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☆ Omicron XBB.1.5 does not have mutations known to make people sicker, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant does not have any mutations known to make people sicker when they catch the virus, according to a World Health Organization risk assessment published Wednesday. The WHO said XBB.1.5 is one of the Covid subvariants that is most adept at dodging immunity from vaccination or infection. It is just as immune evasive as another subvariant in its family, XBB.1, which was the Covid variant that best dodged antibodies that block infections. The global health organization said XBB.1.5 has a growth advantage in the U.S., particularly in the Northeast, where it has rapidly become dominant. The organization said it needs more data on how fast XBB.1.5 is spreading in other countries.

☆ Seeking nominations for the rising stars in public relations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is seeking nominations for the industry's rising stars to know. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyInsider is seeking nominations for its fourth annual list of PR's rising stars. We're looking for both PR pros from agencies and in-house teams who are below the VP level, and based in the US. Submit your nominations using the Google form below. Submit your nominations here and include as much detail as to why your nominee deserves to be recognized.

☆ Democrats will be defending a slim Senate majority in 2024. Here's an early look at the states that will likely be in play for both political parties.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The 2024 Senate elections — which will run concurrent with the presidential race — are approaching. In 2024, 34 senators will be up for reelection: 20 Democrats, 11 Republicans, and three Independents. But Sinema's election itself is another matter; she has not yet announced whether she will run for reelection in 2024. He has not yet decided if he will run in 2024, but Republicans have been eyeing his seat for years. But he has done it before, winning in 2018 despite Republicans going all-out to defeat him.

☆ My first time driving a Tesla showed me why people are so obsessed with Elon Musk's electric cars
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

First, the basicsThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe Model Y is Tesla's small SUV and its most popular product. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe display is super responsive to taps and swipes and features crisp graphics. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderPlus, the Model Y lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Our impressions: An excellent choice, but not the only optionThe Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderAs it turns out, the Tesla fans have a point. The Tesla Model Y. Tim Levin/InsiderThe Model Y is a great choice for many buyers, but Tesla isn't the only game in town anymore.

☆ How Gerry Cardinale became the go-to dealmaker for the likes of the Yankees, AC Milan, and Ben Affleck
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

He bought the soccer club AC Milan in August, earning the attention of the Italian press. This past spring, AC Milan won its first national title in 11 years. Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images Show less Cardinale at a training session for AC Milan. For instance, the teams sell each other's merchandise in their stadiums, and the YES Network airs AC Milan games. "Now we have a new phase of expansion and internationalization of AC Milan with Gerry."

☆ West backs Nigeria's war on extremists, and backs off on human rights
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Reuters Graphic | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +21 min

“While respect for human rights is unquestionably a high priority, we have many other equities at stake,” McCulley wrote. He said the focus on human rights had sent relations between the two countries into the “lowest ebb” in his three years there. Nigeria’s human rights record wasn’t only a moral issue – it was a legal one. Working under these laws provided “openings to incentivise and institutionalise” human rights protections within the Nigerian military, the State Department said. The pact also noted that London and Abuja had agreed on an “enhanced human rights dialogue” to ensure compliance with international rights standards.

☆ 26 AI experts who left Google to start new companies in 2022 as machine learning ushers in a new era of lifelike AI
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A wave of new startups former Google AI experts have launched hit the scene in 2022. They've collectively raised hundreds of millions of dollars and are build next-generation AI tools. Here are 26 former Google employees who left in roughly the last year, identified by Insider. At least four other Google AI employees joined Inflection AI this year. Insider identified 26 former Google AI researchers and employees who left the tech giant for machine-learning startups in roughly the past year:

☆ Putin's speeches invoke Russia's fight against fascism in WWII to justify the war in Ukraine — and use propaganda strategies from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, historian says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

What similarities do you see between the messaging put forth by Putin and Russia today compared to Soviet Union propaganda? You compared the speech Putin gave announcing the annexation of four Ukrainian territories to the Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels. One of the more worrisome trends in Putin speeches, especially in the last six or seven months, has been how amorphous, almost existential they've been. He said what the West has done is create a culture of lies about Russia that's reminiscent of Goebbels. It's really hard to overstate how many war movies have come out in Russia in the last 10 years.

☆ Russia's military is easy to fool, but that makes dealing with Moscow even riskier, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

That has led the Russian military into repeated battlefield failures and high combat losses. What makes Russian troops easy to deceive also makes it harder to influence Russian decision-making. Ukraine has fooled Russian forces on numerous occasions, tricking Russian troops into wasting ammo on dummy targets and masking its own counterattacks. Russian troops also often lack the "situational awareness for contextual judgment" that is needed to choose between competing battle plans. The Russian military, like its Soviet predecessor, also suffers from over-compartmentalization.

☆ Factbox: Who is the 'bikini killer' Charles Sobhraj?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of Charles Sobhraj, a French national known as the "bikini killer" who police say is responsible killing over 20 young Western backpackers across Asia during the 1970s and 1980s. Here are some facts about Sobhraj:* Sobhraj, 78, was born to an Indian father and Vietnamese mother. * Sobhraj returned to France following his release in India. Sobhraj denied killing the American woman, whose body was found in a wheat field near the Nepali capital. * Nepal's Supreme Court ordered his release due to his age.

Three sources briefed on OpenAI's recent pitch to investors said the organization expects $200 million in revenue next year and $1 billion by 2024. OpenAI was most recently valued at $20 billion in a secondary share sale, one of the sources said. The startup has already inspired rivals and companies building applications atop its generative AI software, which includes the image maker DALL-E 2. OpenAI has also attracted attention as an AI provider and potential Google search competitor, with ChatGPT answering queries for more than 1 million users so far. OpenAI warns users, ChatGPT "may occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content."

☆ China's stunning reversal on lockdowns showed that mass protests can influence policy change in the country — but experts say it still doesn't threaten Xi's regime
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But experts on China say it's unlikely the protests will embolden future political movements. The changes come after protests against COVID measures erupted all across China — rare for a country where dissent is snuffed out quickly. Baogang He, the chair of international relations at Deakin University in Australia, agreed that the protests show how mass anger can influence government policy, but not regime change. "No one is strong enough to exploit or dare to use these protests to mount a challenge to Xi Jinping," Xi, the professor, told Insider. Chong said that although Xi holds extensive power in China, the protests and subsequent rollback both underscore how he can make major mistakes, too.

☆ Freight railroad service is terrible, even without the threat of a strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But that doesn’t mean freight railroads are providing good service to their customers. Many of the problems tangling up the supply chain, driving up prices and slowing the economy can be traced to the steady decline in freight rail service in recent years. Some experts who represent rail customers who have complained about service in the past say service has gotten better since earlier this year. “The national freight rail network is broken, and the need for long-term rail reform is clear. Union Pacific (UNP), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKA) Burlington Northern Santa Fe all reported record earnings in 2021.

☆ Omicron subvariants that more easily dodge immunity are causing more than 70% of U.S. infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The most immune evasive omicron subvariants yet are now causing more than 70% of new infections in the U.S., as millions of Americans prepare to travel and gather with family for the holidays later this month. Scientists, in several independent studies, have described the BQ and XBB subvariants as more adept at evading immunity from vaccination and infection than prior versions of the virus. They pose a significant threat to people with compromised immune systems because key antibody treatments are resistant to them. The Food and Drug Administration last week pulled bebtelovimab, a monoclonal antibody used to prevent people who catch Covid from developing severe illness. Many people with weak immune systems, such as organ transplant patients, cannot take Paxlovid with their other medications.

☆ Chinese hackers stole at least $20 million in US COVID-19 relief cash, the Secret Service says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Cheryl Teh | Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Chinese hacker group stole at least $20 million from the US government, the Secret Service says. These funds were meant for COVID-19 relief, the Secret Service told NBC on Monday. The Secret Service says the hackers responsible are APT41, Chinese state-sponsored cybercriminals. A Secret Service spokesman told NBC News that APT41, a Chinese state-sponsored cyber criminal group, was responsible for stealing millions of dollars from the government coffers. Representatives for the Secret Service and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Nick Bollettieri, coach who worked with some of tennis' biggest stars, dies at 91
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Nick Bollettieri, the Hall of Fame tennis coach who worked with some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Andre Agassi and Monica Seles, and founded an academy that revolutionized the development of young athletes, has died. But it takes crazy people to do things that other people say cannot be done.”The Bollettieri Tennis Academy opened in 1978 in Bradenton, Florida, and was purchased by IMG in 1987. The IMG Academy now spans more than 600 acres and offers programs in more than a half-dozen sports in addition to tennis. For spending money, Bollettieri began teaching tennis for $1.50 an hour, according to the Hall of Fame. After a few months, he dropped out of law school to concentrate on coaching.

☆ Hackers linked to Chinese government stole millions in Covid benefits, Secret Service says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Sarah Fitzpatrick | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Kit-Ramgopal-Byline.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Hackers linked to the Chinese government stole at least $20 million in U.S. Covid relief benefits, including Small Business Administration loans and unemployment insurance funds in over a dozen states, according to the Secret Service. One senior Justice Department official called it “dangerous” and said it had serious national security implications. ‘The horse is out of the barn’As soon as state governments began disbursing Covid unemployment funds in 2020, cybercriminals began to siphon off a significant percentage. China’s targets include state governments, which can have inadequate cybersecurity defenses. “The state governments don’t allocate a lot of cyber protection money to their state I.T.

☆ A new species of penguin-like diving dinosaur has been discovered
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Zoe Sottile | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A new study found evidence at least one species of dinosaur may have been an adept swimmer, diving into the water like a duck to hunt its prey. The study, published in Communications Biology on December 1, describes a newly-discovered species, Natovenator polydontus. Scientists from Seoul National University, the University of Alberta, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences collaborated on the paper. The Natovenator specimen is very similar to Halszkaraptor, another dinosaur discovered in Mongolia, which scientists believe was likely semiaquatic. “There is a real question of, OK, you’ve got a swimming dinosaur in the desert, what’s it swimming in?” he said.

☆ Noom sells psychology-driven weight loss — but former employees say they were unprepared for and overwhelmed by users' eating disorders, depression, and trauma
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

Before joining Noom, users fill out a questionnaire asking about what diet programs or mental health apps they've used in the past. Very overly optimistic and happy, doesn't acknowledge what I'm really saying," one Noom user wrote on Reddit. Some of the coaches Insider interviewed said they were interacting with Noom users within two weeks of starting. Emotional bandwidthRachel Clair was hired as a Noom coach in 2018, at a time when the coaching staff grew from 60 to about 200. Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty ImagesIn October, 500 more Noom coaches were abruptly called into a virtual meeting and laid off.

☆ Don’t want to give your kid a smartphone? Here are some alternatives
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

For most parents, figuring out whether to give your child a smartphone can be a challenging task. Indeed, according to a 2021 study, more than two-fifths (42%) of children now own their own phone by age 10. How to decide if your child is readyBefore deciding whether or not to give your child a smartphone, it's important to consider if they are ready for one. How beneficial would a phone be for your child, both in terms of their safety and their social development? "The current evidence doesn't support a specific age at which a smartphone is or is not recommended," Megan Moreno, a pediatrics professor at the University of Wisconsin said.

Mixed messaging and unclear answers from police would have given whoever fatally stabbed four students in the Idaho college town of Moscow more time to flee, law enforcement experts say. It was two days after the slayings when the department said in a news release that it was "working closely" with the Idaho State Police and other state and federal agencies. The last homicide involving the University of Idaho was in 2011, when a professor fatally shot a graduate student he had been dating before taking his own life. "They have access to the Idaho State Police, which runs a branch of the crime lab in Coeur d'Alene, not far from Moscow," he said. "We know you want answers," Idaho State Police Director Kedrick Wills said at Sunday's news conference.

☆ Nimble retailers Costco, TJX to benefit from improving supply chains, Cowen says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

At the same time, the bank called TJX its "top pick within off-price retail for supply chain margin recovery." The retail industry has been weighed down by a global supply chain crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But with the Federal Reserve aggressively raising interest rates to suppress demand and rein in inflation, supply chain bottlenecks are now beginning to ease. Cowen's take Costco's supply chain this year has been interrupted by port delays, shortages of raw materials and labor costs. On TJX, we agree that supply chain volatility creates opportunities for the off-price retailer, as its business model targets name brands struggling with excess supply.

☆ From digital wallet accounts to shares in project ownership, the metaverse will reimagine money as we know it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Mastercard With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In Asia, brands have an opportunity to drive value by creating new experiences for customers in the metaverse. At its core, the metaverse is an interconnection of immersive, real-time virtual experiences. It's still more idea than reality — virtual or otherwise. Making virtual reality realFor "value" in the metaverse, we can substitute the word "experiences." Money will be expressed in new ways, from digital wallet accounts to tokens (like cryptocurrency) that represent rewards, vouchers, or a slice of ownership in a project or service.

☆ 2 little-known intel agencies are helping US partners keep an eye on Russia's and China's frontline forces
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Two little-known US intelligence agencies have made significant contributions to countering Russia in Ukraine. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office have gathered and distributed valuable information about Russian activity. Little-known intel agenciesA National Reconnaissance Office payload is launched into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in September 2017. US Air Force/Senior Airman Ian DudleyThe US response to Russia's war in Ukraine has pulled the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office out of the shadows. NRO satellites have many customers, but the NGA is probably the most reliant on the satellites operated by the NRO.

☆ 'Spirited' review: Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds try their hands (and feet) at musical comedy in 'A Christmas Carol' spoof
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —For those wondering who would build a giant holiday musical-comedy around Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds, the “produced by Will Ferrell” credit provides a helpful clue. “Spirited” tries turning “A Christmas Carol” on its head, and while it’s big and boisterous, the movie (hitting theaters before Apple TV+) isn’t consistently irreverent enough to feel like much more than a streaming stocking stuffer. Of course, playing with Charles Dickens’ oft-told tale brings a lot of shorthand to the proceedings, with Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who stumbles upon Reynolds’ fast-talking Clint Briggs, a media consultant introduced trying to commoditize Christmas. Present identifies him as a candidate to become their next “perp,” offered a Scrooge-like shot at redemption. “Spirited” premieres November 11 in select US theaters and November 18 on Apple TV+.

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