[Fox News] Trump says NY Judge Merchan ‘thinks he is above the Supreme Court’ after barring him from immunity arguments
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said New York Judge Juan Merchan "thinks he is above the Supreme Court," after "prohibiting" him from attending arguments Thursday on presidential...
[Fox News] Arizona House lawmakers pass bill to repeal 1864 abortion ban
Arizona House lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to repeal a near-total abortion ban from 1864 on the books in the state. The bill will...
[Fox News] Is the East Coast on the brink of a major earthquake — and are we prepared?
The earthquake that struck the East Coast earlier this month was felt by an estimated 42 million people and luckily caused little damage, but what are the chances of a bigger, more powerful quake striking the area? And if it does, what could it look like — and are we prepared?
The April 5 phenomenon was a 4.8 magnitude earthquake centered near Whitehouse Station in New Jersey, which is about 40 miles west of New York City.
Shaking was felt from Washington D.C. to Maine, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and it followed a much smaller, 1.7 magnitude earthquake in New York City on Jan. 2.
Earthquakes are rare along the East Coast, with the most powerful one in the last 100 years hitting in August 2011, clocking 5.8 on the Richter scale. It was centered in Virginia and felt from Washington, D.C. to Boston.
4.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRIKES NEW JERSEY, SHAKING BUILDINGS IN SURROUNDING STATES
Before that, an earthquake in South Carolina in 1886 is understood to have measured between 6.6 and 7.3 on the Richter scale. There is no definitive measurement of that quake since the Richter scale has only been around since the mid-1930s, but the tectonic shift still killed 60 people.
Professor John Ebel, a seismologist in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College, tells Fox News Digital that when quakes start breaking 5.0 on the Richter scale, damage begins to occur.
For instance, the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria last year measured 7.8 and resulted in the death of nearly 62,000 people as tens of thousands of buildings were either destroyed or severely damaged.
California’s Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, meanwhile, measured 6.9 and caused 69 deaths, and the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the Golden State clocked 6.7, killing 57 people. Thousands more were injured.
“As you go above magnitude five, the shaking becomes stronger and the area over which the strong shaking is experienced becomes wider,” Ebel says. “So if you get a magnitude six, the shaking is ten times stronger than a magnitude five. So had this month’s earthquake been a 5.8, rather than a 4.8, then we would be looking at damage to unreinforced structures in the greater New York City area.”
“Now I have to qualify this and say that in the past few decades, New York City has had an earthquake provision in its building code while New Jersey, New York and Connecticut have all adopted some version of earthquake provisions in their building codes,” Ebel explained. “So modern buildings that are put up today will actually do quite well, even in strong earthquake shaking… If you have a magnitude 6 or even a magnitude seven.”
In terms of the Tri-state area, Ebel says that the region has had smaller earthquakes, but it’s been spared anything that’s been significantly damaging.
An 1884 quake in Brooklyn did cause limited damage and injuries. Seismologists estimated it would have measured in the region of 5.0 and 5.2, while a quake jolted Massachusetts in 1775 in the region of 6.0 and 6.3.
WHAT TO DO DURING AN EARTHQUAKE AND HOW TO PREPARE
“In 1884 there were things knocked from shelves, some cracks in walls that were reported, particularly plaster walls, which crack very easily if a building is shaken,” Ebel said. “There were some brick walls that had some cracks and people panicked because of the very strong shaking.”
A magnitude five earthquake hits the tri-state area once every 120 years, says Ebel, who penned the book “New England Earthquakes: The Surprising History of Seismic Activity in the Northeast.”
“The question is, can we have something bigger? And in my opinion, yes we can,” he said. “We can’t predict earthquakes, and we don’t know when the next one is going to occur, but we do have a low, not insignificant probability of a damaging earthquake at some point.”
Ebel said that the April 5 earthquake has left seismologists baffled since it didn’t occur on the Ramapo Fault zone, highlighting just how hard it is to predict the phenomenon from occurring. The Ramapo Fault zone is a series of small fault lines that runs through New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Spanning more than 185 miles, it was formed about 200 million years ago.
“Right now it’s a seismological mystery,” Ebel said. “We have some earthquakes in our region where we don’t have faults mapped. But that’s even true in California. Not every earthquake occurs on a known or mapped fault in California, so there are still a lot of seismologists have to learn about the exact relationship between old faults and modern earthquakes.”
Ebel noted that buildings aren’t the only thing to consider when earthquakes strike. In the California quakes, overpasses crumbled while the electrical grid can go down too, causing electrical surges and fires.
Toxic chemicals were knocked off of the shelves of a chemistry building in 1989 and the building had to be evacuated, Ebel said.
“And you think about hospitals and some industrial facilities having that situation,” he explained. “So you have these things that are not catastrophic necessarily, but are going to be a real problem.”
And an earthquake doesn’t necessarily have to rattle land in order to cause destruction.
A jolt out at sea could trigger a dangerous tsunami, like the one on the edge of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in Canada in 1929. It was felt as far away as New York City.
Waves as high as 23 feet crashed on the shore, according to the International Tsunami Information Center, with up to 28 people losing their lives.
“A tsunami is not necessarily a very high probability event, but it’s one that we have to think about also,” Ebel says in relation to the East Coast.
The Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 was triggered by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
Ebel says a tsunami similar to 1929 could cause a storm surge along the lines of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, where 43 people died in New York City.
“The threat of an earthquake is not as great as in California, but it’s something that we have to take into account and have emergency plans for and have building codes for,” Ebel says. “Our state and local emergency management agencies in all the northeastern states do earthquake planning — what we call tabletop exercises — where they pretend an earthquake occurs.”
“So those kinds of preparations are made on a regular basis,” he concludes. “Building codes are constantly being reevaluated and approved, not just for earthquakes, but for fires and chemical spills and all kinds of things. So we’re getting more prepared all the time.”
[Fox News] Get a handle on your time: Google Calendar tips and tricks
Before we get into it, I’ll acknowledge what you may be thinking: Using Calendar means handing over even more info to Google.
Win an iPhone 15 worth $799! I’m giving it to one person who tries my free daily tech newsletter. Sign up here while you’re thinking about it.
SEE WHAT THE HOME YOU GREW UP IN LOOKS LIKE NOW AND OTHER MAPS TRICKS
Sure, but here’s my take: For the sake of convenience, most of us choose a Big Tech company or two that we’re OK sharing a lot with. If you use Gmail and Google Maps, adding Calendar to the mix won’t make much difference in terms of privacy.
Here are some ideas to get the most out of it
Spoiler: A lot more than just meetings and dentist appointments. And yes, you can definitely use you preferred calendar app for all these things too, if Google isn’t your thing.
Let’s get to the tricks
FIX AUTOCORRECT IF IT’S DRIVING YOU DUCKING CRAZY
A little know-how goes a long way in getting more out of your everyday software.
Know when people are free: I use this daily at work. Put your cursor in the box labeled Search for people under the Meet with heading. Everybody in your organization should be searchable here, so no more setting meetings no one can attend. You can also create a new meeting, add guests and click Find a time under the date to see the attendees’ availability side by side!
WATCH OUT FOR THE NEW ‘GHOST HACKERS’
Automatically share meeting minutes: In your meeting details, click Create meeting notes under the event description to generate a Google Doc that automatically gets shared with attendees. It includes a built-in outline with the meeting date, attendees, notes and action items. Pro tip: Attach additional notes, docs, slides or whatever else to the meeting so no one’s looking around for them later!
Never miss a beat: When setting an appointment, simply click Add Notification. Choose how long before the event you’d like to be reminded. Boom! Whether it’s 10 minutes or a day in advance, Google Calendar’s got your back. No more oops moments.
You know I have more amazing tips up my sleeve. Get more Google Cal secrets.
Get tech-smarter on your schedule
Award-winning host Kim Komando is your secret weapon for navigating tech.
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[Fox News] Fox News Sports Huddle Newsletter: Riley Gaines praises WV girls, Robert Kraft pulls Columbia support
PROUD – Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines praised the West Virginia middle school girls who refused to compete against a transgender athlete on "America Reports."...
[Fox Business] Google fires more workers over in-office protests
Google has completed a second round of terminations linked to the anti-Israel demonstrations held at the tech giant’s offices last week.
After protesters took over Google’s corporate offices in New York, Seattle and Sunnyvale, California, on April 16 in 10-hour sit-ins, the company fired 28 workers the next day. This week, they fired more following an investigation into the incidents.
According to “No Tech for Apartheid,” the activist campaign led by tech workers behind the protests, a total of 50 Google employees have now been let go by the company over the sit-ins.
No Tech for Apartheid claimed in a blog post that some of the fired Google workers were “non-participating bystanders during last week’s protests.”
GOOGLE FIRES EMPLOYEE WHO INTERRUPTED TECH CONFERENCE WITH ANTI-ISRAEL RANT: ‘NOT OKAY’
Google confirmed in a statement to FOX Business on Tuesday that the company fired more workers linked to the demonstrations, and insisted those who were terminated were participants.
“We continued our investigation into the physical disruption inside our buildings on April 16, looking at additional details provided by coworkers who were physically disrupted, as well as those employees who took longer to identify because their identity was partly concealed–like by wearing a mask without their badge–while engaged in the disruption,” a Google spokesperson said.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY RESPONDS AFTER ROBERT KRAFT SAYS HE’S PULLING SUPPORT OVER ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE
“Our investigation into these events is now concluded, and we have terminated the employment of additional employees who were found to have been directly involved in disruptive activity,” the statement continued. “To reiterate, every single one of those whose employment was terminated was personally and definitively involved in disruptive activity inside our buildings. We carefully confirmed and reconfirmed this.”
Several demonstrators were arrested after the April 16 sit-ins, after they occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurianto to read their list of demands, including that Google cut off all ties to Israel and cancel Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract to provide cloud-computing and artificial intelligence services to the Israeli government.
GOOGLE CEO STRESSES ‘THIS IS A BUSINESS’ AFTER IN-OFFICE PROTESTERS FIRED
No Tech for Apartheid claims the Israeli miliary will use Google technology for “genocidal means.”
Google has denied that its Nimbus project is assisting Israel with weapons or intelligence services, and demonstrators conceded that there was no proof that Project Nimbus was being used against the civilian population in Gaza.
Following the protests and the first round of terminations, Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the matter in a message to remaining employees, making it clear that such disruptions would not be tolerated.
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“We have a culture of vibrant, open discussion that enables us to create amazing products and turn great ideas into action. That’s important to preserve,” Pichai wrote. “But ultimately we are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear: this is a business, and not a place to act in a way that disrupts coworkers or makes them feel unsafe, to attempt to use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.”
[Fox Business] Media mogul Soohyung Kim files racial discrimination suit against FCC: Not ‘right type of minority’
FIRST ON FOX – Media mogul Soohyung Kim filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the Federal Communications Commission of derailing an $8.6 billion deal to purchase Tegna Inc. because of racial discrimination because he was not the “right type of minority” for the FCC’s diversity goals.
“I am suing the FCC because they need to be held accountable for racially discriminating against me. The disparate and unfair treatment in my case is undeniable and unnecessarily divisive. Every person appearing before the FCC deserves to be treated equitably,” Kim told Fox News Digital.
Kim, a Korean American raised in New York, and his company, Standard General, won a public bidding auction to buy Tegna and its 60-plus television stations in 2022. Kim claims he was set to install a female chief executive and the “transaction was poised to be a historic leap forward for both minority ownership and female leadership of broadcast stations” until the FCC nixed the deal in favor of Black media tycoon Byron Allen.
“The FCC killed the deal… motivated by the belief that Mr. Allen’s black-owned company deserved greater solicitude than Mr. Kim’s Asian American-owned company,” the 120-page complaint, filed Wednesday in Washington, D.C., stated.
“The FCC makes no secret about the role race plays in its decisions. Race is a factor in deciding whether to approve broadcast license transfers. The FCC tracks broadcast ownership by the race of broadcast owners,” Kim’s lawyers wrote in the complaint before noting that the FCC recently reported to Congress that “advancing equity” is core to the agency’s management and policymaking processes.
“In this case, ‘advancing equity’ meant killing the chance for a Korean American, Soo Kim, to buy TEGNA’s more than 60 television stations because Byron Allen wanted them for his Black-owned media company. As far as the FCC’s diversity policies and practices were concerned, being Asian did not count. Mr. Kim’s race was used against him with pernicious stereotypes,” Kim’s lawyers wrote.
“As for Mr. Allen, he never had a problem getting the FCC to quickly approve his license applications for his Black-owned media company – the right kind of diversity, according to Mr. Allen. In the years leading up to the TEGNA deal, the FCC quickly approved multi-billion-dollar deals where Mr. Allen’s company would benefit by taking some stations. But Mr. Allen wasn’t getting any stations in the TEGNA deal. As a result, the FCC dealt Mr. Kim and his company, Standard General, an entirely different hand than Mr. Allen,” the complaint stated.
“Objectors, organized by Mr. Allen and allies, parroted Mr. Allen’s widely publicized views that diversity for an Asian American-owned company like Mr. Kim’s was ‘sham’ diversity. They said the deal did ‘nothing’ to advance diversity in broadcast ownership,” the complaint continued. “FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, under the thumb of high-ranking Democrats in Congress, went along with it. Chairwoman Rosenworcel had her staffer kill the deal with a pocket veto without ever putting it before the other Senate confirmed FCC commissioners.”
Kim’s lawyers believe the FCC violated “the twin commands” of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equality that states “race may never be used as a ‘negative’ and that it may not operate as a stereotype” because he was painted as a “shadowy foreign investor.”
“He was not the ‘right type of minority’ for the FCC’s diversity goals,” the complaint stated.
BYRON ALLEN OFFERS TO BUY PARAMOUNT GLOBAL FOR $14 BILLION
The complaint stated that Kim’s planned purchase “would have created tremendous value” for Tegna shareholders” by paying a $24-per-share premium for a company that traded as low as $10 per share when bidding began in early 2020. It would have also “offered significant benefits to employees, guaranteeing three years’ job security to newsroom staff and increases to newsroom budgets,” according to the complaint.
Kim accused the FCC of dragging its feet by taking over 300 days to take action on Standard General’s license-transfer applications for the Tegna stations before the deal was “killed” without notice.
“Standard General was one of the largest shareholders, losing nearly $85 million based on its 10.6 million shares owned when the deal died,” the complaint said. “The FCC chairwoman and her personal staffer blocked the deal at the behest of Mr. Allen, who used business allies and six-figure political donations to destroy Mr. Kim’s chances of acquiring TEGNA – to the tune of over $200 million in losses to Standard General and Mr. Kim and nearly $2 billion in losses to TEGNA shareholders.”
TEGNA BUYS SAN DIEGO’S KFMB-TV, RADIO STATIONS FOR $325M
The lengthy filing details Kim’s complaints, including claims that high-powered Democrats such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., favored “longtime Democrat donor” Allen.
“Race was a negative for Korean American Soo Kim, but it always seemed to work as a positive for Byron Allen,” the complaint said.
Kim is seeking “punitive damages to the fullest extent permitted by law,” along with attorneys’ fees, and a jury trial.
The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Allen Media Group owns TheGrio and The Weather Channel, among other media outlets. Last month, Allen’s media group made an all-cash offer for Tegna, Variety reported in a story posted on Allen’s website.
Allen Media Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
[Fox Business] Tesla driver using autopilot mode charged with vehicular homicide in death of motorcyclist
A Washington man has been arrested and charged with vehicular homicide after a Tesla in autopilot mode slammed into a motorcyclist, killing him.
The crash happened around 3:45 p.m. Friday in Maltby, Washington, according to a Washington State Patrol incident summary.
The Tesla Model S driver, identified in court documents obtained by FOX 13 Seattle as 56-year-old Carl Hunter, told first responders the vehicle in autopilot mode “lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle in front of him.”
The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Jeff Nissen of Stanwood, was pronounced dead at the crash site. Investigators say he was ejected from atop the bike before being run over by the Tesla.
RAY WANG IS ‘BULLISH’ ON TESLA AFTER EV STOCK SLIDES
“[Jeff] was such a loving person, such a loving uncle. He loved his nieces and nephews,” Nissen’s sister, Jenessa Fagerlie, told FOX 13. “We were hoping someday that he would have kids, but he got taken too soon.”
Nissen would have turned 29 in June. Fagerlie said her brother hugged her and told her he loved her the last time she saw him.
TESLA NOTIFIES THOUSANDS IN TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA OF IMPENDING LAYOFFS
Court documents say the Tesla driver admitted to having one drink prior to the crash but passed field and blood tests. Detectives labeled distracted driving as the cause of the crash since the driver was using his phone at the time.
Tesla is offering new and existing Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y owners “the opportunity to experience the latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) features,” with a free 30-day trial, according to its website.
VARNEY: WILL TESLA INVESTORS ACCEPT ANOTHER ELON MUSK-DRIVEN CRISIS?
The trial was launched with the newest software upgrade for the vehicles, version 12.3 or later. It is available to Tesla owners in the U.S. and Canada.
“Under your supervision, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) can drive your Tesla almost anywhere,” the car manufacturer tells operators under its release notes in the Tesla app. “It will make lane changes, select forks to follow your navigation route, navigate around other vehicles and objects, and make left and right turns.”
The company recommends drivers “use additional caution” and “remain attentive” when utilizing the feature. It adds that vehicles do not become “autonomous” and drivers should not become “complacent.”
Tesla did not respond to a FOX Business request for comment, and it is unknown if the driver involved in the crash was utilizing the self-driving trial or had paid for the service.
WATCH: Tesla Model Y operates under ‘Full Self-Driving (Supervised)’ trial
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“Put your phone away and less distractions, the better,” Fagerlie said as a message to drivers. “You still need to pay attention to the road.”
[Fox Business] Kentucky Derby attendees can store alcohol in their fancy hats thanks to Fireball Whisky’s new products
The 2024 Kentucky Derby is coming up quickly on Saturday, May 4 — with many still searching for the perfect fascinator or hat for the popular annual event.
Fireball Whisky recently released its hot lid hat — which is tall enough to fit an entire 750 mL bottle of Fireball or the liquor of one’s choice.
The brand also released a shorter hat, which can be used to store multiple Fireball 50mL shooters for the occasion.
OHIO WOMAN CELEBRATES 105TH BIRTHDAY WITH 105 FIREBALL SHOTS: ‘LIFE OF THE PARTY’
Fireball quickly sold out of the items on the first rollout, but is restocking the accessory items on Thursday, April 25, for those looking to get their hands on one.
The hats will be available while supplies last, retailing at $24.99 — the suggested retail price for Fireball’s small batch dragon reserve bottle.
Fireball’s global brand director, Danny Suich, said the marketing move was to “inject fun” into the annual horse dash.
KENTUCKY DERBY: HISTORY OF THE OVER-THE-TOP, UNIQUE HATS
“Fireball thrives by injecting fun where it has otherwise been missing, and famed events like a certain iconic upcoming horse race provide the perfect opportunity to bring that spirit to life,” he said in a press release.
He continued, “Fireball lovers can embrace their rebellious side by setting fire to old traditions and enjoying their favorite cinnamon whisky at the track or at watch parties across the country.”
KENTUCKY DERBY HATS THROUGH THE YEARS, FROM THE BOLDEST TO BRIGHTEST
A whisky with natural cinnamon flavoring, Fireball is produced by Sazerac Company, which is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby held at Churchill Downs.
This year will mark the 150th horse race — with over 150,000 people reportedly set to attend to see the fastest horse take home the prize, per the Kentucky Derby.
The red and gold-themed hats include such embellishments as florals, plumage, feathers, bows and ribbons inspired by Fireball’s small batch dragon reserve bottle.
Suich added that “people have worn the same outrageous hats and drank the same boring drinks” for years — until now.
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For more information about the Fireball hat, anyone can visit fireballwhisky.com.
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[Fox Business] Musk says Tesla’s affordable EVs coming next year
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the EV-maker is planning to bring newer, more affordable models in early 2025 after recent uncertainty about the status of the company’s long-discussed plans for a lower-cost EV in its lineup.
Musk pushed back on a report by Reuters from earlier this month, which cited sources familiar with the company’s planning and internal documents, that indicated Tesla had backed off its plan to launch a $25,000 EV — often referred to in reports as the “Model 2” though Tesla hasn’t offered a name. He offered an outline of Tesla’s affordable EV plans in his opening remarks of Tuesday’s earnings call.
“In terms of the new product roadmap, there’s been a lot of talk about our upcoming vehicle line in the past several weeks,” Musk said. “We’ve updated our future vehicle lineup to accelerate the launch of new models ahead of the previously-mentioned start of production in the second half of 2025, so we expect it to be more like early 2025 if not late this year.”
“These new vehicles, including more affordable models, will use aspects of the next-generation as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be able to be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle lineup,” Musk added.
TESLA NOTIFIES THOUSANDS IN TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA OF IMPENDING LAYOFFS
“So it’s not contingent on any new factory or massive new production line,” he explained. “It will be made on our current production lines much more efficiently, and we think that this should allow us to get to over 3 million vehicles of capacity when realized to the full extent.”
Musk did not elaborate during the call about a potential price range for the newer vehicles, so it’s unclear at this time whether it will fall at or near the previously discussed $25,000 threshold, or if it will be closer to the Model 3 — Tesla’s most affordable offering, which starts at around $39,000.
The company warned that the plan to use aspects of its current platform as well as a next-generation platform could result in “achieving less cost reduction than previously expected.”
TESLA SLASHES PRICE FOR FULL SELF-DRIVING SOFTWARE
Although he and other Tesla executives declined to go into greater detail about the affordable EV plans, Musk indicated on the earnings call that the company will “talk about this more on Aug. 8,” when it plans to unveil its robotaxi.
Investors who had been unnerved in part by the reports of Tesla moving away from its plan to make a low-cost EV have rekindled their interest in the company’s stock, which rose over 11% during Wednesday’s trading session as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern.
TESLA ANNOUNCES PRICE CUT FOR CERTAIN MODELS
Those gains leave the company’s stock down about 35% in 2024 to date, after Tesla reported weak first quarter sales figures as it faces intense price competition from China-based EV-makers.
Tesla has slashed prices for its leading models in the U.S. and other global markets in an effort to stimulate demand.