US News Roundup: Trump adviser Stone to be sentenced; Trump blasts best-picture Oscar for South Korean film 'Parasite' and more


Devdiscourse News Desk | Washington DC | Updated: 21-02-2020 18:37 IST | Created: 21-02-2020 18:29 IST
US News Roundup: Trump adviser Stone to be sentenced; Trump blasts best-picture Oscar for South Korean film 'Parasite' and more
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Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Bloomberg presidential campaign reports $409 million in total spending so far

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg's campaign spent $409 million through January, with most of the money funding a TV advertising blitz, according to campaign disclosures filed on Thursday. The spending, reported in a disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission, showed outlays at historic levels for the early stages of the nomination contest to take on Republican President Donald Trump in the November election.

Trump adviser Stone to be sentenced in a case that has roiled Washington

President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone is set to be sentenced on Thursday after being convicted on charges including lying to a congressional panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election in a case that has roiled the Justice Department and drawn Trump's ire. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson is scheduled to sentence Stone, whose career as a Republican operative has stretched from the Watergate scandal era of the early 1970s to Trump's campaign four years ago, at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) in Washington.

As Florida, Georgia battle over water, panhandle oystermen struggle to survive

Standing in his boat in Florida's Apalachicola Bay, Michael Dasher lowered a long pair of tongs into the water, pulling up a muddy mass of oysters that his son sorted, keeping those big enough to sell and tossing the rest back into the brackish bay. His 53-year-old calloused hands grasped not just the 12-foot-long (3.7-m-long) tool but a way of life that Florida panhandle oystermen say is dying: Last year, they hauled in 16,000 pounds (7,257 kg) of oysters worth $130,000, according to state figures, a fraction of the 2012 catch of 3 million pounds (1.4 million kg) worth $8.8 million.

Businessman Steyer pumps $64.7 million of own funds into U.S. presidential bid in January

Businessman Tom Steyer poured $64.7 million of his own wealth in January into his bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination, for a total spend of $267 million, a campaign finance disclosure showed on Thursday. Steyer's spending is of historic proportion but is dwarfed by that of rival candidate billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who pumped $220.6 million of his own funds into his bid the same month, for a total of $409 million since launching his campaign in November.

Democrat Warren, the worried campaign will run out of cash, taps $3 million loan

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren raised more money than most of her Democratic presidential rivals in the weeks before the Iowa caucuses but spent so heavily that her campaign took out a $3 million loan fearing she would run out of cash. Warren raised $10.4 million in contributions in January -- more than former Vice President Joe Biden's $9 million and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg's $6 million -- but ended the month with only $2.3 million in cash, according to disclosures filed on Thursday.

Trump blasts best-picture Oscar for South Korean film 'Parasite'

President Donald Trump on Thursday ridiculed the historic best-picture Oscar win for South Korean film "Parasite," telling a campaign rally he wished for the return of Hollywood classics like 1939's "Gone with the Wind." "Parasite," a dark social satire about the gap between rich and poor in modern Seoul, earlier this month became the first non-English-language film to take Hollywood's top prize. It also won three other Oscars - best director and original screenplay for Bong Joon Ho and the best international feature film.

George Washington sought honest British workers over 'slovenly' Americans

George Washington, the first president of the United States, praised the honesty of British farmers and sought to entice some to his estates because local tenants were so "slovenly", according to a handwritten letter he wrote in 1796. In a three-page letter to the Earl of Buchan, Washington asks the Scottish nobleman if he knew of any "honest and orderly" farmers who would like to emigrate to the United States to work on his land.

U.S. intelligence told lawmakers of Russian bid to boost Trump re-election: source

U.S. intelligence officials told lawmakers last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 election campaign by aiming to cast doubt on the integrity of the vote and boost President Donald Trump's re-election, a person familiar with the briefing said on Thursday. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity, said Trump's Republican allies on the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee questioned the assessment presented by officials of the Office of National Intelligence last Thursday.

California sues Trump administration over alleged failure to protect species

California is suing the administration of President Donald Trump for what it calls the administration's failure to protect endangered species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the California Natural Resources Agency, and the California Environmental Protection Agency filed the lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

‘Tamales for Tío Bernie’: Sanders’ outreach to Latino voters pays off

Violeta Alvarez is so passionate about Bernie Sanders that she becomes emotional talking about the white, 78-year-old senator from Vermont, a state 3,000 miles from this sun-drenched California enclave. “This is the first time in my life I’ve seen a presidential candidate reaching out to the city of Bell, this small community," said Alvarez, a 53-year-old volunteer organizer, pointing to goosebumps breaking out on her arm.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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