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A painting of Donald Trump hanging with other presidential portraits at the Colorado state Capitol will be taken down after Trump claimed that his was purposefully distorted, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. House Democrats said in a statement that the oil painting would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the Legislature. Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 through a GoFundMe account to commission the oil painting, which was unveiled in 2019. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican, said that he requested for Trump’s portrait to be taken down and replaced by one that depicts his contemporary likeness.” If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then thats up to them, the Democrats said. The portrait was installed alongside other paintings of U.S. presidents. Before the installation, a prankster placed a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin near the spot intended for Trump. Initially, people objected to artist Sarah Boardman’s depiction of Trump as nonconfrontational and thoughtful” in the portrait, according to an interview with Colorado Times Recorder from the time. But in a Sunday night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he would prefer no picture at all over the one that hangs in the Colorado Capitol. The Republican lauded a nearby portrait of former President Barack Obama also by Boardman saying he looks wonderful. Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the state Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before, Trump wrote. The portraits are not the purview of the Colorado governors office but the Colorado Building Advisory Committee. The ones up to and including President Jimmy Carter were donated as a collection. The others were donated by political parties or, more recently, paid for by outside fundraising. The Legislature’s executive committee, made up of both Democratic and Republican leadership, signed a letter directing the removal of Trump’s portrait. Lundeen, the Republican senator who requested it, noted that Grover Cleveland, whose presidential terms were separated like Trump’s, had a portrait from his second term. Boardman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. In interviews from the time with The Denver Post, Boardman said it was important that her depictions of both Obama and Trump looked apolitical. There will always be dissent, so pleasing one group will always inflame another. I consider a neutrally thoughtful, and nonconfrontational, portrait allows everyone to reach their own conclusions in their own time, Boardman told the Colorado Times Recorder in 2019. Trump’s Sunday night comments had prompted a steady stream of visitors to pose for photos with the painting before the announcement that it would be taken down. Aaron Howe, visiting from Wyoming on Monday, stood in front of Trumps portrait, looking down at photos of the president on his phone, then back up at the portrait. Honestly he looks a little chubby,” said Howe of the portrait, but better than I could do. I don’t know anything about the artist, said Howe, who voted for Trump. It could be taken one way or the other. Kaylee Williamson, an 18-year-old Trump supporter from Arkansas, got a photo with the portrait. I think it looks like him. I guess he’s smoother than all the other ones, she said. I think it’s fine. ___ Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press/Report for America
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E-Commerce
eToro Group Ltd has announced that it plans to take itself public in an initial public offering. The company made the announcement in a press release today, in which it confirmed that it had filed its Form F-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, there are still many unknowns about eToros IPO. Heres what we do knowand what still needs to be revealed. What is eToro Group Ltd? eToro Group Ltd is the name of the company that operates the eToro trading platform. Like other trading platforms, eToro allows investors to buy and sell a number of assets, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. But eToro is slightly different than your more traditional trading platforms like Charles Schwab or Vanguard. Thats because eToro is what is known as a social trading platform. The phrase signifies a platform that allows its users to see and, if they choose to, mimic the trades of other investors on the platform. This allows more novice investors to piggyback on the expertise of other investors whose decisions they trust. eToro Group was founded back in 2007. It is based in Tel Aviv, Israel with offices around the world. eToro by the numbers According to the companys Form F-1 registration statement, eToro has the following metrics as of December 31, 2024: A global footprint that spreads across 75 countries. Approximately 3.5 million Funded Accounts across those countries. Net Contribution of $787 million (up 41% from $557 million in 2023). Total Commission of $931 million (up 46% from $639 million in 2023). Net income of $192 million (up 1,161% from $15 million in 2023). Adjusted EBITDA of $304 million (up 159% from $187 million in 2023). eToros F-1 also lists a number of its growth strategies, which the company says focuses on acquiring more users in existing markets, increasing its share of users assets, and moving into new markets. Among the risks the company cites are uncertain legal and regulatory landscapes as well as operating in a highly competitive industry. When is eToros IPO? Thats unknown. As of this writing, eToro has not divulged when its IPO may take place. In its press release about its intention to go public, eToro stated that the offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed. What is eToros stock ticker? eToros stock ticker will be ETOR. What market will ETOR trade on? eToro shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. What is the IPO share price of ETOR? That is unknown. eToro says that the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. How many ETOR shares are available in its IPO? That, too, is unknown. The company says that the number of shares it plans to offer has also not yet been determined. How much will eToro raise in its IPO? That is something else we do not know at this time. Until eToro announces the number of shares it will offer and the offering price, it cannot be known how much the company plans to raise in its IPO.
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E-Commerce
The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.The South Korea-based church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of its legal status, which would take away its tax-exempt privilege and require liquidation of its assets.The order followed a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.In the ruling, the court said the church’s problems were extensive and continuous, and a dissolution order is necessary because it is not likely it could voluntarily reform, according to NHK television.“We believe our claims were accepted,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters, adding the government will continue efforts to support victims of the church.The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers.The church called the court order regrettable and unjust and said in a statement the court’s decision was based on “a wrong legal interpretation and absolutely unacceptable.”Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the church’s Japanese branch, accused the government of “fabricating damages.” The church is “not a malicious group that should be dissoloved,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.The investigation into Abe’s assassination revealed links over decades between the church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in the 1960s during an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his family’s financial troubles.The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is the first religious group subject to a revocation order based on violations of Japan’s civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.To seek the church’s dissolution, the Education Ministry had submitted 5,000 documents and pieces of evidence to the court, based on interviews with more than 170 people.The church tried to steer its followers’ decision-making, using manipulative tactics, making them buy expensive goods and donate beyond their financial ability and causing fear and harm to them and their families, seriously deviating from the law on religious groups, officials and experts say.The Agency for Cultural Affairs said the settlements reached in or outside court exceeded 20 billion yen ($132 million) and involved more than 1,500 people.Lawyers representing those seeking damages from the church welcomed the court decision as a major first step toward redress.“We must pursue our effort to achieve redress and to prevent future problems,” head lawyer Susumu Murakoshi told reporters, demanding the church accept the dissolution order and offer an apology and compensation to all victims.The church was founded in Seoul in 1954 by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative, family-oriented value systems.Nicknamed the “Moonies,” after its founder, the church developed relations with conservative world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as his predecessors Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.The church faced accusations in the 1970s and 1980s of using devious recruitment tactics and brainwashing adherents into turning over huge portions of their salaries to Moon. In Japan, the group has faced lawsuits for offering “spiritual merchandise” that allegedly caused members to buy expensive art and jewelry or sell their real estate to raise donations for the church.The church has acknowledged excessive donations but says the problem has lessened since the group stepped up compliance in 2009.Experts say Japanese followers are asked to pay for sins committed by their ancestors during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, and that the majority of the church’s worldwide funding comes from Japan. Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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