North America

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Adnan Syed, who was released from a Maryland prison this year after his case was the focus of the true-crime podcast “Serial,” has been hired by Georgetown University as a program associate for the university’s Prisons and Justice Initiative, the university said.

Syed started working this month for the initiative, which advocates for others in the criminal legal system, the university tweeted Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of a Manhattan courthouse Thursday with his parents after they agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.

Trump “lit that fire,” the committee’s chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, writes.

22 Dec 2022; MEMO: The US is considering denying visas to Israelis suspected of violence and crimes against Palestinians, Israel Hayom has reported. The US Embassy in Jerusalem is apparently closely examining cases of violence committed by Israelis against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

WASHINGTON/KYIV, Dec 22 (Reuters) - U.S. supplies of advanced Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, announced during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, will not help settle the conflict or prevent Russia from achieving its goals, Moscow said on Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there had been no signs of readiness for peace talks during Zelenskiy's visit, proving that the United States was fighting a proxy war with Russia "to the last Ukrainian".

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. consumer confidence broke a months-long decline and rebounded in December, according to data released Wednesday by The Conference Board.

The Consumer Confidence Index increased to 108.3 in December from 101.4 in November, following back-to-back monthly declines.

"Consumer confidence bounced back in December, reversing consecutive declines in October and November to reach its highest level since April 2022," said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement. 

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday called for respect for Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on Syria, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said the security situation in Syria has been turbulent for some time. Türkiye has repeatedly pounded northern Syria with airstrikes and artillery shelling, and continues to threaten to launch ground actions. Israel has frequently attacked targets within Syria.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council approved its first-ever resolution on Myanmar on Wednesday, demanding an immediate end to violence in the Southeast Asian nation and urging its military rulers to release all “arbitrarily detained” prisoners including ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and to restore democratic institutions.

The resolution reiterated the call by the 15-member council for the country’s opposing parties to pursue dialogue and reconciliation and urged all sides “to respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Momentum toward passing a $1.7 trillion government funding bill with more aid for Ukraine slowed considerably Wednesday as lawmakers struggled to reach an agreement on amendments needed to get to a final vote and avoid a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate was making progress, but lawmakers exited the chamber late in the evening looking glum and talking of a standoff.

“This bill is hanging by a thread,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two of Sam Bankman-Fried’s top associates secretly pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and are cooperating with investigators, a federal prosecutor announced Wednesday as the digital coin entrepreneur was being flown in FBI custody to the U.S. from the Bahamas.

Carolyn Ellison, the 28-year-old former CEO of Alameda Research, a trading firm started by Bankman-Fried, and Gary Wang, the 29-year-old who co-founded FTX, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud.