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☆ New Caledonia unrest: Tourists stranded and desperate as Macron arrives in strife-torn French territory
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Jessie Yeung | Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Other Australians stranded have had to go scrounge coconuts to eat,” he said. Maxwell Winchester and his wife, an Australian couple stranded in New Caledonia after the unrest broke out. But Winchester said he and other tourists have no sense of when it might be their turn. People line up at a store for supplies in New Caledonia, with larger supermarkets nearby burned and looted during the riots on the French territory. And among the stranded tourists, frustration is growing over what they say is a lack of assistance or clear instructions from their governments.

Persons: Maxwell Winchester, it’s, We’ve, ”, Emmanuel Macron, “, “ We’re, Winchester, Macron, Prisca Thevenot, Theo Rouby, we’re, – Organizations: CNN, ”, New Zealand, Facebook, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealanders, Olympic, Paris Olympic Games, ” CNN, Getty Locations: South, New Caledonia, Victoria, Australian, ” Australia, New, Brisbane, Australia’s, ”, Brisbane , New Caledonia, Paris, France, “, Winchester, Noumea , New Caledonia, AFP, French

☆ New US military aid package to Ukraine expected to be worth around $1 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Natasha Bertrand | Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Biden administration is preparing a new aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be worth around $1 billion, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN, and is set to be approved by President Joe Biden after the Senate passes a new foreign aid funding bill as soon as Tuesday afternoon. In briefings to Congress in recent weeks, administration officials have indicated that the US will likely send Ukraine long-range ATACMS, or Army Tactical Missile Systems, for the first time as part of the new aid package, three of the sources said. Ukrainian officials have been asking the US both in private and in public for the long-range missile to target deeper behind Russian lines. Broadly, Russia has maintained a “significant quantitative advantage” over Ukraine in terms of munitions, manpower and equipment, a NATO official said earlier this month. The military aid will be sourced from the US’ own stockpiles through a funding mechanism known as presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, and will be the first PDA package for Ukraine since March.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Joe Biden, Bill Burns, Chris Cavoli, Sen, Mark Warner, we’ve, ” Warner, Bradley, ” Celeste Wallander Organizations: CNN, Senate, Army Tactical Missile Systems, US, CIA, NATO, Senate Intelligence, CBS, Pentagon, White, Command Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, Russia

☆ Republicans Scrounge for Votes to Impeach Mayorkas Over Border
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But with just hours to go before the planned vote, it was unclear whether leaders would have enough G.O.P. support to charge Mr. Mayorkas. With Republicans in control of the House by a minuscule margin — and Democrats solidly opposed — they can afford no more than two defections. Two of their members have already said they will vote no, with a few others still publicly undecided. Skeptics have privately warned that if the House impeaches Mr. Mayorkas now, making him the first sitting cabinet member to suffer that fate, future Republican cabinet members could be subjected to the same treatment.

Persons: Alejandro, Mayorkas, Tom McClintock, Ken Buck, Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher, Wisconsin —, Mr Organizations: Republican Locations: California, Ken Buck of

☆ McConnell staked his legacy on a border-Ukraine deal. He may be too out of step with the GOP to save it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

He also joined with other top House Republicans Monday afternoon to implore Senate Republicans to kill it. McConnell is already facing one key defection: Sen. Steve Daines, who leads the Senate GOP's campaign arm, is lined up against the bipartisan deal. "This bill unites Senate Democrats and sharply divides Senate Republicans," Lee said in another post. Since then, a group of Senate Republicans has continued to be vocal about the difficulties of having a GOP leader who has an at best icy relationship with Trump. As of this writing, there's a chance a majority of Senate Republicans will stand against their leader.

Persons: —, Mitch McConnell, He's, Donald Trump's, McConnell, Mike Johnson, Trump, Sen, Steve Daines, doesn't, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Ben Sasse, Rob Portman, Roy Blunt, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, Sens, JD Vance, Ohio, Josh Hawley, Kari Lake, Mike Lee of, Lee, McConnell's, Chuck Schumer, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Jon Snow, Hawley, Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden, Rick Scott of, There's, Joe Biden's, there's Organizations: Service, Republican, Business, Democratic, Republicans, implore, Republican Party, Senate, Punchbowl News, Trump, GOP, Capitol Hill, Homeland Security, Senate Republicans, Capitol Locations: Ukraine, America, Asia, Sens, Utah, Missouri, Trump, Mike Lee of Utah, Washington, Rick Scott of Florida

[1/4] An illegal money changer checks old U.S. dollars at a marketplace in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 26, 2020. The government reintroduced the local currency in 2019, but it rapidly lost value. Zimbabwe's dollarization story is as full of warnings as it is with promise. During the five years before dollarization in 2000, the monthly measure of annualized inflation averaged 33% in Ecuador. "With our local currency we couldn't buy anything, it was very expensive to acquire things, so dollarization ... allowed people to have greater security in their purchases."

Persons: Javier Milei, Milei, Zimbabwe's, Bongiwe Mudau, Dollarization, dollarization, Mudau, Moses Mhlanga, Nestor Cerneaz, Wilson Andrade, Juan Carlos Villota, Guido Puig, Tito Correa, Nyasha, Miguel Lo Bianco, Rodrigo Campos, Adam Jourdan, Karin Strohecker, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Philimon, Rights, U.S ., Reuters, International Monetary Fund, hawker, Reuters Graphics Reuters, dollarization, Thomson Locations: Harare, Zimbabwe, Philimon Bulawayo, Rights QUITO, HARARE, BUENOS AIRES, Zimbabwe's, Quito, Ecuador, Argentina, El Salvador, greenbacks, Buenos Aires, Argentine, New York

☆ A $1.8 billion earthquake just hit the real estate industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

On Tuesday afternoon at a courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri, the collective nightmare of the real-estate industry became reality. For decades, the basic structure of how real-estate agents get paid when they help someone buy or sell their home has remained roughly the same. Here's how it works: When you list your home for sale on an MLS, you're required to offer a commission to the buyer's agent. The good buyer's agents who can prove their value will be fine, Brobeck predicted. The wild thing is, the decision could be just the beginning of tumult for the real-estate industry.

Persons: Burnett, —, Stephen Brobeck, Brobeck, Mike Rosenthal, Rosenthal, Sellers, Saul Klein, you've, Klein, Keller Williams, Bob Goldberg, Inman, Opendoor, James Rodriguez Organizations: National Association of Realtors, NAR, MLS, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer, nab, New York Times, Justice Department Locations: Kansas City , Missouri, Missouri , Illinois, Kansas, California

☆ Real-estate agents may be forced to charge home buyers less, thanks to a new $1.8 billion verdict
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

On Tuesday afternoon at a courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri, the collective nightmare of the real-estate industry became reality. For decades, the basic structure of how real-estate agents get paid when they help someone buy or sell their home has remained roughly the same. Here's how it works: When you list your home for sale on an MLS, you're required to offer a commission to the buyer's agent. The good buyer's agents who can prove their value will be fine, Brobeck predicted. Buyers might also start making offers on the condition that the seller agrees to pay both agents' commissions — otherwise, no deal.

As supplies of virtually every basic human necessity dwindle in Gaza, one group in the besieged enclave remains well-stocked: Hamas. Arab and Western officials say there is substance to Israeli claims of Hamas stockpiling supplies, including desperately needed food and fuel. One of the four Israeli hostages released by Hamas even described the group providing captives with medicine, shampoo and feminine hygiene products. The stockpiles are typically kept underground, they said, and cautioned that precise details on Hamas’s supplies were difficult to come by. Yet with Gazans facing a humanitarian catastrophe, Hamas’s stockpiles raise questions about what responsibility, if any, it has to the civilian population.

Organizations: Lebanese, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, Hamas, Egypt

☆ Truist in talks to sell insurance business for $10 bln - Semafor
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Truist Financial (TFC.N) is in talks to sell its insurance brokerage unit to private equity firm Stone Point for about $10 billion, news website Semafor reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Stone Point bought a 20% stake in the unit, known as Truist Insurance Holdings, in April in a deal that valued the business at $14.75 billion. When the transaction was unveiled in February, before the industry turmoil, Truist said it would continue to own 80% of the unit. The talks with Stone Point are ongoing, according to the Semafor report, which added that a deal may hinge on Stone Point's ability to scrounge up enough debt. Truist Financial declined to comment on the Semafor report, while Truist Insurance and Stone Point did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Persons: Semafor, Truist, Shivani Tanna, Niket, Maju Samuel, Shounak Organizations: Truist, Truist Insurance Holdings, Truist Insurance, Thomson Locations: U.S, dealmaking, Bengaluru

☆ DeSantis pins McCarthy's fall from grace on Trump, saying the congressman was a bad choice for speaker to begin with
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

DeSantis spoke out against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday. DeSantis linked McCarthy's rollercoaster of a speakership to Trump, who helped him get there. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Ron DeSantis went after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday in an interview, linking his downfall to former President Donald Trump. To temporarily fill his place, Interim Speaker Patrick McHenry has taken over speakership duties until a full-fledged speaker is elected.

Persons: DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Trump, —, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, denigrated DeSantis, it's, KEVIN, Patrick McHenry Organizations: Service, Florida Gov, Scripps News, Florida's, Congressional District, Caucus, CBS News, NBC News, Republican

☆ Some startup founders say VC influence is 'debilitating.' Here's why they are turning down outside funding and bootstrapping instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But when it comes to his current startup, an AI platform for businesses called Iterate, Nordmark is staunchly against relying on outside funding. Nordmark is part of a growing league of founders who are opting for bootstrapping, which means growing startups without relying on outside funding from investors. Six startup founders interviewed by Insider also say that in some cases, they're actively turning down opportunities for funding to keep maximum control of their business plans. Founders who have eschewed VC funding say that bootstrapping allows them to go — and grow — at their own pace. To be sure, some startup founders are still taking big checks from VCs when the timing is right.

Persons: Jon Nordmark, Samsonite, Nordmark, they're, it's, MailChimp, Brooke LeBlanc, VCs, Dr, Bobbi Wegner, SVB, Evan Jager, we're, Dori Yona, Jason Burke, – Burke Organizations: Insider, VCs, Apple, Oracle, Intuit, Founders Locations: VCs, Boston

☆ Hard Right Injects Immigration Into Spending Fight, Raising Shutdown Fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hard-right House Republicans are threatening to block a stopgap bill to keep the government funded unless it includes a security crackdown along the U.S.-Mexico border, escalating fears of a shutdown within weeks and injecting the supercharged politics of immigration into an already fraught stalemate over federal spending. leaders barely managed in May to scrounge together the Republican votes needed to pass it. It has stalled in the Democrat-controlled Senate and would render any spending bill that carried it dead on arrival there. It is the latest complication for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he seeks to bridge the considerable rifts within his party over spending and prevent a shutdown that is all but certain to tarnish Republicans politically. It is slated to occur on Oct. 1 unless Congress passes a temporary funding patch to allow more time for a deal.

Persons: Trump, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Biden Organizations: Republicans, Caucus, Democrat Locations: U.S, Mexico, scrounge

☆ ‘The Bear’ and a Chaotic Vision of Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Melissa Kirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Business leaders are resorting to desperate measures to entice workers back to the office, my colleague Emma Goldberg reported recently. “It’s been three years of scattershot plans for returning to in-person work — summoning people in, not really meaning it, everybody pretty much working wherever they pleased,” she wrote. One idea I haven’t seen floated is to offer screenings of the series “The Bear,” whose second season was released in June on Hulu. When it debuted last year, “The Bear” was praised for its authenticity, for depicting the chaos of a real restaurant kitchen. Hands are burned, fingers slashed; the pace of the prep rush turns the kitchen staff into sweating, shouting bodies, meat cooking meat.” Hardly a convincing argument for in-person work.

Persons: Emma Goldberg, “ It’s, ”, “, Will inducements, Salesforce, James Beard, ” James Poniewozik, begrudgingly Organizations: Hulu, The Locations: Chicagoland, The Times, The

☆ Real estate agents are tacking ludicrous 'junk fees' on to every home purchase
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The fee goes by many names: an administrative fee, a transaction fee, or even a "regulatory compliance" fee. Despite the controversy, all signs indicate that brokerages large and small have increasingly embraced the admin fee in recent years. The vast majority of real-estate agents are independent contractors who rely on commissions to earn a living. Admin fees may be one of the most polarizing topics among real-estate agents today. "I'm in a place in my business right now where I can justify paying that," the Las Vegas agent told me.

☆ An explosion of hidden 'junk fees' is making every home more expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

☆ Meet the 31-year old VC and self-made millionaire who faced Hong Kong loan sharks and his own fear of death
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

31-year old Maurice Ng came to the US with nothing after his family fled loan sharks in Hong Kong. It was a simple spreadsheet that inspired Maurice Ng at 29 to quit his job to become a venture capitalist. He deducted a little over 2,000 days for commuting time, and allowed himself 255 "regular sick days" and 10 "serious sick days." Assuming 3 meals a day, 365 days a year, 1 hour per meal, he deducted 5,817 days for eating. Despite the current turmoil in the tech industry and venture capital, Maurice seems to be inoculated against self doubt.

☆ 109-year-old went viral after celebrating his birthday with a belly dancer. Here are 12 lessons he says helped him have a happy, healthy life.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

After his marriage, Betty Markoff made sure he ate a mixture of protein vegetables, and rich deserts, but always eaten in moderation, he said. Later in life, Markoff made a good living as a vacuum salesman. From a young age, Markoff picked up odd jobs here and there, working as a shoeshine boy, newspaper boy, and more. Love deeply and take care of peopleMorrie and Betty Markoff on their 80th wedding anniversary. Courtesy of Thomas MarkoffMarkoff puts down a lot of his long life to luck.

☆ Stablecoin USDC breaks dollar peg after firm reveals it has $3.3 billion in SVB exposure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

USDC is known as a stablecoin, which means the value of the virtual currency is supposed to be pegged to a reference currency. USDC is designed to trade at $1, but it fell below 87 cents on Saturday, according to data from CoinDesk. Regulators shuttered SVB Friday and seized its deposits in what has become the largest U.S. banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis. In a tweet Friday, Circle said it has $3.3 billion in remaining reserves at SVB. SVB customers withdrew a staggering $42 billion of deposits by the end of Thursday, according to a California regulatory filing.

☆ Losses in Ukraine are 'out of proportion' to what NATO has been planning for, the alliance's top general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NATO leaders have been worried by the heavy casualties and massive ammunition usage in Ukraine. "The scale of this war is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking," NATO's top general said in January. Now the scale and intensity of the fighting in Ukraine has raised questions about the alliance's ability to fight a big-unit war against Russia. "Scale, scale, scale," US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told a Swedish defense conference in January. That Moscow is buying artillery shells from North Korea suggests that Russia's military is no shape to fight NATO and Ukraine.

☆ Kanye West still doesn't have lawyers, and it could cost him millions of dollars in lawsuit losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Ye, aka Kanye West, hasn't replaced lawyers who abandoned him following his antisemitic tirades. In another case in Los Angeles county court, lawyers have been trying to track down Ye since October to serve him with a lawsuit. That deadline is fast approaching, with radio silence from Ye, court filings show. In yet another case, lawyers for a plaintiff trying to sue Ye can't even find the rapper to serve him papers. If Ye doesn't come to court with an answer to the lawsuit, he risks losing it by default.

☆ Anyone can live and work in Svalbard, a group of Arctic islands, visa-free — as long as they don't run out of money and abide by a unique set of rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider spoke with four locals (one of whom was deported) about what it's like to work in Svalbard. Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago 500 miles from the North Pole, is home to the world's northernmost human settlement. He moved to the island from the US in 2008 with around $1 million dollars in the bank and ambitions to launch an English-language newspaper, Sabbatini told Insider. Courtesy of Martin FialaThanks to the local housing crisis, it's easier to find work on Svalbard than a place to live. The price to pay is that it's exhausting and chaotic, but that's pretty awesome," Fiala told Insider.

☆ What it's like to work in Svalbard, a group of Arctic islands where anyone can live visa-free — as long as you don't run out of money and abide by its unique set of rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

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