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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Friday, November 3rd, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all charges and now faces decades in prison. It took a jury just five hours of deliberation to convict the former FTX founder on seven charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Once touted as the king of crypto, Bankman-Fried now faces 110 years behind bars. Prosecutors say the now 31-year-old used FTX and Alameda Research as a personal piggy bank. He was also the second largest donor to Democratic candidates behind George Soros.
--:-- [ Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaking in a separate location ]
--:-- Damian Williams: It's no coincidence that this case moved so quickly. It's a warning, this case, to every single fraudster out there who thinks that they're untouchable, or that their crimes are too complex for us to catch, or that they're too powerful for us to prosecute, or that they could try to talk their way out of it when they get caught. Those folks should think again.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Bankman-Fried's attorneys say they will appeal the verdict.
--:-- John Bickley: A top fundraiser for New York Mayor Eric Adams had her home raided by federal agents on Thursday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Officials who asked to remain anonymous told the AP that agents searched through the home of Breonna Suggs in Brooklyn. Officials did not say whether Suggs was being investigated.
--:-- John Bickley: Mayor Adams abruptly flew home from Washington, D.C., skipping a planned meeting at the White House, though an Adams campaign attorney says the mayor was not contacted as part of this incident.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to the United Nations, Iran is carrying out executions at a disturbing rate, killing about 419 people in the first several months of this year. That's up 30% from the same period last year. Some of these people were executed for anti-government protests.
--:-- Raha Bhairani: It's a tool the regime uses for intimidation. It's costly for the Iranian authorities to execute protesters. But when they execute impoverished people from oppressed minorities or for minor drug-related offenses, they can generate a climate of intimidation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The secretary general said 239 people, more than half of those executed in the same seven-month period, were reportedly put to death for drug-related offenses, a 98% increase from the same period last year.
--:-- John Bickley: Uber and Lyft drivers in New York will soon be getting a payout thanks to a settlement reached Thursday between the rideshare companies and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Uber agreed to pay $20 million to current and former drivers while Lyft will pay $12 million. The lawsuit alleged drivers were improperly charged sales taxes and other fees that should have been paid by customers.
--:-- John Bickley: The companies have also agreed to provide drivers outside of New York City with paid sick leave and a minimum wage of $26 per hour.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The plans for a new Target store currently under construction in Philadelphia have been abandoned by corporate. This comes a month after the company announced the closure of nine other stores across the U.S. due to high levels of crime and retail theft.
--:-- Target CEO Brian Cornell: We closed those stores because we deemed it wasn't safe for our teams to continue to operate in those environments. When we're not seeing the progress, when other stores are closing around us and our teams don't feel safe. We had no choice but to say these are stores we're going to close.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Good news for the money savers out there. The IRS has confirmed that you will be able to add an additional $500 to your 401k retirement accounts starting in 2024. That raises the savings limits on 401ks from $22,500 to $23,000 per year. IRA contribution limits will also rise from $6,500 to $7,500 per year.
--:-- John Bickley: Britney Spears memoir The Woman in Me has sold more than 1 million copies in just a week since its release. The memoir tells the story of Britney's stratospheric rise to fame and the struggles that ensued, including the fight to end her conservatorship.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The book has received critical acclaim. Spears independently marketed the book exclusively using her Instagram account.
--:-- John Bickley: The Walt Disney Company may soon control streaming platform Hulu in its entirety as it seeks to acquire the remaining 33% stake from Comcast.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Disney has actually been operating Hulu since 2019 when Comcast gave up its authority, becoming instead a silent partner. Hulu started up in 2007 and was backed by several big entertainment companies hoping to get their TV shows up on the internet.
--:-- John Bickley: Disney came on board in 2009, and a decade later, they gained a majority of control.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You're listening to Now and Then, the last Beatles song ever to be released. The song was originally drafted by John Lennon in the late 70s. And just recently, Paul McCartney was able to finish up the song with a little help from his friends, Ringo Starr and director Peter Jackson.
--:-- John Bickley: The song was officially released today, 26 years after it was supposed to make its debut.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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