Bridge collapse: The search continues for victims of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. A cargo ship hit the bridge at about 1:30 this morning causing a large section of the 1.6-mile-long bridge to fall into the Patapsco River. The bridge carried Interstate 695 into the city of Baltimore. A construction crew was at work on the bridge at the time of the collapse and it also was open for traffic. Cars and trucks were seen in the water. The cargo ship was leaving Baltimore when it struck the bridge.
Trump’s stock: With Donald Trump’s Media & Technology Group going public today in a stock offering on the exchange Nasdaq, Trump said he decided not to allow the stock to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange because New York State Attorney General Letitia James is a horrible person and business people are treated badly in New York. James brought the court case in which Trump was convicted of bank, insurance and tax fraud. However, Nasdaq also is located in New York and Trump did not address that fact. Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have different criteria for accepting stocks that can be traded on their respective exchanges.
Combs raids: Federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security have raided the Los Angeles and Miami homes of recording personality Sean “Diddy” Combs. CNN reported that a source said the raids were part of a sex trafficking investigation. Three lawsuits were recently filed against Combs in which he is accused of sex trafficking. One of the lawsuits, filed by Cassie Ventura, who was Combs’ former girlfriend, was settled. Ventura accused Combs of forcing her to participate in a sex trafficking scheme, abusing her for years and raping her.
Gershkovich: A Moscow court today ordered Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to remain behind bars while awaiting trial. Gershkovich was arrested almost a year ago on charges that he was a U.S. spy. Gershkovich and the newspaper strenuously deny that he was spying. U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy attended the court proceedings and called the charges fiction. The U.S. says that Russia arrests U.S. citizens on baseless charges in the hopes of trading them for Russian criminals held by various western countries.
Card fees: VISA and MasterCard have agreed to settle an antitrust class action lawsuit that will rollback fees they charge businesses for processing credit and debit card charges. The settlement is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The settlement applies to all merchants who accepted Visa or Mastercard debit or credit cards in the U. S. at any time between Dec. 18, 2020, and the date of entry of final judgment by the court. It’s estimated the total savings to merchants in the five years following approval of the settlement will reach just under $30 billion.
Supreme Court: The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision on use of the abortion drug Mifepristone before its current term ends in June. In today’s oral arguments the court was being asked uphold a ruling from a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump that threw out U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals allowing wider use of the drug. The ruling had been partially upheld by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. It’s argued that courts should not be throwing out decisions made by the FDA that are based on scientific and medical evidence as well as years of experience that prove a drug is safe and effective.
Cover photo: Francis Scott Key Bridge before collapse. Satellite photo via Google Maps.
