Angel Studios Inc., the independent studio behind religious films such as the Sound of Freedom, rose as much as 70% in initial trading after completing its merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
The shares were quoted at $17.80 at 12:29 p.m. in New York, up 48%, after climbing as high as $20.39.
Carlyle Group Inc. is readying a new fund to give cash-strapped investors a way to unlock money from their private equity investments, less than a year after raising more than $4 billion for such financing plays.
The idea is to deploy creative financial techniques to speed up the flow of money from fund managers’ and investors’ illiquid positions. Its Carlyle AlpInvest unit is seeking to raise another $4 billion-plus, and some executives are expecting to raise as much as $5 billion, said people familiar with the matter.
Construction work at a Hyundai Motor Co. joint-venture battery plant in Georgia that was raided by US immigration authorities is being delayed as the companies involved grapple with worker shortages.
Hyundai Chief Executive Officer José Muñoz said in an interview Thursday that the work was being set back by several months.
Update (1220ET):
Moments ago, the FBI field office in Salt Lake City posted an image of a "person of interest in connection" with the political assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.
"We are asking for the public's help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. 1-800-CALL-FBI," the FBI wrote on X.
The New York Post shared an image of the weapon - an imported .30-06-caliber Mauser bolt-action rifle - with ammunition engraved with "transgender and anti-fascist ideology." MSM failed to acknowledge Steven Crowder was the first to report the 'transtifa'-style ammo ...
CNN called the transgender and anti-fascist ideology engravings "cultural issues" ...
In a separate post, we highlighted from Bluesky to Reddit, Democrats have been celebrating the assassination of Kirk.
Meanwhile, Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins has called for a "House Select Committee on left-wing violence."
* * *
Utah Department of Public Safety official Beau Mason and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls briefed reporters with new details on the political assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk and the ongoing manhunt for the suspect who remains at large. Separate from the press conference, the Wall Street Journal confirmed (following an initial report by Steven Crowder) that the "older-model .30 caliber hunting rifle" used in the assassination contained "ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle." Additional details about the weapon will be provided at the end of this note.
The FBI also has "good video footage of this individual," and the bureau has "tracked his movements," FBI agent Bohls told reporters.
Bohls said agents on the ground recovered "a high-powered action rifle," noting that it was found in a wooded area where the shooter had fled.
"Investigators have collected footwear impression, a palmprint and forearm imprints for analysis," the special agent in charge said. He did not provide any color about the assassin's motive.
Answering a question from a reporter, Mason said the suspect "appears to be of college age".
Highlights of the press conference:
FBI has "good" surveillance images of the assassin but is not releasing them yet
The suspect was tracked jumping from a building and fleeing into a nearby neighborhood
A bolt-action rifle was recovered in a wooded area
Assassin is believed to be of college age
Assassin remains at large
Let's take a step back. Yesterday, an alleged eyewitness said Kirk was shot around the same time that someone in the crowd "was asked about trans violence."
Which brings us to Steven Crowder, who was the first to report on the political messaging found on the assassin's weapon.
Here's what Crowder wrote:
EXCLUSIVE: This morning my team received an e-mail from officer at ATF.
The email included a screen shot from what appears to be an internal message describing a weapon and cartridges located by an ATF and other law enforcement near the scene of the Charlie Kirk shooting at Utah Valley State University.
"On September 10, 2025, at approximately 12:24PM, Conservative political influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at the Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. Mr. Kirk was speaking at the University as part of the American Comeback Tour. Multiple SLC I and III agents responded immediately. The suspect fired one shot from an elevated position on a rooftop in an adjacent building on the campus and surveillance video shows the suspect, jumping off and fleeing the area on foot. ATF and other law-enforcement located an older model imported Mauser .30-06 caliber bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the campus. The location of the firearm appears to match the suspects route of travel. The spent cartridge was still chambered in addition to three unspent rounds at the top fed magazine. All cartridges have engraved wording on them, expressing transgender and anti-fascist ideology. An emergency trace has been submitted an ATF SLC is working leads generated by the trace. The firearm and ammunition have been taken by the FBI for DNA analysis and fingerprint impressions. Upon completion of forensics, the firearm will be disassembled for additional importer information. Multiple people of interest having contacted or detained because of eyewitness testimony and review of video footage. The primary suspect is yet to be identified. ATF is assisting the investigation with multiple other federal, state, and local partners and the case is co-led by the FBI and Utah SBI.""
This was followed by WSJ's report, confirming Crowder's X post:
Investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle that authorities believe was used in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, according to an internal law enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation. The older-model .30 caliber hunting rifle was discovered in the woods near the scene of Wednesday’s shooting at Utah Valley University, wrapped in a towel with a spent cartridge still in the chamber, the sources said. There were also three unspent rounds in the magazine, all with wording on them. Kirk, 31, was onstage going back and forth with a student about mass shootings involving transgender people when he was targeted, according to videos of the attack. The student has not been publicly identified.
By Michael Every of Rabobank
The main news this morning is not that US PPI was -0.1% m-o-m vs. 0.3% consensus --PPI does not include tariffs, if that’s your focus-- but that Trump ally and conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was assassinated at an event in Utah.
Kirk’s mantra was always that peaceful public discussion was the best way to prevent political disagreements from spilling into violence. Regrettably, his death has already seen celebration from the extreme end of the opposite political camp, the inability to hold a minute’s silence in the House of Representatives, and claims ‘Israel did it’ from the further right. President Trump gave a televised Oval Office address saying a crackdown on “far left political violence” looms. Regardless of your politics, it’s a dark day for those hoping western societies can hold together through multiple conflating challenges via rational policy debate.
That’s as Nepal’s finance minister was attacked by an angry mob, barely escaping with his life; angry crowds started fires outside the French interior ministry; European Commission President von der Leyen’s State of the Union address yesterday was peppered with heckling; London Underground remains paralyzed by a week-long tube drivers’ strike as the UK sees spontaneous efforts to raise the Union Jack or national flags; and things remain tense in many other countries.
To say the agitated global public is not ready for a recession and unemployment is an understatement – as recession fears rise; nor are they ready to stomach austerity – as belt-tightening is flagged; and they won’t accept more inflation – as Aussie consumer inflation expectations jump back from 3.9% to 4.7% and we all wait for US CPI. If so, what does the economic policy toolkit tell our finance ministries and central banks to do – apart from increase their personal security? The ECB walk that razor’s edge today, the Fed next week.
It's not a coincidence that gold continues to power to fresh all-time highs even if long bond yields are for now following the US lower post-PPI, especially as the international situation isn’t helping calm nerves.
The Israeli press accused Qatar of helping Hamas hide the results of its recent attack in Doha (which is what all neutral negotiators do?).
‘Poland ‘closer to military conflict than at any time since WW2’ as Nato allies weigh response to Russian drones’, says the Guardian. One view is that Russian drones recently entering Polish airspace were a probing tactic to test western readiness. Von der Leyen spoke of building a “drone wall” yesterday – but does Europe build drones?
Indeed, as @FRHoffmann1 notes: “Imagine being Europe’s uncontested missile prime with €4.9bn in revenue and a €37bn order backlog in 2024 and taking more than 3.5 years of war to present a “concept” (not a product) that replicates some basic lessons of Ukraine's experience. If I sound snarky, it’s because I mean to”, as MBDA presents a “concept” of a new cruise missile called Crossbow.
Meanwhile, ‘Mistral is stirring up a storm in European tech’ says the FT, noting the ASML deal connects two EU tech companies but the capital available is still a fraction of that offered in the US. Then again, who says this is a Eurocentric action rather than one the US also wants to see? After all, a US geoeconomic trade bloc is very clearly forming, and Europe is in it.
For example, Mexico’s economy minister says the country is looking to apply tariffs as high as 50% on cars, auto parts, steel, and textiles from China and other countries. That’s the ‘Fortress USMCA’ with an external tariff set by the US we had predicted back in April. Logically, if the UK and Europe can sell to the US with only a 10% or 15% tariff respectively, they will also soon be pressured to adopt the same external tariff vs. China and others.
Of course, Europe is already there on EVs at least. However, might we soon see more action given ‘China eyes C919 jet breakthrough as Malaysian airline confirms talks to buy aircraft’ (SCMP), where “If the deal is struck, it would mark the first overseas order for the Chinese passenger jet.” Following the US and EU having transferred their aerospace know-how to China, if you think it isn’t capable of doing to Airbus and Boeing what it’s done to autos then you presumably think free trade is the solution to all problems and cannot understand why everything is falling apart everywhere all at once; or you think it isn’t because bond yields are slightly lower than a week ago.
Regardless, no aircraft and no autos are no basis for any kind of military industrial base. It’s also not a coincidence that NASA just blocked Chinese nationals with US visas from working on its space programs over national security concerns.
Of course, the US is using tariffs to try to ensure it does still make things, some of which the supreme court will soon rule on. There, the WSJ argues: “If the court sides with Trump, it could hand the president sweeping fiscal authority long the purview of Congress. It could enable the president, by simply invoking an emergency with some foreign element, to justify almost any revenue measure in response: not just tariffs, but other taxes, too.” That’s as Commerce Secretary Lutnick again said the US should take a chunk of universities' patent revenue. The trend seems clear.
However, Europe is reportedly unlikely to hike tariffs on India and China to 100% to pressure Putin as the US has floated, showing that economic statecraft is toothless when you revert to think “because markets.” In which case there is only political statecraft (a deal Europe doesn’t want to make with Putin) or military statecraft (so more war).
On which note, the Russian ruble is slumping, but taken by some as a sign that despite lower oil prices Moscow is all-in on the war option: a cheaper ruble means more local FX per oil barrel to pay for arms. That’s not any kind of “concept”, just cold, hard logic.
Which our public debates are lacking. To try and fill a small part of that idea gap, please see here for our latest Global Strategy report on where US ‘Grand Macro Strategy’ now stands, and where we think it might head next. To say that markets aren’t ready for what that implies is also an understatement.
Russian officials have been highlighting Charlie Kirk's past commentary on Ukraine in wake of his horrific assassination on Wednesday at Utah Valley University.
The Turning Point USA founder had long heaped criticism on US and Western policy of funding Ukraine's military to the tune of billions, at one point calling out President Zelensky as "an ungrateful capricious child." For this reason he came under severe criticism by Ukrainian and pro-Kiev pundits.
The Kremlin is now highlighting this soon after his death. For example, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev quickly connected Kirk's murder to what he called "a variety of left-wing liberal scum who support Banderite" Kiev.
This is a reference to Nazi Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, who was formative in hardline Ukrainian nationalist movements in the 20th century world wars era - and deemed a national hero by the Ukrainian government. His legacy is also condemned by multiple European and human rights institutions as representing antisemitism.
Medvedev issued a statement to social media urging Americans mourning Kirk's death - and especially those in the MAGA movement - "to realize that by supporting Ukraine, they're supporting murderers."
"Political crimes and assassinations have been carried out lately by a variety of left-wing liberal scum who support Banderite Kiev. Fico, Kirk. Who's next?" - he said in reference to the almost fatal May 2024 shooting of Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico.
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's chief negotiator with the Trump team and head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, reposted a video montage on X that showed leftists "in full celebration mode over Charlie Kirk getting shot."
Dmitriev described "voices of light" cannot be silenced. He also reposted a message from Elon Musk, among a series of Kirk-related posts, stating: "The Left is the party of murder." Musk had also in the past agreed with Kirk's biting criticisms of US/NATO policy toward Ukraine, and the risks of WW3.
Online commentators have widely speculated that Kirk could have been targeted by a foreign intelligence service, at a moment the manhunt is still underway and motive for the killing remains anything but clear.
Kirk had complex and nuanced views on a host of issues ranging from Israel to Ukraine to the Epstein saga.
For example, he has said multiple times that Epstein was at the center of an intelligence operation to blackmail powerful leaders. All of this has fueled the rampant speculation and theories surrounding his death.
by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could legally rescind $16 billion in climate grants that had been awarded as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
That 2–1 ruling on Sept. 2 overturned a lower court order that blocked the administration from reclaiming the grant money and putting it to other use.
As part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Congress allocated $27 billion for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which was designed to power alternative energy initiatives.
Nonprofit groups competed for the cash, winners were picked, and the full $27 billion was allocated by mid-August 2024, in the form of subgrants given out by three umbrella agencies.
Court documents later noted that the grant structure for this massive project was unique: Normally, the funds are held by the Treasury Department and disbursed as needed. For the first time, the EPA placed the funds with Citibank, which acted as a “financial agent” for the United States.
On Dec. 3, independent journalism outfit Project Veritas released a video showing an EPA employee explaining that the agency was distributing money for climate programs at an accelerated speed, as an “insurance policy” in case Trump decided to end those programs.
“It truly feels like we’re on the Titanic and we’re throwing like gold bars off the edge,” the employee said.
Such projects came under scrutiny after Trump took office. The FBI asked Citibank to freeze Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund payments in February.
On March 3, the EPA said it was referring the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to its inspector general for investigation of alleged “financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest,” and possible fraud.
The announcement noted that one recipient organization had reported $100 in revenue for 2023, but was awarded $2 billion in 2024.
EPA head Lee Zeldin released a statement on March 11 announcing he had terminated the grants, citing concerns over “program integrity, the award process, programmatic fraud, waste, and abuse, and misalignment with agency’s priorities.”
“The days of ‘throwing gold bars off the Titanic’ are over,” Zeldin said.
The Climate United Fund brought a suit in March on behalf of itself and four other organizations. All the plaintiffs were “green banks,” organizations that worked to provide financing for alternative energy projects.
The plaintiffs argued that withholding the funds was “illegal, and the grants had been terminated with no notice or explanation, and without presenting evidence that the organizations were guilty of ”waste, fraud, and abuse.”
They also said the EPA—part of the executive branch—was violating the separation of powers because it was not enforcing the Inflation Reduction Act, which had been passed by Congress.
The government countered that changes in the grantees’ contracts—made after Trump was elected—gave the EPA little “oversight and transparency” on how the money was spent.
Most importantly, the government said the matter was a contract dispute and should be heard in the Court of Federal Claims, not a district court.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan temporarily blocked the EPA and Citibank from withholding the grant money in March, and extended that block on April 16.
Chutkan said “the record does indicate that EPA seeks to dismantle these grant programs in their entirety as a policy matter,” but that power belongs to Congress.
“Obviously, when an organization is created to fulfill the objectives of a grant and its existence relies on grant money, harm is certain once the grant funds are withdrawn,” she wrote in her opinion.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit halted Chutkan’s order to give the government time to appeal.
While the case was playing out, Congress enacted recissions that eliminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund—but this only reclaimed $19 million because the rest was still being held by Citibank.
Eventually the Appeals Court overturned Chutkan’s ruling.
The 2–1 majority ruled that the case belonged in the Court of Federal Claims, since the “challenge to the grant terminations is a disguised contract claim that cannot be heard in district court.”
Climate United Fund CEO Beth Bafford issued a statement saying the ruling was disappointing, but the organization’s work will continue.
“This is not the end of our road,” she said.
The EPA celebrated the ruling in a statement, saying “It’s fantastic to see reason prevail in the court system.”
Legal scholar and commentator John Shu told The Epoch Times that “the plaintiffs are in a tough position of their own making.”
Because of the unique structure of the grants, Shu said he didn’t think the case would have far-reaching implications.
The climate groups may appeal to the Federal Court of Claims, or they may ask the appeals court for an “en banc” hearing before a panel of all its judges, instead of just three.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen because that would further delay getting their money, if they get it at all,” Shu said.
The same goes for a possible hearing by the Supreme Court, he said. A decision could take years, and the plaintiffs’ suit stated that the climate groups were already short on cash to pay employees.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/appeals-court-allows-epa-clawback-climate-grant-funds-what-know
