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☆ Gladys Knight, George Clooney, Amy Grant feted at Kennedy Center Honors
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

WASHINGTON — A heartfelt Patti LaBelle praised her lifelong friend Gladys Knight. Matt Damon playfully teased his friend George Clooney — a lot — while Sheryl Crow gave thanks and a heartfelt rendition of “Baby Baby” to her fellow singer Amy Grant during Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors. Every year the Kennedy Center honors a select group of people for their artistic influences on American culture. 2022 Kennedy Center Honorees, front row from left, Amy Grant, Gladys Knight, George Clooney, Tania León, join, back row from left, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr., The Edge, and Bono for a group photo at the State Department following the Kennedy Center Honors gala dinner, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, in Washington. León said during an interview when the honorees were announced that she wasn’t expecting “anything spectacular” when the Kennedy Center initially reached out to her.

☆ Credit Suisse's investment bank draws interest from Saudi crown prince, WSJ reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Investors including Saudi Arabia's crown prince and a U.S. private-equity firm run by a former Barclays CEO have shown interest in investing $1 billion or more in Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) new investment banking unit, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Credit Suisse did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Seeking to restore vigor to a business that has been languishing, Credit Suisse in October said that it will reshape its investment bank by resurrecting the First Boston brand. Credit Suisse's history with the First Boston brand dates to 1978 when the pair linked up to operate in the London bond market. Some bankers and investors have expressed scepticism over its ability to regain its past glory in a shrinking market.

☆ BP doubles down on hydrogen as fuel of the future
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ron Bousso | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] The BP logo is seen at a BP gas station in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 24, 2021. But grey hydrogen becomes "blue hydrogen" if the polluting emissions are captured. The IRA offers a $3 per kilogramme tax credit for clean hydrogen, which brings green hydrogen to par or even below the cost of grey and blue hydrogen, according to analysts. "With the hydrogen production tax credits that are now in place, it has ... allowed green hydrogen to be a lot more competitive," McLeod said. Subsidies will initially allow green and blue hydrogen to compete with grey hydrogen, allowing consumers to switch to cleaner fuel, McLeod said.

☆ A Russian pilot was detained by civilians in occupied Kherson. A Ukrainian city councilman released him — and now faces charges of treason.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Kherson city councilman has been accused of treason for releasing a Russian pilot. The case highlights an issue facing Ukraine as it investigates accused Russian collaborators. Kherson, a southern port, was the first major Ukrainian city taken by Russian forces after the invasion in February. "They couldn't hand him over to Ukrainian forces — there were no Ukrainian forces in the city at that time. The case highlights a challenge facing Ukrainian authorities after Russian forces retreat.

☆ A slap, a maverick and some ABBAtars: the 2022 showbiz stories
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Marie-Louise Gumuchian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/8] Will Smith (R) hits Chris Rock as Rock spoke on stage during the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 27, 2022. REUTERS/Brian SnyderLONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - From a shocking Oscars slap to a virtual ABBA taking to the stage, this year has seen a range of entertainment stories dominate headlines. He appeared in court in Britain to plead not guilty to accusations of sex offences dating back almost 20 years. * Tom Cruise premiered his hotly anticipated sequel "Top Gun: Maverick", returning as the cocky pilot he first played in the 1986 action flick. "Maverick" remains the biggest film of 2022, grossing $1.48 billion worldwide.

☆ You may think Twitter was wrong to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story but it wasn't a violation of the First Amendment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Twitter, as a private company and not the government, can choose what it does and does not publish. But whether or not the decision was wrong, it wasn't a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. "Twitter is not a state actor and the First Amendment applies only to state actors." So whether or not Twitter could violate the First Amendment, depends on whether or not it can be considered the government. "Both the state, the Trump White House, and the Biden team were asking Twitter, and Twitter was under no obligation to either oblige or refuse those requests," Kalir said.

☆ Air Travel Begins to Return to Normal: A Q&A With a Flight Attendant
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Kathryn Kranhold | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kimberly Burckhalter joined United Airlines as a flight attendant in New York City in 1993, nearly 30 years ago. She is now based in Los Angeles and serves as an international purser on flights between Los Angeles and London, Sydney and the Hawaiian Islands. Ms. Burckhalter’s love for flying comes largely from her grandfather, a longtime TWA employee who started off as a luggage handler and retired as a sales manager.

Trump’s post came after Twitter CEO Elon Musk promoted a series of tweets Friday revealing internal documents about how the company handled a New York Post article about Hunter Biden in 2020. While he said he “vehemently disagrees” with the former president’s statement, Turner did not directly answer the question, even after host Margaret Brennan pressed repeatedly. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a vocal opponent of Trump who serves on the House Jan. 6 committee, called Trump's statement “insane." Meanwhile, Democrats swiftly rebuked Trump’s statement shortly after it was posted. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he “vociferously” condemns Trump’s remarks and urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.

It’s a provision that voting rights experts say continues to confuse voters — especially college students or others who already face barriers — and results in many of them voting elsewhere or not at all. Nicks could have brought in another form of identification to vote; under Georgia law, her passport or her New York state identification card would have sufficed, for example. “Students in general often have a more difficult time accessing the ballot box because of all sorts of things. There are at least 10,000 students enrolled at private HBCUs in Georgia. Voting rights experts acknowledge that number of voters in Georgia affected by the provision ultimately represents a narrow slice of the state’s electorate.

☆ Dow Shines as Higher Rates Squeeze Nasdaq’s Tech Stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Hannah Miao | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A down year for the tech giants weighs particularly hard on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite. The New York Stock Exchange floor Friday. The Dow is beating the broader market to a degree not seen in nearly a century. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 5.3% this year, which isn’t normally a cause for celebration. But that performance looks downright golden compared with the broad S&P 500, which is off 15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which has dropped 27%.

☆ Elon Musk speaks out on 'Twitter Files' release about platform inner workings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

During a two-hour long Twitter Spaces session, Musk said a second “Twitter Files” drop will again involve Taibbi, along with journalist Bari Weiss, but did not give an exact date for when that would be released. It showed employees on several Twitter teams debating over whether to restrict the article under the company’s hacked materials policy, weeks before the 2020 election. Musk also said Twitter should program and monetize native long audio and video posting. He is quoted as saying that some of the investment may have been sold before Twitter went private in October, but he wasn’t sure. Musk also said that Twitter will roll out its new account verifications within the next week, which had been halted.

☆ 10 years ago they were fast food workers making roughly $8 an hour. 'Fight for 15' changed their lives.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ten years ago, fast food workers took to the streets of New York to strike for a $15 minimum wage. He was making $7.25, the minimum wage at the time. It was just like, oh no, raising the minimum wage, especially for fast workers, are you crazy? Since the launch of Fight for 15 ten years ago, the federal minimum wage hasn't budged. In California, where Perez works, the minimum wage is now $15 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees.

☆ McCarthy says ultra-conservative GOP holdouts are 'squandering this majority' by opposing his bid for House Speaker
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

California Rep. Kevin McCarthy is the Republican nominee for the next Speaker of the House. In order to win the seat, he needs almost all 222 GOP House members to vote for him on Jan. 3. McCarthy faces holdouts in his party, who he says would "squander" a GOP majority by opposing him. McCarthy, in an interview with Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," said those GOP holdouts, by opposing his bid, would be "squandering" the Republican majority set to take control of the House of Representatives in the next congressional session. The 118th Congress, which convenes on January 3, 2023, will have 222 Republican members, compared to 212 Democrats.

☆ Kimberly Guilfoyle said she loves doing the laundry and making Donald Trump Jr. his coffee in the morning
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kimberly Guilfoyle said she is very "traditional" in her relationship with Donald Trump Jr. "I love taking care of Don, the way I saw my mother lovingly take care of my father," Guilfoyle told Metropolitan Palm Beach magazine. Guilfoyle told the magazine she said that they had known each other for years before they became a couple. Guilfoyle told the interviewee the couple had moved to Palm Beach to be closer to the Trump extended family. Guilfoyle was reportedly considered for the White House Press Secretary role in 2016 and later became an advisor to former President Donald Trump during his 2020 campaign.

☆ Brooklyn man claims landlord is trying to push him out of his $450 apartment with live chickens running in yard and green liquid seeping from the ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Toonkel said the landlord couldn't gain access to Roberts' apartment because of a "hoarding problem." He didn't specifically address the chickens near Roberts' apartment. Roberts' rent is regulated by New York City rent-stabilization laws, which generally cover buildings built between 1947 and 1974. Roberts told Legal Services NYC, an advocacy group working on his case, that he'd voiced concerns about the state of the building to previous owners. This is heartless," Roberts told Legal Services NYC.

☆ Ex-federal prosecutor Elie Honig says Trump calling for the 'termination' of the Constitution is 'wrong, crazy, and dangerous'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump on Saturday floated the "termination" of the Constitution over his 2020 election claims. Ex-federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig called the comments "wrong" and "dangerous." A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," Trump wrote. I'll just summarize in response to Donald Trump's statement to say that virtually every word of that statement is wrong, crazy, and dangerous. The Department of Justice is currently investigating Trump's efforts to remain in office after his 2020 election loss to now-President Joe Biden.

☆ China operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host nations, report claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Nina Dos Santos | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Madrid-based human rights campaigner Safeguard Defenders says it found evidence China was operating 48 additional police stations abroad since the group first revealed the existence of 54 such stations in September. When approached by CNN last month about Safeguard Defenders’ original allegations, China’s foreign affairs ministry said the overseas stations were staffed by volunteers. However, the organization’s latest report claims one police network it examined had hired 135 people for its first 21 stations. The organization also sourced a three-year contract for a worker hired at an overseas station in Stockholm. The NGO determines Italy has hosted 11 Chinese police stations, including in Venice and in Prato, near Florence.

☆ White House spokesperson criticizes Trump's suggestion to get rid of the Constitution: 'You cannot only love America when you win'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A White House spokesperson said Trump's words should be "condemned." A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," Trump wrote in a Saturday post. In a statement to CNN, White House Spokesperson Andrew Bates called for Trump's words to be "universally condemned." Virginia Representative Dan Boyer tweeted that Trump's words "stoke hatred and political violence." "Trump's words and actions are unacceptable, they stoke hatred and political violence, and they are dangerous."

The answer is simple, according to more than a dozen Washington insiders, FTX employees, and crypto industry observers who spoke with Insider. I don't think anyone believed that he was going to fund candidates who were, quote unquote, committed to ending pandemics who were also hostile to the crypto industry." Alex Wong/Getty ImagesRebuffed by the SEC, Bankman-Fried turned his attention to Congress. "It's not that he was welcoming regulation," says the senior figure in the crypto industry who attended meetings with Bankman-Fried. But while Bankman-Fried was busy wooing Washington, FTX was about to become Exhibit A in the case for more effective oversight of the crypto industry.

☆ Brazil's Vinicius Jr looking to terminate Nike deal, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Avenue in New York, New York, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo AllegriSAO PAULO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr is trying to terminate his sponsorship agreement with Nike Inc (NKE.N), website UOL reported on Sunday, saying the player feels he has been getting unfair treatment from the U.S.-based company. Vinicius Jr, who is currently with the national team at the Qatar World Cup, has contacted lawyers to seek litigation aimed at ending the deal that runs until 2028, the report said. Nike did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours. The 22-year-old Vinicisu Jr has been one of Nike's biggest assets in Brazil, who are also sponsored by the U.S. sportswear maker, after the company terminated its endorsement deal with Neymar in 2021.

☆ Incoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says there's 'a real risk' that the new GOP majority in the chamber will be 'hijacked by the extremists'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hakeem Jeffries said there's "a real risk" the incoming House GOP majority is being "hijacked" by extremists. Jeffries, the incoming House Democratic leader, said Republicans have not laid out an economic plan. During his interview with CNN, Jeffries was relatively mum on his feelings about Kevin McCarthy. "It's because there's a real risk that the incoming Republican majority is being hijacked by the extremists who have grown in ranks," he added. When asked during the CNN interview what he thought about McCarthy, Jeffries didn't have much to say about his colleague.

☆ Chinese cities announce further easing of COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/David 'Dee' DelgadoBEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - More Chinese cities including Urumqi in the far west announced easing of coronavirus curbs on Sunday, as China tries to make its zero-COVID policy more targeted and less onerous after extraordinary protests against restrictions last weekend. A deadly apartment fire last month in Urumqi had sparked dozens of protests against COVID curbs in over 20 cities, a show of civil disobediance unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012. On Saturday in Beijing, local authorities said purchasing fever, cough and sore throat medicines no longer requires real name registration. "We shouldn't shut down COVID testing stations until we get rid of the COVID test pass." GLOBAL OUTLIERXi's zero-COVID policy has made China a global outlier nearly three years into the pandemic, which started in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

☆ Newsmax CEO reveals how he's challenging Fox News for right-leaning viewers, why his network won't endorse candidates, and why his friend Trump shouldn't run in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy says it challenges Fox News for conservative viewers but also wants Democrats. Ruddy said Donald Trump shouldn't run in 2024 because "he's a guy that doesn't need the presidency." Here's why a media CEO who considers Donald Trump a good friend doesn't think his good friend should run for president again. Let's talk about the Arizona call[during the 2020 election]: Fox News called that election within 20 minutes. I would prefer Trump not run because I don't think it's good for him personally.

☆ USMNT’s youth and talent at Qatar 2022 bodes well for 2026 World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +31 min

The Netherlands knocked the USMNT out of the Qatar World Cup on Saturday. They made history Thursday as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. Frappert became the first woman to referee a men's World Cup match. It was Morocco's first World Cup win since 1998 — and its third-ever at the tournament. Qatar is the first Islamic country to host a World Cup.

☆ Caitlyn Jenner tells Elon Musk he's 'public enemy number one to some very, very bad people' and that she's worried about his safety
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Caitlyn Jenner told Elon Musk he's become "public enemy number one for very, very bad people." In a Friday tweet, the former Olympian voiced her concerns of the billionaire's safety. It came following Musk releasing "The Twitter Files" – Twitter's controversial decision to suppress a New York Post report. Musk, Twitter's new owner, also said during a live interview Saturday on Twitter Space that he probably should "increase his security." The billionaire, who acquired the social media platform October 27, justified releasing the internal documents saying his goal was to build trust.

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