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☆ Dominion sued Fox News for $1.6 billion. Internal documents show the tech company is only worth $80 million at most, Fox says.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Dominion sued Fox News for $1.6 billion, alleging it helped spread election conspiracy theories. "Even under the most optimistic projections," they wrote, Staple Street did not forecast Dominion would be worth "anywhere near $1.6 billion." "At no time did Staple Street so much as hint to its investors, auditors, or anyone else that Dominion could be worth $1.6 billion," they wrote. "Yet, when Dominion decided to file a lawsuit to punish FNN for reporting the President's allegations about Dominion, Dominion chose to claim that Dominion's value was 20 times their highest estimate." The $1.6 billion lawsuit, Fox News argues, will have a chilling effect on media outlets everywhere.

☆ Fox News exec said 'the North Koreans do a more nuanced show' than the now-fired host Lou Dobbs: lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Cheryl Teh | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News president Jay Wallace said North Korean propaganda has more nuance than Lou Dobbs. Wallace's comments about Dobbs were cited in a court filing by Dominion Voting Systems. Wallace said in September 2020 that "the North Koreans do a more nuanced show" than Dobbs, per a filing from Dominion Voting Systems released on Thursday. This filing was part of Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion Voting Systems has alleged that Fox defamed it by pushing a false conspiracy theory that it manipulated election results.

☆ U.S. retail sales rebound strongly in January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that retail sales surged 3.0% last month. Some cautioned against reading too much into the jump in retail sales. The so-called seasonal adjustment factors likely flattered retail sales in January. Retail sales are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales increased 1.7% last month.

☆ Rudy Giuliani gets hit with 2 more counts in Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rudy Giuliani has to face two more claims in Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit. Smartmatic has also tried to include Fox News's parent company, Fox Corporation, as a defendant in the case. Lachlan Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch, who run Fox News's parent company Fox Corporation, were both deposed in a similar lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. The portions of Smartmatic's lawsuit against Powell were moved to a court in Washington, DC, where the case remains ongoing. Fox Corporation is a defendant in that lawsuit and the technology company was able to depose Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, court records show.

☆ U.S. weekly jobless claims increase, labor market still tight
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, but remained at levels consistent with a tight labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 196,000 for the week ended Feb. 4, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 190,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have remained low despite high-profile layoffs in the technology industry as well as the interest rate-sensitive finance and housing sectors. Economists speculate that severance packages were delaying the filing of unemployment benefits claims while the abundance of job openings made it easier for laid off workers to find new jobs.

☆ Paul Ryan will be deposed in Dominion's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News over election conspiracy theories
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dominion is scheduled to depose Paul Ryan in its lawsuit against Fox News. The company alleges Fox News pushed false conspiracy theories about its role in the 2020 election. Ryan joined the Fox Corporation board of directors in 2019 after choosing not to run for re-election in the 2018 midterms. A Friday court filing also shows that Dominion is soon scheduled to depose Raj Shah, another Fox Corporation executive. Dominion deposed Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch over two days, on January 19 and 20, court records show.

☆ The US Army has been dredging the Mississippi River 24/7 for 6 months. The drought crisis that grounded barges and unearthed fossils may finally be over.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The US Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the Mississippi River 24/7 since July. USACE maintains a nine-foot-deep channel down the Mississippi River, so that ships and barges can travel freely. A barge tows cargo down the Mississippi River, in Vicksburg, Mississippi during a historic drought. The National Weather Service predicts the likely removal of drought in much of the Mississippi River basin in February. The National Weather Service's outlook forecasts a likelihood of no drought in most of the Mississippi River basin into spring.

The TGA is a liability on the Fed's balance sheet. This means that when the TGA goes down, reserves go up, effectively administering an injection of liquidity into the system. chartThis runs counter to the Fed's current stance of pursuing a tighter monetary policy, of which draining liquidity from the system via QT is a part. Mark Cabana, head of U.S. rates strategy at Bank of America, calculates that since the Fed's QT program got underway last May, the Fed's balance sheet has shrunk by $406 billion and the TGA has dropped $422 billion. "Fed QT to date has been largely absorbed by lower TGA," he and his team wrote in a recent note.

☆ FTX execs gave campaign cash to 37% of Congress, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CoinDesk reported Wednesday that FTX execs, including Sam Bankman-Fried, gave campaign funds to 196 members of Congress. Among those named in the report include Kevin McCarthy, Chuck Schumer, and some lawmakers who were just sworn in this month. California Representative Lou Correa, for example, took a $2,900 donation directly from Bankman-Fried, CoinDesk found, although he said the two had never met or spoken. Some of the political campaigns told CoinDesk they have talked to FTX's bankruptcy team regarding what to do with the funds. Meanwhile, of the 196 members of Congress who accepted funds from former FTX executives, 73% did not respond to CoinDesk's' requests for comment.

☆ 'Sex Education' co-stars Wood and Mackey among BAFTA Rising Star nominees
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Emma Mackey and Aimee Lou Wood, who rose to fame on hit Netflix show "Sex Education", and historical epic "The Woman King" actor Sheila Atim are among the nominees in the rising star category in the BAFTA Film Awards. Mackey and Wood play close friends in the Netflix comedy drama about teenagers trying to figure out their love lives. Wood, who has previously won a BAFTA TV award for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for "Sex Education", was recognised on Tuesday for her role in drama "Living". Mackey was nominated for her portrayal of "Wurthering Heights" novelist Emily Bronte in biographical drama "Emily". The EE Rising Star Award is the only category voted for by the public at the annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts Film Awards, which this year will take place on Feb. 19 in London.

☆ 18 movies with valuable entrepreneurial lessons: From 'Startup.com' to 'Becoming Warren Buffett'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Vikas Jha | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Takeaway: This movie shows the effect money, greed and power can have on relationships. "The Social Network" (2010)"The Social Network" shows us that business success requires more than just a great idea. "Becoming Warren Buffett" (2017)In this documentary, Warren Buffett reveals his day-to-day, and his two most important investing rules. Takeaway: This movie shows how two young men were pitted against each other, striving to grow in a cut-throat business. I've found myself feeling motivated after watching a great film with lessons I can transpose to my entrepreneurial journey.

☆ Thousands sign petition to save 'sacred' Japan stadium where Ruth once played
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Elaine Lies | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of baseball fans have signed a petition to save an iconic Tokyo stadium nearly a century old where Babe Ruth once played and which inspired best-selling author Haruki Murakami to first pick up a pen. "The citizens of Tokyo are going to regret it," said Robert Whiting, who has written books on Japanese baseball and who over the weekend started an online petition to save the stadium, which "reeks of history." "They're going to lose a really beautiful, quiet, relaxing spot and a great place to watch a baseball game," he told Reuters. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig played there in 1934 as part of a Japanese tour, making the stadium only one of a handful remaining where Ruth played. By noon on Tuesday, Whiting's petition, addressed to Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike and several others, had almost 10,000 signatures.

Far from ignoring Lula's challenges to control the risks of this institutional shock, investors and analysts said however that the focus remains on fiscal issues when assessing the new government in the long term. If the new parameters are considered weak by the market, it could renew fears of fiscal dominance and prevent the BCB from easing." Discussions of the new fiscal framework are key under Lula's administration, after policymakers have highlighted inflationary risks arising from leftist President-elect's 168 billion reais ($32 billion) spending proposal to meet campaign promises. "The unsettled and deeply divided political environment and related high social tension keeps risk premia high and could undermine overall governability." (.JPMEGDBRAR)A mobilized opposition with the "potential to turn violent" is the main conclusion from Sunday's protests for the political risk advisory Eurasia Group.

☆ A new test for autism hopes to help doctors diagnose before symptoms show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Evan Bush | Evan Bush Is A Science Reporter For Nbc News. He Can Be Reached At Evan.Bush Nbcuni.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Researchers have discovered myriad risk factors associated with autism, including infections during pregnancy, air pollution and maternal stress. “We can detect the clear rhythm of autism with just about one centimeter of hair,” Arora said. Autism diagnosis timingArora and his team hope their technology could help young children, even newborns, receive early interventions for autism sooner than they can now. “We want to enable early intervention.”There is not yet a biological test for autism spectrum disorder. Perhaps eventually, that information could open up new pathways for the development of drugs or therapies for autism, he said.

☆ Fanatics is divesting its 60% stake in NFT company Candy Digital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Michael Rubin's sports platform company Fanatics is divesting its 60% stake in NFT company Candy Digital, according to an internal email obtained by CNBC. Candy Digital was founded in June 2021 in the middle of the sports NFT boom, competing with companies like Dapper Labs in the digital sports collectible space. It also released digital collectibles with Netflix 's Stranger Things, WWE , and several Nascar teams. Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day digital trading platforms that ranked No. "Over the past year, it has become clear that NFTs are unlikely to be sustainable or profitable as a standalone business," Rubin wrote.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Barbara Walters, pioneering TV journalist who began on ‘TODAY,’ dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Ethan Sacks | Ethan Sacks Writes For Nbcnews.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV broadcaster who blazed a trail for women in a male-dominated medium, died Friday. “Barbara Walters proved to be the evolutionary step between Edward R. Murrow and Oprah Winfrey.”Barbara Walters interviews Ronald Reagan in 1980 for ABC News. NBCMcGee, who died shortly after being partnered with Walters, demanded that he ask three questions to every one of Walter’s in studio interviews. So, Walters started fielding interviews outside the studio, quickly building a reputation as an incisive and probing questioner. After nearly 60 years in journalism, Walters announced she was retiring in 2014.

☆ Pioneering U.S. television journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Television personality Barbara Walters arrives for the premiere of the film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in New York September 20, 2010. "I asked Yeltsin if he drank too much, and I asked Putin if he killed anybody," Walters told the New York Times in 2013. "These two men were really quite brutal to me and it was not pleasant," Walters told the San Francisco Examiner. The New York Times called her "arguably America's best-known television personality" but also observed that "what we remember most about a Barbara Walters interview is Barbara Walters." Walters' three marriages - to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson - ended in divorce.

CNN —Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV journalist whose interviewing skills made her one of the most prominent figures in broadcasting, has died, her spokesperson confirmed to CNN. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women,” Walters’ spokesperson Cindi Berger told CNN in a statement. At that network, Walters launched “The Barbara Walters Specials” and “10 Most Fascinating People” before becoming a co-host and correspondent for ABC News’ “20/20” in 1984. Barbara Walters sits on the set of NBC's "Today" show in New York on April 23, 1976. Barbara Walters is seen at a news conference on September 30, 1976, in New York.

☆ A Texas superintendent ordered school librarians to remove LGBTQ books. Now the federal government is investigating.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | Mike Hixenbaugh | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

The U.S. Education Department’s civil rights enforcement arm has launched an investigation into a North Texas school district whose superintendent was secretly recorded ordering librarians to remove LGBTQ-themed library books. The comments, combined with the district’s subsequent decision to remove dozens of library books pending a review, fostered a “pervasively hostile” environment for LGBTQ students, the ACLU wrote in its complaint. Last year, voters in Granbury elected a pair of school board members who campaigned against LGBTQ-affirming school curricula and library books. “These comments, combined with the book removals, really send a message to LGBTQ students in the districts that: ‘You don’t belong here. Lou Whiting, a student at Granbury High School, becomes emotional after speaking against the removal of LGBTQ books at a Granbury school board meeting in March.

☆ The man behind Trump World’s myth of rigged voting machines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +32 min

He publicly announced his purchase of Montgomery’s data in August at a gathering in Missouri of hundreds of his followers. “I own it,” Lindell said of Montgomery’s data, touting it as irrefutable proof Trump was cheated. On Nov. 9, far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann linked Montgomery’s Hammer and Scorecard claims to a parallel conspiracy theory: that widely used voting machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems were rigged to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Powell amended her complaint a few days later and dropped the expert’s declaration and the references to Montgomery’s claims. But the government said in a recent court filing that the order has nothing to do with election data.

☆ Varadkar targets housing crisis on return as Irish prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I am thinking in particular of housing and how we have to go all-out to turn the corner on rising homelessness and falling homeownership. The 2020 coalition deal - which included the smaller Green Party - for the first time united Martin's Fianna Fail and Varadkar's Fine Gael, which are Ireland's dominant centre-right parties and have led every government since independence a century ago. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath will also swap roles under the deal while Martin, who will become deputy prime minister, is also expected to be appointed foreign minister. Varadkar indicated he would make very few other changes when he names his cabinet at around 1700 GMT. "We live in an Ireland where the housing emergency has gotten worse and where households struggle to get by.

AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, is dead — but the away message lives on, thanks to a recent Instagram update. Within hours of the platform unveiling the new features, social media users noticed Instagram notes' similarity to the away messages of the early 2000s. "Was not expecting instagram to reinvent AIM away messages tbh," writer Ella Cerón tweeted. Sports reporter Maddy Hudak wrote: "I’m sorry did Instagram give us AIM away messages lmao." Others pondered the ramifications of the AIM away message on those who grew up with it.

REUTERS/Mike BlakeDec 13 (Reuters) - Fox Corp (FOXA.O) Chairman Rupert Murdoch is set to be questioned under oath on Tuesday in a defamation lawsuit over his network’s coverage of unfounded vote-rigging claims during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The deposition comes as special committees of the boards of directors for News Corp (NWSA.O) and Murdoch-controlled Fox Corp consider a proposal from Murdoch to re-combine, nearly a decade after the companies split. Murdoch will be questioned via videoconference on Tuesday and Wednesday by lawyers for Dominion, according to a filing in Delaware Superior Court. On Dec. 5, Murdoch’s eldest son and executive chair and CEO of Fox Corp (FOXA.O), Lachlan, sat for a deposition in Los Angeles. Murdoch’s other son, James Murdoch, was questioned in October.

☆ Police officers to receive Congressional Gold Medals for Jan. 6
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

To recognize the hundreds of officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the medals will be placed in four locations — at U.S. Capitol Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution. Awarding the medals will be among House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s last ceremonial acts as she prepares to step down from leadership. Officers suffered physical wounds, including brain injuries and other lifelong effects, and many struggled to work afterward because they were so traumatized. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that immediately followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after one of the rioters sprayed him with a chemical. The Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow, has been handed out by the legislative branch since 1776.

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