Latest news with #First
Canberra Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Canberra Times
Japan commemorates 80 years since World War II defeat
As many as 60 national and local lawmakers from Japan's far-right Sanseito Party are also expected at Yasukuni. The Japanese First party wants to curb immigration, which it says is a threat to Japanese culture.
Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana mom sues school district after it banned her for recording a meeting
A mom and a national public policy organization are taking her northeast Indiana school district to court to challenge a school policy they say violates her First and 14th Amendment rights. The Goldwater Institute, a conservative-leaning Arizona-based think tank, filed a complaint Aug. 12 in the Northern District of Indiana that, if successful, could overturn the school district's meeting recording policy and clarify a gray area of First Amendment law. Whitley County Consolidated Schools' policy says a building administrator must first give permission before parents and others can record private school meetings such as parent-teacher conferences. Goldwater argues that the policy is unconstitutional, saying there is "no compelling, substantial, important, or even rational reason" to prohibit parents from recording. "We think there's a clear idea that the First Amendment protects more than just verbal speech. It protects conduct, and especially conduct that's inherently expressive," Goldwater attorney Adam Shelton said. "We think that presents a very good and important First Amendment question." In a previous statement to IndyStar, district Superintendent Laura McDermott said Nicole Graves was restricted from campus for "a pattern of aggressive interactions with school staff and public commentary involving children other than her own," not for expressing concerns. IndyStar has reached out to McDermott regarding the newly filed litigation. Last year, Graves recorded a meeting with her school principal about an incident on her daughter's school bus concerning the driver's behavior. She decided to record the meeting so she could accurately recount what was said, according to Goldwater. Discontent with the principal's answers, she posted part of the recording on social media. The district then notified Graves in a letter, which IndyStar obtained, that she broke policy and was given a school grounds ban and restrictions on staff communications. The punishment has since expired. As she brings her fight to court, Graves said she is surprised it has come to this but not that the school won't back down. She said she is continuing to fight to establish better policies for parents and protect children. "This is not fun for me. This is not something I ever thought I would have to fight for," she said. "But I am more than happy to stand up and fight and talk to who I need to talk to to get things to change because I think it's important for all the families in this school district." With her four children still attending school in the district, Graves is concerned about retaliation. She said she is keeping a close eye on her children's schooling and is "terrified" the school will ban her again. The right to record public officials engaged their official duties in a public place has been solidified through previous case law. Goldwater, through its complaint, is attempting to deepen those rights by arguing that some private conversations are protected as well. In its complaint, Goldwater argues that people have the right to record meetings with government officials as long as the recording doesn't violate the rights of other private individuals and the person is lawfully present. "When it's just a conversation between a parent and a school official about their child and doesn't implicate any privacy rights of other students, we think a parent has the right to record that meeting," Shelton said. If the school restricted Graves from talking about the meeting or drafting a transcript, Shelton previously said, it would undoubtedly violate the First Amendment. He questions why a recording would be any different. The complaint also says the policy violates Graves' 14th Amendment rights to control her child's education in several instances, overlapping with their First Amendment argument. Goldwater is seeking an injunction halting the recording policy and a judgment finding the school district violated Graves' First and 14th Amendment rights. This is Goldwater's second crack in two years at clarifying First Amendment case law on recording conversations with school officials. The institute petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2024 to take up the case of a Massachusetts dad denied the ability to video-record his son's special education accommodation conferences. The high court did not take up the appeal after a district court ruled the act of recording was not protected by the First Amendment. Shelton said the institute is hopeful the courts will take a full look at their arguments in Graves' case. "We think we have a very good argument here that the recording of this meeting is protected both by the First Amendment and the 14th Amendment," he said. "We look forward to expressing those ideas in court." The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Business Wire
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
First Trust Announces Elections/Re-Elections of Trustees for ETFs and Other Open-End Funds
WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At special meetings of shareholders held on August 12, 2025 (collectively, the 'Meetings'), shareholders of the open-end management investment companies (collectively, the 'OEFs/ETFs') consisting of the exchange-traded funds, mutual funds and variable insurance funds advised by First Trust Advisors L.P. ('FTA') approved proposals to elect or re-elect, as applicable, eight nominees to the Boards of Trustees (collectively, the 'Boards') of the OEFs/ETFs. The OEFs/ETFs include the following: First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund II; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund V; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VI; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VII; First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII; First Trust Exchange-Traded AlphaDEX ® Fund; First Trust Exchange-Traded AlphaDEX ® Fund II; First Trust Series Fund; and First Trust Variable Insurance Trust. At each Meeting, each of the following individuals was elected or re-elected to the Board of the applicable OEF/ETF: James A. Bowen; Thomas J. Driscoll; Richard E. Erickson; Thomas R. Kadlec; Denise M. Keefe; Robert F. Keith; Niel B. Nielson; and Bronwyn Wright. Mr. Bowen is referred to as the 'Interested Trustee' of each OEF/ETF due to his position as Chief Executive Officer of FTA, and each of the other Trustees is referred to as an 'Independent Trustee.' FTA is a federally registered investment advisor and serves as the investment advisor to the series of the OEFs/ETFs. FTA and its affiliate, First Trust Portfolios L.P. ('FTP'), a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately-held companies that provide a variety of investment services. FTA has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $278 billion as of June 30, 2025 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds, variable insurance funds and separately managed accounts. FTA is the supervisor of the First Trust unit investment trusts, while FTP is the sponsor. FTP is also a distributor of mutual fund shares and exchange-traded fund creation units. FTA and FTP are based in Wheaton, Illinois.
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Santoli's Tuesday market wrap-up: CPI report was the market signal to play more aggressively
(These are the market notes on today's action by Mike Santoli, CNBC's Senior Markets Commentator. See today's video update from Mike above.) The market took a better-than-feared CPI report as a signal that it's free to play looser and more aggressively. Given the magnitude of the downside shock in the Aug. 1 payroll report , CPI would have had to come in piping hot to undermine the Street's conviction that the window is wide open for the Fed to resume rate cuts in September. The modest upside to core CPI fell well short of that threshold. The result was a tension-release rally in a market that wasn't all that clenched-up to begin with. Rate-sensitive stocks are flying as traders execute the Fed-easing playbook – small-caps, transports, homebuilders, retailers. The First Trust Nasdaq Community Bank ETF (QABA) is up 3.9% on the day. Economists will, and should, point out that CPI inflation remains sticky and well above the Fed's 2% target, but markets, politics and Fed rhetoric are forcing a view that rates have room to fall to make them "less restrictive." The market sees CPI as the last known potential catalyst that could have truly upended the bullish case until Labor Day, even though we'll get retail sales, some consumer earnings and a lot of Fed rhetoric in coming weeks. The VIX dropping appreciably below 15 for the first time in six months shows this collective relaxation. Are we calling off the August hurricane watch? Treasury yield curve steepening a bit, longer-term yields holding up as short-term yields slip to price in somewhat more certainty about imminent rate cuts. The rally to new highs in the S & P 500 and Nasdaq came after a couple weeks of internal consolidation when the majority of stocks were in pullback/digestion mode while the elite AI-propelled mega-cap tech names held the indexes aloft. Today was a bit more of an inclusive push higher rather than a rotation, Big Tech participating fully while cyclical stuff regained some pep. Around the edges, the frisky, gamy stocks are bubbling up again. AST SpaceMobile up 8.3% on a quarterly miss. The recent IPO ETF (ticker FPX) was up 1.4% at a new high. The BUZZ meme-stock proxy ahead by 1.8%. None of this amounts to broad, worrisome euphoria. The two-week rally pause allowed optimism to cool and, according to Goldman Sachs institutional positioning remains near neutral. Still, this meltup-type action suggests risk-aversion is being penalized, the valuation-based margin of safety is getting further compressed and the expected rate cut(s) could end up being used recreationally rather than medicinally to heal an ailing real economy. Or, perhaps, it could do some of both.
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Dundalk FC boss Ciarán Kilduff ‘hopeful' of adding a defensive player to his squad
SSE Airtricity Men's First Division The Argus Today at 13:35 Dundalk manager Ciarán Kilduff says he remains 'hopeful' of adding another defensive option to the squad before the side's next game away to Treaty Utd on August 22. The Lilywhites are not in action this weekend having been knocked out of the FAI Cup by Sligo Rovers last month but Kilduff is hopeful of having a new experienced option to call upon for the trip to Market's Field in Limerick having lost Sean Keogh to Brighton and Sean McHale to an ankle injury for the next few weeks.
