Friday, November 11 top stories
It is Friday, November 11. Here are today’s top stories.
Ukrainian troops enter Kherson
Ukrainian troops entered Kherson, a regional capital in eastern Ukraine that was occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of the war in February. The city is on a key river, the Dnipro River, and Russian troops withdrew by leaving across bridges and then blowing up the bridges.
There are images on social media that show many Ukrainian citizens celebrating and raising Ukrainian flags in Kherson’s central square. It is considered a big setback for Russia, but they still control areas east of the river.
Store owner gets $1M for selling $2B Powerball ticket
On Tuesday, Powerball announced that someone in Southern California bought a winning ticket to win a $2.04 billion jackpot. The store where the ticket was sold is the Joe’s Service Center in Altadena. It is not yet known who the winner is.
The owner of the store won a $1 million prize from Powerball for selling the winning ticket. His name is Joe Chahayed. He moved to the U.S. from Syria in the 1980s with his wife and children. He now has 10 grandchildren. He said he would spend his $1 million on his five children and donate some to the community.
Judge strikes down Biden’s student loan plan
A federal judge in Texas struck down President Biden’s program to forgive student loans, declaring it unlawful. The program would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student loans for at least 16 million people.
The judge sided with a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that said the Biden administration did not have the authority to forgive student loans.
The program was already put on hold due to a lawsuit filed by six states, and now it’s struck down.
The Biden administration said it would appeal the ruling and promised those who applied for student loan forgiveness that it would hold on to their applications so it can quickly process them once they prevail in court. They are not accepting new applications right now as the cases are pending.
Trump blasts DeSantis; Michigan GOP infighting
Former president Donald Trump is not happy with Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who just won re-election with a very high margin of victory.
Trump said in a statement that he’s not happy because he feels that DeSantis is not submitting to Trump’s potential path to running for the presidency in 2024 and that he may run against him for the Republican nomination. Trump said he feels that DeSantis is not showing class or loyalty. Trump said he helped DeSantis’ rise when he endorsed his first run for governor in 2018. He feels that he’s not getting a return on his investment.
In separate but related news, there is infighting among Republican leaders in Michigan after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won re-election and Democratic candidates took control of both chambers of the Michigan legislature for the first time in almost 40 years. Three Republican candidates that were endorsed by Trump lost the gubernatorial, attorney general, and secretary of state races.
A memo from Michigan GOP leaders, written after the election losses, said there was a “power struggle between Trump and anti-Trump factions of the Party, mostly within the donor class.” The Michigan GOP said many longtime donors did not make a donation because of Trump’s influence.
The Republican infighting in Florida and Michigan shows that Republicans will have a dramatic path ahead on whether they want to continue to support Trump or move on to fresh leaders such as DeSantis.
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Alex Jones order to pay another $473M
A judge in Connecticut ordered Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting and an FBI agent. Jones made false claims on his Infowars show that the shooting was a hoax.
The $473 million is a judgment on punitive damages. Last month a jury in Connecticut said Jones must pay $1 billion to the families and the FBI agent.
Jones said the trial is unfair and would appeal. Jones made millions of dollars from selling nutritional supplements, survival gear, and other products on his show.
Colorado voters decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms
Voters in Colorado passed a proposal to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for people 21 and older and to set up “healing centers” where people can take the mushrooms under supervision. This will take effect in 2024.
AP News said supporters of the proposal said the drug can help with mental health diseases and that it is a waste of taxpayers' money to jail people for consuming mushrooms. Opponents said the FDA has not approved the drug as medicine and that allowing healing centers to be set up would send the wrong message to society.
In separate news, voters in Maryland and Missouri approved recreational marijuana but voters in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Arkansas rejected it.
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX files for bankruptcy
FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that allows customers to buy and trade digital currencies, has collapsed and begun bankruptcy proceedings. FTX was the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, second to Binance.
ABC News said FTX was valued earlier this year at $32 billion but concerns of financial instability triggered a wave of customer withdrawals totaling billions of dollars. FTX did not have the money to pay sellers and put a halt on withdrawals.
Analysts said this is a lot like a “bank run” where customers rush to make withdrawals out of concerns that the bank may cease to function, and this in itself causes the bank to run out of cash. Analysts said FTX may owe its customers $8 billion.
The CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned and issued an apology saying he should have done better. Analysts said the FTX collapse would lead to increased regulation of cryptocurrencies. FTX is the sponsor of the stadium where the NBA team Miami Heat plays, and now it is doubtful it will continue to be named FTX Arena.
That is all the top stories for this week. Have a good weekend and stay with the light.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/11/europe/russian-troops-leave-kherson-region-intl
https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/11/federal-judge-texas-student-loan-relief-plan
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/powerball-numbers-announced-record-breaking-jackpot-delay/
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/10/trump-desantis-2022-election-00066416
https://twitter.com/RebeccaRoseGold/status/1590841788809478145
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/alex-jones-ordered-to-pay-473m-more-to-sandy-hook-families/