AFN NEWS

Thursday, July 11, 2019　

1) From ABC News, I’m Daria Albinger. Labor Secretary Alex Acosta is defending his part in negotiating a plea deal for accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Former Jeffrey Epstein’s federal prosecutor and now Labor Secretary Alex Acosta agreed with underage girls who say he raped them. ‘He is a bad man.’ Acosta says he forced the deal with Jeff Epstein’s jail time, made him a registered sex offender because the State of Florida was going to let Epstein go free. ‘There is a value to a short guilty plea.’ Still congressional Democrats wanted to know why Acosta didn’t demand a trial and stiffer sentence.” Andy Field, ABC News, Washington.

2) A Maryland district judge has denied the government’s motion to withdraw the legal team trying to fight for a citizenship question on the 2020 census. A New York judge made a similar ruling yesterday.

3) There were calls for coma at this hour in Salt Lake City. Mayor Jackie Biskupski condemning violent protest to a plan to build a shipping hub in the city. “The injuries sustained by our officers and those who were from the media were a tragic result of this protest.” The Mayor reminded the protestors that she filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the hub. She worries about pollution and safety.

4) First responders are on standby along the Texas and Louisiana coast as the region prepares for the possibility of rough tropical weather over the next few days. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, “We’ve activated the Texas Task Force 1 and they are all standby and they are prepared right now with four high-water rescue boat squads.” Hurricane watch is posted ahead of the system which is expected to become a tropical depression tomorrow.

5) When the head of the Fed speaks, the markets listen, and they were encouraged by what he told Congress about the central bank eyeing at least one rate cut in response to the slowing global economy and ongoing trade tensions. The Dow climbed 77 points, the NASDAQ closed at 60 at all-time high. You’re listening to ABC News.

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From the Fox Business Network; there was a record day on Wall Street, while the NASDAQ finished at all-time high, the S&P 500 plus 3,000, first time ever on Wednesday. Before closing it was a little bit shy of that. The Dow had strong days as well. // Parents are already thinking about school years. A new survey by Deloitte finds shoppers plan to spend $27.8 billion, which works out $519 per student on back-to-school purchases this year. That’s almost 2% more than last year, now, while most of the spending will be clothes and accessories. Electronic gadgets like smartphones, tablets are said to see the biggest increase up $800 million in 2018. // You may wanna reconsider the dream location for your golden years, because a new report out from Bankrate says the No.1 place to retire is Nebraska. Major factors include affordability and weather. With the Fox Business Report, I’m Connell McShane.