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☆ The Masters: Bruising winds blow a flurry of big names out of ‘borderline unplayable’ Augusta National
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Believe it or not, these are both sound bites from a golf tournament. A storm-delayed first round meant some players had to finish their first 18 holes Friday morning, exacerbating a grueling day. “Even the golf course was saying, ‘Get the hell out of here,’” Homa, chasing his first major, said. South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel clinched a two-shot victory at Augusta National in 2011, but crashed out after shooting 74 and 81. I have a chance to win the golf tournament,” Woods replied when asked by reporters what the milestone means to him.

Persons: Mike Tyson, whisking, toiled, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson –, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, ” Rahm, “, Sand, Ashley Landis, Max Homa, Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Homa, ‘, ”, DeChambeau, LIV, –, I’ve, Scheffler, Jason, Scheffler’s, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark –, Justin Thomas, Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Charl Schwartzel, ” Schwartzel, ” Spieth, Warren Little, Shane Lowry, Akshay Bhatia, “ It’s, ” Ireland’s Lowry, Akshay, ” Bhatia, It’s, Garcia, Tyson, African Erik van Rooyen, Woods, Gary Player, Fred Couples, ” Woods Organizations: CNN, National, Sky Sports, Augusta National Locations: American, Augusta, “, British, African

☆ Festival crowd boos at video of conference speakers gushing about how great AI is
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Camilo Fonseca | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Video emerged on social media of the audience loudly booing a conference sizzle reel that featured several industry leaders speaking positively about AI. The sizzle reel played before several film premieres at the festival, including "The Fall Guy" and "Immaculate," Variety reported. In a statement to BI, Carter said her SXSW panel on the future of AI was "a standout event." AdvertisementThe other panelists shown in the sizzle reel did not return requests for comment before publication. The growing impact of AI is a concern felt across the film industry.

Persons: —, Guy, Peter Deng, OpenAI, Sandy Carter, didn't, 46OXfiIk0r — Marcelo, Rony Abovitz, Magic, Abovitz, OpenAI's Peter Deng, Carter, Variety, Ashley Landis, Sora, Tyler Perry, Armour Organizations: Service, SXSW, Business, Sun Locations: South, Southwest

☆ 5 wedding planning red flags that could mean you're headed for divorce, according to therapists
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Serafina Kenny | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

And cracks can appear as early as the wedding planning stage, therapists told Business Insider. Bejar and Toxavidi shared the red flags they see during wedding planning that suggest that a couple's marriage might end in divorce. AdvertisementOnly one person is invested in the weddingHaving one partner take the reins in wedding planning can work if both parties are genuinely happy with that set-up. But if one partner feels alone in wedding planning, that can be a red flag, Toxavidi said. Prioritizing family over the partner"Only ever prioritizing your family of origin rather than the partner that you're about to marry is not a good sign," Bejar said.

Persons: Landis Bejar, —, Vasia, Bejar, Toxavidi, they're, shouldn't, there's Organizations: Business, Service Locations: New York, London

☆ Michael Jackson documentary: ‘Thriller 40’ focuses on the art, not the artist
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

By sidestepping the philosophical questions about separating the art from the artist, “Thriller 40” can focus steadfastly on the music, and all the other ways Jackson influenced the industry, and less on the man himself. The documentary incorporates a bit of context about The Jackson 5, primarily to make the point that Jackson’s success as a solo artist was by no means a preordained conclusion. His success with 1979’s album “Off the Wall” offered a mere teaser of what was to come – the explosion of hits on his subsequent record “Thriller”in 1982, including the title track, “Bille Jean” and “Beat It.”Michael Jackson's music is explored in the documentary "Thriller 40." “Thriller 40” consciously and effectively brings the focus back to the music and the thrills he delivered as a performer. “Thriller 40” premieres December 2 on Paramount+ and at 8 p.m.

Persons: CNN — Michael Jackson, Nelson George, Jackson, Usher, Mary J, Blige, George, Michael Jackson ”, –, Misty Copeland, “ Bille Jean ”, Michael Jackson's, Robert Hilburn, Fred Astaire, “, John Landis, Jafaar Jackson Organizations: CNN, ”, MTV, Paramount, SHOWTIME, Motown, Los Angeles Times, Jackson, Showtime Locations: London

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - When the CEO gets a 40% raise, what do the workers deserve? UAW President Shawn Fain initially asked for a 40% increase in worker's pay over the next four years - a figure based off an approximately 40% increase in CEO pay at the companies over the last four years at a time of stable profits for two of the three automakers. CEO pay and benefits have skyrocketed in recent decades, but worker pay has not kept pace. As the strikes began last week, Biden echoed Fain, saying automakers should offer more of the share of their profits to workers. Attempts to address rising CEO pay in decades past have not had the intended effect, said Rosanna Landis Weaver, director of wage justice and CEO pay at As You Sow, a non-profit shareholder advocacy group.

Persons: Shawn Fain, Joe Biden's, Biden, Fain, Rosanna Landis Weaver, Heather Timmons, David Gaffen, Jamie Freed Organizations: United Auto Workers, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, UAW, U.S, Economic, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Big Three, Thomson Locations: Ohio, Michigan, U.S

☆ Workers' strikes in the US are at their highest point since 2000, with 4.1 million days lost in August to labor activism
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

UAW strikes are just the latest in a wider trend of increased labor action across the US. Over 4.1 million working days were lost to strikes in August, the highest in almost 25 years. Public approval of labor unions is also up, reaching its highest point since 1965 in recent years. This August 4.1 million workdays were lost to strikes and lockouts, according to analysis of Labor Department data by The Wall Street Journal. In August, 67% of Americans said they approved of labor unions in a Gallup poll, up from 54% in 2013.

Persons: Ashley Landis Organizations: UAW, Service, Labor Department, Wall Street, Hollywood, NBC, United Auto Workers, Detroit, General Motors, Ford, Unions Locations: Wall, Silicon, Hollywood

☆ Why we’re still learning new things about the JFK assassination
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

According to the Warren Commission, the intact bullet was discovered when it was knocked onto the floor next to a stretcher holding Connally. There are differing positions on what to make of Landis’ memoirJefferson Morley edits a substack newsletter, JFK Facts, that pushes for more transparency in the official record on the Kennedy assassination. Farris Rookstool III is a former FBI analyst who reviewed Kennedy assassination documents. They’ve got the Warren Commission report, which most people now feel was incomplete and rushed. And he made an important point that extends well beyond the Kennedy assassination.

Persons: CNN —, John F, Kennedy, Paul Landis, Jacqueline Kennedy, “, Landis, John Connally, Connally, CNN’s, Jake Tapper ”, ” Landis, Tapper, I’ve, Jefferson Morley, “ Landis, ” Morley, Abby Phillip, Farris Rookstool, Lee Harvey Oswald’s, ” Rookstool, Phillip, They’ve, Warren, Oswald, Trump, Joe Biden, ”, Philip Shenon, Larry Sabato, – Sabato, don’t, That’s, Lyndon B, Johnson, Sabato, ” Sabato, they’ve Organizations: CNN, Secret Service, Texas Gov, Warren Commission, Parkland Memorial Hospital, Secret, JFK, FBI, Texas, National Archives, CIA, Congress, Defense Department, Department of State, American, Biden, Trump, Security, University of Virginia, Cuban, Warren, CBS Locations: Parkland, Warren, Cuban, Mexico, Soviet, Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq

☆ J.F.K. Assassination Witness Breaks His Silence and Raises New Questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Peter Baker | More About Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For an instant, standing on the running board of the motorcade car, he entertained the vain hope that maybe it was just a firecracker or a blown tire. But he knew guns and he knew better. Mr. Landis has spent most of the intervening years fleeing history, trying to forget that unforgettable moment etched in the consciousness of a grieving nation. And he realized that what he read was not quite right, not as he remembered it. As it turns out, if his recollections are correct, the much-discussed “magic bullet” may not have been so magic after all.

Persons: Paul Landis, John F, Kennedy, Landis, John Jr, — Organizations: Secret Service, Mr Locations: Dallas, Dealey Plaza, Washington

☆ Lifted by Lea Michele, ‘Funny Girl’ Recoups on Broadway
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Michael Paulson | More About Michael Paulson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” starring Lea Michele is now officially a hit: It has recouped its capitalization costs, completing a remarkable box office turnaround of the sort rarely seen in the commercial theater. The show’s lead producers, Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis and David Babani, announced on Monday that the production had made back the $16.5 million it cost to mount. That milestone not only gives the production bragging rights, but also means that “Funny Girl” can generate a profit during the last few weeks of its run, which ends on Sept. 3. Only a handful of Broadway productions have announced the recoupment of their capitalization costs since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, as higher expenses and smaller audiences have made the always challenging economics of Broadway even more difficult. Critics were underwhelmed; the show won no Tony Awards (it was only nominated for one); and by summer its sales had drooped.

Persons: Lea Michele, Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis, David Babani, Barbra Streisand —, Beanie Feldstein, Critics Organizations: Wilson Theater

☆ Tour leader Vingegaard welcomes scepticism about performances
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Julien Pretot | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SAINT GERVAIS, France, July 16 (Reuters) - Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar have made such a huge impression in the Tour de France that, in a sport that was marred by doping scandals, doubts about their performances have arisen but Denmark's defending champion welcomes the scepticism. On Sunday, Pogacar and Vingegaard clocked 18:27 on the final climb, beating four-time Tour winner Chris Froome's record by 42 seconds. "So yes, I fully understand the questions we're getting about it (our performances)," said Vingegaard. In 2006, Floyd Landis became the first Tour winner to fail a drugs test during the race after testing positive for the male sex hormone testosterone. The Kazakh’s Astana team left the Tour and sacked Vinokourov, who denied any wrongdoing, and Tour leader Michael Rasmussen was then fired by his Rabobank team during the race for lying about his whereabouts in training.

Persons: SAINT GERVAIS, Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej, France's Guillaume Martin, Dane, Carlos Rodriguez, Vingegaard, Chris Froome's, Marco Pantani, Joux, it's, Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Giro, Ivan Basso, Floyd Landis, Alexandre Vinokourov, Vinokourov, Michael Rasmussen, Julien Pretot, Ken Ferris Organizations: Tour de, Slovenian, Cycling, Kazakh’s Astana, Rabobank, Thomson Locations: France, Slovenian, Puerto

☆ ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ and the Deadly Accident That Plagued It
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Jason Bailey | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

When the anthology film “Twilight Zone: The Movie” opened on June 24, 1983, reviews were mixed; The New York Times’s Vincent Canby deemed it “a flabby, mini-minded behemoth,” and that was a fairly representative view. Chased by a military helicopter, Morrow’s character was to carry two Vietnamese children across a river to safety as a village exploded behind them. But the sequence was poorly planned and barely rehearsed, and the explosions damaged the rotor blades of the chopper, causing the pilot to lose control. As investigators examined the crash, they discovered that the children’s mere presence on the set had been illegal. A production secretary recalled Landis joking of the scheme, “We’re all going to jail!”

Persons: York Times’s Vincent Canby, John Landis, Vic Morrow, —, dismembering Morrow, Myca Dinh Le, Renee Shin, Yi Chen, Renee Shinn Chen, Landis, George Folsey Jr Organizations: Klan Locations: York, Nazi Germany, Vietnam

☆ Energy sector's COVID recovery turns into massive CEO payday
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tim Mclaughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Occidental said its CEO pay ratio follows the rules laid out by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). IT'S RELATIVE WHEN IT COMES TO RETURNSTo be sure, the value of stock-based pay shrinks when markets sour. But most energy CEOs also have a measure of built-in protection from steep declines. That’s because about 90% of energy companies measure stock performance against others in the same industry who tend to suffer at similar times. Many energy companies are under pressure from investors to reform CEO pay, according to disclosures in their annual proxy statements.

Persons: Aeisha, Virginia Parks, Christina Noel, Darren Woods, Exxon, Michael Hennigan, ”, Rosanna Landis Weaver, Toby Rice, EQT, Phillips, ” Phillips, ” Mastagni, Richard Valdmanis, Anna Driver Organizations: Energy, California State Teachers, Marathon Petroleum, University of California Irvine, Occidental Petroleum Corp, Occidental, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, American Petroleum Institute, ExxonMobil, Services, Microsoft, Exxon, New York, EQT Corp, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, California, Virginia, CalSTRS

☆ Assad banks on new 'global order' to help revive his status
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

During his address, Assad presented himself as an elder statesman, lecturing his neighbors about the need to take advantage of changes in global politics. “Today we are faced with an opportunity of change in the global order, which has become multipolar due to the hegemony of the West, which is devoid of principles, morals, friends or partners,” Assad told the summit, held in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. But observers have differed as to whether real economic cooperation with Syria is possible without access to the Western financial system, which has been blocked by Western sanctions on the country. “They can also try working with or through Russia, and possibly with and through Iran – although that carries its own obvious risks,” he said, referring to Arab states that want to do business in Syia. There are plenty of ways of doing this.”Assad’s ultimate goal however, said Landis, is to get sanctions lifted with the help of Arab states.

☆ Analysis: Qatar takes diplomatic back seat as Saudi flexes political muscle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Andrew Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Qatar has been steadily mending ties with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Qatar cast the Syrian National Coalition as a government-in-exile, handing them Syria's Arab League seat and opening the Doha mission in a villa nearby other embassies. Several Gulf states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates began backing rebel groups fighting to oust Assad from power. As Syria's anti-Assad movement lost ground, "Saudi Arabia and the UAE shifted their policy most dramatically but Qatar has not," Kamrava said. Qatar initially opposed efforts this spring by Saudi Arabia to galvanise support to readmit Syria to the Arab League following its 2011 suspension.

☆ Syria: Arab countries don't see where U.S. policy is leading, says academic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSyria: Arab countries don't see where U.S. policy is leading, says academicJoshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, says "now that Iran and Saudi Arabia are in dialogue … there's really no reason not to normalize with Syria as well."

☆ FTX's lawyers and advisers cost $38 million for a month of work - and the bankrupt crypto exchange's new CEO charged $305,000 for February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The army of professionals working with FTX billed $38 million in expenses for January. FTX CEO John Ray III submitted a bill for $305,565 for the month of February. Those three firms have over 180 lawyers and over 50 other staffers working on the FTX case, per the CoinDesk report. Sullivan & Cromwell billed 14,569 hours of work in January for a total of $16.8 million. Meanwhile, FTX's trading arm sued Grayscale this week in a bid to claw back $250 million to repay customers.

☆ Shareholder votes offer check on unjustified CEO pay at S&P 500 companies, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Compensation for S&P 500 (.SPX) chief executives has soared in recent years even as investors cast more of their advisory "Say on Pay" votes against management, leading to doubts about the ballots' usefulness. Discovery's total shareholder return for 2021 was minus 22%, versus a gain of 29% for the S&P 500. Warner Brothers Discovery, created last year when Discovery Inc bought AT&T's (T.N) media assets, has not set the frequency of its pay votes. To rank CEOs as "overpaid," As You Sow used criteria including shareholder returns, critical shareholder pay votes and the ratio of CEO to worker pay. It noted the average share of votes cast "against" executive pay at S&P 500 companies climbed to 12.6% last year, from 11.7% in 2021 and 10.4% in 2020.

☆ Promoting FTX was their side hustle. Now they’re left to pick up the pieces
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Kateryna Onyshchuk | Istock | Getty ImagesThe first time Gabriel Trompiz heard about the FTX student ambassador program was through a LinkedIn message. Trompiz promptly applied through the link he was sent and became an FTX campus ambassador shortly afterward. So you teach them about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology and most importantly the benefits of using FTX," he told CNBC's Make It. Elsewhere in Nigeria, Imran Yahya was an FTX campus ambassador at Bayero University. I was like, I was part of the people saying FTX was too big to fail Fortunate Atueyi Former FTX Student Ambassador

The law firms that billed FTX are Sullivan & Cromwell, Landis Rath & Cobb, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Landis Rath & Cobb and Sullivan & Cromwell, FTX's primary legal firms, billed the company a combined $10.7 million for over 8,400 hours of work. Landis Rath & Cobb billed $1.16 million for work done between Nov. 11 and Nov. 30. Full compensation for legal and advisor fees will not occur until a final fee application is filed, whenever FTX's bankruptcy saga concludes. Lawyers for Sullivan & Cromwell did $40,000 worth of work just to appear in FTX's first bankruptcy hearing on Nov. 22, based on court filings of hours billed and hourly rates.

☆ 2 firms helping with FTX's bankruptcy are seeking $13 million of payment for under 3 weeks of work, including nearly $20,000 for food
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two of those deal with less than three weeks of work, and seek a total of $13 million. Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell charges $2,165 an hour for the time of its partners, who did 2,267 hours of work. Partners did a total of 2,267 hours work on the case in the 19 days between November 12 and 30. Alvarez and Marshal, a management consulting firm, is also charging for its first 20 days of work, seeking $5.2 million for a total of 7,925 hours work. Landis Rath & Cobb and AlixPartners are both asking for over $900,000, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan is seeking $1.2 million.

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Damascus has long said aid to the rebel enclave in the north should go via Syria not across the Turkish border. Jordan and the UAE, which once backed Syria's opposition but have normalised ties with Assad in recent years, have sent aid to Damascus, Syrian state media has reported. WRANGLE OVER RESOURCESMoscow has long argued that delivering aid to northwest Syria from Turkey violates Syrian sovereignty. But he said aid flows must be coordinated with the government and delivered through Syria not across the Turkish border. The Damascus-based Syrian Red Crescent called for lifting of sanctions, which Syria's government has long blamed for mounting economic hardship.

☆ FTX has recovered $5 billion worth of ‘liquid’ assets, lawyers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Rohan Goswami | Rohan Goswami Is A News Associate At Cnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

FTX has recovered over $5 billion worth of liquid assets, including cash and digital assets, attorneys in Delaware bankruptcy court said during an FTX bankruptcy hearing Wednesday. The news comes after federal prosecutors announced plans to seize at least $500 million worth of FTX-connected assets as part of their ongoing prosecution of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX’s new CEO, John J. Ray, previously attested that at least $8 billion of customer assets were unaccounted for in the “worst” case of corporate control he’d ever seen. FTX CEO John Ray testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Dec. 13, 2022. Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP fileThe $5 billion figure doesn’t include any illiquid cryptocurrency assets, FTX attorney Adam Landis told the court.

☆ Six N.F.L. Players Show Football’s Grind on Their Feet and Hands
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ken Belson | Joe Drape | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

Players Show Football’s Grind on Their Feet and HandsOver the course of the long and brutal N.F.L. season, players’ feet and hands take a beating on nearly every snap. But in practice a few days later, he was running drills and landed awkwardly, spraining an ankle and stretching the tendons in his right foot. The next week Jones caught six passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns as the Jaguars shocked the Dallas Cowboys, 40-34. “The therapist spends a lot of time on my hands and feet,” he said.

☆ The US may have lost in the World Cup, but soccer is more popular than ever in America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +36 min

The Atlas Lions made history as the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal. They made history as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. It was Morocco's first World Cup win since 1998 — and its third-ever at the tournament. Less spoken about is that they also rate better on television than the men do in the World Cup. We’ll just have to wait and see, though with the US, Canada and Mexico hosting the 2026 World Cup, soccer isn’t going away anytime soon.

☆ Lawyers for FTX customers accuse debtors of failing to file full financial disclosures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lawyers at Eversheds Sutherland represent FTX's non-US customers – 98% of its 1.2 million users. The lawyers say that Chapter 11 debtors should file full financial disclosures. The law firm Eversheds Sutherland represents the Ad Hoc Committee of Non-US Customers of FTX.com, established to protect users outside the US. Erin Broderick, an attorney at Evershed Sutherland, said "Chapter 11 debtors are typically required to file full financial disclosures shortly after the bankruptcy filing." Adam Landis, the lawyer representing FTX and its entities, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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