DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Please, no more naked dresses at the Met Gala
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Anneta Konstantinides | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Naked dresses once again dominated the Met Gala red carpet on Monday night. AdvertisementAnother year, another sea of naked dresses at the Met Gala. John Shearer/Getty ImagesThis isn't to say some of those naked dresses haven't been standout looks — quite a few ended up on our list of the best Met Gala outfits of all time. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesAnd unexpected might be the perfect word to describe what's been missing from so much of fashion lately, especially at the Met Gala. So, let's give the naked dresses a rest and bring some surprise back to the Met Gala.

Persons: Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, —, you'd, hasn't, It's, John Shearer, haven't, Emily Ratajkowski, Cher, Bob Mackie, Mackie, Ron Galella, Kate Moss, Liza Bruce, Rihanna, Alo Ceballos, Christian Siriano, Elle Fanning deservedly, J.G, Ballard, Elle Fanning, Jamie McCarthy, Dynevor's, Victoria Beckham, Beckham, Phoebe Dynevor, Dimitrios Kambouris, what's, Guo Pei Organizations: Service, Time Magazine, Vogue, Getty, Google

☆ Rihanna, the undisputed queen of the Meta Gala, had to drop out this year at the last minute
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Anneta Konstantinides | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rihanna had to drop out of the Met Gala at the last minute on Monday night. Rihanna has become the undisputed queen of Met Gala for her showstopping looks over the years. News that month that she wasn't planning an elaborate look for the 2024 Met Gala. Fans were surely hoping that Rihanna would be making another fashionably late entrance to the Met Gala when she didn't appear on Monday night. Rihanna was also the last celebrity to arrive at the 2021 Met Gala, rocking up in black couture Balenciaga coatdress.

Persons: Rihanna, —, Rihanna —, Guo Pei, Valentino, Couture, Noam Galai, Fenty Savage, I've, Theo Wargo, RZA, Rocky —, Timothy A, Clary Organizations: Service, Business, British Vogue, Hollywood

☆ Bernie Sanders to Run for Re-Election, Seeking a Fourth Senate Term
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading progressive voice on Capitol Hill, announced on Monday that he would seek a fourth term in the Senate this fall, calling November’s elections a fight for democracy and equity. Mr. Sanders, an 82-year-old Vermont independent and two-time presidential candidate, caucuses with Democrats in the Senate. He is the longest-serving independent in Congress, having previously served in the House for 16 years. “This is the most important national election in our lifetimes,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement that also cited battles over other hot-button issues including economic equity, reproductive rights and climate change. “We must fight to make sure that we remain a democracy, not an authoritarian society.”“The stakes are enormous,” he added.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, Sanders, Mr, ”, ” Mr Organizations: Capitol Locations: Vermont, Congress

☆ Top aide admits to $1 billion fraud conspiracy ahead of Chinese mogul's trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A former aide to Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui has pleaded guilty to fraud. Yvette Wang admitted to conspiracy weeks before her ex-boss is set to stand trial. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementYvette Wang, a former aide to indicted Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, pleaded guilty to fraud, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Persons: Guo Wengui, Yvette Wang, Guo, —, Wang, William Je Organizations: Service, Department of Justice, Business

☆ Guo Wengui chief of staff Yvette Wang pleads guilty to $1 billion fraud conspiracy in New York
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui hold a news conference on November 20, 2018 in New York, on the death of of tycoon Wang Jian in France on July 3, 2018. The chief of staff to controversial exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui pleaded guilty in New York on Friday to a fraud conspiracy that swindled more than $1 billion from hundreds of thousands of victims around the world, prosecutors said. Yvette Wang's plea came weeks before the 53-year-old Guo is set to stand trial in Manhattan federal court for related charges. Wang was scheduled to stand trial with Guo in that case before her plea. She faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison for the charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Persons: Guo Wengui, Wang Jian, Yvette Wang's, Guo, Wang, Steve Bannon, Damian Williams Organizations: Trump White House, Manhattan U.S Locations: New York, France, Manhattan, United States

☆ China sees foreign threats ‘everywhere’ as powerful spy agency takes center stage
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

But among the crowds you and I together are protecting national security,” the narrator concludes. Chinese soldiers look at a poster promoting national security in the southwestern city of Beihai on National Security Education Day on April 15, 2024. CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty ImagesAccording to the MSS, foreign spies are omnipresent and infiltrating everything – from mapping apps to weather stations. But China’s spy agency has gradually stepped out of the shadows as Xi makes national security a key priority. “Shenyin Special Investigation Squad” is a comic series based on real-life counterespionage operations, according to China's spy agency.

Persons: –, “, ”, Xi, Xuezhi Guo, Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Xi Jinping, Greg Baker, Mao Zedong, Greitens, Chen Yixin, Chen, “ Chen, ” Greitens, Xi –, denigrate, Bain, Alex Plavevski, Guo, influencers, China’s, can’t, James Zimmerman, Perkins Coie, Zimmerman, ” Zimmerman Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, National Security Education, “, Ministry of State Security, National Security, Publishing, CIA, National, Education, Capitol, Guilford College, Asia, University of Texas, Getty, Communist Party, FBI, National Security Propaganda, CCTV, Ministry of State, China’s National Security Commission, Group, China Development Forum, Perkins Coie LLP, ”, MSS Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beihai, British, American, Beijing, Austin, AFP, Zhejiang province, Shanghai, New York, overreaching

How the House Voted on Foreign Aid to Ukraine, Israel and TaiwanVotes on the Foreign Aid Bills Source: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of RepresentativesThe House passed a long-stalled foreign aid package on Saturday that gives funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with a majority of lawmakers backing money for American allies across the globe. A majority of Republicans voted against Ukraine aid on Saturday, in a reflection of the stiff resistance within the G.O.P. to continuing to aid Ukraine against President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia’s invasion. While all Democrats voted in favor of aid to Ukraine and all but Ms. Tlaib supported funding to Taiwan, 37 left-leaning Democrats defected to vote against the Israel aid bill. The opposition to the Israel aid represented a minority of Democrats, but reflected the deep resistance to unconditional aid and the divisions in the party on Gaza.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Kevin McCarthy’s, Mr, McCarthy, Vladimir V, Putin, Elise Stefanik, Rashida Tlaib, Bob Good, Good, “, Tlaib, Jamie Raskin, Donald S, Beyer Jr, Earl Blumenauer of, John Garamendi of Organizations: Foreign Aid, Foreign, House, Senate, House Progressive Caucus, Fund, Caucus, Republican, Republicans, ”, Maryland, Democrats Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, New York, Michigan, Virginia, Gaza, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, John Garamendi of California, United States

☆ Liberal Democrats Urge ‘No’ Vote on Israel Aid to Pressure Biden on Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A group of left-leaning House Democrats is urging its colleagues to oppose the $26 billion aid package for Israel expected to pass on Saturday, hoping to maximize the number of “no” votes from the party in a bid to send a warning to President Biden about the depth of discontent in his political coalition over his support for Israel’s tactics in Gaza. Framing the upcoming vote as a make-or-break moral choice akin to Congress’s votes to authorize and fund the Iraq war, progressive leaders in the House are working to muster a sizable bloc of Democratic opposition to the aid measure, which is all but certain to become law in the coming days. “In the wake of those votes, people came around much, much later and said, ‘We shouldn’t have allowed that to go forward,’” Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said of the decades-ago debate over Iraq. “And I think that this is that moment.”Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, called it a “defining vote,” adding, “We’re either going to participate in the carnage, or we’re not.”

Persons: Biden, ’, Pramila Jayapal, Joaquin Castro, We’re, ” Organizations: Democrats, Israel, Democratic, “, Congressional Progressive Caucus, ”, Democrat Locations: Gaza, Iraq, Washington, Texas

Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he planned this week to advance a long-stalled national security spending package to aid Israel, Ukraine and other American allies, along with a separate bill aimed at mollifying conservatives who have been vehemently opposed to backing Kyiv. It came days after Iran launched a large aerial attack on Israel, amplifying calls for Congress to move quickly to approve the pending aid bill. lawmakers on his plan, Mr. Johnson said he would cobble together a legislative package that roughly mirrors the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago but that is broken down into three pieces. Lawmakers would vote separately on a bill providing money for Israel, one allocating funding for Ukraine and a third with aid for Taiwan and other allies. “We know that the world is watching us to see how we react,” Mr. Johnson told reporters.

Persons: Mike Johnson, G.O.P, Johnson, “, Mr, Putin, Xi, ” Organizations: Congress, Israel, Ukraine, Republicans Locations: Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Taiwan, America

☆ A Gold Medal for America’s Rosies, the Women on the Home Front
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Marian Sousa moved to California to care for the children of her sister Phyllis Gould, who had gone to work as a welder in a Bay Area shipyard. Just a year later, Ms. Sousa, at 17 years old, joined the wartime work force herself, drafting blueprints and revising outdated designs for troop transports. Wearing a hard hat and with a clipboard in hand, she would accompany maritime inspectors on board ships she’d helped design and examine the product of her labors. She and her sister were just two of the roughly 6 million women who went to work during World War II, memorialized by the now iconic recruitment poster depicting Rosie the Riveter, her hair tied back in a kerchief, rolling up the sleeve of her denim shirt and flexing a muscle beneath the slogan, “We can do it!”

Persons: Marian Sousa, Phyllis Gould, Sousa, Rosie Locations: California

☆ China vows to treat foreign firms equally as it seeks more international investment
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Guo Tingting, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, attends the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 25, 2024. "China will fully guarantee national treatment for foreign companies, so that more foreign companies can invest in China with confidence and peace of mind," Vice Commerce Minister Guo Tingting said at the China Development Forum in Beijing. China pledged on Monday to treat foreign companies the same way as domestic peers in a bid to attract more foreign investment, cooperation and expertise, as Asia's largest economy moves to upgrade and strengthen its industrial chains. In response, China has stepped up efforts to address concerns of foreign investors, pledging to protect the rights of foreign companies and promising to further enlarge entry into its markets. Over 100 overseas executives and investors have attended the annual China Development Forum since the weekend, including companies with deep supply chains in China such as Apple and Siemens .

Persons: Guo Tingting, Guo, Li Qiang, Stephen von Schuckmann, CGTN, We're, Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong, Jin, Kristalina Georgieva Organizations: Commerce, China Development Forum, Trade Organization, WTO, Sunday, ZF Group, Apple, Siemens, Industry, Information Technology, Monetary Fund's Locations: Beijing, China, consultancies, United States

Bodies were recovered, flowers were laid and fingers were pointed on Sunday as competing narratives took shape over who was behind the terrorist attack on a Russian concert hall where at least 137 people out to enjoy an evening of music were killed. President Vladimir V. Putin has hinted that Ukraine was behind the Friday night attack. He stopped short of accusing Kyiv directly, but on Sunday, some of his allies showed no such compunction. American officials have said that the attack appeared to be the work of an offshoot of the Islamic State, and that there is no evidence connecting Kyiv to it. But many Russian nationalist commentators and ultraconservative hawks are pushing the idea that Ukraine is the obvious culprit.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Sergei A, Markov Organizations: Islamic, Kremlin, “, ISIS Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kyiv, Islamic State

☆ An AI-generated rat with a giant penis highlights a growing crisis of fake science that's plaguing the publishing business
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Guo et al., 2024; Frontiers in Cell Developmental BiologyTo its credit, the journal quickly retracted the paper. Guo et al., 2024; Frontiers in Cell Developmental BiologyBut this rat's towering phallus is just one symptom of a crisis of fake science. Each step has holes in it that bad science could squeeze through, but the overlapping steps tend to cover each other's holes, making it difficult to squeeze all the way through the whole process. Still, bad science does make it through sometimes, and over the years more holes have opened up. The retracted paper's corresponding author, Dingjun Hao, did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Persons: —, Guo, Guo et, you've, Ivan Oransky, Peter Finch, Vox, Fred Fenter, Fenter, Dingjun Hao, Oransky, they've Organizations: Service, Cell Development, Business, Cell, Springer, IEEE, Guardian Locations: Swiss

☆ Wind turbines have little to no impact on property values, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But a new nationwide study that analyzed data from 300 million home sales and 60,000 wind turbines finds turbines’ impact on home values is much lower than previously thought – about a 1% drop on average for a home with at least one wind turbine within six miles. Even for homes close to a turbine, the study finds the negative impact to property value “diminishes and eventually disappears” within a decade. Getting the answer required building a massive mapping database of the distance between US homes and wind turbines, accounting for changes in topography and other factors. The study also explored just how big wind turbines appear to the human eye. Much of the growth in wind turbines in the US has been on farmland in the Midwest, Great Plains states and Texas.

Persons: Max Auffhammer, “, ” Auffhammer, Wei Guo, Auffhammer, Aaron Heley Lehman, you’re Organizations: CNN, University of California, Italian Centro, Iowa Farmers Union Locations: United States, Berkeley, Italian, Midwest, Great Plains, Texas, Iowa

☆ Bipartisan Tax Bill Is Stuck in Senate Limbo After Broad House Approval
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A bipartisan bill to expand the child tax credit and reinstate a set of business tax breaks has stalled in the Senate after winning overwhelming approval in the House, as Republicans balk at legislation they regard as too generous to low-income families. The delay of the $78 billion tax package has imperiled the measure’s chances and reflects the challenges of passing any major legislation in an election year. Enacting a new tax law would give President Biden and Democrats an achievement to campaign on, something that Republicans may prefer to avoid. The package, which would be in effect through 2025, would expand the child tax credit and restore a set of tax breaks related to business research costs, capital expenses and interest. It would also include a boost to a tax credit encouraging the development of low-income housing, tax relief for disaster victims and tax breaks for Taiwanese workers and companies operating in the United States.

Persons: balk, Biden Organizations: Republican, Senate Locations: United States

☆ ‘Two sessions’: China’s key political gathering gets underway as leaders try to repair broken economic confidence
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Xi is under the spotlight as economic pain has sparked growing frustration within China. Xi has also overseen a political shakeup in his own ranks, further marring the start of the new term. Those challenges may not pose a threat to Xi, who is China’s most powerful and authoritative leader in decades. But the two sessions provide an important platform for China’s notoriously opaque government to broadcast its strategy for economic, social and foreign policies and announce key indicators including China’s economic growth target, its budget deficit limit and military spending for the coming year. Analysts widely expect Li to reveal a relatively ambitious growth target of “around 5%,” showing that policymakers are still focused on economic growth, even as challenges pile up.

Persons: —, Xi Jinping, Xi, ”, Chen Gang, Li Qiang, It’s, Xuezhi Guo, Guo, Wang Yi, Qin Gang, Li Shangfu, Li, Qin, Pedro Pardo, Neil Thomas, Premier Li, Asia Society’s Thomas, “ Organizations: Beijing CNN —, Communist, National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute, Getty, of, National People’s, Guilford College, Observers, Washington, Asia Society, Center for Locations: China, Beijing, Chongqing, AFP, Taiwan, China's, Henan, Center for China, Asia

☆ Republicans Nod to Trump’s Influence in Race to Succeed McConnell
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Kayla Guo | More About Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With nine months before Senate Republicans select their new leader to succeed Senator Mitch McConnell, some are acknowledging the shadow of one figure outside Congress who looms over the race: former President Donald J. Trump. “He’s the Republican front-runner; he’s going to have a voice in it,” Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. A third John, Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Senate Republican, may also jump into the race. He has maintained close ties to Mr. Trump and positioned himself to the right of Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Thune.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, Donald J, “ He’s, Mike Rounds, “, McConnell, —, Trump, John Cornyn of, John Thune of, John, John Barrasso of, Cornyn, Thune Organizations: Republicans, Trump, Republican, Mr Locations: South Dakota, United States, John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota, John Barrasso of Wyoming

☆ Senate Republicans Look Poised to Block Bill to Protect I.V.F. Treatment
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senate Republicans on Wednesday appeared ready to block a bill that would establish federal protections for in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments in the wake of a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos should be considered children. Democrats orchestrated the action as they sought to highlight the hypocrisy of Republicans who have rushed to voice support for I.V.F. after the Alabama ruling, even though many of them have sponsored legislation that declares that life begins at the moment of fertilization. “If this is urgent and you care deeply about this as you say you do — like you’ve been saying in the last 72-plus hours since the Alabama Supreme Court ruling — then don’t object. Let this bill pass.” She argued that the bill’s protections were all the more essential since the decision by Alabama’s Republican-majority court.

Persons: Tammy Duckworth, ” Ms, Duckworth, you’ve, —, ” Organizations: Wednesday, Alabama Supreme, Republican, Alabama’s Republican Locations: Illinois, Alabama

☆ In China’s battle of the lattes, Luckin Coffee keeps beating Starbucks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Luckin, which already calls itself China’s biggest coffee chain, says it had surpassed Starbucks in mainland China by number of outlets in 2019. By the end of 2023, Luckin had 16,218 stores in China, nearly double its 2022 count of more than 8,200. Starbucks’ outlets in China are entirely company-owned. The number of branded coffee shops in China jumped 58% in the past twelve months, reaching 49,691 outlets, according to a December report by World Coffee Portal. Making a comebackBy 2019, the company had outnumbered Starbucks stores in China, with more than 4,500 outlets, according to the company.

Persons: Luckin, ”, Jinyi Guo Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Nasdaq, Starbucks, CNN, International Coffee Organization, Daxue Consulting, Visual China, Centurium, US Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Xiamen, United States, Beijing, New York, American

☆ Tourists are paddle boarding and frolicking in one of Earth's driest locations after record rains
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Lauren Edmonds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewHeavy rainfall created a temporary lake in Death Valley National Park, one of Earth's driest locations, prompting travelers to take a potentially once-in-a-lifetime swim. The unexpected phenomenon began earlier this week at Death Valley's Badwater Basin after recent rainstorms battered California. Tourists wading through Death Valley's temporary lake. Tourists paddle boarding and wading in Death Valley's temporary lake. Two tourists sit beside Death Valley's temporary lake.

Persons: —, Ty ONeil, Andler, DAVID SWANSON, Heather, Bob Gang, Heather Gang, Guo Yu, hydrometeorology, Tiffany Pereira Organizations: Service, Lake Manly, National Park Services, Business, Associated Press, AP, Tourists, Research, Getty Locations: Death, California, Badwater, Lake, Lake Manley, Southern California

☆ Chinese fishing vessels are going scorched earth and pumping cyanide into contested waters, Philippine fishing authority says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The bureau on Saturday accused Chinese vessels of pumping cyanide into the shoal's waters. AdvertisementThe Philippines' fishing bureau has accused Chinese fishing vessels of using cyanide to destroy the Scarborough Shoal, a fish-rich atoll in the South China Sea contested by both Manila and Beijing. Cyanide fishing is a controversial fishing method that typically involves dumping the highly toxic chemical near coral reefs or in fishing grounds to stun or kill fish so they can be easily captured. Notably, the Philippines' fishing industry was known to use cyanide fishing back in the 1960s to capture live fish for aquariums and restaurants, though the practice has become less common. The Scarborough Shoal is contested by The Philippines, China, and Taiwan.

Persons: —, Nazario Briguera, Brigeura, Briguera, hadn't, Jay Tarriela, Guo Shoujing, Hague Organizations: Service, Bureau of Fisheries, Aquatic Resources, The Philippine, Philippine, Scarborough, Philippine Star, ROSA, GMA, Philippine Coast Guard, Conservation, Education Foundation, Global Times, The, TED, Getty, Google, Fisheries, Business Locations: Philippines, China, Scarborough, South, Manila, Beijing, Masinloc, Spanish, Scarborough Shoal, AFP, Bajo de, Cebu, South China, Taiwan, The Philippines, Quezon City, Philippine

☆ How Congress Could Bypass Republican Opposition to Funding Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just after dawn on Tuesday, the Senate passed a $95 billion national security package with aid to Ukraine and Israel, setting up a showdown with the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson suggested he would not bring it up for a vote. The bill passed the Senate 70 to 29, with 22 Senate Republicans breaking with their party and joining Democrats in pushing it through. But in the Republican-led House, right-wing opposition, fueled by former President Donald J. Trump, poses a steeper challenge. Many hard-right Republicans have consistently voted against aiding Ukraine, and threatened to oust Mr. Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, if he brought up legislation to do so. In a statement on Monday night in the hours before the bill passed the Senate, Mr. Johnson said the House would “continue to work its own will” on national security and border policies, which Republicans had insisted be a part of the foreign aid package, before killing a bipartisan deal to address them.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Donald J, Trump, Mr, Johnson Organizations: Republicans, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Louisiana

☆ As G.O.P. Demolishes Border Deal, One of Its Own Stands in the Wreckage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was late on a Thursday afternoon in the marbled halls of the Senate, and a small group of negotiators — one Republican, one Democrat and one independent — had just about finished a painstakingly put together border security compromise it took them months to forge. But what should have been a triumphant moment felt more like an ordeal for the lone Republican in the trio. “I feel like the guy standing in the middle of the field in a thunderstorm, holding up the metal stick,” Senator James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican who was his party’s lead broker of the deal, told reporters last week. The plight of Mr. Lankford, a slim, understated Baptist minister with a neatly combed shock of red hair and a baritone voice that regularly delivers deadpan quips, reflects the extraordinary rise and fall of the border and Ukraine deal that is expected to collapse in a test vote in the Senate on Wednesday — and the political forces within the Republican Party that brought it down.

Persons: —, James Lankford, Lankford Organizations: Senate, Republican, Oklahoma Republican, Republican Party Locations: Ukraine

☆ Al Green, in Hospital Garb, Delivers Vote to Kill Mayorkas Impeachment
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Kayla Guo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With the final minutes for the vote dwindling, the House watched intently on Tuesday night to see whether any more Republicans would defect on the resolution to impeach Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary. Three House Republicans had already cast votes against impeaching Mr. Mayorkas, and based on attendance at the previous vote, the G.O.P. Then, like a scene out of a political thriller, Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, appeared at the last moment to cast a surprise ballot — from a wheelchair, wearing blue hospital clothing and tan socks. Mr. Green’s vote was decisive. It tied up the measure, 215 to 215, and handed a stunning defeat to Speaker Mike Johnson.

Persons: Alejandro, impeaching Mr, Mayorkas, Al Green, Mike Johnson Organizations: Republicans, Democrat Locations: U.S, Mexico, Texas

HUA HIN, Thailand (AP) — Rising Russian star Diana Shnaider bounced back from a turbulent second set to upend defending champion Zhu Lin of China 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 for her maiden title at the WTA Thailand Open on Sunday. In the second, Zhu mounted a comeback, winning four consecutive games from 2-2, to force a decisive third set. Following a toilet break, Shnaider returned to the court with renewed intensity. As Zhu struggled to maintain focus, Shnaider seized the opportunity to break her opponent three times to clinch the decisive set and claim her first WTA title. Photos You Should See View All 45 ImagesIt was Shnaider’s second WTA final appearance, having previously lost to Ons Jabeur in Ningbo, China last September.

Persons: HUA, Diana Shnaider, Zhu Lin, Zhu, Shnaider, “, I’m, ” Shnaider, ”, Miyu Kato, Aldila, Guo, Xinyu Jiang, ___ Organizations: WTA Thailand, North Carolina State University, WTA Locations: HUA HIN, Thailand, China, Ningbo, Japan, Indonesia, Auckland, Cleveland

Search resuls for: "Guo"

25 mentions found