Inside Daily Brief

For May 30, 2024

Here’s your top news for today:

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito rejected calls to recuse himself from cases involving former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Chinese authorities may fine PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) $138M for the accounting work it did for failed property developer Evergrande.
A floating pier built by the U.S. military to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has broken apart and is being repaired.

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito rejected calls to remove himself from two cases involving former U.S. President Donald Trump following a controversy over flags seen outside his homes. The conservative justice sent letters to House and Senate Democrats on Wednesday telling them that the flags in question were flown by his wife and that the incidents did not merit recusal.

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The New York Times reported that an upside-down American flag and an "Appeal to Heaven" flag depicting a pine tree had been flown outside Alito's Virginia home and his New Jersey home.
Both flags were reportedly carried by Trump supporters during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
Alito said in a letter that his wife raised the upside-down American flag after a neighborhood dispute in January 2021.
Democratic Senators Richard Durbin and Sheldon Whitehouse urged Chief Justice John Roberts to ensure that Alito recuse himself from pending cases related to Trump and the Jan. 6 attack.
Alito said the incidents do not "meet the applicable standard for recusal."

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Critics argue that Alito's decision not to recuse himself from Trump-related cases may compromise the impartiality of the Supreme Court and undermine public trust in the judiciary.

What the numbers say: Chinese authorities have accused property developer Evergrande and its founder of inflating its revenue by over $78B in the two years preceding its failure. By comparison, U.S. telecom firm WorldCom committed $11B in financial fraud. Enron falsely inflated its profit by $600M before it went bankrupt in 2001 and Luckin Coffee admitted to fabricating $310M in sales in 2019.

Chinese authorities are considering issuing PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP with a fine of at least $138M (1B yuan) for the accounting work it did for Evergrande before its bankruptcy. The penalty would surpass China's previous record fine for an accounting company, which was set when Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. was fined $30.8M (212M yuan) after its operations were suspended in 2023.

A floating pier built by the U.S. military to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has broken apart amid strong winds and heavy seas. Critics accused the project of failing to live up to its promises as the ongoing war in Gaza obstructs efforts to transport aid to the region via land routes.

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The pier reportedly facilitated the delivery of 1,000 metric tons of aid before it was damaged on May 25.
Workers are repairing and reassembling the steel causeway that linked the pier to the beach in Gaza.
The Pentagon said the pier would accommodate 150 truckloads of aid per day, but it has yet to do so.
The White House said on Thursday that "Nobody said at the outset that it was going to be a panacea for all the humanitarian assistance."

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Some aid groups have said the pier is drawing attention away from the need for Israel to open more border crossings.
Gaza needs 600 trucks of aid per day to bring the population back from the brink of famine, according to The United States Agency for International Development.

A Hong Kong court found 14 pro-democracy activists guilty of subversion under a national security law imposed by Beijing. Western countries and rights groups denounced the decision and reiterated their accusations that the prosecutions were "politically motivated."

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The defendants were among 47 activists charged with attempting to "overthrow" Hong Kong's government by forming an unofficial primary in 2020 to select candidates to run for office.
31 of the activists pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at a later date along with the 14 activists who were found guilty on Thursday.
The court acquitted two of the defendants, saying that it could not "be sure" that they were "parties to the scheme."
The trial was overseen by three judges chosen by Hong Kong's government, rather than by a jury, a decision that is seen to deviate from Hong Kong's common law traditions.

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Critics say the trial is symbolic of a decline of freedoms in Hong Kong after mass anti-government protests in 2019 prompted a crackdown on dissent.

GOOD NEWS: Minor changes to the logistics and scheduling of two cargo ships reduced their emissions by an average of 17.3%. The method provides a simple and inexpensive way of lowering the emissions of the shipping industry, which generates an average of 140 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

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Cargo ships often travel rapidly to ports and are then forced to burn fuel as they wait to unload.
The Blue Visby Consortium proposed a solution that involves slowing ships down and increasing communication between vessels and ports.
The consortium tested their Blue Visby Solution on the Gerdt Oldendorff and the Begonia as the two vessels delivered goods to a grain terminal in Australia in March and April.
Blue Visby is working to scale up the commercial deployment of its solution.

South Korea accused North Korea of sending over 150 balloons containing "filth and garbage" across the border between the two countries. North Korean state media said Pyongyang was reacting to balloons containing propaganda leaflets and other materials that have traveled over the border from South Korea.

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South Korea's military started noticing the balloons Tuesday night and local governments warned residents in the provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon about "unidentified objects."
Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, referred to the act of sending the balloons as "freedom of expression."
She said South Korean authorities would "directly experience how much effort is required," to remove materials sent over the border in balloons.
South Korea banned such practices in 2020, but some activists have continued to send materials over the border with North Korea.

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North Korea has banned foreign materials such as books and movies for decades.
North Korean defector Park Sang-hak sent balloons to North Korea this month that contained leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and 2,000 USB sticks loaded with K-pop and music videos.

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River Scene, by Armand Guillaumin. 1841-1927.

Gregory Bridgman

Writer / Editor

Gregory Bridgman is a politics and technology researcher with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He also holds a Master of Science from University College London and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Cape Town. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or drop him an email at gregory@inside.com.