”

It came as the number of Horizon convictions quashed passed 100 on Thursday as Allen Reynolds, Nilufar Ali and Davinder Bangay were all cleared of convictions for fraud or theft.

Jo Hamilton, a former sub-postmaster, had to challenge her claim twice. She ended up receiving more than three times what she was originally offered.

The 66-year-old was accused of stealing £36,000 from her Post Office in South Warnborough and pleaded guilty to false accounting in 2008 to avoid going to prison.

Ms Hamilton said: “It makes me furious that they are treating people like Alan, myself and other sub-postmasters like this. They will end up spending more taxpayers’ money on trying to fight challenges from people like myself.”

Christopher Head, who was blamed for a shortfall of £88,500 at his Post Office branch, has received an offer under one-sixth of what he requested.

Mr Head, who is now 36, told The Telegraph: “The purpose of this scheme was meant to put sub-postmasters in a position where they would have been had the scandal not happened.

“If that’s the case then they clearly haven’t followed through with their principles by offering us such small sums.”

UK

‘Valuable’ culture budgets slashed as financial pressures grow

A DECADE OF TORY AUSTERITY

Jonathan Bunn, PA Political Reporter
Thu, 1 February 2024


Councils remain the biggest funders of arts and culture in England despite dedicated budgets reducing by nearly £500 million since the onset of austerity, according to a report.

Analysis by the County Councils Network (CCN) found it was “extremely hard” for councils to avoid slashing budgets for cultural services including libraries, tourism and support for the arts due to the rising costs of social care in particular. This is despite a widespread acknowledgement of their social and economic value.

Government figures show councils overall budgeted £1.6 billion in 2010/11, but accounts for 2023/24 reveal dedicated spending has plummeted by nearly a third in the last 14 years to just over £1.1 billion.


The biggest area of cultural spending is on libraries but councils have cut their overall expenditure on these services by a quarter (£232.5 million) since 2010/11.

Financial support for museums, galleries and theatres has been reduced by £166.8 million over the period, a reduction of 30%.

Meanwhile, the analysis shows spending specifically on tourism, a key driver of economic growth, has seen the largest fall of all cultural services, with a reduction of 63% since 2010/11.

London councils have reduced this spending on tourism by 80% over the period, while other metropolitan boroughs have cut budgets by two-thirds.

Due to ongoing demand pressures and forecasts of huge budget overspends this year, some of the 20 county councils and 17 county unitary authorities represented by CCN have proposed a further round of reductions in funding for cultural services in 2024/25.

Suffolk County Council recently announced plans to cut its core arts funding by 100%, but later reversed the decision and approved a £500,000 fund for local arts and heritage organisations.

CCN said the Government’s recent revision to the local government financial settlement in 2024/25, which included an additional £500 million for social care, could potentially reduce the scale of reductions to cultural services in some areas.

However, the organisation called for a “clear discussion” with the next Government after the general election on what library and cultural services local government can deliver when budgets are largely spent on adult and children’s social care.

Sam Corcoran, CCN vice chair and Labour leader of Cheshire East Council, said councils had “thought outside the box” to save library services, but added this was “only half the story”.

He added: “Councils are the biggest funders of arts and culture in England, and we recognise the value of investing in libraries, arts and heritage attractions for both our communities and our economies.

“But councils have found it extremely hard to avoid significantly reducing their spend on libraries, culture, and tourism since 2010 with funding being prioritised towards statutory and life-critical care services.

“We know how much residents value cultural services, but the reality is that we have been unable to avoid reducing support for them.”

Cllr Corcoran said the extra Government funding in 2024/25 may “stave off the most severe reductions” in spending but called for long-term clarity on the provision of libraries and cultural services.

The CCN also called for the current cultural development fund to continue under the next government.

However, it argued the competitive bidding process for funding should be removed and money distributed “fairly” across the country.

A report this week by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee warned that the “out of control” crisis in local government driven by long-term funding constraints and a “broken” financial system can only be ended by the Government providing billions of pounds more to councils.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We recognise councils are facing challenges and that is why we recently announced an additional £600 million support package for councils across England, increasing their overall proposed funding for next year to £64.7 billion – a 7.5% increase in cash terms.

“This additional funding has been welcomed by leading local government organisations, but we remain ready to talk to any concerned council about its financial position.”

'Abandon Biden': Democrats turn on president over support for Israel


Sky News
Thu, 1 February 2024 

In this article

There was a time when he'd have jumped at the chance - not today, not with this president.

Alabas Farhat, Democratic representative for the state of Michigan, declined the invitation for a "meet and greet" with Joe Biden and he wasn't alone.

Arab Muslim community leaders in the greater Detroit area snubbed the campaign visit to their neighbourhood. The problem they have is Mr Biden's support for Israel in the war with Hamas and his opposition to a ceasefire.

"We feel absolutely betrayed," said Representative Farhat. "He literally was elected because he wasn't Trump. Many people actually believed that this is somebody who was the more humane option, potentially.

"I have people from this community that campaigned so much, to the extent that when he won, they wrote his name on their birthday cake."

Now the campaigning is against the president they fought to elect, Democrat against Democrat.

Across the street from where we met Rep Farhat, he pointed out the electronic signage urging locals to vote "uncommitted" - as opposed to Biden - in the upcoming Democratic primaries, hashtag "#genocidejoe".

It runs parallel to an "Abandon Biden" initiative - don't vote for his opponent, necessarily, but don't vote for him.

It presents a serious threat to the sitting president's prospect of re-election. The November poll will likely be decided by small margins in a small number of swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

A survey for Bloomberg News and Morning Consult the day before Mr Biden travelled to Michigan, showed Donald Trump ahead in seven key swing states by 48% to 42%. In Michigan, it was 47% to 42% in Trump's favour.

Any fall in support for Joe Biden in these critical places is an opportunity for his likely contender for the White House, Donald Trump - this, a former president who has pledged to tighten immigration further and expand a travel ban on people from Muslim countries.

The prospect of enabling a second Trump presidency isn't lost on Democrats lining up against Biden.

Rep Farhat said: "They're saying in the community (that) we've held out for years under Trump and we can hold out for another four, if that means we'll stop the killing of our cousins and our loved ones overseas.

"And so, if the president doesn't heed these words, if he doesn't take it seriously, he's at risk of losing the swing state of Michigan."

A look at the figures shows Joe Biden's vulnerability to a Muslim backlash. Michigan has one of the largest Arab American and Muslim populations in the US, numbering around 300,000. At the last election, Joe Biden won the state by 154,000 votes.

Anti-Biden sentiment is echoed in the Islamic Center of Detroit, Imam Imran Salha offered a withering criticism.

"The ink that we would use to sign that ballot (for Biden) would be through the blood of our relatives in Palestine," he said.

"We want it to be recorded in history that President Biden was a one-term president because of the genocide against the Palestinians that he bankrolled."

The question for Biden is how he responds. On the day he came to Michigan, he announced an executive order that will widen sanctions against Israeli settlers inflicting violence on Palestinians in the West Bank.

However, much that resonates with the Muslim community in Michigan, it doesn't go nearly far enough.

According to Rep Alabas Farhat, the conversation needs to start with a ceasefire.

"You don't want a president who's going to enable the genocide that we're seeing overseas. We don't want our president to enable the bombing of innocent women and children and of hospitals. Now President Biden has the power to end this."

The politics of industrial dispute are on a different level. They offered easier engagement for the president in Michigan as he came to acknowledge the endorsement for his re-election from the United Auto Workers Union.

It was photocall stuff - blue-collar backing that he will exploit for all it's worth. There are votes in an auto industry that threads through Michigan - a place where Joe Biden needs all the friends he can find, more than ever.

Three years after decriminalization, Oregon frets over drug use

Romain FONSEGRIVES
Thu, 1 February 2024

The use of hard drugs has been decriminalised in Oregon for three years (Patrick T. Fallon)

When police officer Eli Arnold stops a homeless man smoking methamphetamine on the street in Portland, he simply writes him a ticket with a $100 fine.

Since hard drugs were decriminalized in Oregon three years ago, there are no arrests, just the fine and a card with a telephone number where the user can get help.

"Give them the ticket number and they'll just ask you if you want treatment," he tells the man.

"Just call the number, the ticket goes away."

In February 2021, possession and use of all drugs -- including cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and fentanyl -- was decriminalized in the western state. Sale and production remain punishable.

Like in Portugal, where drugs were decriminalized two decades ago, the idea is to instead treat users as people who need help.

But unlike in Portugal, there is no robust public health system in the United States.

The country is also in the grips of an epidemic of fentanyl -- an opioid up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, which is laying waste to communities everywhere.

In Oregon alone there were 956 fatal overdoses in 2022, a number that has trebled in three years.

2023 looks on track to smash that grim record, with over 600 deaths in the first six months.

- 'Terrible' -

His newly issued fine in hand, addict James Loe can attest to the devastation. At age 39, he says he has lost several acquaintances to fentanyl.

He has also saved more than 50 people from overdoses by giving them naloxone, a nasal spray antidote now considered essential in Portland.

"It’s terrible," says Loe, whose promising college basketball career was cut short by an injury that left him dependent on the opioid oxycodone, and on a downward spiral to ever-more powerful drugs.

Before too long he was on the streets, feeding a drug habit he now says he is sick of.

"I just need to get my act together and change. And I guess this, this will be a time to reflect," he says, promising to call the helpline.

Arnold is not so sure. He arrested Loe for shoplifting a few weeks earlier.

"Will James do something now?" he sighs. "Statistically, the odds are not great."

The toll-free number Arnold and his colleagues give out gets around 10 calls a month, according to a recent audit, which also found police handed out a low number of fines.

- Failure -

Many Portland residents that AFP met said decriminalization has been a failure, describing their city as an open-air drug market.

Arnold sees it all on his rounds.

"I don't think people realized that these groups would begin to use so brazenly, you know, that they'll be out in front of a preschool, smoking fentanyl," he says.

The discontent is such that Democrats, who control the state, are considering reversing course with a bill that would levy a $1,250 fine, or up to 30 days' jail, on people caught with hard drugs.

But health professionals insist it's not possible to say decriminalization has been a failure, because -- they argue -- it was smothered at birth.

"The spirit of Measure 110 was to stop using the criminal justice system to treat addiction. Instead, treat it as a medical issue and provide treatment. However, we haven't done that yet," says Solara Salazar, director of the Cielo Treatment Center, which helps addicts wanting to get clean.

The 2021 law was supposed to improve Oregon's abysmal drug treatment record by strengthening the health care system through taxes levied on cannabis sales.

But the Covid-19 pandemic overwhelmed the administration and funds were not released until almost 18 months after drugs were decriminalized.

"You put the cart before the horse," says Salazar. "You decriminalized, but you don't build any infrastructure and you don't have any services for folks that need it."

More than $260 million has now been spent, but the lack of residential treatment capacity remains stark.

One criticism of decriminalization -- that it would increase harmful drug use -- does not stand up to scrutiny.

In the 12 months after decriminalization, Oregon's overdose rate increased in line with that of 13 similar states that did not change their law, according to a recent New York University study.

- Culture change -

For Salazar, the system needs teeth to be effective.

"In Portugal, (addicts) have to go talk to a panel and they utilize skills to basically do an intervention and get folks to really buy into the treatment process," she says.

It is a model Oregon is slowly beginning to copy.

In Portland, police are starting to patrol with social workers, and reformers say they want law enforcement to be compelled to send users to see a professional.

It's a change that some addicts welcome.

One young woman who did not wish to give her name told AFP she has found herself stuck in a cycle of numbing her emotional pain with drugs.

When she was last arrested, she says, a police officer shouted at her and lectured her.

"How does that make me want to reach out or feel like I want help?" she said.

"That's gonna make me feel like I want to run and go use. "An addict really needs support."

rfo/hg/dw

Iran's long-lasting love for gemstones

Menna Zaki and Ramin Khanizadeh
Thu, 1 February 2024 at 7:51 pm GMT-7·3-min read

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a fan of gemstone rings (-)

At a prominent Shiite shrine in southern Tehran, Qasem Ashgari was buying yet another gemstone ring in the hope it would help his prayers to be answered promptly.

Asghari, in his 30s, who was already wearing several bands on each hand, had a specific ring in mind: a silver one, adorned with yellow agate and engraved with religious scripts.

"The reward of one prayer is multiplied... if done with an agate ring," he told AFP while strolling through the meandering alleys of the market near the shrine of Shah Abdolazim.


Asghari's appreciation for gemstones is shared by many Shiite Muslims in Iran, where prominent male scholars and senior officials are often seen publicly sporting similar rings.

Many in the Shiite-majority country attribute high religious significance to gemstones, which they view as a way to ensure divine protection, ward off evil, and prevent poverty.

Common beliefs associated with gemstones are largely what motivates people to buy them, said Hassan Samimi, a lapidary at the market.

"It is very rare to find someone who wears a ring just for its beauty," said Samimi, 52, in his workshop where he carves large uncut gemstones for rings, necklaces, prayer beads and other items.

- Agate and turquoise -

Inside, one customer, Maryam, browsed through a collection of rings bearing agate, turquoise, topaz, lapis lazuli, emeralds and other stones.

"I get a good feeling from these stones," said the 50-year-old teacher after picking a turquoise set comprising a ring, earrings, and a bracelet.

Samimi says his sales were mostly from agate and turquoise, the most revered stones, especially among Iran's religious community.

Turquoise has been mined in the country since the times of ancient Persia, with Iran home to one of the oldest such mines in the world.

Its bluish-green colour has inspired artists over the years and features prominently in Persian monuments and artefacts as well as Islamic architecture.

The turquoise from the eastern city of Neyshabur "is the most expensive", said Samimi. "The smoother and bluer the turquoise is, the higher its price is."

Hamid Rashidi, another craftsman, says the stone is generally affordable but depending on the quality a piece could sell for as much as four billion rials ($6,000-7,000).

Many Iranians believe it attracts wealth to the bearer and sometimes cite the religious saying "the hand that wears turquoise... will never see poverty".

It is also believed "to enhance eyesight and calm the nerves", said Samimi.

Agate, especially from Yemen, is also popular "because it is recommended by imams" who often claim it can boost livelihoods, said Rashidi.

- 'Cultural heritage' -

Iran's senior officials including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have often been spotted wearing rings with agate or turquoise stones and the supreme leader has been known to gift them as tokens of his appreciation.

The body of the revered Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a 2020 US strike in Baghdad, was in part identified by the agate ring he wore.

Iran subsequently declared the ring "cultural heritage" and a "national asset".

Samimi says demand for gemstones has remained relatively steady despite Iran's severe economic challenges.

Inflation in the country has in recent years hovered near 50 percent while the rial has sharply declined against the dollar.

"The stones market has become much better" over the years, he said, adding that there had been a significant increase in the number of craftsmen in the market compared with nearly three decades ago.

Its continued success, however, may hang on evolving tastes. Samimi admitted that agate and turquoise are not popular among younger generations.

"Young people mostly buy rubies and emeralds and birthstones," he said.

"For them, they are more fashionable."

rkh-mz/dcp/dv