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A large Republican donor was found to have provided $50 million in political funds to the Trump camp the day after former President Donald Trump was found guilty on charges related to paying hush money for a sexual scandal.

According to American media outlets, including the New York Times (NYT) on the 23rd, Timothy Mellon (81) joined MAGA (Make America Great Again), a Super PAC (political fund-raising organization) that supports former President Trump, on the 31st of last month. ) donated $50 million to May 31st is the day after former President Trump was found guilty in a Manhattan court in New York on all 34 criminal charges related to providing hush money for sexual misconduct.

Mellon, the heir to a family of financial assets, has consistently donated large sums of money to the Republican Party and former President Trump’s camp. The NYT introduced that this $50 million would be one of the largest single donations in the history of U.S. political funding.

Super PAC ‘MAGA’, which has acquired a large amount of money, plans to spend $100 million on TV advertisements by Labor Day (September 2). ‘Maga’ had only $34.5 million in cash reserves as of the end of April, but thanks to Melon’s support, it raised about $70 million in May.

Prior to this donation, Mellon, who is known as a ‘reclusive man of wealth’ because he does not appear in public often, had donated $25 million each to former President Trump and independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Super PAC this year.

The NYT announced that he became the first donor to exceed $100 million in donations related to this year’s presidential election, including this donation. Before securing the Republican presidential nomination last March, former President Trump was significantly behind his presidential rival, President Joe Biden, in terms of the amount of campaign funds raised, but the gap was almost eliminated as the amount raised increased significantly around the guilty verdict.

Several new laws passed by the California State Assembly and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom will take effect next month and will be implemented statewide. The bills that will take effect on July 1 include banning the charging of hidden fees, mandating the provision of rape drug test kits in entertainment establishments, guaranteeing consumers’ right to repair devices, and limiting rental deposits. We have summarized the key contents of these bills.

■ Prohibition of imposition of ‘hidden fees’ (SB 478) This bill, called the Unfair Advertising Prohibition Act, hides various additional fees when providing goods or services such as restaurants or hotels, and then suddenly charges them at the final payment timing to exaggerate the cost. It contains provisions prohibiting sales methods. If there are various fees, the company is required to notify guests in advance that additional fees will be charged.

Actual costs must be indicated in advertisements and menus. This is to prevent so-called ‘hidden fees’ and ‘junk fees. For example, ’employee service audit fees’ for restaurants, ‘kitchen staff wellness insurance premiums’, ‘resort fees’ for hotels, baggage fees for airlines, insurance fees for rental cars, performance ticket reservation fees, food delivery fees, etc. in various industries. It covers.

■ Mandatory drug testing kits for bars (AB 1013) Targets businesses that have received a liquor sales license (Type 48), which is issued to bars and nightclubs for the sale of beer, wine, and spirits, and these businesses are subject to date rape drug testing kits. Provide it at a reasonable price or for free. In addition, businesses must post a notice in a conspicuous location indicating that the tester can be used and should not handle testers that have expired or have expired the recommended use period. The California Liquor Control Board (ABC) announced that approximately 2,400 businesses across the state, including nightclubs, bars, and taverns, would be subject to this measure and warned that failure to comply would result in administrative action affecting their licenses. The drugs covered include, but are not limited to, flunitrazepam, ketamine, and gamma hydroxybutyric acid, the bill states. Although ABC conducts inspections, it does not supply testing machines or recommend specific companies.

■ Apartment Rent Deposit Restrictions (AB 12) Prohibits landlords from requesting or receiving security deposits for residential real estate rental contracts in an amount exceeding one month’s rent or equivalent, regardless of whether the residential property is furnished. do. The existing law allowed for up to two months’ worth for unfurnished units and up to three months’ worth for furnished units. However, for small building owners, the period is 2 months. A small building owner is a natural person or limited liability company (LLC) and a landlord who owns two or fewer residential rental properties and a residential building with a total of four units or less.

■ Imposition of a gun tax (AB 28) The main point is that starting next month, an 11% tax will be imposed on dealers and manufacturers on the sale of guns, ammunition, and gun-related parts sold in California. As a result, California will impose a sales tax on firearms. It became the first state in the country to impose such a tax. Through the implementation of this bill, the California government is expected to receive $160 million in annual tax revenue, which will be used for gun violence prevention and school safety programs.

■ Expanding the mandatory provision of sanitary products (AB 367) This is a bill that requires sanitary pads or tampons to be provided free of charge in restrooms in public schools in grades 6 to 12, community colleges, and public universities starting from the 2022-23 school year. The scope is expanded and added to the 5th grade.

■ Consumers’ Right to Repair (SB 244) It states that for devices sold in California that cost more than $50, manufacturers are required to provide manuals and parts or tools necessary for repair for a certain period. Prices from $50 to $99.99 must be provided for 3 years and amounts over $100 must be provided for 7 years. It broadly covers mobile phones, laptops, tablets and various electronic and home appliances, but does not apply to alarm systems or video game consoles.

Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates announced on the 16th that he would invest trillions of won in the next-generation nuclear power plant construction project.

According to Bloomberg, Gates appeared on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ that day and introduced the fact that TerraPower, a company he founded, began construction of the first next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) in the United States in Wyoming last week. “I’ve put in a billion dollars, and I’m going to put in billions more,” he said. Terra Power held a groundbreaking ceremony for the next-generation SMR in Kemmerer, Wyoming on the 10th with Gates in attendance.

Gates, the world’s sixth richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, co-founded Terrapower in 2008 with the goal of producing safe, abundant clean energy that does not use carbon fuels in the private sector. TerraPower’s first next-generation SMR, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, is scheduled for completion and operation in 2030 and plans to replace existing thermal power plants to supply electricity to residents. Gates told CNN’s global affairs program GPS that realizing the original goal of operating in 2028 would mean relying on fuel imported from Russia, which he described as “unacceptable at this time.”

At the same time, he added that fuel for the reactor operation is planned to be airlifted from the United States and its allies. TerraPower’s nuclear reactor is characterized by using liquid sodium rather than water as a coolant. Gates also emphasized in this program, “Coal is losing out in competition with natural gas,” and “What we need to do is compete effectively with natural gas.”

Meanwhile, TerraPower’s Wyoming project is expected to cost up to $4 billion, half of which will be supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

As assaults are on the rise in New York City, a man in his 30s was injured in a stabbing incident in a crowded plaza in Noho, Manhattan, in broad daylight.

According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the incident occurred at 3:22 p.m. on the 6th when the victim, a man in his 30s, was resting in the plaza where the Alamo statue stands on Astor Place in Manhattan when he was attacked by a suspect who suddenly approached him and swung a knife at the back of his neck.

He suffered damage and collapsed at the scene. The suspect fled eastbound on St. Marks Place immediately after the attack and has not been arrested as of 12 p.m. on the 7th.

The victim collapsed on the spot immediately after the incident and was using his coat to stop the bleeding from the injured area. With the help of passersby around the scene, he was transported to a nearby hospital, where he received treatment and is said to be in stable condition.

According to eyewitness testimony, the suspect was wearing an ocher jacket, a blue shirt, jeans, and black gloves at the time of the crime. Witnesses explained that there was no argument between the suspect and the victim right before the incident occurred, and that the incident happened in the blink of an eye before passers-by could even notice the crime.

The location where the incident occurred is known to be one of the places with the highest floating population in Manhattan, with Cooper Union University, a large supermarket, CVS, Chase Bank, and a theater located nearby.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 10th that it introduced several new monitor products at ‘Summer Game Fest’, North America’s largest game show held in Los Angeles on the 7th.

In the opening live streaming, the 2024 model ‘Odyssey OLED G8’ was introduced, and local media and creators were invited to hold a new product experience event ‘Samsung Monitor One Launching Event’. The new gaming monitors released this time are ‘Odyssey OLED G8’ with 4K UHD resolution and ‘Odyssey OLED G6’ with QHD resolution.

Both types apply ‘OLED Glare Free’ to reduce light reflection to increase game immersion, and apply ‘Samsung OLED Safeguard+’, a proprietary technology that prevents burn-in (screen afterimage). The site also provided an opportunity to play the upcoming new game ‘Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’ on ‘Odyssey OLED G8′ for the first time.

Also, at the event, Samsung Electronics’ new 2024 monitor products, including the smart monitor M8 equipped with an artificial intelligence (AI) processor and the high-resolution monitor Viewfinity S7, were displayed.

Attention is being paid to New York State’s plan to ban the use of smartphones in schools. New York Governor Cathy Hokull announced on the 30th, “For the mental health of young people, we plan to submit a bill banning the use of smartphones in public schools by the end of this year and enact it within the next year.”

According to Governor Hokul, the ban on smartphone use in schools applies to all public-school students in grades K through 12, and only ‘flip phones’ that can only send text messages and make phone calls will be allowed instead of smartphones with Internet access. However, more specific detailed plans such as ‘will it be allowed to carry smartphones on campus but only prohibit their use’, ‘will the use of smartphones for security purposes be prohibited’, and ‘how should homework be done using existing smartphones’ have not been disclosed. It is not happening.

However, some say that Governor Hokul’s plan is to ban smartphones from being carried on campus. It has been confirmed that New York City, which has independent educational control rights from New York State, is also pursuing this policy of banning the use of smartphones in schools.

New York City Superintendent of Education David Banks said, “We welcome the governor’s decision to prioritize the mental health of youth and promote a policy to ban smartphone use in public schools,” adding, “Smartphone use in schools is a problem directly related to youth mental health issues.”

New York City lifted the ban on smartphone use in public schools in 2015, nine years ago. Meanwhile, it is believed that Governor Hokul’s pushes to ban the use of smartphones in schools is in line with the SAFE for Kids Act (S3281/A4967), which is in progress with the goal of being passed by the 6th, the scheduled end date of this session.

The bill to combat youth Internet addiction prohibits SNS online platform companies such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok from collecting and sharing personal information of minors under the age of 18 without prior consent (prior parental consent is required for those under 13), access records, etc.

The main point is that addictive content (feed) and customized advertisements automatically generated by algorithms cannot be provided based on this.

Minors under the age of 18 must obtain parental permission to access algorithm-recommended content. It also included that online platform companies should provide programs such as allowing parents to control their children’s SNS usage time and blocking SNS access from midnight to 6 a.m. (so-called digital curfew).

Axios, an internet media outlet, reported on the 2nd that former President Donald Trump is focusing more on increasing the number of lawyers and election observers who will raise issues about election fairness rather than on the manpower needed to contact voters.

According to reports, the Republican National Committee (RNC), controlled by former President Trump, is building a network of lawyers and volunteers to collect the information needed to challenge the results of the presidential election on November 5 in court. RNC officials told Axios that the RNC plans to hire more people for this function than any other department.

The RNC has a director in charge of ‘election fairness’ in 13 states, including swing states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin, and is training local parties at the state and county level. Additionally, lawyers were hired in each of the 13 states to seize opportunities for litigation related to election fairness.

The Trump campaign and the RNC announced in April that they plan to hire 100,000 volunteers, law students, and lawyers to run a presidential election observation team. Regarding this move, Axios assessed that it is a sign that former President Trump will try to claim “election rigging” again as he did in the 2020 presidential election if he loses this year’s presidential election, and that the legal battle surrounding this year’s presidential election has already begun. The RNC, along with local parties and other advocacy groups, has already filed dozens of election-related lawsuits in 25 states. The RNC has filed several lawsuits calling for a ban on counting undated or mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day.

Other lawsuits have challenged the accuracy of states’ registered voter lists, whether non-citizens can vote, and strengthened voter identification rules. Republicans even won some lawsuits. Last February, New York State upheld a ruling that a New York City law allowing some non-citizens, including permanent residents with work permits, to vote in local elections was unconstitutional, and in March, the Pennsylvania Court of Appeals ruled that stamp ballots were not returned to elections offices on time.

It was ruled that votes should not be counted if there is no date on the envelope upon arrival. Axios reported that litigation is particularly active in Wisconsin, where President Biden won the 2020 presidential election by less than 1 percentage point.

The Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin State Board of Elections and election officials in Milwaukee and Madison, strong Democratic cities, claiming that the state blocked Republicans from working as vote counting staff in the primary held in April. Accordingly, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Biden campaign are also responding to the Republican Party’s lawsuit by strengthening their legal teams.

The Democratic Party participated in a lawsuit filed by the Republican Party challenging Arizona’s election management manual and filed a lawsuit against a North Carolina law that makes voter registration on Election Day difficult.

Reuters reported on the 26th that the United States will participate in the Ukraine peace conference to be held in Switzerland on the 15th and 16th of next month (local time).

A U.S. government official interviewed by Reuters said the United States would participate in the Ukraine peace conference. However, he did not mention the names or positions of the attendees.

Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message recorded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and released that day that more than 80 countries would participate in the meeting and appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend.

The Ukrainian Peace Conference will be held on June 15-16 in Bürgenstock, a resort in Nidwalden, Switzerland. Several European leaders plan to attend, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander Dicro.

Russia does not participate.

In the south-central region, severe weather such as storms and tornadoes are causing large-scale damage one after another. The Associated Press reported on the 26th that at least 15 people died due to strong storms and tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

CNN reported that as of this day, about 110 million people in central Mississippi, Ohio, and the Tennessee River Valley are under threat of severe weather such as strong winds and hail. The day before, in Cook County, Texas, near the border with Oklahoma, a strong tornado passed through a rural area with a mobile home complex, killing seven people. Among the dead were two children, ages 2 and 5.

“There are only traces of debris left (in the area),” Cook County Sheriff Ray Sappington said. “The damage is very serious.” In Denton County, north of Dallas, Texas, a tornado also caused multiple injuries, and disaster authorities transported them to nearby hospitals by ambulance and helicopter, but it is not known how many were injured.

The tornado that swept through the area overturned a tractor-trailer and halted traffic on Interstate 35. At least 60 to 80 people were staying at a truck gas station along the highway when the storm hit, but fortunately none of them were seriously injured. Several homes were destroyed and at least five people, including a 26-year-old woman, were killed in a small town in Boone County, Arkansas, and one person was killed, and several others were injured in Benton County, Arkansas.

Two people also died in the overnight storm in Pryor City, Mayes County, Oklahoma. In Claremore City, about 27km away from Prior City, 23 people were injured, including 3 seriously. Among the guests who attended the outdoor wedding, some suffered misfortune.

According to an initial investigation by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a tornado with an intensity of ‘EF-2’ or higher passed through the Claremore area overnight. On this day, strong winds blew in Louisville, Kentucky, and a tree fell, killing an adult male. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a disaster emergency in four additional counties that were damaged by tornadoes on this day. However, according to the Consulate General in Houston, which has jurisdiction over Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and the Dallas branch office, which has jurisdiction over parts of northern Texas, no cases of damage to Koreans or compatriots have been reported as of today in relation to this tornado and strong winds. It was confirmed that there was no significant damage from strong winds in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas of Texas, where Koreans mainly live.

The areas where damage occurred are places where few Koreans live. The air mass that causes severe weather such as storms is moving east on this day, affecting Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Virginia. The game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs, scheduled to be held at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri at 7:10 pm (ET) on this day, was postponed due to a storm warning. In Indianapolis, the famous car race ‘Indy 500’, which was scheduled to start at 12:45 pm on this day, was postponed due to the risk of thunder and lightning but started about 4 hours later. According to Power Outage, a site that compiles power outages in the U.S., as of 7 p.m. that day, about 540,000 households (including commercial facilities) were without electricity due to strong winds damaging power facilities in a wide area, including parts of the central and eastern parts of the country.

The scale of power outages by region is 177,000 households in Kentucky, 82,000 households in Arkansas, 82,000 households in Missouri, 29,000 households in Texas, 24,000 households in Tennessee, 17,000 households in Kansas, and 6,000 households in Indiana., 5,000 households in Oklahoma, 74,000 households in West Virginia, and 40,000 households in Virginia.

In the south-central region of the United States, deadly severe weather has continued from last month to this month. Last April was recorded as the second-most tornado month in history in the United States. Additionally, on the 16th of this month, seven people were killed in an accident caused by a tornado and strong winds in northwest Houston, and at least five people were killed, and dozens injured by a tornado in Iowa on the 21st of this month. “The persistent weather pattern of warm, moist air is the main driver of the string of tornadoes over the past two months,” said Harold Brooks, senior research scientist at the National Storm Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma.

Brooks recommended that travelers passing through weather risk areas during the holidays leading up to Memorial Day on the 27th need to have a plan in case of an emergency.

Newark City has already adopted an ordinance and will go into effect next year. Attention is being paid to the New Jersey state legislature after it pushed for a bill to lower the voting age limit to 16 or older only for local school district school board elections.

The New Jersey State Senate and State Assembly each submitted bills with this content on the 16th and began the legislative process. Currently, in New Jersey school district school board elections, only U.S. citizens over 18 years of age can vote. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is also supporting a bill to lower the voting age for school board elections. If the bill becomes law, New Jersey will become the first state in the nation to allow people 16 and older to vote in school board elections.

Supporters of the bill said, “It is desirable for teenagers to have more of a voice in selecting education members who will directly affect them,” and added, “Actively participating in voting from a young age will serve as an opportunity to develop an interest in voting throughout one’s life.” This is the position. The city of Newark, New Jersey, already adopted an ordinance in January granting the right to vote in school board elections to those aged 16 or older.

Accordingly, U.S. citizens aged 16 or older in Newark City will be able to vote starting in the Newark District Board of Education election next year.