Author: CNN

CNN
 — 

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating a near miss incident on the JFK runway last month, has issued a subpoena for the testimony of the American Airlines pilots involved.

“American Airlines cleared the flight crew’s schedule to ensure their availability; however, the flight crew refused to be interviewed on the basis that their statements would be audio recorded for transcription,” the NTSB preliminary report says. “As a result of the flight crew’s repeated unwillingness to proceed with a recorded interview, subpoenas for their testimony have been issued.”

The NTSB report says the American Airlines 777 crossed an active runway without clearance from air traffic control, causing a Delta 737 to abort its takeoff.

The report says the two aircraft came within 1,400 feet of each other.

Following the report, the NTSB issued a statement saying investigators “frequently use recording devices in interviews, particularly with those who had roles in operating the equipment involved in the accident or incident.”

The agency says it attempted to interview the American crew on three separate occasions and issued a subpoena Friday to the three crew members involved in the incident. They have seven days to respond, the NTSB says.

The statement notes that the airline itself has cooperated with the investigation.

Investigators have accepted written statements from the Delta crew and determined that they contain “sufficient information.”

As CNN has previously reported, the American Airlines flight continued on to London’s Heathrow airport. The flight voice recorders on both aircraft were overwritten, meaning investigators can’t hear what was said in the cockpit at the time of the incident.

The NTSB says the American crew, through their union, the Allied Pilots Association, would not consent to the interview.

“NTSB has determined that this investigation requires that the flight crew interviews be audio recorded and transcribed by a court reporter to ensure the highest degree of accuracy, completeness, and efficiency,” the report says.

The APA said in a statement that historically these interviews have not been recorded.

“We join in the goal of creating an accurate record of all interviews conducted in the course of an investigation,” the statement said. “However, we firmly believe the introduction of electronic recording devices into witness interviews is more likely to hinder the investigation process than it is to improve it. Not only may the recording of interviews lead to less candid responses from those witnesses who may choose to proceed under such requirements, but the existence and potential availability of interview recordings upon conclusion of an investigation will tend to lead many otherwise willing crew members to elect not to participate in interviews at all. Either outcome would not serve to advance the goal of conducting effective investigations in order to promote aviation safety.”

The union says the interviews should be “fact-finding” and not adversarial.

“We are confident that an acceptable solution to this issue exists that would satisfy the needs and concerns of all parties involved in these investigatory interviews,” the union wrote.

New York
CNN
 — 

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the divisions in his country were no worse than the political split in the United States, in an exclusive CNN interview Friday ahead of his meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.

“Here there’s also a split, much more, or as serious as Brazil – Democrats and Republicans are very split up. Love it or leave it, that’s more or less what’s going on,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Washington, adding that Brazil does not have “a hatred culture.”

Both Lula and Biden saw government buildings sacked in the aftermath of their presidential elections by far-right elements that have posed huge tests for their respective democracies.

Exclusive: Christiane Amanpour speaks with Brazil’s President Lula

“Never could we imagine that in a country that was the symbol of democracy in the world – someone could try to invade the Capitol,” he said about the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot in the US.

The similarities between the January 8 attack on Brasilia and the US insurrection include former President Jair Bolsonaro’s close alignment with former US President Donald Trump.

Lula calls Bolsonaro a “faithful copycat of Trump,” saying both men “don’t enjoy trade unions… They don’t like workers, don’t like women. They don’t like Black people.”

Both ex-leaders were repeatedly criticized during their terms for using racist and misogynistic language.

Even so, Lula is not convinced all Bolsonaro supporters are adherents to his views. “I am convinced that not everybody that voted for Bolsonaro follows Bolsonarism,” he said.

After his election loss, Bolsonaro decamped for the United States. He has been living near Orlando, Florida, for more than a month, prompting some Democratic Party lawmakers to call for him to leave the country.

Will Lula ask Biden to help extradite Bolsonaro back to Brazil? “I don’t know, I’m not going to talk about President Biden about that, this will depend on courts,” he replied. “One day he has to come back to Brazil and face all the lawsuits against him.”

Bolsonaro faces “almost 12 lawsuits against him in Brazil, more cases will come in,” Lula said, adding that he believes his former rival will “be convicted in some international court because of the genocide with Covid (outbreak) because half of the people that died in Brazil during Covid was the responsibility of the federal government.”

He also alleged that Bolsonaro could be “punished” by courts for “the genocide against the Yanomami indigenous people” after illegal mining in their protected territory soared during his term.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered an investigation to determine whether the actions of the Bolsonaro government amounted to “genocide” of the Yanomami – who have seen disease and malnutrition tear through their community in the last four years.

Bolsonaro has previously called such accusation a “left-wing farce” on his official Telegram channel.

Lula’s talks with Biden on Friday are expected to center around combating climate change and tackling anti-democratic extremism.

While Lula believes “democracy will prevail” in Brazil, he worries about about the rise of extreme right groups around the world.

“It’s in Brazil, it’s in Spain, it’s in France, and they are in Hungary, in Germany. We have an organized extreme right in the world and if we’re not careful, this will be a Nazi attitude from there. This is a denial attitude we haven’t seen before,” he said.

He agrees there is much to be done in Brazil about the climate, saying the country’s commitment to “reduce greenhouse emissions” by 39% would have to include rewarding local “mayors and governors, who guarantee no more burning of the forests.”

By extending an early invitation to Lula to visit the White House, Biden hopes to cultivate closer ties and demonstrate his support for one of the Western Hemisphere’s key players.

Biden quickly called Lula following his victory late last year, hoping to demonstrate support after Bolsonaro had laid the groundwork to question the election results. The move was received well among Lula’s officials, who saw it as a sign Biden was looking to restore US-Brazil ties.

They have met previously – when Biden was vice president, he met Lula on the sidelines of a gathering in Chile. But as counterparts, they will look to deepen what has traditionally been a key bilateral relationship in the Western Hemisphere, strained in recent years by the diametrically opposed Biden and Bolsonaro.

While they have much in common, Lula – like many leaders in middle income and developing countries – has adopted a policy of non-intervention over the war in Ukraine.

He has rebuffed efforts led by Biden to unite the global community in opposition to Russia’s invasion.

Speaking to CNN, Lula said that Ukraine had the right to defend itself “because the invasion was a mistake on the part of Russia.”

He explained he refused to provide ammunition to Ukraine because, “I don’t want to go join the war. I want to end the war.”

Lula has sought be a global statesman who could broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine, telling CNN that he has begun this “work” by speaking to the German Chancellor, who visited Brazil in January.

“I want to talk about peace with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. I want to talk about peace with President Biden, I want to talk about peace with (Chinese leader) Xi Jinping. I want to talk about peace with India, with Indonesia… because for me the world will only develop itself if we have peace,” he said.

Another thing Lula shares with Biden is age. They are both elderly presidents: Biden is 80 years old, while Lula is 77.

When asked about it, Lula said aging only exists for those who don’t have a cause to fight for.

“I am 77 years of age, and … I have the energy and power of someone who is 30 years old,” he said. “I don’t sleep because my home is the Brazilian people – I have to improve the lives of my people.”

CNN
 — 

Florida lawmakers on Friday approved an expansion of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial program to relocate migrants, giving the Republican leader authority to transport individuals from anywhere in the country.

The measure, now headed to DeSantis’ desk after passing the GOP-led House on a 77-34 vote, would allow his administration to pick up where the governor left off last year when he sent two planes of migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The attention-grabbing act thrust DeSantis into the middle of the national debate on immigration, earning the potential 2024 hopeful praise from conservatives and widespread condemnation from migrant advocacy groups and the White House.

The program had stalled amid multiple legal challenges and questions as to whether the DeSantis administration had violated state law by rounding up migrants in Texas. The budget law that created the $12 million program specified that the money was set aside to relocate “unauthorized aliens from this state.”

At DeSantis’ urging, lawmakers meeting in a special session this week voted to remove the restriction on where the state could pick up migrants. The program would also come under the purview of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Because DeSantis has declared a state of emergency related to immigration, this would allow the administration to award millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to companies to move migrants across the country with little public disclosure.

The legislation comes as Florida has experienced a spike of migrants from Cuba and Haiti attempting to reach the state’s coast by boat. However, the bill’s sponsor, GOP state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, said giving the DeSantis administration freedom to conduct missions outside of Florida would help stem the flow of migrants into the state.

“The state of Florida is currently in a state of emergency because of the ineptness and the incompetence of the federal government when it comes to immigration policy,” Ingoglia said Tuesday during a committee hearing on the bill. “In fact, I would say that someone should declare the federal government itself its own disaster area.”

The bill passed the state House on Friday over the strong objections of Democrats, who said the state does not have a constitutional role in addressing the country’s immigration issues. It passed the state Senate on a 27-12 party-line vote Wednesday. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers.

“There’s nobody at this table who honestly thinks that we have a good immigration policy right now,” state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Miami Democrat, said at a news conference Monday. “There’s no one at this table who will say Joe Biden is doing a great job with immigration. However, it’s their authority.”

In September, individuals working on behalf of the DeSantis administration in San Antonio convinced 49 migrants – most if not all asylum-seekers from Venezuela – to board two flights headed to Martha’s Vineyard. As the migrants arrived in Massachusetts to the confusion of locals, DeSantis took credit for arranging the mission during an appearance on Fox News.

Public records have since shed light on the clandestine mission, which included hiring a company with close ties to a DeSantis administration official to arrange the flights and using a woman named “Perla” to help convince migrants to take the flights.

Attorneys for the migrants have filed a class-action lawsuit, saying their clients were misled into agreeing to the flights and had been told that they would arrive to find housing, jobs and help with the immigration process. In fact, nobody on Martha’s Vineyard even knew they were coming, local officials have said. A migrant who aided Perla told CNN that he was misled into helping her recruit migrants for the trip.

On Wednesday, Ingoglia said it was on the migrants to inform the federal government of their location. He insisted that the state would only transport people voluntarily and said that so-called sanctuary jurisdictions are better equipped to provide resources for migrants than Florida.

Under the legislation, $10 million would be reallocated to the program under the state Division of Emergency Management for use through June. DeSantis in his proposed budget set aside another $12 million to continue the program.

Democrats suggested that Republicans were retroactively cleaning up DeSantis’ missteps during the mission to Martha’s Vineyard and helping him raise his profile so he can run for president in 2024.

“What we’re doing right now is carrying the water for the governor, knowing that what he did was wrong, and you are holding your nose to vote for this and saying that it’s right,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones. “This is wrong. It is not becoming of us as a state. It is not becoming of us as human beings, and it’s definitely not becoming of our resources and how we are about to spend taxpayers’ dollars.”

State Sen. Debbie Mayfield, a Republican, bristled at that suggestion.

“If the federal government was doing their job and securing our border, we would not have to be addressing this issue in Florida,” she said. “To me, it’s just that simple.”

The governor’s controversial flights could resume between now and mid-March after Vertol Systems, the contractor for the program that flew migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, filed an extension to its proposals for two additional migrant flights through March 15, according to new documents obtained by CNN.

CNN previously reported that Vertol Systems was paid $950,000 by the Florida Department of Transportation to fly migrants from Texas to Illinois and Delaware, however, those flights were never conducted. In total, Vertol Systems has received $1,565,000 from the state under DeSantis’ program.

Vertol Systems has repeatedly refused to comment on the migrant flights, or answer any of CNN’s inquiries about their contract.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN
 — 

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of two students at a Chicago high school in December, police announced Friday. The suspect is charged with two counts of felony first-degree murder and two counts of felony attempted murder, Chicago Police superintendent David Brown announced.

“We currently don’t have a clear motive for why a 16 year old would want to shoot and kill other kids,” Brown said. The suspect’s name was not released Friday due to his age, although Brown said he would face the murder and attempted murder charges as an adult.

Four teenagers were shot December 16 at Benito Juarez High School. The victims who died were both boys, aged 14 and 15, police announced at the time.

Investigators say tips from the public helped lead them to the suspect, who was arrested Thursday. “We are grateful for those who have been brave enough to come forward to ensure that the offender is caught and will now be held accountable,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

The suspect is expected to appear in Bond Court Saturday, Brown said, where more details about the evidence they have collected will be presented.

CNN
 — 

Add “Your Place or Mine” to the list of split-screen rom-coms, where the stars (in this case Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher) essentially operate on parallel tracks. While that has worked out before (think “Sleepless in Seattle”), it doesn’t here, in a Netflix movie that proves roughly as generic as its title.

Kutcher and Witherspoon received some playful mockery for the awkwardness of their red-carpet photos together, but when you actually see the film it makes more sense, since the two share relatively few scenes. Then again, the movie is as much about real estate as romance, as well as the familiar question of paths taken and not chosen.

Despite a fleeting history described as a “hookup,” Kutcher’s Peter and Witherspoon’s Debbie have been platonic friends for 20 years. They still talk regularly, with him leading the life of a wealthy playboy business consultant in New York (Batman without the cool toys), and her located in Los Angeles, grappling with the challenges of single motherhood to a 13-year-old son (Wesley Kimmel, Jimmy’s nephew), whose allergies make her a trifle overprotective.

Scheduled to spend a week in New York getting a degree that will advance her career, Debbie abruptly loses her babysitting, at which point Peter gallantly steps in, offering to fly to LA and stay at her house and look after her kid while she occupies his luxury apartment.

In the process, they both get to walk a few miles in the other’s shoes (and lives), like one of those reality-TV shows, only with a better musical score and nicer accessories.

Written and directed by Aline Brosh McKenna of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” renown (who also produced along with, among others, Witherspoon and Jason Bateman), “Your Place” hinges on Peter and Debbie learning to appreciate each other’s differences – she’s a stickler for routine, while he’s free-spirited, or “irresponsible” in her eyes – through their house-swap experiences.

That’s weak fuel to keep the wheels churning even on this sort of vehicle, so various subplots emerge, like Peter trying to loosen up restrictions on Debbie’s kid, and Debbie discovering an unpublished book Peter has written, which comes into play when his eager-to-be-chummy ex-girlfriend (Zoë Chao) introduces her to a dashing (and also divorced) publisher, played by Jesse Williams.

Brosh McKenna clearly knows her way around the genre (her writing credits also include “27 Dresses”), as do her stars. The supporting players – including Steve Zahn as a hippie-dippy LA neighbor – are quirky enough to shoulder some of the load.

Even grading on a rom-com curve, though, the structure makes the movie a bit of a slog as it oscillates between Debbie and Peter’s arcs, after the latter has rather feebly explained that the two aren’t together by saying, “Because she’s her, and I’m me.”

“Your Place or Mine” will probably do just fine for Netflix, standing out from a pack of Valentine’s Day-timed rom-coms because Witherspoon is her, and Kutcher is him. But those awkward red-carpet photos weren’t the only part of this exercise that didn’t quite work, whatever place one happens to watch it.

“Your Place or Mine” premieres February 10 on Netflix. It’s rated PG-13.

Washington
CNN
 — 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a $30 million settlement with the cryptocurrency platform Kraken that will force it to unwind a program offering investment returns to US users who committed their digital assets to the company.

That practice, known as “staking,” reflected an unregistered offer and sale of securities, the SEC alleged in a complaint announced Thursday. According to the SEC, Kraken failed to adequately disclose the risks of participating in the program, which had advertised annual yields of as much as 21%.

If approved by a court, the settlement marks a potential turning point for cryptocurrency regulation and the SEC’s broader efforts to bring the industry under its jurisdiction. But according to cryptocurrency advocates, the SEC clampdown on staking could have wider effects that undermine the US cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The SEC complaint zeroes in on a practice that the industry says is vital to supporting the healthy function of some virtual currencies. When investors agree to contribute, or stake, their cryptocurrency tokens, their contributions become part of the computerized, technical process used to validate transactions. Those who do may be rewarded with additional tokens.

In its complaint, however, the SEC alleged Kraken failed to notify users about the lack of protections it offered to those who engaged in staking through Kraken’s program. The SEC also said Kraken failed to disclose information about the company’s health, the fees it charged, or how the company would handle its customers’ tokens.

“Investors have had no insight into Defendants’ financial condition and whether Defendants have the means of paying the marketed returns — and indeed, per the Kraken Terms of Service, Defendants retain the right not to pay any investor return,” the complaint said.

Kraken’s program had offered “outsized returns untethered to any economic realities,” said Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, in a statement.

As part of the agreement resolving the charges, Kraken said Thursday in a blog post that on top of the $30 million payment, it would “automatically unstake all U.S. client assets” that were a part of the program and that its US customers would no longer be eligible to participate in staking. Staking and the associated rewards will continue to be offered for non-US customers, the company said.

Kraken is not the only cryptocurrency platform that offers so-called staking-as-a-service. The industry giant Coinbase offers a similar program whose website advertises up to 6% annual returns.

Ahead of the SEC settlement announcement, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had tweeted about “rumors” of a possible crackdown on staking, which he described as a “terrible path for the U.S.” and “a matter of national security” if restrictions on staking wound up driving cryptocurrency development to other countries.

“Staking is a really important innovation in crypto,” Armstrong tweeted. “It allows users to participate directly in running open crypto networks. Staking brings many positive improvements to the space, including scalability, increased security, and reduced carbon footprints.”

“Staking is not a security,” he added.

CNN
 — 

Prosecutors in Memphis, Tennessee, will review all cases that involved the five officers charged in the brutal beating death of Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop, the district attorney’s office said, as newly released documents show a sixth officer involved in the encounter lied in his statements to investigators.

“The office will review all prior cases – closed and pending,” Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said in a statement.

It is unknown how many cases this will involve.

“This is just the beginning,” Erica Williams, the spokeswoman for Mulroy, told CNN. “This involves any criminal case that [the officers] were involved in. It is any case where there were criminal charges that were brought by the DA anytime since they became officers.”

The review comes as police documents detail alleged false statements made by Preston Hemphill following Nichols’ death. Hemphill was fired from the Memphis Police Department last week for violating multiple department policies, including personal conduct and truthfulness. He was the sixth officer to be terminated after Nichols’ death.

In his statement on a form regarding the incident, Hemphill said Nichols attempted to grab his partner’s duty weapon. The statement was part of a decertification letter Memphis Police sent to the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST).

“There is no video footage to corroborate that statement,” the document said, adding that Hemphill then provided a conflicting statement to investigators, telling them he “did not see the subject grab your partner’s gun.”

Hemphill was seen on his body cam video tasing Nichols and later heard saying, “I hope they stomp his ass.” While on top of Nichols, Hemphill “used the assaultive statement, ‘Get on the f**king ground. Finna tase yo ass,’” according to a police document obtained by CNN Thursday.

The January release of video of Nichols, 29, being repeatedly punched and kicked by police shook a nation long accustomed to videos of police brutality – especially against people of color.

Nichols died in a hospital days after the beating.

Earlier this week, letters of decertification for five other officers, who have been charged in Nichols’ death, stated that those officers’ accounts were “not consistent with each other and are not consistent with the publicly known injuries and death of Mr. Nichols,” the documents say.

Hemphill also said in a statement that Nichols was stopped for “driving recklessly at a high rate of speed,” but then acknowledged that he “did not witness the subject driving in such a manner,” the document said.

“You stated that you and your partners stopped the driver and attempted to detain him, and he began to resist,” the decertification letter reads.

“You stated that after he stood up from being on the ground, he started fighting with you and your partner, at which time you deployed your city-issued taser. The video evidence does not corroborate your statement,” it continued.

“Video evidence shows the subject was not resisting but was running away from you while you attempted to tase him,” it said.

Hemphill was given the opportunity to review his version and told investigators that the details were correct, the document said.

“Your statements were inconsistent and untruthful, and you documented false statements,” it added.

If the decertification is granted by the state, it would prohibit Hemphill from working for other state law enforcement agencies.

Lee Gerald, an attorney for Hemphill, said he and his client still disagree with his job termination, but they are cooperating with the investigation.

“Regardless of what the Memphis Police department and the commission decided to do regarding his possible decertification, Mr. Hemphill will continue to cooperate with authorities in the investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols,” Gerald told CNN.

Hemphill has not been criminally charged in the case. The other five terminated officers are due to be arraigned next week on seven counts each, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated kidnapping in possession of a deadly weapon, official misconduct and official oppression, according to the district attorney.

All five officers – Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, and Desmond Mills Jr. – also were internally charged with violating the department’s policies on personal conduct, neglect of duty, excessive or unnecessary force and use of body-worn cameras, according to internal police documents. The charges are not criminal in nature.

Several of the fired officers had received written reprimands or short suspensions for violating policies during their time with the department, personnel files show.

Haley was involved in a November 2021 incident where another officer received a sustained complaint for “excessive/unnecessary force” after a female suspect suffered a dislocated shoulder. Haley didn’t face a departmental charge for force but was reprimanded for failing to document his role in the detention.

Mills received a reprimand in 2019 for not filing a form after the use of physical force against a suspect. Mills used force to take the woman “to the ground so that she could be handcuffed,” according to the summary of his hearing.

While four officers had policy violations, Bean had no written reprimands in the files reviewed by CNN.

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.

Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
 — 

A devastating earthquake in southern Turkey could change the electoral equation for Turkish strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes an upcoming election will extend his rule well into a third decade.

While the 68-year-old leader faced the strongest opposition yet to his presidency, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake – which also hit northwest Syria and sent aftershocks across the region – could be a gamechanger for his political career, analysts say.

Erdogan has been visiting impacted areas, consoling victims and pledging to rebuild the thousands of flattened homes. On Tuesday, he announced a state of emergency in the ten hardest-hit provinces of the country’s south, many of which have traditionally supported him and his AK Party.

But there is disgruntlement with the government’s response in those areas, where some people complain that scores of bodies are yet to be collected, causing the stench of death to spread.

“There are no organized relief efforts in here,” Sinan Polat, a 28-year-old car dealer in Hatay province, told CNN. “There are so many bodies in front of the hospitals, there’s not even enough shroud to cover them. Cemeteries are full. What are we going to do, throw the bodies of our families into the sea? It’s not what we expected and hoped. Under these conditions, we’re not hopeful about the future.”

Nuran Okur, a 55-year-old resident of the southern city of Iskenderun, told CNN there was no sign of the state in the city. “It’s been four days, and there’s no one here.”

Erdogan’s response to Monday’s earthquake, which has so far killed more than 22,000 people across Turkey and Syria, may determine the results of an election that is scheduled for May 14.

Erdogan is likely aware of that. On Wednesday he acknowledged “shortcomings” in the government’s early response. The next day, he reminded Turks of government efforts in previous disasters, promising to rebuild homes in less than a year and pledging to support victims with 10,000 liras ($531) each.

“For Erdogan, the next 48 hours will be definitive,” Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy told CNN on Thursday.

Whether his efforts will salvage his chance at re-election is unclear. Most of the quake-stricken provinces in Turkey’s south are socially conservative and are strongholds of Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party, said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of Istanbul-based think-tank EDAM.

“The average AK Party performance in those provinces has been above their national average,” he said, adding that AK Party provinces have generally received more support from the central government, in comparison to opposition-held ones.

The ten provinces that were most affected by the earthquake represent around 15% of Turkey’s population of 85 million and a similar proportion of the 600-seat parliament. During the 2018 vote, Erdogan and the AK Party won the presidential and parliamentary elections, respectively, in all of those provinces but one, Diyarbakir. That region voted for the pro-Kurdish HDP party, and its candidate Selahattin Demirtas, who ran for elections from prison.

One of the strongest to hit the region in more than 100 years, the earthquake has so far killed 19,000 in Turkey alone, where the toll is expected to rise.

Emotions have been running high as many, including those in non-affected provinces, have expressed anger at what they feel was a lack of readiness for the disaster, especially since Turkey is no stranger to earthquakes.

In 1939, an earthquake of the same magnitude as Monday’s killed 30,000 people, and in 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in the country’s northwest killed more than 17,000 people.

For Turkey’s rulers, quakes have been gamechangers in the past. In what later became a defining moment for Erdogan’s ascension to power, the 1999 quake – and the slow relief efforts that followed – only added to the sense of disillusionment many felt toward the nationalist, secularist state in power at the time, analysts say.

After the 1999 earthquake, the state “collapsed like a house of cards,” Cagaptay told CNN. “And that basically destroyed the ideological hold of the state over society.”

The government has particularly been criticized for its lack of preparedness to minimize damage from such disasters, said Ulgen, especially since the state has since the 1999 earthquake been collecting taxes aimed at sheltering the country from potential future disasters.

The Turkish opposition is already speaking out about the government’s perceived shortcomings in dealing with the tragedy.

Following a nationwide restriction on social media after the earthquake, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party said: “This insane palace government cut off social media communication.”

“As a result, crying for help is less heard,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “We know everything you’re trying to hide.”

While there have been no official announcements to postpone the May 14 elections, some analysts expect Erdogan and the opposition to agree on a later date.

It’s unlikely that conditions in the impacted provinces will allow for the vote to be held, said Ulgen.

“It is going to be a very complicated thing to be able to even orchestrate elections in these provinces,” he said.

With additional reporting by Yusuf Gezer in Iskenderun, Turkey.

Editor’s Note: Before beginning any new exercise program, consult your doctor. Stop immediately if you experience pain.

CNN
 — 

Feeling lucky that you don’t have arthritis? Don’t celebrate just yet. Nearly one-quarter of adults in the United States has arthritis, or about 58.5 million people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than half of these folks are 18 to 64 years old and in the prime of their working years, making this disease especially devastating. The financial toll from such pervasive arthritis: more than $300 billion in lost earnings and medical care each year, the CDC says.

There are dozens of different types of arthritis and related diseases, but the most common are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, gout and lupus. All can cause joint stiffness, pain and swelling. Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus can also affect multiple organs.

Low-impact exercise is one of the most important ways to manage arthritis pain and symptoms, according to the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance, the CDC and other groups. This type of routine activity is effective and accessible, and it’s never too late to start.

Walking, biking and swimming are often listed as great low-impact exercises for people with arthritis. “I often recommend water therapy if you have access to a pool,” said Dr. Elexander Atkinson, a family medicine physician with Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Whether you’re walking, swimming or doing water aerobics, it’s my No. 1 recommendation.”

If you’re not a fan of the water, that’s fine. The best exercise for you is the one you enjoy doing the most, Atkinson said. Luckily, you have so many choices. In addition to walking, biking and water exercises, you can dance, garden, play shuffleboard or bocce ball, cross-country ski, or use elliptical machines. Exercise programs aimed more at flexibility, balance and strength are important, too. Think yoga, tai chi and Pilates.

Pilates is one of the most effective forms of exercise for arthritis and general injury rehabilitation, said Melissa Bentivoglio, cofounder and CEO of Frame Fitness in Miami,a platform that delivers Pilates workouts on a custom reformer machine.

“In Pilates, all movement stems from your core,” Bentivoglio said. “Even if you’re isolating your legs or arm muscles, you still use your central core muscles to initiate all movement, using the stability of these muscles to ensure the rest of the body stays in proper alignment. This helps prevent injury, protects your joints as you are executing each exercise, and improves strength, flexibility and balance.”

While Pilates can be done employing a mat or reformer, Bentivoglio said using the reformer keeps the entire body in proper alignment throughout the workout while also easing pressure on joints.

Unfortunately, a lot of arthritis patients balk at exercising, as they may find doing so initially painful, Atkinson said, especially if they haven’t been in the habit of working out.

“We give patients this idea that they need to walk 30 minutes a day, but that’s not fair to them if they haven’t been regularly exercising,” he said. “They need to build up to it by starting with five minutes of walking a day, then building up to 10, then 20 and then maybe adding in the gym. You should never just go full-on.”

But sometimes it’s the habitual exercisers who struggle the most with arthritis, as they may not want to give up a favorite sport or cut back on participation. Think the lifetime runner with osteoarthritis in the knee who balks at boxing up the running shoes.

“Those are some of the most challenging patients,” Atkinson said. “I don’t know if running on an osteoarthritic knee will lead to an earlier knee replacement, but their pain will keep getting worse, and it will limit their function so they can’t walk as well the next day.”

Paying attention to how you feel during and after a particular exercise will tell you whether it’s good for your body or if you’ve overdone things, experts said. If your arthritic symptoms increase after exercise, modify or change your activity but try to stay in motion.

Be aware, too, that if you’re starting a new physical activity, it’s normal to have some pain, stiffness and swelling afterward. It could take six to eight weeks before your body acclimates, according to the CDC. Once it does, however, you should enjoy some measure of long-term pain relief.

“In Pilates, we often quote the founder of the practice, Joseph Pilates, who said, ‘In 10 sessions you will feel better, in 20 you will look better and in 30 you will have a whole new body,’” Bentivoglio said.

It’s also important to select an exercise that fits your goals. If arthritis is hampering your flexibility, strength and balance, try yoga, Pilates or tai chi, all of which focus on those issues. If you’re having trouble tackling stairs, you may be best off doing exercises to strengthen your quadriceps. To deal with overall stiffness and pain, opt for walking, cycling or swimming.

Don’t assume you’re cleared to hang out on the couch if you’re free of arthritis or have a mild case that causes little pain or dysfunction. “Exercise will potentially prevent or delay arthritis,” Atkinson said. “If you’re not active and exercising, you should be.”

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Companies have been eager to please Wall Street in what has so far been a lackluster earnings season by repurchasing shares and boosting dividends for shareholders.

What’s happening: Buyback announcements reached a new record of $1.22 trillion last year, and they’re already on track to beat that high in 2023.

Companies have announced about $175 billion worth of planned stock buybacks so far this year. That’s more than double last year’s pace, according to data from EPFR TrimTabs.

This year will likely be the first with at least $1 trillion in completed S&P 500 company buybacks, said Howard Silverblatt at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Chevron

(CVX) said last month that it would triple its spending on share buybacks to $75 billion. Exxon

(XOM) said it would issue another $35 billion in buybacks and Facebook-parent Meta Platforms saw its stock surge by 20% after the company announced plans to boost its share repurchase plan by $40 billion.

Why it matters: Buybacks, say critics, are a tool that allow ultra-wealthy executives to manipulate markets while funneling corporate profits into their own pockets instead of the economy. Preventing companies from repurchasing their own shares, they argue, would free corporate cash to invest in growth and raise wages instead.

In his State of the Union address, US President Joe Biden even called for a quadrupling of the tax on buybacks — up from the current 1% implemented by the Inflation Reduction Act.

But corporations counter that they use repurchases as a way to efficiently distribute excess capital. Limiting buybacks, say supporters, could reduce the liquidity in stock markets and hurt share prices. Executives typically use buybacks to reduce the number of shares available for purchase, thus increasing demand for their stock and earnings per share.

The bottom line: Even if Biden’s tax increase were to pass, it wouldn’t address the root problem with buybacks, said William Lazonick, president of The Academic Industry Research Network.

“The pressure on the executives to do buybacks is coming from hedge fund activists,” said Lazonick, a longtime critic of buybacks and a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

“The problem is Carl Icahn, Daniel Loeb, Paul Singer,” he said. “These people have nothing to do with these companies. They hold shares and make a ton of money by exerting pressure on these companies.”

▸ Russia is slashing oil production by about 5% as Western sanctions bite.

Russia will cut crude oil production by half a million barrels per day starting in March, a little over two months after the world’s major economies imposed a price cap on the country’s seaborne exports.

“We will not sell oil to those who directly or indirectly adhere to the principles of the price ceiling,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement. “In relation to this, Russia will voluntarily reduce production by 500,000 barrels per day in March. This will contribute to the restoration of market relations.”

Futures prices for Brent crude, the global benchmark, jumped 2.7% on Friday to $86 a barrel as traders anticipated a tightening in global supply.

In June last year, the European Union agreed to phase out all seaborne imports of Russian crude oil within the following six months as part of unprecedented Western sanctions aimed at reducing Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

In a move aimed at further tightening the screws, G7 countries and the European Union agreed in December to cap the price at which Western brokers, insurers and shippers can trade Russia’s seaborne oil for markets elsewhere at $60 a barrel.

A potential drop in global oil supply could come at a tricky time. China’s swift reopening of its economy has pushed up estimates for global oil demand.

▸ Adidas’ breakup with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is proving to be a costly one.

The company warned Thursday that it expected to lose $1.3 billion (1.2 billion euros) in revenue this year because it’s unable to sell the designer’s Yeezy clothing and shoes. Adidas ended its nine-year partnership with the rapper last October because of his antisemitic remarks.

Adidas said its financial guidance for 2023 “accounts for the significant adverse impact from not selling the existing stock.” If the company can’t “repurpose” any of the remaining Ye clothing, Adidas said that could cost the company $534 million (500 million euros) in operating profit this year.

Adidas said it also expects “one-off costs” of $213 million (200 million euros) because of a “strategic review” the company is currently undergoing.

Not mentioned were potential issues with its Beyoncé-led Ivy Park brand. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that sales of the once-trendy streetwear brand fell 50% last year to to about $40 million — way below its internal projections of $250 million. The partnership is “strong and successful,” Adidas told the journal in response.

Shares of Adidas

(ADDDF) tanked nearly 10% in Frankfurt trading. Adidas

(ADDDF)’ stock has dropped 45% over the past year.

▸ GM

(GM) just inked an exclusive deal for the hottest product in automaking: Semiconductors.

General Motors has signed an agreement with tech manufacturer GlobalFoundries to make semiconductors for GM’s various electronics suppliers.

GM’s direct relationship with GlobalFoundries will give the automaker a secure supply of chips and will help control costs, said CEO Thomas Caulfield. GM will not have to pay mark-ups to its parts suppliers for semiconducter manufacturing.

The agreement is also part of an overall plan by GM to reduce the number of different chips needed to build GM vehicles.

“The supply agreement with GlobalFoundries will help establish a strong, resilient supply of critical technology in the U.S. that will help GM meet this demand, while delivering new technology and features to our customers,” Doug Parks, GM executive vice president in charge of purchasing and supply chain, said in an announcement.

The automaker’s stock has soared by about 23% so far this year.

The rip-roaring dollar cut deeply into the earnings of multinational companies selling their wares overseas last quarter.

Last week Caterpillar

(CAT) was among many US firms nothing “unfavorable currency impacts” affected its sales in Q4. Apple

(AAPL), which reported its first quarterly revenue decline in four years, also blamed the strong dollar and bad exchange rates for its rough end to the year. IBM

(IBM) added to the chorus, saying that the dollar’s strength hurt the company’s bottom line.

“The last time I looked, the rate, the breadth, the magnitude of the change is the most we’ve seen in multiple decades,” James Kavanaugh, IBM’s chief financial officer, said about the dollar on the company’s earnings call. “We got hit with that.”

McDonald’s

(MCD) and 3M

(MMM) also said in earnings reports that they were worried that the strong dollar would affect future sales. 3M

(MMM) said that foreign-exchange fluctuations are expected to reduce sales by 1% to 2% in 2023.

More bad news: The greenback is once again gaining steam as the market appears to be pricing in the probability of high interest rates for longer. That’s bad news for the US companies that are just starting to feel some respite from last year’s two-decade highs in the US dollar.