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Donald J. Trump, the onetime president, and Stormy Daniels, the longtime porn star, despise one another. But when Ms. Daniels returned to the witness stand at Mr. Trump’s criminal trial on Thursday, his lawyers made them sound a lot alike. During Thursday’s grueling cross-examination, Mr. Trump’s lawyers sought to discredit Ms. Daniels as a money-grubbing extortionist who used a passing proximity to Mr. Trump to attain fame and riches. But the more the defense assailed her self-promoting merchandise and online screeds, the more Ms. Daniels resembled the man she was testifying against: a master of marketing, a savant of social-media scorn. “Not unlike Mr. Trump,” she said on the stand, though unlike him, she did it without the power and platform of the presidency.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Stormy Daniels, Daniels, Ms, grubbing, ”

☆ US welcomes new governments in fight against spyware as it finds more American personnel have been targeted
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-17 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A year ago, the Biden administration put the tally of US government personnel either suspected of or confirmed to have been targeted by spyware at 50. The market for commercial spyware has exploded over the last decade as companies from Israel to North Macedonia have hawked their services and many governments have been willing buyers. Poland’s prime minister has claimed the previous government used spyware on a long list of victims. The Biden administration’s review “did not identify widespread use” in the federal government of commercial spyware, the official said in a rare interview on the subject. Spyware companies often hide behind opaque corporate structures and companies to stay in business, according to US officials and researchers who track those companies.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, “ Organizations: CNN, US National Security Council, NSC, US Treasury Department, Summit for Democracy, State Department, NSO Group, FBI, Pegasus, White Locations: Israel, North Macedonia, Poland, Ireland, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Seoul, ”, Africa, —

☆ How to access the new weight loss drugs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Andrea Kane | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

(CNN) — By now, it is pretty clear that the new weight loss and diabetes medications have achieved blockbuster status. Unlike previous weight loss medications, they are pretty effective at helping people lose weight and keep it off — between around 15% to 20% of body weight — with relatively few side effects (although some people can’t tolerate them, and a fraction of patients experience more severe side effects). Zepbound, the newly approved weight loss drug from Eli Lilly, may be easier to find. “Otherwise, some physicians are prescribing older, generic weight loss medications that can be helpful for some patients.”These drugs are not right for everyoneFor many people, the cultural pressure to look a certain way is high. And join us next week on the Chasing Life podcast when we talk to WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani about whether these new weight loss drugs really signal the end of diet culture.

Persons: Sanjay Gupta ”, Eli Lilly, Goldman Sachs, Meg Tirrell John Nowak “, Meg Tirrell, Sanjay Gupta, ” Tirrell, “, ” Eli Lilly, Tirrell, ”, Sima Sistani Organizations: CNN, —, Trilliant Health, Novo Nordisk, US Food and Drug Administration, “, Nordisk, ”

☆ The Longer This Cake Soaks, the Better It Is
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Ligaya Mishan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Sometimes those neighbors find an unexpected connection, like a love of condensed milk: milk boiled down until it’s thick enough to cling to the spoon, with sugar added to make it last longer. Yoo first tasted the cake in elementary school in Queens, on a day students were asked to bring in a dish from their heritage. He tried different brands of Thai tea and decided that a minimalist version, with just tea, vanilla and food coloring, would be best. Yoo goes so far as to leave the cake in the refrigerator for two nights, flipping it in between. The cake is finished with whipped cream, coconut flakes toasted near gold and lime zest with its bright sting.

Persons: Yoo, ”, they’re, Gail Borden, Rachel Laudan, Nestlé, It’s Organizations: Shaker Locations: New Yorker, America, American, New York, Queens, Mexico, Nicaragua, England

☆ E-commerce stocks rally after Black Friday shoppers spend record online
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Shoppers turned out in full force on Thanksgiving and over the Black Friday weekend, largely shunning physical stores for the comfort of clicking "buy online" from their couches. Black Friday online spending reached a record $9.8 billion in the U.S., up 7.5% from a year earlier, according to Adobe Analytics. Online sales on Cyber Weekend, the days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, surged 7.7% to $10.3 billion. Cyber Monday sales are expected to reach up to $12.4 billion, making it the biggest U.S. online shopping day of the year, according to Adobe. A plastic rice washing bowl, listed as one of the top-selling Cyber Week items, is discounted 68% to $1.89 with free shipping.

Persons: Shoppers, Wayfair, Afterpay, Klarna, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Siemiatkowski Organizations: Adobe Analytics, Black, Adobe, National Retail Federation, CNBC PRO Locations: U.S

☆ Overlooked No More: Elena Zelayeta, Emissary for Mexican Cooking
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Mayukh Sen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

What was meant to be a family vacation to San Francisco ended up being a permanent stay with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, when the family home was destroyed. The family’s first months in San Francisco were “tinged with sadness as we tried so hard to fit into the strange ways of a new land,” Zelayeta wrote in her self-help book, “Elena’s Lessons in Living” (1947). Discrimination was routine: At school, students taunted Elena and her siblings for the staccato intonation of their speech. It was during the throes of the Depression, when it was difficult to find work, that Zelayeta decided to realize her long-gestating dream of running a restaurant. Their homegrown restaurant was such a sleeper hit that Zelayeta soon moved it to a building in downtown San Francisco.

Persons: Elena, ” Zelayeta, “, Zelayeta, Lorenzo Zelayeta, chiles Locations: San Francisco, Mexican, Mexico

☆ Musk threatens 'thermonuclear lawsuit' against media watchdog, calls advertisers 'oppressors'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Lora Kolodny | In Lorakolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk lashed out at large advertisers and Media Matters, a media watchdog group, on Friday after several major brands decided to pause spending on X, the social media platform he owns and runs as CTO. Discovery , then decided to halt their ad spending, at least temporarily, on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. In late October, an X user complained that a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee was melted down in Charlottesville, Virgina. Last week, Musk agreed with a post falsely claiming that the Jewish people have been pushing "dialectical hatred" against white people. It is not clear whether or when X Corp. will actually file a suit against Media Matters, or in which jurisdiction.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, hawked, Joe Benarroch, Confederate, Robert E, Lee, Jonathan Greenblatt, Musk's, Angelo Carusone, Jonathan Vanian Organizations: Media, X Corp, America, Twitter, Apple, Comcast, NBC Universal, Disney, IBM, Lions, Paramount Global, Warner Bros, CNBC, Facebook, Defamation League, Media Matters, Washington , D.C Locations: Charlottesville, Virgina, Jewish, San Francisco, Washington ,

☆ Starbucks customers are snapping up $50 Stanley red holiday tumblers and reselling them for as much $300
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

One of the most sought-after items was a 40-ounce red Stanley tumbler that sold for $49.95. The 40-ounce red Stanley tumbler, labeled Stanley + Starbucks, sold out in many stores where supplies were limited. "The Starbucks x Stanley quencher is a limited supply item, so some stores may have already sold out," a Starbucks spokesperson told Insider. The poster said their store got only two Stanley tumblers, and "partners bought them right at open." The red tumblers are indeed being hawked on eBay for as much as $300.

Persons: Stanley tumbler, —, tumbler, Stanley, quencher, TikToker, Stanley tumblers Organizations: Starbucks, Service, US, Stanley, eBay Locations: Tulsa

It didn’t really matter what the oil painting and antiques vendors hawked. “He had this project to build the largest collection in Italy,” said Giuseppe De Gregorio, a televendor near Naples who sold thousands of paintings to Mr. Berlusconi. “He didn’t want important paintings. He wanted paintings. It was enough if they were painted with oil on a canvas.”

Persons: Silvio Berlusconi, ”, Giuseppe De Gregorio, Berlusconi, “ Locations: Milan, Italy, Naples

☆ Mike Lindell's belligerent Dominion depositions: Hawking MyPillow dog blankets on Steve Bannon's podcast and scaring away court reporters
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Lindell insulted him, his lawyers, the judge, and took a break to go on Steve Bannon's podcast. When he stood up to take a call in the middle of questioning, Coomer's lawyers called it a day. In an interview with Insider on Friday, Lindell called Coomer's lawyers "creepy" and "evil." He said he had to take a personal "emergency call" before the deposition ended, and that Coomer's lawyers were aware it was coming. During the depositions, Lindell fiercely guarded his pillow company's brand and bristled at any suggestion that one of its latest products, the MyPillow 2.0, could be subpar.

Persons: Eric Coomer, Mike Lindell, Lindell, Steve Bannon's, Coomer, I'm, Bannon, Coomer's, —, Nina Wang, Wang Organizations: Dominion, Service, Dominion Voting Systems, Lindell, America Locations: Wall, Silicon, Texas, Wisconsin

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump hosted a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club as Giuliani struggles to pay his mounting legal bills. He has created a committee, the Giuliani Defense PAC, to raise funds for his father. Allies have also been soliciting checks for what they have called The Rudy Giuliani Freedom Fund. A trial could result in Giuliani being ordered to pay significant damages to the women, in addition to the tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees he’s already being directed to pay. Last year, a judge threatened Giuliani with jail in a dispute over money owed to his third ex-wife.

Persons: Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani, Trump, Fani Willis, Democrat Joe Biden, Giuliani’s, Andrew, ”, Brian Tevis, ” Giuliani, he’s hawked, Mike Lindell, He’s Organizations: New York, Trump, Fulton, Democrat, WABC, Giuliani Defense PAC, Fund, Giuliani, CNN Locations: Bedminster , New Jersey, Georgia, Fulton County, Lago, Palm Beach , Florida, Manhattan

☆ U.S. blacklists two firms that built Meta, iOS and Android spyware
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Commerce Department blacklisted two European cyber firms that build spyware software, the Commerce Department announced Tuesday, including technology hawked by both firms that was used to surveil Meta users and reportedly at least one Meta employee. The software exploited vulnerabilities in Android and iOS software and deployed hundreds of spoof Meta accounts to surveil activists, politicians and journalists around the world. Meta in December 2021 warned thousands of Facebook users that they'd been targeted by spyware-for-hire software, including Predator. The New York Times reported extensively on Intellexa's Predator product, and the company's efforts to sell it to a Ukrainian intelligence agency. Intellexa's Predator was also used by Greek intelligence to spy on a Meta trust and safety employee, the Times reported.

Persons: Gina Raimondo, —, Cytrox —, they'd, Tal Dilian, Intellexa, Biden, Trump Organizations: Commerce, The Commerce Department, Commerce Department, Industry, Security, Citizen Lab, Export, Meta, Facebook, Israel Defense Forces, The New York Times, Times, Huawei Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Greece, Ireland, Hungary, North Macedonia, Ukrainian

☆ 'I do TikTok to rip people off.' Videos produced in China are hawking scam products to millions, FT reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

They're pedaling products like fake weight loss coffee and acne medicine, the FT found. The FT said in its report that it had flagged 25 products in TikTok's UK marketplace; TikTok said those products have since been removed. TikTok, meanwhile, told the FT that it "has strict policies to protect users from fake, fraudulent, or misleading content," including advertisements. Mo told the FT that he was joking; he couldn't be reached by Insider. In a statement to the FT, TikTok said it "has strict policies to protect users from fake, fraudulent, or misleading content," including advertisements.

☆ The problem with home-flipping giants
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Meanwhile, the corporate scalpers of the housing market — companies that buy and relist homes by the thousands without doing much, if any, work on them to make a profit — are struggling. Last week, two of the biggest remaining corporate home-flipping companies, Opendoor and Offerpad, reported dismal earnings, another sign that their business model is incredibly risky. Kelman also said one "problem is that iBuying is a staggering amount of money and risk for a now-uncertain benefit. At its core, the main business model of home-flipping firms doesn't create a ton of immediate value. Opendoor, Offerpad, and other companies that rushed to purchase homes are now discounting the asking prices of those homes to get them off their books.

☆ How 'Real Housewife' Jen Shah's fabulous life came crashing down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Stephanie Clifford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +43 min

The woman wrote to the judge overseeing Shah's case that she'd had to remortgage her house, almost divorced, and "thought about ending my own life." The couple decided that he should get his degree while Jen Shah dropped out of college to work. (Shah told a judge at her 2022 plea hearing that she had been treated for "alcohol and depression" two years prior. Koa Johnson, Jen Shah's former fashion designerWhen Sharrieff Shah did participate in filming, he quickly became a fan favorite, calm and sensible. Once the show aired and Jen Shah developed a fan base, her behavior became more dramatic, Johnson said.

"Saturday Night Live's" final show of 2022 doubled as a send-off for Cecily Strong, who exited amid her 11th season and as one of the longest-tenured female cast members. Amid speculation she would depart before the 48th season started in fall, Strong stayed on. Her original characters on the show included Cathy Anne, "Weekend Update" anchor Michael Che's chain-smoking neighbor, which she reprised Saturday in a goodbye sketch. "Actually, I’m a little emo here tonight because truth is I’m here to say goodbye," Cathy Anne said. Cecily Strong as Cathy Anne on "Saturday Night Live."

☆ Prosecutors in Georgia are fast approaching a decision on whether to charge Trump. Here's how it would go down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past year, she empaneled a grand jury and fought court battles to ensure testimony from Gov. Two other high-profile witnesses who fought grand jury subpoenas, Mark Meadows and Newt Gingrich, have their cases before appeals courts. A regular grand jury, which sits for two months, would probably move swiftly, Carlson said, since it would have all the evidence painstakingly compiled by the special grand jury. "The reason it'll go very fast is the regular grand jury will have a transcript from the testimony of a laundry list of witnesses that have already testified to the special grand jury," Carlson said. The case in Georgia, Carlson pointed out, is especially potent because of how uniquely strong the evidence is and how reliable the witnesses would be.

☆ Donald Trump's superhero trading cards timed the market all wrong
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Jon Sarlin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Los Angeles CNN —Donald Trump’s entrance into the NFT world came at the worst possible moment. It bears noting, however, that despite the bad timing Trump’s NFT collection has shot to the top of NFT marketplace OpenSea’s ranking and has raked in more than $1.4 million since its launch. On the Trump Digital Trading Cards website, the Trump collection claims to be “sold out” and the floor price for a single card has risen to $177.99, according to analytics site CoinGecko. SPACs boomed in 2020 with celebrities and investors piling in, but rising interest rates and a troubled stock market has led to a dramatic fall in SPAC value. Trump’s entrance into the SPAC world came after the boom.

☆ Why Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Jimmy Fallon and other celebrities are getting sued over crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Tom Brady, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and baseball Hall-of-Famer David Ortiz are just some of the big names facing lawsuits from investors as the crypto world crumbles in the wake of FTX’s fall from grace. The backlash started earlier this month, when a class-action suit was filed against celebrities, including Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber and Serena Williams for promoting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. None of the celebrities named in the lawsuits immediately responded to requests from CNN for comment. Investors in FTX are not expected to be able to recover their money, the company’s CEO testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday. And after the crypto market bust and a round of lawsuits, celebrities may think twice about what they endorse in the future, too.

☆ Herschel Walker had ties to two charities that appear to have engaged in little, if any charity
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

He was also featured in marketing material for the Livio Cares Foundation and was listed as a Livio Cares Partner. However, there is no evidence Livio Cares engaged in philanthropic activities. According to ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, Walker was listed as the director of VMP Nutrition Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas. According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website, the right to transact business in Texas for VMP Nutrition as well as VMP Nutrition Foundation is listed as "forfeited." In 2017, VMP Nutrition and its founder Rodriguez settled a lawsuit filed by Southside Bank for an alleged failure to repay a $2,795,534 lien.

☆ Investors have filed a lawsuit against FTX celeb endorsers like Tom Brady, Steph Curry, and Larry David
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Nathan Mcalone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Investors have filed a lawsuit against celebs who promoted the defunct crypto exchange FTX. The suit names celebs who range from sports stars like Tom Brady and Steph Curry to Larry David. FTX, which filed for bankruptcy on Friday, had invested millions in promotions like high-profile partnerships with celebs, sponsorships including the Miami Heat's FTX Arena, and deals with finance influencers. Several finance influencers who promoted FTX have apologized to their fans in recent days, including YouTuber Graham Stephan, Insider previously reported. FTX and representatives for Brady, Curry, Ortiz, David, and O'Leary did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Costlier credit: Some retailers' cards now carry APRs of more than 30%
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Minneapolis CNN Business —There has long been a threshold that few issuers of store-branded credit cards have been willing to surpass: the 30% annual percentage rate. At least a half-dozen major retail credit cards — including those for Kroger, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Wayfair — recently bumped up their maximum APRs to more than 30%, according to Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst for LendingTree. And that credit is getting costlier as high inflation is forcing American consumers to rack up more debt. The increases come amid robust consumer demand and higher prices for everything from mortgages to food to fuel. “Credit cards are like power tools,” Rossman said.

☆ How Recurrent Ventures went from media darling to another publisher hit by layoffs and struggles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Recurrent Ventures made a digital-media splash with acquisitions like The Drive and Popular Science. In May of last year, Recurrent Ventures announced its flashiest deal yet: a $300 million fundraising round led by the private-equity giant Blackstone. To make a more appealing parent brand to house a growing fleet of media properties, they eventually created a new entity called Recurrent Ventures. Recurrent Ventures expanded as it acquired well-known publishers like the 150-year-old Popular Science. Recurrent Ventures shut down MEL Magazine, the men's lifestyle publication it once planned to make the centerpiece of a new lifestyle vertical of sites.

"This is terrorism and I do not understand why a terrorist country is not recognized as such," the 52-year-old history teacher said of the Russian missile strikes that slammed into the Ukrainian capital during Monday's morning rush hour. Russia charged Ukraine with responsibility, while a Ukrainian presidential aide blamed the incident on infighting between Russian security bodies. Two missiles landed in quick succession on the edges of Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv, one striking a busy intersection next to a major university. People began trickling back into Shevchenko Park around lunchtime, curiously examining the huge crater. Denys Mykhailovskyi, 38, was studiously clearing glass from the floor of his basement bar, near the Shevchenko Park playground where a missile landed.

☆ China's top livestreamer resurfaces 3 months after his show was cut short as he was showing off a military tank-shaped cake on the eve of the Tiananmen massacre
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's top influencer Li Jiaqi's livestream was cut short after he showed off a tank-shaped cake. The incident took place on June 3, a day before the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. He was referring to Alibaba's ecommerce platform and the Chinese version of TikTok, respectively. The ecommerce giant has already lost another top livestreamer, Viya, whose accounts went offline after a tax evasion scandal last year. Viya, who was known for hosting a popular shopping stream on the e-commerce platform Taobao, is still missing in action.

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