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☆ New Scrabble version aims to make classic word game less ‘intimidating’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Scrabble, one of the world’s best-loved word games, is to get a new “collaborative” and “accessible” version. The double-sided board will also include the Classic version of the game. Courtesy MattelNow, an updated game named Scrabble Together adds “a second side to the board that is collaborative and faster-paced to make gameplay more accessible for anyone who finds word games intimidating,” according to a statement from Mattel published Tuesday. The updated version of the game won’t be available in the United States, however, as Mattel does not hold the license there. While this is the first major change to the look of the Scrabble board, the game regularly adds new words to its official dictionary in order to keep up as the English language evolves.

Persons: ” Ray Adler, ”, who’s, Mattel, millennials, ” Brett Smitheram Organizations: London CNN, Mattel, Global, Games, British, CNN, Scrabble Locations: Europe, United States

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried faces sentencing this week. Here’s what to expect
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Sentencing is a much more fluid process, with both sides allowed to make sweeping arguments to try to make their case to the judge. But instead, his life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money,” prosecutors wrote in a memo. In a letter to the court, Marc Mukasey, the lawyer Bankman-Fried retained for sentencing, called the government’s memo “disturbing” and accused the government of trying to “break” Bankman-Fried. His behavior may come back to haunt Bankman-Fried in sentencing, Fischer said. But legal experts say that even if 100% of FTX customers get their money back, it’s not necessarily going to sway the judge to go easy on Bankman-Fried.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Judge Lewis Kaplan, ”, Kaplan, Howard Fischer, Moses Singer, Prosecutors, Fried, Marc Mukasey, Bankman, ” Mukasey, “, Sam, ’, Caroline Ellison, Fischer, ” Ellison, Bernie Madoff, it’s, ’ ”, John Ray, ” Ray Organizations: New, New York CNN, Southern, of, Prosecutors, Bankman, MIT, Detention, ” Prosecutors, Alameda Research Locations: New York, Manhattan, of New York, Palo Alto , California, Brooklyn, Bankman, FTX, Alameda

☆ Man Killed by No. 4 Train After He Is Pushed Onto Subway Tracks
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Christopher Maag | More About Christopher Maag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A man was killed Monday evening after being pushed onto the subway tracks in an unprovoked attack at the 125th Street station at Lexington Avenue in East Harlem, according to the Police Department. At 6:48 p.m., a man on the uptown platform shoved the person onto the tracks in front of the oncoming No. 4 train, which was unable to stop, a police spokeswoman said. Train service at the station resumed by 9 p.m., but a large number of police officers remained at the scene. “The subway has been insane lately,” Ray Velez, 60, from the Bronx, said as he waited on the 125th St. platform two hours after the attack.

Persons: ” Ray Velez, It’s, ” Organizations: 125th, Police Department Locations: Lexington, East Harlem, Bronx

(Both men already hold sizable amounts of Alibaba stock.) Alibaba itself bought back $9.5 billion worth of stock last year, reducing its share count by over 3 percent. The stock purchases will probably bring attention back to Ma, a former English teacher who helped start Alibaba as an e-commerce platform. Ma, who hasn’t held a management role at Alibaba or Ant in years but remains a lifetime partner in the Alibaba Partnership, now largely focuses on Bill Gates-style philanthropy. And she’s expected to take swipes at Trump’s economic record as president.

Persons: Tsai, Ma, Alibaba, Ant, hasn’t, Bill Gates, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Eric Rosengren, Robert Kaplan, Kaplan, Rosengren, Archer, Daniels, Vikram Luthar, Scott Stuber, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion, Stuber, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s, Bela Bajaria, Biden’s, Janet Yellen, Lael Brainard, they’re, Biden, ” Ray Fair Organizations: Pool Management, Alibaba, Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, Nets, Boston Fed, Dallas Fed, Republican, Biden, Yale, Times Locations: U.S, Hong Kong, China, Ma, Beijing, ’, Paris, New Hampshire, Dixville

☆ Gilgo Beach Serial-Murder Case Hangs on a Hair and Its DNA
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Corey Kilgannon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After 13 years of dead ends and blown leads, the Gilgo Beach murder investigation finally turned on pizza crusts that Rex Heuermann had tossed in a trash can in Midtown Manhattan. It was a jackpot for investigators who had watched Mr. Heuermann for months. “Pizza crust is like a sponge — it allowed the saliva to seep into the dough,” Ray Tierney, the Suffolk County district attorney, said in a recent interview. The sample gave investigators the genetic match that helped connect Mr. Heuermann to four bodies found in 2010 on Long Island, and his arrest followed in July, Mr. Tierney said. Investigators say the DNA profile obtained from a male hair found on the burlap used to wrap one of the four victims found in 2010, Megan Waterman, corresponds to the pizza slice sample from Mr. Heuermann.

Persons: Rex Heuermann, Heuermann, ” Ray Tierney, Tierney, Heuermann’s, Megan Waterman Organizations: Mr Locations: Midtown Manhattan, Suffolk County, Long

☆ Low Platinum Prices Show How Banking on Miners Could Threaten the Energy Transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Platinum is used to make the electrolyzers that produce hydrogen and the sharp down cycle in South Africa’s platinum mining sector demonstrates the risk that low prices and lack of investment could slow the energy transition. Prices for other commodities have also fallen, while miners have been complaining of rising costs and seem to be limiting their capital expenditures. Photo: michele spatari/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesFor the mining sector, cyclical returns are nothing new. Ray said many South African PGM miners are now selling their output at close to the cost of production, eating away at profitability. “To the extent that PGM prices stay at current levels, I would not be surprised to see more supply-side reaction,” Ray said.

Persons: Waldo Swiegers, ”, Tom Price, michele spatari, We’ve, ” Emma Townshend, ” Townshend, Raj Ray, Ray, ” Ray, ” Implats’s Townshend, Implats, Yusuf Khan Organizations: Bloomberg, Liberum, Agence France, PGM, Times, Business, BMO Capital Markets, Metals Locations: Sibanye, Africa, Johannesburg, Stillwater, South, South Africa, Marikana, U.S, China, Europe, Implats

☆ The New Hampshire Primary Will Be Jan. 23
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Maggie Astor | More About Maggie Astor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New Hampshire’s presidential primary will be held Jan. 23, state officials announced on Wednesday. The date had been in contention since the Democratic National Committee decided earlier this year to change its nominating calendar, which had long given New Hampshire the first primary slot after the Iowa caucuses. The new Democratic calendar puts South Carolina first, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada together on one day, then Georgia, then Michigan. But New Hampshire officials have made clear that they will refuse to abide by the D.N.C.’s decision. “We will be holding our primary first,” Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said last year after initial reports that the D.N.C.

Persons: ” Ray Buckley, Buckley, ” Organizations: Democratic National Committee, Democratic, South Carolina, But New, Republican Party, Iowa, New Hampshire Democratic Party, Granite State Locations: Hampshire, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, But, But New Hampshire, South Carolina, Granite

New Hampshire Democrats announced on Wednesday that they will hold their presidential primary on Jan. 23 – flouting President Joe Biden and the national party’s plans to anoint South Carolina with the first primary contest. Biden had already elected not to register in New Hampshire, and his name won’t appear on the Democratic presidential primary ballot next year. But the move isn’t without repercussions by the Democratic National Committee, including the potential loss of state delegates to the party convention. The Granite State has held the so-called “first in the nation” primary for more than a century, and a state law enacted in 1975 requires it to occur at least seven days before any other state’s primary or on the second Tuesday in March. Roughly 93% of New Hampshire’s 1.4 million residents are white, according to the U.S. Census, compared to 75% of the U.S. overall.

Persons: Joe Biden, ” Ray Buckley, Biden, David Scanlan, ” Scanlan Organizations: New Hampshire Democrats, Granite State, New Hampshire Democratic Party, Democratic, Democratic National Committee, South Carolina, Iowa Democrats, Jan, New, Republican, U.S Locations: anoint South Carolina, Granite, New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, . Iowa, Iowa, Hampshire

☆ Gilgo Beach serial killings: A flood of evidence and information has come in since suspect's arrest, DA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Polo Sandoval Samantha Beech Elizabeth Wolfe Lauren Mascarenhas | Polo Sandoval | Samantha Beech | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Authorities have received a flood of evidence and information related to the suspect charged in some of the Gilgo Beach killings since his arrest, the Suffolk County District Attorney told CNN on Monday. Authorities have had Heuermann on their radar for more than a year as investigators gathered enough evidence to make an arrest. The suspect’s wife and children are cooperating with the investigation, according to Carter. Authorities later said they believed Gilbert’s death may have been accidental and unrelated to the Gilgo Beach homicides. “We’re going to continue to work this case and work the entire Gilgo investigation,” Carter said.

Persons: ” Ray Tierney, Rex Heuermann, Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard, Barnes, “ We’re, ” Tierney, “, Tierney, Heuermann, Carter, piecing, Amber Lynn Costello, Police Department “, ”, ” Carter, Shannan Gilbert, surveil, Heuermann’s, Tsoierney, suspect’s, AP Carter, James Carbone, Brainard, Jessica Taylor, Shannan Gilbert –, “ They’ve Organizations: CNN — Authorities, Attorney, CNN, Police Department, Authorities, Shore, Investigators, New, Sheriff's, Suffolk County Sheriff's, AP, RH, & Associates Locations: Suffolk County, Shore, Heuermann, Megan Waterman Suffolk, Gilgo Beach, New York City, Manhattan, Suffolk, Massapequa, Oak Beach , New York, Shannan

☆ Why Does New Hampshire Go First?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( David Leonhardt | More About David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

New England biasNew Hampshire’s critics often point out the many ways it does not look like the rest of America. I have covered the New Hampshire primary, and I too found it charming. The clearest pattern is that New Hampshire prefers Democrats from nearby, regardless of their ideology or national appeal. The closest thing to a substantive counterargument from New Hampshire officials is that their state is a swing state, unlike South Carolina, which is solidly Republican. In a very close national election, New Hampshire might even determine the Electoral College result.

Persons: Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Clinton, “, Bernie Sanders, John Kerry, Paul Tsongas, Michael Dukakis, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Marianne Williamson, ” Ray Buckley Organizations: New, Democratic, New Hampshire, Biden, New Hampshire Democratic Party Locations: England, America, New, Greece, United States, Hampshire, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, South Carolina

☆ People around the world are having more positive experiences, new report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The number of positive experiences saw some recovery in 2022, according to the report. Positive experiences had remained relatively stable in previous years, but dropped in 2021, according to Julie Ray, managing editor for world news at Gallup. The good news is that the rate of negative experiences didn’t go up in 2022. And while there are victories in the increase of positive experiences, it is not necessarily time for celebration, she added. The most positive placesThe surveys asked five questions each about positive and negative experiences.

Persons: Julie Ray, didn’t, ” Ray, ”, John Helliwell, Helliwell, Ray, “, Lyle Ungar, Ungar, Gallup, ’ ” Ungar, “ We’re, haven’t, I’m, ” Ungar Organizations: CNN, Gallup, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British, UN Sustainable Development Solutions, Taliban, University of Pennsylvania, Psychology Locations: University of British Columbia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, American, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Indonesia, Philippines, Finland, Denmark

☆ Racial Disparities are worsening disaster recovery for people of color. With climate change, things could get worse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Lauren Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Rolling Fork, Mississippi suffered massive damage from a powerful tornado on March 24. Racial disparities existed in Rolling Fork for decades. She started I-DIEM after spending over 14 years in disaster management. Shirley Stamps stands in the rubble of her home in the aftermath of the Rolling Fork tornado. And increasingly, non-profits are doing things differently to address racial disparities in disaster management.

☆ How your phone learned to see in the dark
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Samantha Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

While shots like these used to require advanced cameras, they’re now often possible from the phone you already carry around in your pocket. People watch fireworks during a Fourth of July celebration, in this photo taken using the Google Pixel 5 Night Sight setting. “The quality of the lens is still a big deal, and how the phone addresses the lack of depth,” Ray said. The next big thingWhile night photography on phones has come a long way, a buzzy new technology could push it ahead even more. If this technology is added to smartphone photo systems, it could eventually make night modes even more powerful, Su said.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, to waive extradition in Bahamas court
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Former FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried will appear in Bahamas court on Monday where he’s expected to waive his extradition rights, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The move is a stunning reversal of course for Bankman-Fried who was arrested in the Bahamas Dec. 12 and initially resisted extradition. Bankman-Fried, 30, once the most prominent name in crypto, has since seen his empire fall into disgrace over the past few weeks. Last week, he was indicted in New York federal court on eight counts spanning wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and violating campaign finance laws. At a congressional hearing on FTX’s collapse and missteps last week, the company’s new CEO, John J. Ray III, lashed out at FTX’s leadership under Bankman-Fried.

☆ Premarket stocks: Investors are hoping for the economic tide to turn. The wait may soon be over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

What’s happening: Price increases in the United States cooled more than economists expected last month, recording the lowest level of growth since last December. This is the second consecutive month of moderating price pressures and could mean the underlying trend of inflation is finally decelerating. That’s a welcome and hopeful sign for consumers, policymakers and investors, said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. The bill specifically names TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, as social media companies for the purposes of the legislation. In the past two weeks, at least seven states have introduced such measures, including Maryland, South Dakota and Utah.

☆ Parents of Sam Bankman-Fried face scrutiny over their roles in FTX
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Now, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, the FTX founder’s parents, may face legal troubles of their own. Bankman-Fried’s lawyer declined to comment when asked about scrutiny of his parents. The new CEO of FTX is John Ray III, a restructuring expert tasked with shepherding the company through its complex bankruptcy. They have told friends that their son’s legal bills will likely wipe them out financially, according to the paper. A judge ordered that Bankman-Fried must remain in custody after denying a request for bail, calling him a flight risk.

☆ Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried 'orchestrated yearslong fraud' on investors and customers, SEC and criminal charges say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency giant FTX, defrauded investors by funneling money into his private hedge fund and conspired to commit wire fraud against customers and lenders, federal authorities said Tuesday. The Manhattan panel indicted Bankman-Fried on eight counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws. $8 billion loss to customersThe wire fraud on lenders and customers started in or about 2019 and lasted through November, according to the filing. Separately, in a filing Tuesday also in the Southern District of New York, the SEC charged him with defrauding investors and enriching Alameda. FTX CEO pledges continued cooperationAlso Tuesday, the company’s new CEO, John J. Ray III, testified at a congressional hearing on FTX’s collapse and missteps.

☆ Everything you need to know about the FTX saga that unfolded today
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

On Tuesday, Ray testified before the House Financial Services Committee, relaying what he could about the company he took over just four weeks ago. FTX, on the other hand, was “not sophisticated at all.”“This is really old-fashioned embezzlement,” Ray continued. They say he misappropriated FTX customers’ deposits by using those funds to pay expenses and debts of Alameda, his crypto hedge fund. (The SDNY are an aggressive people, but they are not sloppy, and they don’t indict without a solid case.) Several lawyers not involved in the case have told me that the speed of Bankman-Fried’s arrest signals that former FTX employees may be aiding prosecutors.

☆ Fact Check-Finding that most people dying from COVID-19 are vaccinated does not mean vaccines don’t work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Statistics that show the majority of deaths from COVID-19 are among vaccinated people reflect the fact most people are vaccinated, not that the vaccines are ineffective, as implied in a social media post. Similar statistics show COVID vaccines continue to reduce the risk of dying and severe illness, an expert told Reuters. The data cited in the article show the majority of COVID-19 deaths are among vaccinated people, particularly the elderly, a group that is nearly 94% vaccinated in the United States. CDC Data cited in the same article shows that vaccination continues to reduce risk of death across all age groups. Reuters has previously factchecked similar misleading claims that a large proportion of COVID-19 deaths among vaccinated people reflects poor vaccine effectiveness (here) (here) and (here).

☆ Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried says he didn't 'try to commit fraud'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Elizabeth Napolitano | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

A growing number of regulators are investigating Bankman-Fried and his former company, and the fallout from the collapse of FTX is only expanding. The broader industry consequences also continue to play out, with the crypto firm BlockFi filing for bankruptcy last week. Days after the CoinDesk report, FTX rival Binance announced it would sell its FTX holdings, setting off a bank-run-style rush of withdrawals. What matters here are the stakeholders in FTX," Bankman-Fried said. Bankman-Fried and his associates greenlighted lavish expenditures, including $300 million for real estate purchases in the Bahamas for FTX and Alameda employees, according to filings from current FTX attorneys.

☆ FTX: Inside the crypto giant's downfall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Crypto contagionThe crypto industry is on edge, waiting for the next dominoes to fall. Soon after FTX went down, crypto firms were inundated requests from customers seeking to claw their money back — the crypto equivalent of a run on the bank. The pain isn’t confined to crypto companies. SBF had become a fixture in Washington, too, where he regularly traveled to lobby lawmakers for greater regulatory clarity for the crypto industry. “It’s about fraud and the power of virtue signaling.”He added: “This scandal, far from destroying crypto, practically ensures that crypto will be around for a long, long time.”

The new CEO of FTX issued a searing indictment of the company’s operations Thursday in a court filing as part of the company’s ongoing bankruptcy process. New CEO and restructuring officer John Ray wrote that the company had a striking lack of financial records, internal communications or even a clear idea of who worked there. Bankman-Fried and FTX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Throughout his filing, Ray insisted that the financial records of the organizations overseen by Bankman-Fried are frequently either nonexistent or untrustworthy. “One of the most pervasive failures of the FTX.com business in particular is the absence of lasting records of decision-making,” Ray said.

☆ FTX affords a turning point in venture governance
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The new chief executive of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, insolvency veteran John Ray, uncovered giant financial gaps and signs of looting. Ray’s first in-depth account, submitted to the court on Thursday, reveals a brazen lack of controls and governance. Financial statements dated to Sept. 30, when founder Sam Bankman-Fried was in charge, contain no record of customer liabilities at either the U.S. subsidiary or the international division. Many of the FTX corporate entities never had board meetings. Ray also criticised his predecessor and FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried for making “erratic and misleading public statements”.

☆ Breakingviews: FTX affords a turning point in venture governance
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Influencers are eating ghee by the spoonful. It’s led brands to create their own knockoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Sakshi Venkatraman | Sakshi Venkatraman Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

In that time, South Asian food experts say, brands have taken notice. The South Asian household staple is now blowing up on health TikTok. Influencers have recorded themselves eating spoonfuls of ghee, posing with the product in stores and promoting it as a new find. “That’s part of the reason why it is important to a South Asian population.”In Hindu ceremonies, it’s a staple. Most of all, it’s an essential component of South Asian comfort food, one that many people can associate with the quick-fix meals of early youth.

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