Michael Johnson accused of taking $500,000 from debt-ridden track league
Michael Johnson has been accused of paying himself $500,000 (£372,000) eight days before his Grand Slam Track project collapsed before the final event in Los Angeles, leaving athletes and creditors owed millions,The claim is made by vendors in a legal filing in which they have also sought permission to sue individual leaders of GST, including Johnson and the main investor, Winners Alliance,When GST was launched Johnson promised it would “bring fantasy to life” and transform athletics – with track’s biggest stars facing off regularly against each other for huge prize money,But the writing was on the wall after the first event in Jamaica last April was sparsely attended, and it collapsed shortly after its third event in Philadelphia on 1 June,The filing, at the US bankruptcy court for the district of Delaware, also shows that Johnson was owed $2.
2m but it is claimed he took out $500,000 on 4 June, when he knew Grand Slam Track was at risk of financial collapse as it could not cover its debts.“Mr Johnson initiated a payment of $500,000 purportedly on account of an unsecured note,” lawyers for the unsecured creditors say in a court filing.“Shockingly, Mr Johnson elected to secretly prefer himself over the athletes and other, non-insider creditors, while at the same time feigning to the public that he was selflessly looking to advance the interests of the athletes.“Moreover, at the same time, the debtor knew it was in precarious financial straits without sufficient cash to complete its contemplated season.”GST filed for bankruptcy in December after revealing estimated liabilities between $10m and $50m to more than 200 creditors.
Winners Alliance has said it does not control the track league and called the objections of the creditors committee “fundamentally false”.GST, founded by Johnson, and Winners Alliance have been approached for comment.In a previous statement, Winners Alliance said: “The public record makes clear that Winners Alliance invested more capital, assumed more risk, and ultimately suffered greater financial losses than anyone.“Winners Alliance invested millions, loaned millions in good faith, and ultimately offered millions more to stabilise Grand Slam Track and maximise recoveries for all stakeholders, including athletes, vendors, and trade creditors alike.”
Middle East crisis could push UK inflation back up to 3%, says OBR
UK inflation could end the year higher than previously expected at 3% because of the US-Israel war in Iran, the government’s economics watchdog has said.David Miles, a senior figure at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), said inflation could end the year a percentage point higher than expected before the war, because of the energy price shock triggered by the crisis in the Middle East.The oil price fell on Tuesday after rising above $100 a barrel on Sunday, but it is still significantly higher than before the US and Israel began bombing Iran just under a fortnight ago. A barrel of Brent crude was trading at $85 on Tuesday evening.Miles told the Commons Treasury committee that if current energy prices were sustained, the UK would face a “material, significant” increase in inflation, delivering a noticeable and unwelcome increase in living costs for British households
Pipeline of new drugs to fight superbugs is ‘worryingly thin’, experts warn
The pipeline of new drugs to fight superbugs remains “worryingly thin” and has shrunk by 35% in the last five years, experts have said, predicting the annual number of deaths linked to drug-resistant infections globally will double to 8 million by 2050.The number of antimicrobial projects from large pharma companies has shrunk by 35% over the past five years, from 92 to 60 medicines in development, according to a report from the Access to Medicine Foundation (AMF), a Netherlands-based non-profit group, backed by the Wellcome Trust. Only five medicines are in development for children under five, who are more vulnerable to infections.“Overall, the research and development pipeline remains worryingly thin, and industry investment has lost momentum,” said Jayasree K Iyer, the foundation’s chief executive. She described drug resistance as the biggest single threat to healthcare worldwide
Datacenters are becoming a target in warfare for the first time
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please forward it to someone you think would as well.Iran is bombing datacenters in the Persian Gulf to blow up symbols of the Gulf states’ technological alliance with the United States. Added bonus: they will be extremely costly to rebuild, being among the most expensive buildings in history
‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI
Lea Pao, a professor of literature at Stanford University, has been experimenting with ways to get her students to learn offline. She has them memorize poems, perform at recitation events, look at art in the real world.It’s an effort to reconnect them to the bodily experience of learning, she said, and to keep them from turning to artificial intelligence to do the work for them. “There’s no AI-proof anything,” Pao said. “Rather than policing it, I hope that their overall experiences in this class will show them that there’s a way out
Cheltenham festival 2026: Lossiemouth leaves rivals in wake to win Champion Hurdle – as it happened
Here’s Greg Wood’s report on day one, thanks for following today’s action and please join us tomorrow. We go again.No sooner had Lossiemouth lifted the roof off Cheltenham with a staggeringly dominant Champion Hurdle victory than the skies around Prestbury Park also began to brighten too. The buildup to the festival had been dominated by talk of civil war, of feuding and internecine conflict. But this was a reminder of the sport’s simple pleasures
Former Super Bowl champion asked ChatGPT about injuries before girlfriend’s death, court hears
Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee appeared in a Tennessee courtroom on Tuesday as prosecutors outlined evidence they say ties him to the killing of his girlfriend, including messages where he asked ChatGPT questions about injuries and how to handle an unresponsive person, according to Chattanooga’s CBS affiliate WDEF.Lee, 30, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Gabriella Perpétuo at the couple’s home in Ooltewah, about 20 miles northeast of Chattanooga. Deputies were called to the residence last month for a reported medical emergency and found Perpétuo unconscious on the living room floor. The medics were unable to save her and WTVC NewsChannel 9 reported she had suffered a suspected stab wound in addition to other injuries.During a preliminary hearing in Hamilton County court, prosecutors introduced body-camera footage from deputies who responded to the scene
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