Manhattan Grand Jury:Â Robert Costello, the attorney for former Trump Attorney Michael Cohen was due to testify today before the Manhattan Grand Jury that has been looking into Donald Trump’s payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about their sexual relationship. The grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict Trump. Trump said that he expects to be arrested tomorrow.
Iran hostages:Â The New York Times reports that former Texas Governor John Connally, who switched parties and became a Republican, just before the 1980 Presidential Election made a trip to the Middle East in which he urged Arab leaders to convince Iran not to release the American hostages it was holding until after the election. Connally was saying the Iranians would get a better deal if Ronald Reagan were elected. The U.S. and Iran were very close to a deal that would have freed the hostages. It was the failure to solve the Iranian Hostage Crisis that was primarily responsible for President Jimmy Carter losing his bid for a second term in the White House.
Signature Bank deal:Â The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced that Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, has agreed to buy most assets of failed Signature Bank. The FDIC would continue to hold $60 billion of loans that had been written by Signature Bank as well as $4 billion of its deposits. Effective today, Flagstar will take over operation of Signature’s 40 branches. Flagstar is headquartered in Hicksville on Long Island.
Credit Suisse sale:Â European banking giant UBS plans to buy the Swiss bank Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion. The deal would prevent Credit Suisse from failing. Shares of stock of both UBS and Credit Suisse fell when the deal was announced.
Fatal accident:Â Five children from Derby, Connecticut, were killed early yesterday morning in a crash on the Hutchinson River Parkway in Scarsdale. The car in which they were riding was driven by a 16-year-old boy. It struck a tree and burst into flames. The victims were ages eight through 17.
Putin and Xi:Â Presidents Putin of Russia and Xi of China today published articles in Chinese and Russian newspapers in which they praised each other and highlighted relations between Moscow and Beijing. The article by Putin was published in a Chinese translation, and Xi’s was translated into Russian. The articles were timed to Xi”™s visit to Russia which began today.
