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Department of Justice prosecutors want the federal judge overseeing the case against FTX crypto exchange co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried to make him stop contacting former or current employees, alleging possible witness tampering. Prosecutors claim in a letter filed Jan. 27 in federal court that Bankman-Fried contacted FTX attorney Ryne Miller — a possible witness in the trial — and many other employees using Signal, an encrypted messaging app, CNBC reported. The government claims that Bankman-Fried wrote to Miller on Signal on Jan. 15, days after bankruptcy officials at FTX disclosed the recovery of more than $5 billion in FTX assets. “I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other,” Bankman-Fried allegedly told Miller. SBF’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, former CEO of his compan...

Elon Musk has returned to federal court in San Francisco to testify in a class action lawsuit filed by Tesla investors alleging he misled them with a tweet SAN FRANCISCO -- Elon Musk returned to federal court Monday in San Francisco, testifying that he believed he had locked up financial backing to take Tesla private during 2018 meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — although no specific funding amount or price was discussed. The 51-year-old billionaire Tesla CEO and Twitter owner is facing a class action lawsuit filed by Tesla investors alleging he misled them with a tweet saying funding was secured to take his electric car company private — for $420 per share. But the deal never came close to happening, and the tweet resulted in a $40 million settlement with securities regulators. The trial hinges on the question of whether a pair of tweets that Musk posted on Aug. 7, 2018, damaged Tesla shareholders during a 10-day period leading up to Musk's...

Sooner or later, either Wall Street or the Federal Reserve has to blink WASHINGTON -- Sooner or later, either Wall Street or the Federal Reserve has to blink. Nearly a year into the Fed’s drive to quash inflation by hiking interest rates at a blistering pace, investors still don’t seem to fully believe what the Fed warns is coming next: Higher rates through the end of the year, which could sharply raise unemployment and slow growth. Wall Street has a more sanguine view: With inflation cooling from painful highs, investors are betting that the Fed will stop hiking rates soon, pause for a bit and then start cutting rates toward the end of the year to combat what many on Wall Street expect will be a mild recession. That relatively optimistic view has helped propel the broad S &P 500 stock index up 4.4% so far this year. Yet a host of Fed speakers last week underscored a contrasting message: They expect to raise their benchmark rate above 5%, modestly above Wall Street’s forecast. Doin...

A hand-drawn map with a red letter X purportedly showing the location of a buried stash of precious jewelry looted by Nazis from a blown-up bank vault has sparked a modern-day treasure hunt OMMEREN, Netherlands -- A hand-drawn map with a red letter X purportedly showing the location of a buried stash of precious jewelry looted by Nazis from a blown-up bank vault has sparked a modern-day treasure hunt in a tiny Dutch village more than three quarters of a century later. Wielding metal detectors, shovels and copies of the map on cellphones, prospectors have descended on Ommeren — population 715 — about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Amsterdam to try to dig up a potential World War II trove based on the drawing first published on Jan. 3. “Yes, it is of course spectacular news that has enthralled the whole village," local resident Marco Roodveldt said. “But not only our village, also people who do not come from here.” He said that “all kinds of people have been spontaneously dig...

The Chinese government says the U.S. should stop pressuring it on debt relief for Zambia and get its own financial house in order to avert a default and the possible fallout on the global economy BEIJING -- The Chinese government says the United States should stop press uring it on debt relief for Zambia and get its own financial house to avert a default and possible repercussions for the global economy. The Chinese embassy in Zambia responded Tuesday to remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said on a visit to the African nation this week that it’s crucial to address its heavy debt burden with China. “The biggest contribution that the U.S. can make to the debt issues outside the country is to … cope with its own debt problem and stop sabotaging other sovereign countries’ active efforts to solve their debt issues,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement. Chinese development banks have emerged as major lenders to poorer countries around the world for natural resource, tra...

Auto manufacturers are applying more computer and software-based features to their vehicles Software was a big theme for automakers attending CES 2023 in January. BMW, Stellantis, Volkswagen and a joint venture between Honda and Sony showed off upcoming or concept vehicles that are significantly reliant on computers and code. The takeaway was clear: More and more vehicles will be run top to bottom by software , not hardware. In some cases, the future is already here. What will it be like for shoppers when vehicles are dominated by bits and bytes instead of gears and gaskets? Edmunds’ experts break down what’s in store. SOFTWARE DEFINED VEHICLES The phrase “ software -defined vehicle” is an industry term used to clarify the difference between a traditional car that is enhanced by Technology and one that is run by Technology . While cars of the past 20 years have gained touchscreens and have plenty of engine- and safety-related computing power, those software features are largely stuck ...

Microsoft has reported a 12% drop in profit for the October-December quarter, reflecting the economic uncertainty it says led to its decision to cut 10,000 workers REDMOND, Washington -- Microsoft on Tuesday reported a 12% drop in profit for the October-December quarter , reflecting the economic uncertainty it said led to its decision to cut 10,000 workers. The company reported quarter ly profit of $16.43 billion, or $2.20 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company based in Redmond, Washington, said it earned $2.32 a share, which topped Wall Street expectation for adjusted earnings of $2.29 a share. The software maker posted revenue of $52.75 billion in the October-December period, its second fiscal quarter, up 2% from the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected Microsoft to post revenue of $52.99 billion for the October-December quarter. Microsoft last week blamed “macroeconomic conditions and changing customer priorities” for its decision to cut nearly 5% ...

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder says he is optimistic ahead of opening statements in his federal racketeering trial CINCINNATI -- Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder said Monday that he is optimistic ahead of his trial on a federal racketeering charge and looks forward to telling his side of the story. “It should be a very good six weeks for me," Householder told reporters in the courtroom. What will reporters hear? "Truth,” he said, adding that he is not nervous or anxious for the proceeding to begin. The Perry County Republican, once among the most powerful politicians in Ohio, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati alongside lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, in what prosecutors have described as the largest corruption case in state History . A jury must decide whether Householder, 63, and Borges, 50, are guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. ...

Native Hawaiians who have been priced out of Hawaii are finding more affordable places to live in cities like Las Vegas KAPOLEI, Hawaii -- Kona Purdy never wanted to live anywhere but Hawaii. As a Native Hawaiian, he wanted his children to grow up like he did: rooted in their culture, and nourished by the mountains and ocean. But raising a family in Hawaii meant squeezing nine people into a four-bedroom house — rented with extended family — in Waipahu, a Honolulu suburb. It felt cramped, but the Purdys accepted that this was the price to survive in their homeland. “We stuffed ourselves into one room,” Purdy said of his four-member family's living arrangements. Their share of the monthly rent was $2,300. When rent increased, the Purdys realized that they could no longer afford to live in Hawaii. “I was so busy working, trying to make ends meet,” he said. “We never took our kids out to the beach. We didn’t go hiking.” It's increasingly common for Hawaii residents to be priced o...

Federal prosecutors say Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk and shouldn’t be allowed to stay out of prison while she appeals her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Elizabeth Holmes is a flight risk and shouldn’t be allowed to stay out of prison while she appeals her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors, federal prosecutors said in court documents. Holmes had a one-way plane ticket to Mexico booked for Jan. 26, 2022, three weeks after being convicted by a jury on four counts of fraud and conspiracy, federal prosecutors said in a motion filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California. Holmes, who was CEO of Theranos during the company’s turbulent 15-year History , was convicted in a scheme that revolved around the company’s claims to have developed a medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood. But the Technology never worked, and the claims were false. Holmes booked the 2022 flight...

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said Thursday that high inflation in the United States is easing and suggested it was possible that the Fed’s interest rate hikes could slow price acceleration without causing significant job losses WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said Thursday that high inflation in the United States is easing and suggested it was possible that the Fed's interest rate hikes could slow price acceleration without causing significant job losses. Speaking in Chicago, Brainard sketched out a more optimistic outlook for inflation than some Fed speakers have in recent days. At the same time, Brainard cautioned that inflation is still high and said the Fed would have to keep borrowing rates elevated “for some time” to curb price growth. She did not explicitly signal whether she would support a quarter-point or half-point rate increase in the Fed's benchmark short-term rate at the Fed's next meeting Jan. 31-Feb. 1. But Brainard sugge...

Global shares are mostly lower as investors grow cautious after Wall Street’s biggest pullback of the year TOKYO -- Global shares were mostly lower Thursday as investors grew cautious after Wall Street's biggest pullback of the year. France's CAC 40 lost 0.4% in early trading to 7,052.61, while Germany's DAX edged down 0.5% to 15,106.21. Britain's FTSE 100 fell nearly 0.6% to 7,787.49. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.4% lower while that for the S &P 500 declined 0.3%. Japan reported its trade deficit more than doubled in December from a year earlier, to 1.4 trillion yen ($11.3 billion), while the total deficit for all of 2022 ballooned to nearly 20 trillion yen ($156 billion) as the yen weakened and soaring costs for oil and other imports far outpaced an 18% increase in exports. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.4% to 26,405.23. Australia's S &P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,435.30. South Korea's Kospi added 0.5% to 2,...

The union representing a group of nurses at a New York City hospital has reached a tentative contract agreement with its management NEW YORK -- The union representing a group of nurses at a New York City hospital reached a tentative contract agreement with its management, but close to 9,000 nurses at several other major hospitals were still preparing to go on strike . The New York State Nurses Association and BronxCare Health System said Saturday that a tentative agreement had been reached; the union said it included pay raises every year of its three-year term as well as staffing increases. Another hospital, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, got to a tentative agreement with nurses on Friday evening. But agreements to avoid a walkout starting Monday morning had yet to be reached at other private hospitals including Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, which both have more than than 1,000 beds. The hospitals have taken steps to prepare for a...

The World Economic Forum is back with its first winter meetup since 2020 in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos DAVOS, Switzerland -- The World Economic Forum is back with its first winter meetup since 2020 in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, where leaders are seeking to bridge political divisions in a polarized world, buttress a hobbling economy and address concerns about a climate change — among many other things. Sessions will take up issues as diverse as the future of fertilizers, the role of Sports in society, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and much more. Nearly 600 CEOs and more than 50 heads of state or government are expected, but it's never clear how much concrete action emerges from the elite event. Here’s what to watch as the four-day talkfest and related deal-making get underway in earnest Tuesday: WHO’S COMING? Back in the snows for the first time since the pandemic and just eight months after a springtime 2022 session, the event will host notables like European Union C...

Airline executives are pushing Congress and the White House to step up funding for the Federal Aviation Administration after a technology failure briefly grounded flights around the country this week DALLAS -- Airline executives bristled last year when government officials, led by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, blamed the carriers for causing thousands of flight cancellations and mistreating their customers. The shoe is on the other foot now after a technology outage at the Federal Aviation Administration grounded planes for a time earlier this week, but airline leaders are taking a different tack. They've avoided harsh words and score-settling. Instead they're calling on Congress and the Biden administration to give the FAA more staff and more money to upgrade its systems. “The FAA, I know, is doing the very best they can with what they have, but we need to stand behind the FAA,” Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Friday. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom praised t...