Spanish court rejects Airbnb appeal and keeps order to block nearly 66,000 listings
The government has said the platform's short-term rentals exacerbate Spain's housing crunch while the country welcomes record numbers of tourists.
Last month, Spain's government ordered Airbnb to block 65,935 listings in the country after the Consumer Rights Ministry flagged them for violations. It said Airbnb had to immediately take down 5,800.
An Airbnb spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment on the Madrid's High Court's decision.
The ministry has said the listings it flagged did not include their license number or specify whether the owner was an individual or a company. It said others listed numbers that didn't match what authorities had.
Last month, Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy told The Associated Press that the tourism sector could not "jeopardize the constitutional rights of the Spanish people,' including their right to housing and well-being.
Carlos Cuerpo, the economy minister, said in a separate interview that the government had to tackle the unwanted side effects of mass tourism.
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Associated Press
a few seconds ago
- Associated Press
International Paper to close 2 Georgia mills, cut 1,100 jobs
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — International Paper Co. said Thursday that it would close two Georgia paper mills, including one that has been a cornerstone of Savannah's economy for 90 years. The company, based in Memphis, Tennessee, said it would stop making cardboard in Savannah and Riceboro by the end of September. The company will lay off about 800 employees in Savannah and about 300 employees in Riceboro, according to company statements and filings with state regulators. The announcement came on the same day that the company said it would sell its pulp division to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for $1.5 billion. International Paper had previously announced it would consider a sale to focus the company solely on its packaging business. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year. International Paper also said it would spend $250 million to expand production of cardboard at a mill in Selma, Alabama. International Paper will take a $700 to $900 million accounting charge to reflect the reduced value of the cellulose fiber business. The pulp is used in towels, tissues and as absorbent filler in diapers and other personal care items. Some specialty pulp is also used in construction materials and paints. Closing the two mills will reduce International Paper's capacity to make containerboard by 1.43 million tons (1.30 million metric tonnes). The company will write down the assets of the two mills by $570 million and expects to spend $158 million on severance payments and other closure costs. The company says its trying to increase sales and profit by simplifying operations. International Paper has said that it's the largest maker of containerboard in North America, but that's it's trying to reverse a trend of decreasing profits and market share. 'While difficult, these decisions are essential to positioning International Paper for long-term success, enabling us to focus on the geographies, customers, and products where we can create the most value,' Executive Vice President Tom Hamic said in a statement. Earlier this year, International Paper closed a mill in Campti, Louisiana, laying off 470 people. Last year, the company closed a 675-worker mill in Georgetown, South Carolina. The Savannah mill was built in the mid-1930s by what was then Union Bag and Paper, with jobs helping to ease the impact of the Great Depression on the coastal city. The mill in Riceboro, south of Savannah, opened in 1968 and was acquired by International Paper when it bought British papermaker DS Smith earlier this year. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said he was 'devastated and disappointed' by the decision. Savannah Economic Development Authority CEO Trip Tollison called it a 'terribly sad day for Savannah.' Georgia state House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican whose family has long worked in timber growing and logging, said effects would ripple beyond millworkers to loggers and timberland owners. 'These mill closures will undoubtedly deal a devastating blow not only to Georgia's timber industry but to the economic fabric of the entire southeast Georgia region,' Burns said in a statement.
The Hill
29 minutes ago
- The Hill
Hurricane Erin brings strong winds, flooding to parts of East Coast as it slowly moves out to sea
RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina's Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes as the monster storm slowly began to move away from the East Coast on Thursday. Forecasters predicted the storm would peak Thursday and said it could regain strength and once again become a major hurricane, Category 3 or greater, but it was not forecast to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea. Tropical storm conditions were in effect over parts of the Outer Banks and the coast of Virginia, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. In Bermuda, residents and tourists were told to stay out of the water with rough seas expected through Friday. As Erin's outer bands brushed the Outer Banks, water poured onto the main route connecting the barrier islands and a handful of stilted homes precariously perched above the beach. By Wednesday evening, officials had closed Highway 12 on Hatteras Island as the surge increased and waves rose. The road remained closed Thursday. Ocracoke Island's connection to its ferry terminal was cut off. Authorities predicted that the largest swells during high tide would cut off villages and homes on the Outer Banks and whip up life-threatening rip currents from Florida to New England. Beaches were closed to swimming Wednesday and Thursday in New York City, and some others in New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware were temporarily off-limits. Widespread, moderate coastal flooding was forecast for low-lying areas of Long Island and parts of New York City. Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet (3 meters) this week. But the biggest threat remained along the Outer Banks where longtime residents didn't seem too concerned. 'I remember taking canoes out of my front yard to get to school, so I don't think it's gonna be that bad,' said Jacob Throne, who lives on Hatteras Island and works for surf shops. Despite beach closures elsewhere, some swimmers continued to ignore the warnings. Rescuers saved more than a dozen people caught in rip currents Tuesday at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina, a day after more than 80 people were rescued. Bob Oravec, a National Weather Service forecaster, said that even if someone thinks they know how to handle a rip current, it's not safe. 'You can be aware all you want,' he said. 'It can still be dangerous.' What is a rip current and how do you escape from one? A combination of fierce winds and huge waves estimated at about 20 feet (6.1 meters) could cause coastal flooding in many beachfront communities, North Carolina officials warned. 'Dangerous conditions can be felt far from the eye, especially with a system as large as Erin,' said Will Ray, the state's emergency management director. Dozens of beach homes already worn down from chronic erosion and protective dunes could be at risk, said David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Most residents decided to stay despite evacuations ordered on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. 'We probably wouldn't stay if it was coming directly at us,' said Rob Temple, who operates sailboat cruises on Ocracoke. His biggest concern was whether the main route would wash out and if tourists and delivery trucks may be cut off from the thin stretch of low-lying islands, which are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges. Beachfront homes near collapse as Hurricane Erin's waves pound North Carolina's Outer Banks Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome system, with tropical storm-force winds spreading across 500 miles (800 kilometers) — roughly the distances from New York City to Pittsburgh. It remained a Category 2 hurricane early Thursday with maximum sustained winds around 105 mph (165 kph), the hurricane center said. Erin was about 205 miles (330 kilometers) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras and moving north-northeast at 17 mph (28 kph). The hurricane center was also watching two tropical disturbances far out in the Atlantic that could develop into named storms in the coming days. With thousands of miles of warm ocean water, hurricanes known as Cape Verde storms are some of the most dangerous that threaten North America. Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms, fueled by warmer oceans.
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Appeals court throws out massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York appeals court on Thursday threw out the massive financial penalty a state judge imposed on President Donald Trump, while narrowly upholding a finding he engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. The ruling spares Donald Trump from a potential half-billion-dollar fine but bans him and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years. Trump, in a social media post, claimed 'total victory.' 'I greatly respect the fact that the Court had the Courage to throw out this unlawful and disgraceful Decision that was hurting Business all throughout New York State,' he wrote. The decision came seven months after the Republican returned to the White House. A sharply divided panel of five judges in New York's mid-level Appellate Division couldn't agree on many issues raised in Trump's appeal, but a majority said the monetary penalty was 'excessive.' After finding Trump flagrantly padded financial statements that went to lenders and insurers, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered him last year to pay $355 million in penalties. With interest, the sum has topped $515 million. Additional penalties levied on some other Trump Organization executives, including Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. — bring the total to $527 million, with interest. An 'excessive' fine 'While the injunctive relief ordered by the court is well crafted to curb defendants' business culture, the court's disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution,' Judges Dianne T. Renwick and Peter H. Moulton wrote in one of three opinions shaping the appeals court's ruling. Engoron's other punishments, upheld by the appeals court, have been on pause during Trump's appeal, and the president was able to hold off collection of the money by posting a $175 million bond. The court, which split on the merits of the lawsuit and Engoron's fraud finding, dismissed the penalty in its entirety while also leaving a pathway for an appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. Trump and his co-defendants, the judges wrote, can seek to extend the pause on any punishments taking effect. The panel was sharply divided, issuing 323 pages of concurring and dissenting opinions with no majority. Rather, some judges endorsed parts of their colleagues' findings while denouncing others, enabling the court to rule. Two judges wrote that they felt New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against Trump and his companies was justifiable and that she had proven her case but the penalty was too severe. One wrote that James exceeded her legal authority in bringing the suit, saying that if any of Trump's lenders felt cheated, they could have sued him themselves, and none did. One judge wrote that Engoron erred by ruling before the trial began that the attorney general had proved Trump engaged in fraud. In his portion of the ruling, Judge David Friedman, who was appointed to the court by Republican Gov. George Pataki, was scathing in his criticism of James for bringing the lawsuit. 'Plainly, her ultimate goal was not 'market hygiene' ... but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump's political career and the destruction of his real estate business," Friedman wrote. "The voters have obviously rendered a verdict on his political career. This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.' In a statement, James focused on the part of the case that went her way, saying the court had 'affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud.' 'It should not be lost to history: yet another court has ruled that the president violated the law, and that our case has merit,' James said. The appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state's trial court, took an unusually long time to rule, weighing Trump's appeal for nearly 11 months after oral arguments last fall. Normally, appeals are decided in a matter of weeks or a few months. Claims of politics at play Trump and his co-defendants denied wrongdoing. At the conclusion of the civil trial in January 2024, Trump said he was 'an innocent man' and the case was a 'fraud on me.' The Republican has repeatedly maintained the case and the verdict were political moves by James and Engoron, both Democrats. Trump's Justice Department has subpoenaed James for records related to the lawsuit, among other documents, as part of an investigation into whether she violated the president's civil rights. James' personal attorney Abbe D. Lowell has said investigating the fraud case is 'the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president's political retribution campaign.' Trump and his lawyers said his financial statements weren't deceptive, since they came with disclaimers noting they weren't audited. The defense also noted bankers and insurers independently evaluated the numbers, and the loans were repaid. Despite such discrepancies as tripling the size of his Trump Tower penthouse, he said the financial statements were, if anything, lowball estimates of his fortune. During an appellate court hearing last September, Trump's lawyers argued that many of the case's allegations were too old and that James had misused a consumer protection law to sue Trump over private business transactions that were satisfactory to those involved. State attorneys said that while Trump insists no one was harmed by the financial statements, his exaggerations led lenders to make riskier loans and that honest borrowers lose out when others game their net worth numbers. Legal obstacles The civil fraud case was just one of several legal obstacles for Trump as he campaigned, won and segued to a second term as president. On Jan. 10, he was sentenced in his criminal hush money case to what's known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him jail, probation, a fine or other punishment. He is appealing the conviction. And in December, a federal appeals court upheld a jury's finding that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her, affirming a $5 million judgment against him. The appeals court declined in June to reconsider. Trump still can try to get the Supreme Court to hear his appeal. Trump also is appealing a subsequent verdict that requires him to pay Carroll $83.3 million for additional defamation claims. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of President Donald Trump at
