News Brief Sept. 25-29

International

After the exposure of an “inside man” committing espionage against Britain by delivering sensitive information to China, five more spies appeared in a London court. The five are allegedly spying for Russia.

Bulgarian nationals Orlin Roussev, Bizer Dzhambazov, Katrin Ivanova, Ivan Stoyanov and Vanya Gaberova have allegedly been carrying out surveillance between August 2020 and February of 2023 when counter terrorism arrested them. 

The purpose of the surveillance was reportedly an attempt to aid Russia’s plans to conduct hostile action against the targets or possibly abduct them. 

The suspects were virtually brought to Westminster Magistrates’ Court from four different prisons. No pleas were made, the only words spoken from the spies were their names and confirmation of their birthdates. 

One member of the ring, Stoyanov, was nicknamed “the Destroyer.” He was an amateur mixed-martial-arts fighter who appeared in contests in the UK. Gaberova was an award-winning beautician, who ran a salon called Pretty Woman in west London. 

“Biser Dhzambazov and Katrin Ivanova lived as a couple and ran a community organization for Bulgarian citizens living in the UK,” BBC reported. 

The spies were allegedly given assignments from Jan Marsalek, “the Austrian former chief operating officer of the company Wirecard, who became a wanted man in Germany after being suspected of having committed fraud.” 

National

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Amazon, accusing the company of using “a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies” to push up prices and stifle competition.”

Seventeen states, including Oklahoma, have joined the FTC in this lawsuit. 

Amazon said the lawsuit was “wrong on the facts and law, and we look forward to making that case in court.” 

Lina Khan, the FTC chair, has been accusing Amazon of monopoly practices since 2017. Her recent appointment as chair has given her an opportunity to act on her accusations. 

Some estimates show Amazon controls about 40% of the e-commerce market. According to the anti-monopoly organization Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the fees have cost U.S. sellers 45% of their revenue in the first half of this year – up from 35% in 2020 and 19% in 2014.

“US anti-competition legislation is complicated, but generally, prosecutors have to show companies have acted in a way that hurts consumers financially,” BBC reported. 

Amazon argued in their statement that a lawsuit in favor of the FTC would harm consumers. 

“We respect the role the FTC has historically played in protecting consumers and promoting competition. Unfortunately, it appears the current FTC is radically departing from that approach,” Amazon said. “If successful, [the lawsuit would] force Amazon to engage in practices such as having to feature higher prices, offer slower or less reliable Prime shipping and make Prime more expensive and less convenient.”

Local

Plans for a new Thunder arena have been turned over to Oklahoma City voters. A City Council vote decided voters can approve a tax extension to fund the plans in December. 

Oklahoma City Mayor Holt encouraged his constituents to support the project. 

“One step does remain, and that is the vote of our residents on Dec. 12. We encourage everyone to come out and set the course for our city’s future,” Holt said. 

However, City Council member JoBeth Hamon has stood firm in her stance to oppose the arena. 

“Is this really us being competitive with other markets or is this just the Thunder ownership taking advantage of that sense that we might lose them?” Hamon said. 

She also called attention to the imbalance in the way the funding was being raised, with citizens raising $976 million via taxes and the Thunder contributing $50 million.