USA

NEW YORK (AP) — Two of Sam Bankman-Fried’s top associates secretly pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and are cooperating with investigators, a federal prosecutor announced Wednesday as the digital coin entrepreneur was being flown in FBI custody to the U.S. from the Bahamas.

Carolyn Ellison, the 28-year-old former CEO of Alameda Research, a trading firm started by Bankman-Fried, and Gary Wang, the 29-year-old who co-founded FTX, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An IRS policy governing the audits of tax returns filed by U.S. presidents is under new scrutiny after a report published by a congressional panel found the agency failed to perform the mandatory inspection of Donald Trump’s returns until Congress pressed for information about the process.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An 800-page report set to be released Thursday by House investigators will conclude that then-President Donald Trump criminally plotted to overturn his 2020 election defeat and “provoked his supporters to violence” at the Capitol with false claims of widespread voter fraud.

The resulting Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection of Trump’s followers threatened democracy with “horrific” brutality toward law enforcement and “put the lives of American lawmakers at risk,” according to the report’s executive summary.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy told cheering U.S. legislators during a defiant wartime visit to the nation’s capital on Wednesday that against all odds his country still stands, thanking Americans for helping to fund the war effort with money that is “not charity,” but an “investment” in global security and democracy.

21 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Biden administration has launched an interagency task force to investigate how US and western-made components are ending up in Iranian-produced military drones being used by Russia in Ukraine, according to a report published Wednesday.

21 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Biden administration is not planning on Wednesday to unveil export restrictions on Iranian drones that Russia has used to invade Ukraine, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The source was commenting on a Bloomberg report earlier on Wednesday that said the United States could include Iranian drone restrictions in a sanctions announcement expected to coincide with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise trip to Washington.

WASHINGTON, December 21. /TASS/: Russian citizen Yury Martyshev, who was convicted in the United States on cyber fraud charges, has been released from prison, according to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

The BOP website, which tracks inmate status, says that he was released on December 20, 2022.

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was pessimistic that Russia’s war in Ukraine would end soon but he hoped it would be over by the end of next year.

“I am not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future,” he told reporters Monday during his annual end-of-year press conference in New York.

It is ten months since Russia invaded its neighbor in late February.

On Monday, Russia launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv as the war showed no signs of relenting.

CHICAGO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Global seed maker Syngenta will release a new type of wheat developed with complex cross-breeding techniques in the United States next year, beating out rival companies that are also trying to develop higher yielding wheat at a time of diminishing global grain supplies.

The hybrid wheat, which combines positive traits from two parent plants, arrives after severe weather slashed grain harvests and the Ukraine war disrupted shipments to hungry importers, sending prices to record highs this spring.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- A gala was held at Pacific Palms Resort in Los Angeles County Tuesday evening to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy between China and the United States.

The event, jointly organized by the USA Table Tennis, Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, and the All American Chinese Association, attracted more than 500 Chinese and American officials, athletes as well as international sports leaders and representatives from local Chinese communities.