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Zohran Mamdani, now NYC mayor-elect, announces mainstream transition team. Who’s on it?

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Zohran Mamdani, now NYC mayor-elect, announces mainstream transition team. Who’s on it?


The 34-year-old democratic socialist’s team includes familiar faces for New Yorkers. He must now navigate New York’s notoriously provincial politics.

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NEW YORK − In his first hours as New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani has signaled his intention to reassure a nervous political establishment that he is bringing experienced operators into his administration.

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On the morning of Nov. 5, the 34-year-old democratic socialist announced a progressive-but-mainstream transition team to execute his affordability-focused agenda.

“The poetry of campaigning may have come to a close last night at 9, but the beautiful prose of governing has only just begun,” Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, told reporters in front of the Unisphere, a towering steel globe built for the 1964 World’s Fair.

That line itself could be interpreted as an olive branch: it was a reference to former Gov. Mario Cuomo’s famous observation that politicians “campaign in poetry” but they “govern in prose.” Mamdani just defeated Cuomo’s son Andrew, another former governor, in the mayoral race.

“The hard work of improving New Yorkers’ lives starts now,” Mamdani added.

An experienced team

Mamdani, who won the mayor’s race less than 24 hours earlier, takes over City Hall on New Year’s Day. His transition team includes familiar faces for New Yorkers.

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Elana Leopold, a political strategist who served under former Mayor Bill de Blasio in several senior positions, will lead the team as executive director.

The four transition co-chairs include Lina Khan, the head of the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission; Maria Torres-Springer, former first deputy mayor under current Mayor Eric Adams; Grace Bonilla, president and CEO of United Way of New York City and a former de Blasio administration appointee; and Melanie Hartzog, de Blasio’s deputy mayor for health and human services and, before that, his management and budget office director.

De Blasio endorsed Mamdani, but Adams endorsed Cuomo.

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Before Mamdani even won the race for mayor, he faced threats by the Trump administration to strip the city of even more federal funding. On election night, Mamdani called President Donald Trump out directly, saying he would protect New Yorkers as their mayor. Mamdani has said he would work with Trump to ease cost of living.

“Despite the headwinds the city we face as a city and as a country, the mayor-elect has truly rekindled something very powerful: Our shared faith in New York’s capacity to do big things and to dream boldly,” Torres-Springer said. 

Earlier this year, Torres-Springer and other top city officials resigned from the current Adams administration. President Trump’s Justice Department dropped federal corruption charges in exchange for helping in the administration’s immigration crackdown, in an alleged quid pro quo Adams has denied. The scandal rocked Adams’ City Hall and contributed to his downfall as a one-term mayor.

During the campaign, Mamdani sought to reassure voters that, despite his young age and little experience in the state Legislature, he could manage the city’s $116 billion budget serving 8.5 million New Yorkers. He will also oversee a police department larger than many countries’ entire militaries.

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Notably, he said he would keep current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in charge of the NYPD. Tisch’s super-wealthy father James donated heavily to previous Republican mayoral candidate such as Rudy Giuliani. Her cousin Laurie Tisch donated $150,000 to an effort to defeat Mamdani.

Mamdani has also been advised by Patrick Gaspard, a former aide to Barack Obama who previously led the liberal Center for American Progress think tank.

During the Democratic primary in June, Mamdani cross-endorsed with city Comptroller Brad Lander, a Brooklyn Democrat seen as a seasoned city politician. Lander’s support proved key in Mamdani’s primary win to defeat Andrew Cuomo, the former three-term governor saddled by a record of scandals.

On Nov. 4, Mamdani defeated Cuomo, running as an independent, a second time. Billionaires spent heavily against Mamdani’s candidacy.

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“What we saw last night was New Yorkers not just electing a new mayor, but clearly rejecting a politics where outsized corporate power and money too often end up dictating our politics,” said Khan, an antitrust legal scholar who resigned from the FTC when Trump took office.

On Nov. 6, Mamdani continues his path to City Hall by flying to Puerto Rico, his spokesperson Dora Pekec said. While this sounds like vacation after a grueling campaign, he is Somos, New York Democrats’ unofficial annual power-brokering summit.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

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Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City

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Map: 2.3-Magnitude Earthquake Reported North of New York City

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown.  All times on the map are Eastern. The New York Times

A minor, 2.3-magnitude earthquake struck about 12 miles north of New York City on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 10:17 a.m. Eastern in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., data from the agency shows.

The Westchester County emergency services department said in a statement that it had not received any reports of damage.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

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Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Eastern. Shake data is as of Tuesday, March 10 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Tuesday, March 10 at 2:18 p.m. Eastern.

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Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics

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Ed Martin, outspoken Justice Department lawyer, is formally accused of ethical violations | CNN Politics

Ed Martin, an outspoken Trump administration official, is facing attorney discipline proceedings in Washington, DC, for a letter he sent to Georgetown Law about its diversity programs, the district’s professional conduct investigator announced on Tuesday.

Martin is formally accused of violating his ethical codes as an attorney for telling Georgetown Law’s dean last year that his Justice Department office wouldn’t hire students because of the school’s diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives programs, according to the filing from Hamilton Fox, the disciplinary counsel for DC who acts as a quasi-prosecutor on attorney discipline matters.

Unlike unsolicited complaints, Fox’s formal disciplinary complaint kicks off professional conduct proceedings for Martin in which he will need to respond and could be sanctioned or ultimately lose his law license.

Fox’s announcement on Tuesday marks the first major bar discipline proceeding against a high-profile administration official or attorney supporting President Donald Trump during Trump’s second term. Several Trump lawyers faced disciplinary proceedings after the efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, including Rudy Giuliani, who lost his law license.

“Acting in his official capacity and speaking on behalf of the government, he used coercion to punish or suppress a disfavored viewpoint, the teaching and promotion of ‘DEI,’” Fox wrote in the complaint. “He demanded that Georgetown Law relinquish its free speech and religious rights in order to continue to obtain a benefit, employment opportunities for its students.”

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Martin was removed from the top prosecutor job in DC after senators made clear he would not be confirmed to the role, but has remained at the Justice Department in several roles, including as pardon attorney.

“Mr. Martin knew or should have known that, as a government official, his conduct violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States,” Fox wrote.

Martin is being represented by a Justice Department attorney, a source told CNN.

A spokesperson for DOJ attacked Fox’s complaint. “The DC bar’s attempt to target and punish those serving President Trump while refusing to investigate or act against actual ethical violations that were committed by Biden and Obama administration attorneys is a clear indication of this partisan organization’s agenda,” DOJ said.

Martin had sent the letter to Georgetown Law while serving temporarily as US attorney for DC, a prominent Justice Department position, and told the school his federal prosecutors’ office wouldn’t hire Georgetown’s law school students. It came at a time when the Trump administration was beginning to crack down on universities for their DEI efforts.

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In his letter, Martin claimed a whistleblower told him that the school was teaching and promoting DEI.

Martin also violated attorney ethics rules by contacting judges of the DC court directly, Fox alleged, rather than going through official channels, once he was informed he was under investigation for his professional conduct. The DC Court of Appeals ultimately signs off on attorney discipline findings.

Early last year, Fox’s office had formally asked Martin to respond to a complaint it received by a retired judge regarding the Georgetown letter.

Martin instead wrote to the judges on the DC court complaining about Fox.

“In that letter, he stated that he would not be responding to Disciplinary Counsel’s inquiry, complained about Disciplinary Counsel’s ‘uneven behavior,’ and requested a ‘face-to-face meeting with all of you to discuss this matter and find a way forward,’” Fox wrote.

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“He copied the White House Counsel ‘for informational purposes because of the importance of getting this issue addressed,’” Fox said.

The top judge in the DC courts told Martin the court wouldn’t meet with him about the disciplinary matter and that he would need to follow procedure.

With Fox’s complaint, there will now be several steps ahead of bar discipline authorities looking at Martin’s action, and Fox didn’t specify how Martin should be reprimanded or punished if the discipline boards and the court ultimately determine he violated his ethical codes.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday morning.

In recent days, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced her office would have a more powerful role in reviewing attorney discipline complaints against Justice Department attorneys, potentially setting up an approach that could keep the department at odds with the bar on behalf of DOJ attorneys facing their own individual disciplinary proceedings.

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CNN’s Paula Reid contributed to this report.

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Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply

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Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply

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Asian and European buyers are battling to source liquefied natural gas after the war in the Middle East choked off shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, blocking a fifth of global supplies.

In an indication of the intensifying contest for LNG since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, a handful of gas carriers have abruptly changed course while sailing to Europe and swung towards Asia instead, according to ship monitoring data analysed by the FT.

Countries across Asia are highly dependent on oil and gas sent through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway where shipping has slowed to a near standstill.

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Most of the LNG produced in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is ordinarily shipped through the strait to Asia, and Asian LNG prices surged almost immediately after war broke out, creating an incentive to divert US gas to the region.

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Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are among the countries that need to source LNG to make up for supplies they will not receive from the Gulf, said Massimo Di Odoardo, head of gas and LNG analysis at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Taiwan relied on Qatar for more than 30 per cent of its gas consumption in 2025, according to Citigroup, while for South Korea and Japan the figures were 15 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Asia typically uses more gas than Europe in the hotter summer months because of more air-conditioning use, creating urgency for Asian utilities to secure cargoes.

The vast majority of LNG is sold under long-term contracts rather than on the spot market, but some buyers are able to change the final destination of their purchases and some sellers are willing to break contracts if prices rise high enough.

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By Thursday, surging European gas prices and rocketing shipping rates had swung the balance back against diversion of US LNG to Asia, according to data company Spark Commodities.

The decision on where to send gas carriers can depend on the relative levels of the European gas price, Asia’s JKM benchmark for LNG and shipping rates.

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For European buyers, the battle with Asia for LNG supplies is eerily familiar to the situation four years ago after Russia slashed pipeline natural gas flows to the continent following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Competition for spare cargoes then pushed prices to record levels.

On Monday, European gas prices reached as high as €69.50 per megawatt hour, more than double their level before the Iran conflict began. Even so, prices are still far from the €342 per megawatt hour reached in 2022.

JKM gas prices also more than doubled since the start of the war to $24.80 per 1mn British thermal units by Monday, equivalent to €73.10/MWh.

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European buyers have learnt from their experience in 2022. “Europe has more weapons at its disposal in this extreme price scenario to try and fight,” said Alex Kerr, a partner at law firm Baker Botts.

Buyers had started putting clauses in contracts to say that suppliers would face much higher penalties if they diverted cargoes for commercial gain, Kerr said.

There is also much more LNG on the market now that is not committed to set destinations, largely because of new projects starting in the US.

While producers such as Qatar impose strict rules on where its LNG can be sent, almost all US exports are allowed to sail wherever buyers want. Several analysts said there had also been an increase in the willingness of some producers to break contracts for financial advantage.

This makes diversions more likely, while the reluctance of some European buyers to sign long-term supply contracts before the outbreak of war this month could prove costly.

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Expectations of a global supply glut convinced some European buyers that it would be cheaper to wait until later in the year to sign supply deals.

Wood Mackenzie’s Di Odoardo said the buyers had also held off on LNG purchases because new EU legislation on methane emissions made it unclear whether they could incur penalties in the future.

The risk of prices rising as Europe and Asia fight for available cargoes is increasing every day the Strait of Hormuz stays almost closed.

Gas is more difficult to store and to carry in tankers than oil, making its markets more vulnerable to shortages and price shocks.

“The longer the Strait remains shut, the greater the risk that the shipping disruption turns into a genuine gas shortage, as tankers cannot load and facilities have limited storage,” said consultancy Oxford Economics in a research note.

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Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Tokyo. Data visualisation by Jana Tauschinski

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