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5 takeaways ahead of Trump's $250 million civil fraud trial

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A year after the New York attorney general sued former President Trump over allegations of business fraud, here are five takeaways ahead of Monday's scheduled trial. One year ago, on Sept. 21, 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office had filed a $250 million lawsuit against Donald Trump, accusing the former president of fraud ulent Business practices. Turning the title of Trump's bestselling business book on its head, James told reporters at a New York City press conference, "Claiming you have money you do not have does not amount to the Art of the Deal. It's the Art of the Steal." Though Trump has denied all wrongdoing, a New York judge on Tuesday effectively decided the central allegation against Trump, ruling just days before the scheduled start of the trial that the former president committed fraud by repeatedly inflating the value of some of his signature properties. Trump attorney Alina Habba immediately said that Trump pla...

Meta takes aim at Twitter with Threads app, millions join

NEW YORK: Meta Platforms (META.O) on Wednesday launched a direct challenge to Twitter with Threads, garnering million s of users in hours as it sought to take advantage of its rival's much-weakened state after a series of chaotic decisions from owner Elon Musk. Those quick to join the new platform included celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez as well as prominent politicians such as Democratic US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "Let's do this. Welcome to Threads," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his first post on the app, along with a fire emoji. He said the app logged 10 million sign-ups in seven hours. He also took to Twitter, posting a well-known meme of Spiderman facing off against Spiderman - in a humorous jab at the rivalry with Musk and between the two services. Analysts have said Threads' ties to Instagram might give it a built-in user base and advertising apparatus. That could siphon ad dollars from Twitter at a time wh...

Amazon duped millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime

The US Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday accused Amazon.com of enrolling millions of consumers into its paid subscription Amazon Prime service without their consent and making it hard for them to cancel, the agency's latest action against the ecommerce giant in recent weeks. The FTC sued Amazon in federal court in Seattle, alleging that the company has "knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime." In a statement, Amazon called the FTC's claims "false on the facts and the law." Amazon has used "manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as 'dark patterns' to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions," the FTC said as it seeks civil penalties and a permanent injunction to prevent future violations. The lawsuit is one of several actions taken by President Joe Biden's administration intended to rein in the outsized market powe...

Timberwolves sale: Alex Rodriguez, Marc Lore complete new $290 million payment, to be majority owners by 2024

Major League Baseball legend Alex Rodriguez and billionaire businessman Marc Lore completed a new $290 million payment towards their purchase of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, according to The Athletic. This was the second of three installments before they become majority owners, which is expected to happen in 2024.  When the pair agreed to purchase the Timberwolves from longtime owner Glen Taylor in 2021 for $1.5 billion, they did so under a unique arrangement that called for a multi-year transition process. Under this plan, Taylor, who has owned the Timberwolves since 1994, got a few more years in charge before handing over control, and Rodriguez and Lore got some extra time to learn about the league and bring their finances into order.  Even though Rodriguez and Lore are not yet the majority owner s, they have been involved in all of the major decisions the organization has made in recent years. That ...

WhatsApp boss warns millions of people about major security risk with rival chat app

The head of WhatsApp at Meta has released a statement warning millions of people about the security risk involved with downloading a rival app. Encrypted messaging app Telegram has been at the centre of multiple controversies over the years, including a number of hijacking schemes and claims of Russian spying leading to arrests - but netizens argue Meta’s comment is biased. “Telegram lacks real transparency most technology companies have adopted,” WhatsApp head Will Cathcart tweeted. Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >> “Telegram has the capacity to share nearly any confidential information a government requests,” he said, citing a Wired article. “Of course, I recognise that some will say I’m self-interested in critiquing Telegram.” Telegram was founded by billionaire Russian tech entrepreneurs Nikolai and Pavel Durov in 2013 to “challenge the primacy” of WhatsApp, according to app analysts Business of Apps, which reports there are currently 500 mil...