(FILES) Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the 27th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on May 6, 2024. A US judge on December 2, 2024, upheld her decision to reject Musk's massive $55.8 billion compensation package at Tesla, denying an attempt to restore the pay deal through a shareholder vote. In a court filing, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware's Court of Chancery ruled that Tesla's attempt to ratify Musk's compensation package through a June shareholder vote could not override her January decision striking down the package as excessive and unfair to shareholders. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US judge on Monday upheld her decision to reject Elon Musk’s massive USD55.8 billion compensation package at Tesla, denying an attempt to restore the pay deal through a shareholder vote.
In a court filing, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware’s Court of Chancery ruled that Tesla’s attempt to ratify Musk’s compensation package through a June shareholder vote could not override her January decision striking down the package as excessive and unfair to shareholders.
McCormick found multiple flaws in Tesla’s ratification attempt, including “material misstatements” in documents provided to shareholders about the effect of their vote.
“The motion to revise is denied,” McCormick wrote.
“The large and talented group of defense firms got creative with the ratification argument, but their unprecedented theories go against multiple strains of settled law,” she added.
In a statement on Musk’s X social media platform, Tesla said it would appeal the verdict.
(FILES) Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the 27th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on May 6, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
“Shareholders should control company votes, not judges,” said Musk, in a separate post.
The court also awarded USD345 million in attorney fees, significantly less than the USD5.6 billion requested by the lawyers of plaintiff Richard Tornetta, a Tesla shareholder.
While acknowledging their calculation method was technically sound under Delaware law, which bases fees on the percentage of benefit achieved, McCormick ruled that such a large award would constitute an excessive windfall.
Shareholders originally backed the Musk compensation plan in March 2018 that was specifically designed to reward the 53-year-old founder for Tesla’s significant growth.
But in a lawsuit, Tornetta accused the defendants of failing in their duties when they authorized the pay plan and alleged that Musk dictated his terms to directors, who were not sufficiently independent from their star CEO.
He also accused Musk of “unjustified enrichment” and asked for the annulment of a pay program that helped make the entrepreneur the richest man in the world.
During a trial in 2022, Musk countered that investors in Tesla were some of the “most sophisticated in the world” and able to keep tabs on his management.
He said Tesla had been the laughingstock of the auto industry, and it was only the massive success of the company’s Model 3 that turned things around.
Musk insisted that he played no role in coming up with the package nor discussed his deal with the board members, some of them close friends, who ultimately signed off on it.
The Delaware Court of Chancery has been a pillar of US capitalism for more than a century and is the jurisdiction where roughly two-thirds of American Fortune 500 companies are registered.
Musk on Monday reposted other users’ X posts calling for companies to leave Delaware.
FILE - Harvey Weinstein arrives at a Manhattan courthouse for jury deliberations in his rape trial, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in New York. PHOTO: AP
NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was hospitalised Monday following an “alarming blood test,” his attorney said, less than a week after the disgraced movie mogul filed a legal claim alleging substandard medical care at New York City’s notorious jail complex.
Weinstein, 72, was sent to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for an “emergent treatment due to an alarming blood test result that requires immediate medical attention,” his attorney, Imran Ansari, said in a statement.
“It is expected that he will remain there until his condition stabilises,” the statement continues. “His deprivation of care is not only medical malpractice, but a violation of his constitutional rights.”
A spokesperson for New York City’s Department of Correction did not immediately respond to an email. The agency’s inmate database confirmed that Weinstein had been transferred from Rikers Island to the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward in Manhattan.
FILE – Harvey Weinstein arrives at a Manhattan courthouse for jury deliberations in his rape trial, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in New York. PHOTO: AP
Weinstein has been in city custody since earlier this year after the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction in the state. The case is set to be retried in 2025. Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing.
In a legal filing last week, Weinstein’s attorneys accused the city of providing him with substandard medical care for a litany of medical afflictions, which include chronic myeloid leukemia and diabetes.
“When I last visited him, I found him with blood spatter on his prison garb, possibly from IV’s, clothes that had not been washed for weeks, and he had not even been provided clean underwear — hardly sanitary conditions for someone with severe medical conditions,”
Ansari said in a statement that likened Rikers Island to a “gulag.”
The troubled jail complex, located on an island in New York City’s East River, has faced growing scrutiny for its mistreatment of detainees and dangerous conditions. Last week, a federal judge cleared the way for a possible federal takeover of the jail system, finding the city had placed its incarcerated population in “unconstitutional danger.”
A publicist for Weinstein, Juda Engelmayer, echoed the allegation in a statement Monday.
“Mr. Weinstein, who is suffering from a number of illnesses, including leukemia, has been deprived the medical attention that someone in his medical state deserves, prisoner or not,” he said. “In many ways, this mistreatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”
This image released by Milk Street shows a recipe for buttermilk monkey bread. (Milk Street via AP)
(AP) – Monkey bread gets an update that makes the pull-apart loaf even better thanks to buttermilk, a little whole-wheat flour and a lighter hand with the sugar. The result is more tender and nuanced — and less sweet — than the versions many of us grew up with.
In this recipe from our cookbook ” Milk Street Bakes,” browned butter infused with vanilla and warm spices coats the nuggets of dough before they’re rolled in sugar and piled into the pan. We like the combination of cinnamon and nutmeg because they call to mind freshly fried doughnuts, but feel free to try other sweet spices, such as cardamom, allspice or cloves.
Assembly takes a little time but is well worth it. The recipe is designed so the dough can be made in advance, then shaped and baked the day of serving. However, if you want to make the bread start to finish in a single go, after mixing, allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled, about two hours, and prepare the butter for coating during this time. Made this way, the dough will not be cold for shaping, so you may need to use more flour when cutting it into pieces.
The optional brush-on glaze gives the monkey bread a lustrous finish and a crackly coating — like a glazed doughnut — but feel free to skip it.
This image released by Milk Street shows a recipe for buttermilk monkey bread. PHOTO: Milk Street via AP
Buttermilk Monkey Bread Start to finish: 9½ hours (50 minutes active), plus cooling
Servings: 10 to 12
Ingredients:
For the dough:
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
423 grams (3¼ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
140 grams (1 cup) whole-wheat flour
54 grams (¼ cup) white sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
85 grams (6 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces, room temperature
For the butter and sugar coatings:
141 grams (10 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into 6 to 8 pieces
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
214 grams (1 cup) white sugar
To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the eggs, buttermilk and yeast. Add both flours, the white sugar and salt; attach the dough hook and mix on low until a slightly sticky dough forms, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl and pushing the dough off the hook once or twice. With the mixer running on medium-low, add the butter 1 piece at a time, mixing for 30 to 60 seconds before adding the next piece.
After all the butter has been added, mix on medium-low until the dough is smooth and elastic and begins to slap the sides of the bowl, 4 to 5 minutes; it will be sticky, slightly webby and cling to the bottom of the bowl. Detach the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to scrape and gather the dough at the center. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour (the dough will not double), then refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
When you are ready to shape the dough, remove the dough from the refrigerator and make the coating. In a small saucepan over medium, cook the butter, swirling the pan, until the milk solids at the bottom are deeply browned and the butter has a rich, nutty aroma, 4 to 6 minutes. Immediately transfer to a small microwave-safe bowl, then stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg; cool for a few minutes, then stir in the vanilla. Place the white sugar in another small bowl. Mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.
Lightly flour the counter and scrape the dough out onto it. Lightly flour the dough and pat it into an 8-inch square. Using a metal bench scraper or a chef’s knife, cut the dough into quadrants and cover with a kitchen towel. Place one portion on the counter and, using your hands, roll it back and forth against the counter to stretch the dough into a 16-inch rope. Using the bench scraper or knife, cut the rope into 16 pieces; it’s fine if the pieces are slightly uneven in size. Place the pieces under the towel. Roll and cut the remaining dough portions in the same way. You will have 64 pieces of dough.
Stir the butter mixture to remix the spices. Drop 3 or 4 pieces of dough into it. Using a fork, toss the pieces to coat, then lift one out, allowing excess butter to drip back into the bowl; drop the piece into the sugar. Using a spoon, toss in the sugar to coat, then place in the prepared Bundt pan. Butter and sugar the remaining dough in the same way, piling the pieces evenly in the pan. (If the butter mixture cools and thickens as you work, microwave it on high for a few seconds.) Cover with the kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature until the pieces are puffy, fill the pan about three-fourths and slowly spring back when poked, 45 to 50 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the lower-middle position.
Bake until the bread is well-risen and golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes; a thermometer inserted about 2 inches from the edge into the center of the bread should register 190°F to 195°F. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the bread onto a platter and lift off the pan. Cool for at least 30 minutes; if glazing, cool until barely warm to the touch.
To make the glaze (if using), in a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, buttermilk, vanilla and cinnamon. Using a pastry brush, evenly brush the glaze onto the bread. Let dry for at least 30 minutes before serving.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at 177milkstreet.com/ap
FILE - Oprah Winfrey appears during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey has a new book club pick and a new platform to talk books and other topics of the day.
On Tuesday, Winfrey launched “The Oprah Podcast,” a weekly series airing on her YouTube channel that will feature book club authors and guests ranging from “global newsmakers” to “cultural changemakers.” Upcoming podcasts will feature author-chef Ina Garten and Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, among others.
Winfrey began “The Oprah Podcast” with Irish author Claire Keegan, whose prize-winning historical novel “Small Things Like These” is her latest book club selection. “Small Things Like These,” published in 2021, was adapted into a film starring Cillian Murphy that came out this year.
FILE – Oprah Winfrey appears during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. PHOTO: AP
“To know that Oprah Winfrey took pleasure in reading my book is the most exquisite compliment, which will last my lifetime,” Keegan said in a statement. “To be told that she has also recommended it for others to read and has chosen this novel for her book club is a tremendous honor. May her wonderful book club encourage people into reading for years and years to come.”
Winfrey’s interview with Keegan and other book club choices will be presented in partnership with Starbucks. Conversations will be filmed in various Starbucks cafes, starting with one in the Empire State Building, and the books will be paired with a Starbucks beverage. Winfrey previously worked with Starbucks in the 1990s for a project to raise literacy funds and in 2014 on Teavana Oprah Chai Tea, which raised millions for youth education organisations.
“Connecting with people about what matters to us in this moment, so we can all continue to reach our highest, truest potential is what I’m most interested in offering at this time in my life,” Winfrey said in a statement. “As one of my greatest pride and joys this past 30 years has been introducing books to new audiences, I am delighted to partner with Starbucks as we craft this new podcast. It is the perfect opportunity to bring together readers around things we both love: books, coffee and conversation.”
A received copy of an impeachment complaint filed Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by several prominent opponents and activists at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An impeachment complaint was filed Monday against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing a legal storm over a death threat she made against the president and her alleged role in extra-judicial killings of drug suspects, corruption and failure to stand up to aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
The impeachment bid filed by several prominent civil society activists in the House of Representatives accuses Duterte of violating the country’s Constitution, betrayal of public trust and other “high crimes,” including the death threats she made against the president, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Duterte did not immediately issue any response to the impeachment bid, which accused her of about two dozen alleged crimes.
A received copy of an impeachment complaint filed Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte by several prominent opponents and activists at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines. PHOTO: AP
“We’re hoping that with this complaint, we can end the nightmare that our vice president has brought to the people,” said Rep. Percival Cendana, who gave the required endorsement of the complaint.
The vice president’s threats showed the “extent of respondent’s mental incapacity, her depravity and lack of mental fitness to continue holding the high office of vice president of the Philippines,” said a copy of the complaint seen by The Associated Press. “The same constitute not only betrayal of public trust but also a high crime which would warrant her immediate impeachment from office.”
Duterte, a 46-year-old lawyer, was also accused in the complaint of having unexplained wealth and of allowing a continuation of the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects begun by her father, a former mayor of southern Davao City, when she held that position in the past.
The vice president’s legal troubles have unfolded with the backdrop of her increasingly bitter political feud with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his allies. She said in online news conference on Nov. 23 that she has contracted an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife and Speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed, a threat she warned was not a joke.
She later said she was not threatening him but was expressing concern for her own safety.
The impeachment complaint will be scrutiniaed by the Philippine Congress, which is dominated by allies of Marcos and his cousin and key backer, Romualdez, who also has been politically at odds with the vice president.
The process could take weeks or months. Congress is to start its Christmas recess on Dec. 20 and resume on Jan. 13. Many legislators will then start campaigning for reelection before May 12 midterm elections.
The House has been investigating the alleged misuse of PHP612.5 million (USD10.3 million) of confidential and intelligence funds received by Duterte’s offices as vice president and education secretary. She has since left the education post.
She has refused to respond to questions in detail in tense televised hearings. Duterte also vehemently protested when her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, was ordered temporarily detained for allegedly hampering the inquiry. Lopez has been released from hospital detention.
Philippine police have filed criminal complaints against Duterte and her security staff for allegedly assaulting authorities and disobeying orders in an altercation in Congress over Lopez’s detention.
Duterte has accused Marcos, his wife and Romualdez of corruption, weak leadership and attempting to muzzle her because of speculation she may seek the presidency in 2028.
The National Bureau of Investigation subpoenaed Duterte to face investigators about her threats against them.
The police, military and the national security adviser immediately boosted the security of the Marcoses after the threats.
The president has said an impeachment of Duterte would waste time while the country faces other challenges, but her opponents have said they will proceed to foster accountability and the rule of law.
Marcos and Duterte won landslide victories as running mates in the 2022 election but have since fallen out over key differences. The two offices are elected separately in the Philippines, which has resulted in rivals occupying the country’s top political posts.
Marcos and Duterte differ on their approaches to China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and their views on the deadly anti-drug crackdown conducted by Duterte’s father, Rodrigo Duterte, who was the previous president in addition to ex-mayor of Davao.
The complainants in the impeachment, including former military officers from a group called Magdalo, accused her of refusing to condemn aggressive actions against Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
The brutal drug crackdown left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead in killings mostly by police that are being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.
The impeachment complaint cited a key witness to the killings, former police officer Arturo Lascanas, as saying that Sara Duterte allowed the extra-judicial killings of drug suspects to continue in Davao city when she served as its mayor. The drug crackdown was launched by her father when he was mayor.
(AP) – A Florida woman was sentenced Monday to life in prison for zipping her boyfriend into a suitcase and leaving him to die of suffocation amid a history of domestic and alcohol abuse.
Circuit Judge Michael Kraynick imposed the sentence in Orlando on Sarah Boone, 47, for the 2020 killing of 42-year-old Jorge Torres.
A jury deliberated only 90 minutes Oct. 25 before convicting Boone of the second-degree murder of Jorge Torres after a 10-day trial. Boone had insisted she was herself a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Torres and had rejected a plea deal offer of a 15-year sentence.
Torres’ family members testified at the hearing that his death has torn them apart.
Jorge Torres (L) and Sarah Boone (R). PHOTO: Good Life Funeral Home, Orange County Florida Jail
“Sarah deserves to rot in jail,” said a sister, Victoria Torres. “Sarah has caused a lifetime of pain.”
In her own statement, Boone went through a litany of abuse by Torres she said occurred over many years, decried the way her trial was handled and covered by the media, yet asked forgiveness for her actions.
“I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster. I tried breaking the spell … I never stopped loving him,” said Boone, who has been in jail for 58 months. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. Forgive me Jorge. Forgive me Torres family.”
At first, Boone told Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigators that she and Torres had been drinking heavily and playing hide-and-seek on Feb. 23, 2020, in their Winter Park, Florida, residence when they thought it would be amusing for the 103-pound (47-kilogram) Torres to climb into the suitcase. Winter Park is a suburb of Orlando.
They had been drinking alcohol and she decided to go to sleep, figuring that Torres could get out of the suitcase on his own, she told detectives in an arrest report.
When she woke up the next morning, she didn’t find Torres but then remembered he was in the suitcase. She unzipped the suitcase and found him unresponsive, the arrest report said.
Boone was charged with second-degree murder after investigators found videos on her cellphone in which Torres is heard yelling from inside the suitcase that he couldn’t breathe and repeatedly calling out Boone’s name, according to the arrest report.
“She decided to keep (Torres) in the suitcase when he said he could not breathe in it to terrorise him,” prosecutor William Jay said in a court filing. “She then struck him with a baseball bat.”
Boone rejected a plea offer from prosecutors that would have imposed a 15-year prison sentence in exchange for her guilty plea to a reduced manslaughter charge.
During her trial, Boone testified that past violent incidents between her and Torres caused her to perceive a threat of imminent harm and that she acted in self-defense by keeping him in the suitcase.
“Yeah that’s what you do when you choke me,” Boone said in one of the cellphone videos from that night, according to the arrest report. “Oh, that’s what I feel like when you cheat on me.”
Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales, Prince William and King Charles III, from left, welcome the Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, second right, and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)
LONDON (AP) — The Princess of Wales helped kick off the emir of Qatar’s trip to Britain on Tuesday as the UK government enlists one of the most popular royals to ensure the success of a state visit by the leader of a key ally, even as the princess recovers from cancer treatment.
The event will be just one of a handful of appearances that Prince William’s wife, better known as Kate, has made since she was diagnosed with cancer in March, underscoring the importance of the gas-rich gulf state that invests billions in Britain and has played a central role in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, greets dignitaries as she arrives ahead of a Ceremonial Welcome for the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wife Sheikha Jawaher, at Horse Guards Parade in London, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2024. PHOTO: APEmir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, front left, and Sheikha Hind bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, front right, arrive at Stansted Airport in Essex, England, Monday Dec. 2, 2024, for a state visit hosted by King Charles III. PHOTO: AP
William and Kate greeted Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani in the morning. The couples then traveled to Horse Guards Parade in central London, where King Charles III formally welcomed the emir and Sheikha Jawaher to Britain at the start of a two-day visit that will include a trip to Westminster Abbey, a banquet at Buckingham Palace and a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Queen Camilla, who pulled out of Tuesday’s chilly outdoor events on medical advice, told guests at a palace lunch that she had suffered from a lingering chest infection that was a form of pneumonia, Britain’s Press Association reported. She added that she no longer has pneumonia, but was suffering from post-viral fatigue.
Though smaller than the US state of Connecticut, Qatar has the world’s third-largest reserves of natural gas and is a key investor in the UK. The Qatari Investment Authority owns the luxury retailer Harrod’s and holds large stakes in British companies such as Barclays Bank and the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. It has also invested heavily in London real estate, including the Shard, western Europe’s tallest building.
The state visit comes at the end of a difficult year for Britain’s royal family.
King Charles III welcome the Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. PHOTO: AP
The king was sidelined for two months after it was announced in February that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. Just a few weeks later, Kate made public her own cancer diagnosis and said that she, too, would be stepping away from public duties to focus on her treatment and recovery.
While Charles returned to public duties at the end of April, Kate needed more time and her return has been slower.
The princess has made only a few public appearances this year, mostly at moments of national significance. They included the king’s annual birthday parade in June and the men’s final at Wimbledon in July. Most recently, she took part in the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies in November to honor the nation’s war dead.
The princess announced in September that she had completed chemotherapy treatment.
One reason the government and royal family may have asked Kate and William to play a major role in the Qatari state visit is because they have a lot in common with the emir.
All three are in their early 40s and were educated at elite British prep schools. The emir and William are both graduates of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, with the emir going on to serve in the Qatari military and William serving in both the British Army and Royal Air Force.
Kate and William will join the Qatari royals and the king and queen for a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace.
After lunch at the palace, the emir and Sheikha Jawaher will visit Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
Later in the day, the king and queen will host a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday, the emir will visit Sandhurst, meeting with some of his former classmates and current Qatari cadets. He will also meet with RAF personnel who are providing advanced training for Qatari air force pilots.
The emir will then travel to the prime minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street for his meeting with Starmer.
Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, reviews the honor guard in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. The parade as a part of celebrate the honor the King's 72nd birthday. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Tuesday presided over a parade that saw the queen lead hundreds of military personnel in honor of his 72nd birthday.
It was the first such ceremony in Bangkok’s vast Royal Plaza in 16 years.
Birthdays celebrated in 12-year cycles are considered especially auspicious in Thai culture, with the sixth cycle — celebrating 72 years — holding special significance. King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s birthday is July 28, but the previous ceremonies had been held around Dec. 5, which was his father’s birthday.
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, standing in a car right, and Queen Suthida, standing in a car left, review the honor guard in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, to celebrate the King’s 72nd birthday. PHOTO: APThailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, reviews the honor guard in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. PHOTO: APThai royal guard march during the trooping of the colors to honor King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in a parade as part of celebrations to honor the King’s 72nd birthday. PHOTO: AP
King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s father, King Bhumibol, had enjoyed near-universal respect, steering Thailand safely through the challenges of war in neighbors Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which all saw Communist takeovers in 1975.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn has faced different challenges, as political polarisation has jeopardised the formerly untouchable status of the Thai monarchy.
Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana led the parade in her capacity as Commander of the Combined Guards Unit. Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, the king’s youngest daughter, led the Royal Horse Guards Regiment.
Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana rides her horse during the trooping of the colors to honor King Maha Vajiralongkorn in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. PHOTO: AP
As the sun set, commanders of the military services led units in taking an oath of allegiance to the king.
In this grab taken from video provided by Nimba Sports Zaly, a man holds a chair on top of his head in a stampede, during a soccer match at the Stade de Nzérékoré, in Nzérékoré, Guinea on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (Nimba Sports Zaly via AP)
CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Chaos erupted at a soccer game in Guinea after fans protested a referee’s call and thousands of panicked spectators tried to flee the stadium, leaving at least 56 people dead in the West African nation, officials and witnesses said Monday.
Amid the confusion, security forces used tear gas, local news website Media Guinea reported. Many of the dead were crushed as they tried to escape through the stadium gates, a journalist covering the game for a local sports website told The Associated Press.
“The gates, that’s where the stampede happened,” said Cissé Lancine, who got away by climbing over one of the stadium walls. “I was saved because I did not rush towards the exit.”
In this grab taken from video provided by Nimba Sports Zaly, a man holds a chair on top of his head in a stampede, during a soccer match at the Stade de Nzérékoré, in Nzérékoré, Guinea on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. PHOTO: AP
The world’s latest sports crowd disaster unfurled Sunday in the second-largest city in a military-run nation where information is sparse and government-controlled at the best of times. It was not immediately clear how much the death toll could grow.
Lancine said between 20,000 and 30,000 people were present at the Third of April stadium to watch the local Labe and Nzerekore teams compete in the final of the first national tournament honoring military leader Mamadi Doumbouya.
Checkpoints were set up Monday throughout Nzerekore, a city of about 200,000 that was at a standstill as soldiers guarded the hospital where victims were being treated. Most shops were closed.
Video, apparently from the scene, showed shouting fans protesting the refereeing. People ran as they tried to escape the stadium, many of them jumping the high fence.
“Supporters threw stones. This is why the security services used tear gas,” reported Media Guinea, which also wrote that several of the dead were children and some of the injured were in critical condition.
The footage showed people lying on the floor of a hospital as members of a crowd helped the wounded.
Enock Loua, a resident of Nzerekore, learned over the phone that his niece Aline Olivier had been killed.
“We have a hard time realising what happened to us, it is as if the sky has fallen on our heads,” Loua told The Associated Press.
Authorities are trying to establish who was responsible, Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah said on national television.
The National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy opposition coalition said the tournament was organised to drum up support for Doumbouya’s “illegal and inappropriate” political ambitions.
Doumbouya, who ousted then-President Alpha Conde in 2021, has been eyeing a possible run for the presidential election, for which the date has not been set. The transition charter put in place by his own regime does not allow him to run.
Guinea is one of a number of West African countries — including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso — where the military has taken power and delayed a return to civilian rule.
Doumbouya said he was preventing the country from slipping into chaos and chastised the previous government for broken promises. He has, however, been criticised for not meeting the expectations that he raised.
Guinea’s leader announced three days of national mourning starting on Tuesday, in a presidential decree read on national television.
FILE - Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
LONDON (AP) — Elton John says he struggled to watch his new musical because he has lost his eyesight after contracting an infection.
The singer-songwriter attended the opening night of “The Devil Wears Prada” in London on Sunday and told the audience that “I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight.”
“So it’s hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it and, boy, it sounded good tonight,” he said.
FILE – Elton John waves to the waiting media as he leaves the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, Monday, March 27, 2023. PHOTO: AP
John, 77, disclosed in September that an infection had left him “with only limited vision in one eye.” He wrote on Instagram that “I am healing, but it’s an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye.”
John wrote the score for “The Devil Wears Prada,” a stage musical based on the 2006 movie about a young journalist navigating the glamour and egos of a glossy fashion magazine.
The production at London’s Dominion Theatre stars Vanessa Williams as the fearsome editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep in the film.
Sunday’s gala, a fundraiser for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, was attended by celebrities and fashion-industry figures including designer Donatella Versace and former Vogue editor Anna Wintour, the rumored inspiration for the Priestly character.
