Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking, researchers say
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Groups connected to prominent supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump's movement to cast doubt on the 2020 election results have raised more than US$5.7 million for Arizona Republicans' election audit, according to figures released late Wednesday.
Doug Logan, CEO of Cyber Ninjas, the little-known firm hired to lead the audit, ended months of silence about who was paying for it and how much it cost. The money from pro-Trump groups dwarfs the $150,000 contributed by the Arizona Senate, which commissioned the audit and hired Cyber Ninjas.
Among those leading the fundraising groups are Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor; Sydney Powell, his attorney who filed a number of baseless lawsuits challenging election results; Patrick Byrne, a former chief executive of Overstock.com; and correspondents from the pro-Trump One America News Network.
Republican Senate President Karen Fann says the audit is only meant to see whether improvements are needed to state election laws. But the audit has long been associated with the "stop the steal" movement, and Trump has predicted it will uncover evidence to support his discredited theories of fraud.
Before he was hired to lead the audit, Logan promoted Trump's false narrative that the election was stolen from him, and pro-Trump media has aggressively promoted the effort.
By far the largest funder is The America Project, led by Byrne, which Logan said has so far contributed $3.25 million. America's Future, which lists Flynn as its chairman, contributed just over $976,000. Voices and Votes, led by OANN correspondents Christina Bobb and Chanel Rion, contributed $605,000; and Powell's Defending the Republic gave $550,000. Election Integrity Funds for the American Republic, which Logan said is led by attorney Matthew DePerno, contributed $280,000. DePerno unsuccessfully sued Antrim County, Michigan, over the election.
Logan said several of the groups "have also provided operational support and advice pivotal in executing the audit."
Still unclear is where those groups got their money. They are organized as nonprofits and do not have to disclose their donors.
Logan has fought to keep the funders secret, though he acknowledged at the beginning of the audit that his $150,000 contract with the Senate wouldn't cover the cost of the work the Senate hired him to do. He released the figures on the deadline for him to voluntarily comply with a request for information, including donor information, from the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee. Several public records lawsuits also seek information from the Senate and Cyber Ninjas.
The fundraising disclosure came the same day that a key figure in the audit said he planned to quit, then reversed course and said he had reached an agreement to stay on.
Former Republican Secretary of State Ken Bennett, the Senate's unpaid liaison to Logan and the audit contractors, was the only audit leader with substantial experience in elections. His departure threatened to further erode the legitimacy of the unprecedented partisan post-election review.
Bennett was banned from the building where the audit is taking place because he gave data to outside election experts without informing the Senate leader or Logan. He said he wouldn't put his name behind the audit without full access.
"It's the audit that belongs to the people of Arizona, and if I'm going to put my credibility on the line that it's something that they can trust and believe in, I can't be locked out until the last moment," Bennett told conservative radio host James Harris on KFYI-AM.
Bennett later said in a text message that he'd reached an agreement with Fann, the Senate president, to stay on but did not release details.
The audit has come under fire from election experts who say Cyber Ninjas and other contractors are biased and using unusual procedures that won't produce reliable results.
The county Board of Supervisors met privately Wednesday to discuss a new subpoena issued by the Senate this week for materials related to the election. Afterward, Chairman Jack Sellers, a Republican, said the board "discussed various options with our legal counsel and will take the coming days to do our research."
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.