DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ FTX crash shares eerie similarities with Bernie Madoff, ex-regulator Sheila Bair says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Sheila Bair, a top regulator during the 2008 financial crisis, told CNN there are eerie similarities between the dramatic rise and fall of Bankman-Fried and FTX and that of infamous Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff. Bair notes that 30-year-old Bankman-Fried, like Madoff, proved adept at using his pedigree and connections to seduce sophisticated investors and regulators into missing “red flags” hiding in plain sight. Up until the bankruptcy filing, FTX even had an application pending with federal regulators to clear derivatives, The Wall Street Journal reported. FTX’s bankruptcy filing indicates it had liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion at the time of the filing. — If you are an FTX customer and want to discuss how you have been impacted by the bankruptcy, please reach out to Matt.Egan@CNN.com

☆ For host Indonesia, a G20 summit dogged by Russia-Ukraine rancour
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Kate Lamb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of its southern neighbour sparked calls by some Western leaders for a boycott of the G20 summit and for the withdrawal of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation. Russia confirmed at almost the last minute that Putin would not attend the summit with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov taking his place. Indonesia will breath a sigh of relief as the summit opens but key issues remain unresolved. "We have to make sure that Russia's war is mentioned in the G20 declaration in one way or another. A traditional G20 "family photo" of leaders also appears to be off the table this year, sources say.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's sudden turn from white knight to washout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But as traders rushed to withdraw funds from FTX, Bankman-Fried was in denial and told investors he was convinced the business would be rescued, according to a source familiar with the situation. Bankman-Fried also quickly became one of the largest Democratic donors in the United States, contributing $5.2 million to President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. He amassed a fortune, estimated as high as $26.5 billion by Forbes a year ago, by taking advantage of the price differences in bitcoin in Asia and the United States. Bankman-Fried eventually started crypto trading firm Alameda Research in 2017 and founded FTX a year later. "I thought we would fail," Bankman-Fried said at a June conference weeks before FTX and Alameda extended lifelines to two struggling crypto platforms.

☆ Kevin Conroy, longtime voice of animated Batman, dies at 66
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

He played Batman in over 60 productions, according to DC (which shares parent company Warner Bros. His first and most enduring addition to the Batman canon is “Batman: The Animated Series,” which ran from 1992-1996, according to DC. To find the character, he turned to his Shakespearean training, saying he saw a bit of Hamlet in Bruce Wayne. One of the men he served recognized him, but a colleague didn’t believe that Conroy really was the voice of Batman. For many fans of Batman, Conroy was the first iteration of the Dark Knight they ever knew and loved.

☆ Unvaccinated infants were hospitalized with Covid more this summer than most age groups, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The average weekly hospitalization rate among young infants during this period was about 13.7 per 100,000. Fortunately, the surge in hospitalizations among young infants was not associated with increased severity. The spike in hospitalizations among young infants was due to high community transmission of the virus during omicron, according to CDC. The threshold for admitting young infants is also much lower than older children. Infants younger than six months are the only age group in the U.S. ineligible for the shots.

☆ A failed war helped bring down the Soviet Union. Now Putin's failing war in Ukraine might set Russia up for a bleak future.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan and Russia's current war in Ukraine have obvious similarities in their disastrous planning and execution. In the 1990s, Afghanistan veterans' sense of aggrievement fused with that of veterans returning from Boris Yeltsin's war in Chechnya. Putin's war, Russia's futurePutin meets soldiers at a military training center outside the town of Ryazan in October. While glasnost-era revelations about the Soviet war shocked the country into supporting withdrawal, these days there is little left to expose. Public self-criticism surrounding the Soviet war in Afghanistan, however brief and contested, shows that reassessment of imperial ambitions is possible.

☆ Turkish bankers fear regulatory burden will reverse profit boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Ebru Tuncay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Bankers forecast a very tough 2023 and beyond for earnings and lending, several of them told Reuters. Their share of outstanding loans has fallen to 29%, compared to 46% for state lenders that have increased their dominance in recent years. Other bankers said the regulations and rising costs have interfered with basic credit extension and could lead banks to cut operational costs. Authorities "tied the fate of the banking sector to state lenders with the recent regulations. Still, other sources close to the state lenders said these concerns are exaggerated given exporters, the focus of Erdogan's programme, are easily getting credit.

☆ CNN CEO Chris Licht is facing an increasingly angry newsroom as more layoffs loom, plans are murky, and staff have lost confidence after 'horrible programming decisions'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

CNN CEO Chris Licht has been faulted by the newsroom for too many changes and not enough communication. Chris Licht needs a hit. "People are starting to believe there is no plan," said one executive familiar with the workings of CNN. "Is Chris Licht going to be there for them and push back on government officials? Many on the ad sales team that was formerly dedicated to CNN have either been pink-slipped or joined the broader ad sales group under WBD ad honcho Jon Steinlauf.

A Republican is going to win the Alaska Senate race, but that hasn’t stopped Mitch McConnell from plowing millions of dollars into the deep-red state. Herschel Walker, the Senate candidate in Georgia backed by both Trump and McConnell, also says he would back McConnell. Apart from Tshibaka, Senate Republican candidate Don Bolduc in New Hampshire has said he would vote against McConnell for leader. (The Republican senator who requested anonymity voiced surprise at McConnell’s prediction and thought it betrayed some nervousness on his part. Although he voted to acquit Trump, McConnell called him “practically and morally responsible” for the assault on the Capitol.

☆ A 'magic' new AI tech has become the hottest thing in Silicon Valley, VCs said. Here's why everyone's watching 'generative artificial intelligence.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The field of generative AI, or AI that can create content, has recently exploded in popularity. Generative AI's rise to popularitySimply put, generative AI refers to artificial intelligence that can create content. Tech advancements over the past few years — specifically transformer and diffusion models — have made generative AI possible. AI models refer to the training and deployment of algorithms on a dataset. "I don't see generative AI today through its early use cases demanding any of those budgets quite yet."

[1/2] Chief Financial Officer of HSBC Georges Elhedery poses for a photo in this undated handout picture. It’s also surprised investors and raised questions about HSBC’s direction. Known at HSBC (HSBA.L) for his strategic vision more than for his accounting skills, Elhedery has climbed the ranks of HSBC’s investment bank since joining in 2005. "It was a surprise to us,” said Hugh Young, Asia chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments, one of HSBC's top 25 shareholders. CEO Noel Quinn has done a good job but investors are impatient for faster progress, Young said.

☆ Dr. Jha: A 'tripledemic' could hit the U.S., but 'we're not powerless against it'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A "tripledemic" also involving flu and RSV may soon unfold, says Dr. Ashish Jha. But there's good news: "We're not powerless against it," Jha, the White House's Covid response coordinator, said in a Tuesday interview with CBS News. Jha pointed to the widely available vaccines targeting two of the three respiratory viruses: the flu shot and the new omicron-specific Covid booster. "If people went out and got their vaccines, we could really get through this without getting into a lot of trouble," Jha said. Getting those shots is the key to combatting all three viruses because it'll help keep hospital beds open for potential patients across the country, Jha added.

☆ NASA instrument detects dozens of methane super-emitters from space
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The device, called an imaging spectrometer, has identified more than 50 methane "super-emitters" in Central Asia, the Middle East and the Southwestern United States since it was installed in July aboard the International Space Station, NASA said on Tuesday. The newly measured methane hotspots - some previously known and others just discovered - include sprawling oil and gas facilities and large landfills. "Some of the (methane) plumes EMIT detected are among the largest ever seen - unlike anything that has ever been observed from space," said Andrew Thorpe, a JPL research technologist leading the methane studies. Examples of newly imaged methane super-emitters showcased by JPL on Tuesday included a cluster of 12 plumes from oil and gas infrastructure in Turkmenistan, some plumes stretching more than 20 miles (32 km). EMIT, one of 25 Earth science instruments in orbit, could potentially find hundreds of methane super-emitters before its year-long mission ends, NASA said.

That loyal inner circle has not only strengthened Xi’s hold on power – but also tightened his grip over China’s future. In the eyes of Xi, China is closer than ever to achieving its dream of “national rejuvenation” and reclaiming its rightful place in the world. What he decides to do – and how he goes about doing it – will have a profound impact on the world. Under Xi, Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, sending warplanes and conducting military drills near the island. Xi continues to back a costly zero-Covid policy that keeps borders heavily restricted and regularly sends its cities into lockdown – dragging down China’s economic growth.

Promoted despite facing difficulties in leading China's capital, Cai is much like another Xi ally elevated to the Standing Committee, Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang. Cai and Li on Sunday joined a long list of Shanghai and Beijing Party bosses that have been promoted to the Standing Committee. Cai was promoted in 2014 to general office deputy director at the Beijing-based National Security Commission, a body founded and chaired by Xi. In 2017, just weeks after the 19th Party Congress, Cai faced loud public criticism over the forced eviction of migrant workers on Beijing's outskirts. A decade later, during a Beijing Party committee meeting on cyberspace and ideology hosted by Cai, no mention was made of citizens using social media to hold officials accountable.

☆ The decider: Jill Biden’s unparalleled influence and impact on the president
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Carol-Lee-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +17 min

WASHINGTON — Whenever his aides are pressed about President Joe Biden’s political future, they’ll often point to one person as the true decider: his wife of 45 years, Jill Biden. Eager to introduce herself to Gina McCarthy, then the president’s chief climate adviser, she gathered some flowers from a White House garden and brought them to her office, according to White House aides. When the realization of her new security restrictions sunk in, Jill Biden told her staff she didn’t want to become isolated. Journeys outside the protective cocoon of the White House expose her to the vitriol coursing through the nation’s politics. “I don’t pay attention because I just don’t want to hear it,” Jill Biden said.

☆ 'Ticket to Paradise' review: George Clooney and Julia Roberts get some mileage out of their rom-com pairing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Think of “Ticket to Paradise” like a postcard of beautiful people having fun in a beautiful place and you’ll get along just fine. Giving it much more thought than that won’t help this rom-com vehicle for George Clooney and Julia Roberts, although the “com” part proves a trifle deficient in a movie that’s significantly better when it’s sweet than salty. Here We Go Again”), “Ticket to Paradise” fares better in the inevitable softer moments, allowing the leads to mug less and feel more. “Ticket to Paradise” does tend to shine when Clooney and Roberts soften their rough edges or let their hair down, as they do during a game of drunken mystery-alcohol (not beer) pong. “Ticket to Paradise” premieres in US theaters on October 21.

☆ Prime Medicine dipped 10% in its public debut. We dug through the biotech's 283-page filing to find 5 key takeaways about the company's plan to commercialize gene editing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The gene-editing biotech Prime Medicine went public on Thursday. From a key patent to an uncertain timeline, here are five takeaways from Prime's filing. Its goal is to advance prime editing, a twist on CRISPR gene editing that could allow for a wider range of edits to DNA. Prime editing, another version of next-generation gene editing, works like a word processor, "searching for the correct location and replacing or repairing a wide variety of target DNA," the filing said. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesDavid Liu, a Harvard gene-editing scientist who co-invented base editing and prime editing, is Prime's largest shareholder.

☆ Dr. Fauci: These 2 new fast-spreading omicron Covid subvariants are ‘pretty troublesome'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As winter inches closer, Dr. Fauci is sounding the alarm about a pair of "pretty troublesome" Covid variants. There's no guarantee that the two strains will eventually overtake BA.5 as the dominant variant in the country. But if they do spread rapidly, they could threaten to reverse a nationwide decline in Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths, leading Fauci to urge Americans against letting their guard down. Scientists from Peking University in China published a study earlier this month that found BQ.1.1's ability to evade antibodies was "far exceeding" that of BA.5. The CDC recommends masking indoors if you're in a county with a substantial or high-level spread of Covid.

☆ Who's up and who's down in the latest Goldman Sachs restructuring under CEO David Solomon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

And he will also oversee a wealth management business that is now going to include portions of the consumer business, but wrapped in a wealth management offering. Both, according to Bloomberg's reporting, are being demoted to senior positions within Nachmann's asset and wealth management division. Stephanie CohenAnother executive thought by insiders to have lost some of her territory is Stephanie Cohen, the co-head of the consumer and wealth management division. Had Cohen been able to successfully helm the consumer and wealth management division alongside Tucker York, the currently discussed changes wouldn't have been needed, the people said. Cohen's co-head, York, will now return to his prior role of running the bank's successful private wealth management business.

☆ Inside the cold war between Amazon and unions, which are wielding drones and secret agents to expose the company's labor practices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Katherine Long | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Unions infiltrated Amazon construction sites in Oregon and Washington seeking regulatory violations. On a frosty morning in February 2021, Tom Tanner walked into an under-construction Amazon warehouse in eastern Washington seeking work. Campaigns to organize Amazon warehouse workers have grabbed national headlines. Amazon workers at the LDJ5 Amazon Sort Center join a rally in support of the union on April 24 in Staten Island, New York. Wendell Jeffson in a boom lift at the Amazon warehouse in Shelby, Michigan, when he was 17.

☆ Omicron BA.5 is declining in the U.S. as emerging variants gain ground, CDC data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Omicron BA.5 has splintered into several new but related variants that include BQ.1, BQ.1.1 and BF.7. In the U.S., omicron BA.5 makes up about 68% of all new infections, down from about 80% at the beginning of October. But Jha said the new omicron boosters that the U.S. started rolling out last month should provide better protection than the first-generation vaccines against these emerging variants. The boosters target BA.5 and the emerging variants are all omicron and most descend from BA.5. Pfizer and BioNTech on Thursday published the first human data from their BA.5 shots.

☆ Mark Meadows told incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain during the presidential transition that 'no president' received a daily intelligence briefing: book
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meadows told Klain that "no president" received a daily briefing, per Maggie Haberman's new book. In "Confidence Man," Haberman detailed how Klain asked for Biden to get a daily intelligence brief. "I know the president's saying these things," Meadows told Klain at the time, per the book. "How many days a week is Vice President Biden gonna want this daily brief?" Biden also received daily briefings during his time as vice president under then-President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

☆ Prime Medicine is gearing up for a $200 million IPO. We dug through the biotech's 282-page filing to find 5 key takeaways about the company's plan to commercialize gene editing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

From an uncertain timeline to the clinic to a key patent, here are 5 takeaways from Prime's filing. The company's goal is to advance prime editing, a twist on CRISPR gene editing that could allow for a wider range of edits to DNA. Prime editing is another version of next-generation gene editing. Prime's filing comes in a difficult market for biotechs, but particularly for companies that have yet to start human testing. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesDavid Liu, a Harvard gene-editing scientist who co-invented base editing and prime editing, is currently Prime's largest shareholder.

Refiners, insurers, shippers and traders would be able to deal in Russian crude and products if they adhere to the price cap and its associated compliance measures. For argument's sake let's assume a Brent price of $80 by December when the ban comes into effect, and a price cap for Russian crude of $60. However, the United States and Europe may actually not mind cheating on the price cap, depending on how the money is split up. More tankers will be required to ship Russian crude given an increase in voyage times if the crude and products go to Asia rather than Europe. The oil industry would likely prefer that Europe and the United States don't place restrictions on Russian crude, but this currently isn't an option from a political perspective.

Search resuls for: "ADEPT"

25 mentions found