With Donald J. Trump on the clock to secure a nearly half-billion-dollar bond in his civil fraud case‚ a New York appeals court appears to have handed the former president a lifeline on Monday‚ saying it would accept a far smaller bond of $175 million. The ruling by a five-judge panel of appellate court judges was a crucial and unexpected victory for the former president‚ potentially staving off a looming financial disaster. Had the court denied his request — and had he failed to obtain the...