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☆ Turkey investigates building contractors as quake toll rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Eloisa LopezhISTANBUL, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Turkey will widen an investigation into building contractors suspected of violating safety standards following its devastating earthquake, the interior minister said, as the country stepped up housing plans for victims. "Our cities will be built in the right places, our children will live in stronger cities. The number of people killed in Turkey in this month's devastating earthquakes has risen to 43,556, Soylu said overnight. Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum said 164,000 buildings with more than 530,000 apartments were destroyed or severely damaged by the earthquake. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6 damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings and left millions homeless.

☆ ChatGPT is for suckers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Chatbots are bullshit engines built to say things with incontrovertible certainty and a complete lack of expertise. What is it that makes human beings trust a machine we know is untrustworthy? After millennia of debate, the world's leading philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists haven't even agreed on a mechanism for why people come to believe things, or what beliefs even are. We want Google results to be true, because we think of Google as a trusted arbiter, if not an authority. The power of storyAnother possible explanation of why we're suckers for chatbots is that we're suckers for explanation.

☆ Bolsonaro Says He Will Return to Brazil in March to Lead Opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Luciana Magalhaes | Samantha Pearson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ORLANDO, Fla.—Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he plans to return to Brazil in March to lead the political opposition to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and defend himself against accusations he incited attacks by protesters on government buildings last month. “The right-wing movement is not dead and will live on,” Mr. Bolsonaro said in his first interview since leaving Brazil for Florida late last year after a narrow election loss to Mr. da Silva. He said he would work with backers in Congress and state governments to push what he called pro-business policies and to fight abortion, gun control and other policies he says run counter to family values.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond lines up funding in a last-ditch bid to avoid bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A Bed Bath & Beyond store in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Bed Bath & Beyond will live to see another day – at least for now. Bed Bath will receive $225 million in the offering up front plus an additional $800 million in proceeds over time, the company said. Whatever's left over will be used to aid Bed Bath's attempt at a turnaround, the company said. The efforts have evidently failed thus far, forcing Bed Bath to go to the public markets for funding.

☆ Some UN Afghan aid delivered by men only, donors voice alarm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

PRECEDENT TO REGRETAny potential change to the U.N. approach to food aid following the ban has alarmed some donor nations and aid groups. Ambassador to the United Nations, Lisa Carty, said on Wednesday during a briefing by Griffiths to U.N. member states. Griffiths stressed that Afghan women need to work in food aid distribution to ensure supplies reached the most vulnerable - women and girls. The United Nations has appealed for $4.6 billion to fund the aid operation in Afghanistan in 2023. Griffiths and the heads of some international aid groups met Taliban officials last week to push for more, including in the areas of cash and food aid distribution.

☆ DC's slate for its new movie and TV universe is bizarre, risky, and a bit confusing — but still promising
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

DC Studios announced the first wave of movies and TV shows for the new DC universe. There are also aspects of the old DC movie universe — but it still shows promise. The slate, titled "Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters," is, to put it plainly, bizarre — and even a bit risky. If anything, it's still a bit of the old DC Extended Universe. If Gunn and Safran wanted to keep any aspects of the old DC movie universe, they picked the right ones.

☆ The Palestinian president and his unfulfilled quest for a state
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

He was an early member of Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) faction that dominated Palestinian politics for decades. He became leader of both when Arafat died in 2004, and a year later was elected president of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited sovereignty in the West Bank. Behind them were U.S. President Bill Clinton, Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, applauding warmly. When the Palestinian leadership returned from exile to Gaza after the Oslo Accords Abbas was upbeat, promising: "I will live in Palestine." Hamas routed Fatah in a civil war in Gaza, leaving Abbas with control of Palestinian-administered areas in the West Bank but there have been no Palestinian elections since.

☆ Pope Francis to visit two fragile African nations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] Pope Francis attends the Vespers prayer service to celebrate the conversion of St. Paul at St. Paul's Basilica in Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis starts a trip on Tuesday to two fragile African nations often forgotten by the world, where protracted conflicts have left millions of refugees and displaced people grappling with hunger. Both countries are rich in natural resources - DRC in minerals and South Sudan in oil - but beset with poverty and strife. DRC is getting its first visit by a pope since John Paul II travelled there in 1985, when it still was known as Zaire. Trott, a former ambassador in South Sudan, said he hoped the three Churchmen can convince political leaders to "fulfil the promise of the independence movement".

☆ Tyler Posey is going to keep playing Scott McCall as long as 'Teen Wolf' fans will let him
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Olivia Singh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Tyler Posey as Scott McCall on season one of "Teen Wolf." Tyler Posey as Scott, Vince Mattis as Eli, and Crystal Reed as Allison in "Teen Wolf: The Movie." "I hope there's more 'Teen Wolf,'" Posey reiterates. Tyler Posey as Scott McCall in "Teen Wolf: The Movie." "But also, 'Teen Wolf' has been known to bring every single person back from the dead, so it's never finite."

☆ I didn't really understand the healthcare disparities for Black women. Then my cousin died while delivering her daughter.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kelly Burch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mykesha Mack's cousin April Valentine died on January 10. April had chosen Centinela Hospital in part because she could be under the care of a Black doctor. My cousin just died." When I got up to the maternity floor, April's fiancé walked toward me, but I brushed him aside. April's fiancé, mom, and sister are all looking after the baby, spreading the load as they navigate their grief.

☆ Amazon is paying influencers to test its new TikTok competitor, Inspire. Creators with access break down how it works.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Three influencers and one talent manager told Insider that Amazon offered the creators payments to post short vertical videos. The Amazon Influencer Program will occasionally run limited time incentives like this around new projects, the company told Insider. Content posted to the Amazon Influencer storefront of creators in the Amazon Influencer Program are eligible to appear in Inspire. The content on Amazon Inspire won't look exactly like traditional UGC, since it will live on the influencer's account. But, like with UGC, creators with smaller followers will have a chance to make money, since Inspire's main feed doesn't rely on creators having a large following.

☆ We sold our belongings and bought a $2.5 million cabin on a luxury residential cruise ship that will sail the world. Here's what we're excited about and how we're preparing to live at sea.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

We got the whole ship, and we're going to be going ashore as much as we like. They sold their house and went all-in on living at seaAngela: We opted for the leasehold period of 24 years. That's really what we're gonna live off of. So everyone that's living on this ship, you're not going to be having the carnival nights and the crazy college party ambiance. Well, the Narrative is not going to spend just one day at port, they're going to spend three days, four days, five days depending on where you're going.

☆ Moderna, Pfizer's new race: The RSV vaccine FDA approval process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Both companies have released results from RSV vaccine trials with efficacy results strong enough to expect expedited approval from the FDA. The companies — which have been involved in litigation brought by Moderna alleging mRNA patent infringement, a claim Pfizer disputes — are both expected the FDA approval process for the RSV vaccine to occur soon. We can use the same, the same equipment and raw materials as the Covid vaccine." The RSV approval process is just one part of a widening vaccine industry for these two companies. "Every strain is treated as suspicious and we start working on it to see if it can overcome the vaccine," Bourla said.

☆ Netflix to live-stream Screen Actors Guild Awards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanJan 11 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) will live-stream the annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards beginning in 2024, as it explores bringing live programming to its service. The streaming giant stepped in to carry the SAG Awards, which had lost its broadcast home on cable networks TNT and TBS. Netflix will stream this year's ceremony on its YouTube Channel and, next year, stream the awards show to subscribers via Netflix's service. Nominees will be announced at 7 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday and the 29th Annual SAG awards take place on Feb. 26. Netflix is in the early days of testing live broadcasts, as it contemplates bringing live sports to the platform.

☆ Donald Trump's longtime money man, Allen Weisselberg, quickly gets coveted cot in 'safest place' at Rikers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg breezed through intake at NYC's infamous Rikers jail. The West Facility houses only Rikers inmates serving sentences of under one year, Mualimmak-Ak said. A dorm in the West Facility of Rikers, where the ex-CFO of Donald Trump's real-estate company is serving 5 months for masterminding a decade-long payroll tax-fraud scheme. The West Facility is constructed of high-tech plastic fabric stretched over aluminum frames, according to the DOC website. An exterior shot of the West Facility, new home at Rikers jail for Allen Weisselberg, longtime CFO for former President Donald Trump.

☆ 'Don't Say Gay' feud advances with new proposed legislation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The notice serves as a procedural step in what has become a closely watched process between Disney and Florida. DeSantis and statehouse Republicans slammed Disney, saying the entertainment giant had become a purveyor of so-called woke ideologies that are inappropriate for children. The squabble marked a rare moment of discord between the state and Disney, one of Florida’s largest employers and a major political donor. It also provided another front in an ongoing culture war that has made DeSantis one of the nation’s most popular Republicans. Having a separate government allows the company to provide zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure services on its sprawling property.

Ron DeSantis will seek to bring Disney's special governing district under direct state control in a bid to end the entertainment giant's multi-decade arrangement with the Sunshine State. In a document posted to the website of Osceola County, which also borders Orange County and Reedy Creek, notice was given that the proposed legislation would leave no current aspect of Reedy Creek untouched. Florida legislators already voted in a special session last year to dissolve all special districts like Reedy Creek in Florida by June 2023. In response, DeSantis and his allies in the Florida legislature announced they would seek to end the privileges Disney had enjoyed through the special district. “The state of Florida has been very important to us for a long time, and we have been very important to the state of Florida,” Iger said last month.

☆ Italian soccer great Gianluca Vialli dies at 58
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Gianluca Vialli, the former Italian soccer forward who helped Sampdoria and Juventus win Serie A and European trophies before becoming player-coach at Chelsea, has died. Vialli and Mancini also helped Sampdoria reach the 1992 European Cup final, which it lost to Barcelona at Wembley Stadium. Mihajlović also played with Mancini at Sampdoria after Vialli left the club for Juventus. Vialli won another Serie A title at Juventus and also raised the Champions League and UEFA Cup trophies with the Bianconeri. He ended his playing career while also managing Chelsea, leading the London club to FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup titles.

☆ Pro rally driver and YouTube sensation Ken Block dies in snowmobile accident
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Ken Block, a professional rally driver and YouTube star, died Monday in a snowmobile accident in Utah, officials said. Block was riding a snowmobile on a steep slope in the Mill Hollow area of Wasatch County Monday afternoon when “the snowmobile upended, landing on top of him,” the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office said. He was riding with a group, but the sheriff’s office said Block was alone when the accident occurred. “We are saddened to hear of the loss of Kenneth and our hearts are with his family and friends so deeply affected,” the sheriff’s office said. He kicked off his professional rally racing career in 2005, and was named Rookie of the Year that season in the Rally America Championship, according to a biography on his racing team's website.

☆ Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters dies at 74
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Mithil Aggarwal | Alex Lo | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Anita Pointer of the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters, who rose to fame with hits in the 1970's and 80's including "I'm So Excited," died of cancer on Saturday, her publicist announced. She is survived by her sister Ruth, brothers Aaron and Fritz and granddaughter Roxie. The Pointer Sisters started as a trio in 1969 when Anita quit her secretary job to join her sisters Bonnie and June, according to the statement. Anita Pointer. The Pointer Sisters released their debut album in 1973, with their single “Yes We Can Can” becoming an instant hit, ranking #11 on the Billboard charts.

☆ Trailblazing pop and country singer Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters has died at 74
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Anita Pointer, who penned many of the Pointer Sisters' hits, died at the age of 74. Pointer and her sisters broke ground for Black women in country and pop with their hits in the '70s and '80s. Pointer was a founding member of the Pointer Sisters, a vocal group from Oakland that achieved critical and commercial success in the '70s and '80s, blending genres such as blues, pop, and R&B. On the original recording, Pointer was also the lead vocalist, as she was for many of the group's hits. In addition to being the first female African-American act to appear at the Grand Ole Opry, the Pointer Sisters were also the first contemporary artists to perform at the San Francisco Opera House.

☆ Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters dead at 74
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 31 (Reuters) - Anita Pointer, one of the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters whose string of pop, country and R&B hits in the 1970s and '80s included "I'm So Excited," "Jump (For My Love)" and "Fire," died of cancer on Saturday at age 74, her publicist said. Pointer was surrounded by family at her Beverly Hills home when she died, publicist Roger Neal said. The Pointer Sisters later became a quartet for a while with Ruth, the only one of the original singing sisters still alive, though Bonnie left the group in the late 1970s and they became a trio once again. The Pointer sisters also have two surviving brothers, Fritz and Aaron. Anita was preceded in death by her daughter Jada, who died in 2003, when Anita took over raising her granddaughter, Roxie McKain Pointer.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried released on $250 million bail, will live with his parents
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSam Bankman-Fried released on $250 million bail, will live with his parentsFTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been released on $250 million bail. CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos joins 'Squawk Box' with the details.

☆ Arkansas boy buried under floorboards allegedly died after mother's boyfriend drowned him in toilet bowl
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Blu's paternal grandmother, Karen Rolland, 57, told NBC News the boy would have been turning six last week. The body of Blu Rolland was discovered on what would have been his fifth birthday in his house in Moro, Ark. Karen told NBC News that the girl "could barely even walk" and that her clothes were soiled in urine. Ashley initially told Karen that Blu “was not at the residence,” according to Karen and the affidavit. Ashley appeared to give conflicting accounts of who buried the boy's body, according to the affidavit.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of the Magistrate's Court on December 21, 2022 in Nassau, Bahamas. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be released on $250 million bond while awaiting trial for fraud and other criminal charges, a New York federal judge ruled Thursday. Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said Bankman-Fried would require "strict" supervision following his release to his parents' home in California. Bernie Madoff posted a $10 million bond while awaiting trial on his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Jeff Skilling, former Enron CEO, posted a $5 million bond, while Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder, posted a scant $500,000.

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