⚖️ Kevin Spacey found not liable in sex abuse suit brought by Anthony Rapp

In a victory for Kevin Spacey, a New York jury on Thursday found the actor not liable for battery on allegations he picked up fellow artist Anthony Rapp and briefly laid on top of him in a bed after a party in 1986. Rapp, who stars in the series "Star Trek: Discovery," was claiming damages of $40 million.

Jurors deliberated for about an hour, and concluded Rapp did not prove that Spacey “touched a sexual or intimate part” of his body. Judge Lewis Kaplan formally dismissed the case. Attorneys seated on either side of Spacey immediately put their hands on his back when the verdict was read.

At the time of the accusations, he came out publicly as gay for the first time, which he said led to accusations that he was "trying to change the subject, or trying to deflect."

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‼️ Amazon faces $1B class action lawsuit in the UK over Buy Box

The company is facing a $1 billion class action lawsuit in the UK over allegations it uses an algorithm to favor its own products and those of third-party sellers who use its storage and delivery services.

The lawsuit will focus primarily on Amazon’s “Buy Box” feature, a coveted spot that makes items more visible to shoppers and thereby lead to more sales for merchants listed there. The box features a product from a single seller, though many more might offer the same item.

Amazon said the claim was “without merit” and noted the company has focused on supporting the 85,000 businesses that sell their products on its UK marketplace. It also said more than half of sales of physical products on that marketplace come from third-party sellers. Last year, regulators in Italy fined the company 1.13 billion euros ($1.3 billion), accusing it of stifling competition over similar concerns.

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‼️ Two Dead, 10 Injured in Kiev's Attack on Civilian Crossing in Kherson Region - Official

Kherson region government head Sergey Eliseev said on Friday that two people were killed, and ten others were injured, including children and journalists, in Ukraine's missile attack on a civilian crossing of the Dnepr river in the Kherson region.

"As a result of the missile attack, unfortunately, we have casualties and deaths. At the moment, there are ten people wounded and two dead, this is preliminary data, the final results will be summarized later, rescue services are now working at the site," Eliseev told journalists.

The official added that "the nature of the wounds shows that HIMARS cluster munitions, filled with shrapnel elements for a greater striking effect, have been used."

"I am sure that the Kiev regime knew that the crossing was used exclusively by civilians... Minors were wounded, and journalists are among the victims," Eliseev said.

He added that the wounded were taken to the regional hospital and would further be taken to Crimea for treatment if necessary.

‼️ JUST IN | EU Leaders Reach Agreement on Containing Energy Prices - Michel

Leaders of the European Union have reached an agreement on tackling the energy crisis and containing prices of energy, European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday.

"#EUCO has reached an agreement on energy. Unity and solidarity prevail. Agreed to work on measures to contain energy prices for households and businesses," Michel said on Twitter.

🇮🇩 Indonesia says contaminated medicines linked to 99 deaths

Indonesia has found contaminated medicines that are suspected of being linked to the deaths of 99 children this year due to acute kidney injury, officials said Thursday.

The Health Ministry, which banned all syrup medicines on Wednesday, is working with the food and drug agency to determine which other drugs to potentially withdraw as a preventive measure, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said. There have been 206 cases of acute kidney injury in children reported from 20 provinces in Indonesia this year, and a death rate of 48%, the Health Ministry said.

It is an atypical progressive acute kidney injury. We call it atypical as the cause is still under investigation or unknown,” said Mohammad Syahril, a spokesperson from the Health Ministry.

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🚇 Railroads reject sick time demands, raising chance of strike

The railroads took the unusual step of issuing a statement rejecting the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division union’s latest request to add paid sick time on top of the 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses they received in the first five-year deal.

Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said Thursday that he thinks the main reason the BMWED rejected its initial contract last week was that the details of improved expense reimbursement in the deal were still being negotiated at UP while workers were voting. 

Six of the 12 railroad unions that represent 115,000 workers nationwide have approved their tentative agreements with the railroads so far, but all of them have to ratify their contracts to avoid a strike. Congress could step in to block a strike and impose terms on the workers.

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🏚 Average long-term US mortgage rates rise this week to 6.94%

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last week. Last year at this time, the rate was 3.09%.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of previously occupied US homes fell in September for the eighth month in a row as house hunters faced sharply higher mortgage rates, bloated home prices and a tight supply of properties on the market. Sales fell 23.8% from September last year, and are now at the slowest annual pace since September 2012.

Another report from the government last week showed that consumer inflation remained much too high at 8.2%. Combined with the 8.5% inflation at the wholesale level.

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‼️ Indonesia Is Ready to Organize Meeting Between Putin, Biden Within G20 Summit - Ambassador

Jakarta is ready to organize a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesian Ambassador in Russia Jose Antonio Morato Tavares has told Sputnik.

"Indonesia would be very happy [to organize the meeting]. And we have done it previously. For example, during the conflict in Cambodia, Indonesia has hosted Jakarta informal meetings for the Vietnam and Cambodia leaders who were at time in dispute. They started up with some cocktails. And the things did develop. We do not promise that this will immediately resolve something, but simply talking to one other could help the progress of discussions," the ambassador said when asked whether it would be possible to organize a meeting.

The ambassador added that the invitation to attend the summit had been extended to Putin, but the decision on whether to come in person remains with Moscow. "President of Indonesia [Joko Widodo] has come here personally to invite Russia to participate in the summit. Russia as a member of G20 is equally important to any other member state. Moreover, Indonesia does not have a right to disinvite – we only have a prerogative right to invite additional participants as the host country," the ambassador said.

📹 A resident of Donetsk lost her house after the city was bombarded by Ukrainian troops

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⚡️ Air alert activated in Kiev, local authorities say

❗️ Air raid alert reportedly sounded in Chernigov, Nikolaev, Poltava, other regions of Ukraine

❗️ Death toll from Ukrainian missile attack on civilian crossing in Kherson rises to 4 - official

❗️ Explosions heard in Kharkov, reports say

🤔 Officials within the Biden administration are reportedly in talks about whether or not business deals sought by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk should be subject to government review over growing national security concerns.

▪️ Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that the Biden White House was particularly concerned with his "Russia-friendly stance" on solving Moscow's special military operation and his "threats" to stop providing Starlink satellite services in Ukraine.`

▪️ Musk had previously indicated that he was providing Starlink services to Ukraine at a loss of some $20 million but that he would continue to do so despite the financial losses.

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📹 “They started shooting at me with a machine gun”: A man from the Kharkov region had to flee from the Ukrainian military after their counteroffensive.

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🇷🇺🇮🇩 Russian and Indonesian officials in banking and financial systems are discussing the possibility of accepting Mir cards by Indonesian banks, Ambassador to Russia Jose Antonio Morato Tavares told Sputnik.

Tavares noted that Indonesia is aware of Russia’s intention to introduce its payment system Mir in several other countries, including 🇻🇳Vietnam, 🇹🇷Turkey, 🇰🇿Kazakhstan, and 🇧🇾Belarus.

👉 In March, both Visa and Mastercard announced that they were suspending operations in Russia over Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine. Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks no longer work outside the country or in foreign online stores.

🇬🇧 😁 The famous lettuce, which lasted longer than Truss, was projected onto the wall of the British Parliament at night.

▪️ Earlier, British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced that she will stand down as leader of the Conservative Party after her policies triggered economic turmoil and sharply divided the party.

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