DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ New York Public Schools chancellor scolds Republicans for ‘gotcha’ antisemitism hearing, saying district disciplined staff
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The department is also investigating whether the Berkeley district retaliated against two parents who complained about harassment based on Jewish ancestry. CNN has reached out to the school district for a comment. However, that list does not currently include the Berkeley school district. “However, antisemitism is not pervasive in the Berkeley Unified School District,” she said. Ford Morthel noted that the district does not share actions the school district takes against students or teachers because this information is protected under federal and state law.

Persons: David Banks, ” Banks, Banks, ”, Columbia’s, “, George Washington, Muriel Bowser, Pam Smith, Elise Stefanik tussled, Stefanik, ” Stefanik, Brandon Williams, ” Williams, …, ” Enikia Ford Morthel, ” Ford Morthel, Ford Morthel Organizations: CNN, New, New York City Public Schools, Jewish, “, Secondary, York City Public Schools, New York City Police Department, Ivy League, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Republicans, George Washington University’s, Washington, DC Metropolitan Police, Queens, Hillcrest High School, New York Republican, ” New York Republican, Jews High School, High School, US Department of Education, Berkeley Unified School District, Defamation League, Brandeis Center, Civil Rights, Brandeis Locations: New York, York, New York City, Berkeley , California, Montgomery County , Maryland, Queens, Israel, Hillcrest, New, Brooklyn, Berkeley, California, ”

☆ Opinion | The Happiness Gap Between Left and Right Isn’t Closing
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Why is it that a substantial body of social science research finds that conservatives are happier than liberals? A partial answer: Those on the right are less likely to be angered or upset by social and economic inequities, believing that the system rewards those who work hard, that hierarchies are part of the natural order of things and that market outcomes are fundamentally fair. Those on the left stand in opposition to each of these assessments of the social order, prompting frustration and discontent with the world around them. The happiness gap has been with us for at least 50 years and most research seeking to explain it has focused on conservatives. More recently, however, psychologists and other social scientists have begun to dig deeper into the underpinnings of liberal discontent — not only unhappiness, but also depression and other measures of dissatisfaction.

Persons: —

☆ Pete McCloskey, Republican Who Tried to Unseat Nixon, Is Dead at 96
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Robert D. Mcfadden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pete McCloskey, a California congressman who raised a flag of rebellion against President Richard M. Nixon’s war policies in Vietnam with a spirited but futile race for the Republican presidential nomination in 1972, died on Wednesday at his home in Winters, Calif., west of Sacramento. His death was announced in a statement released on Wednesday by a family spokesman, Lee Houskeeper. Mr. McCloskey, who represented an area south of San Francisco for 15 years, from late 1967 to early 1983, was a liberal Republican who admired President John F. Kennedy, voted for environmental causes with Democrats and believed that the Republican Party had veered too far to the right. He had no money, party support or realistic prospects. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese and Americans were dying in a war that could not be won, he argued.

Persons: Pete McCloskey, Richard M, Lee Houskeeper, Mr, McCloskey, John F, Kennedy, Nixon, Shirley Temple Black Organizations: Republican, Republican Party Locations: California, Vietnam, Winters, Calif, Sacramento, San Francisco

☆ Opinion | Why Conservative and Liberal Catholics Can’t Escape One Another
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A college of supposedly conservative cardinals elected a surprisingly liberal pope. It seemed as though liberal Catholicism had been merely hibernating, awaiting a new pope, a new spring. But lately, in both Rome and the United States, I’ve had conversations with well-informed Catholics in which the old conservative confidence has made a comeback. The fear that the next pope might be another liberalizer, younger and more ambitious than Francis, has largely receded. This new confidence reflects a specific reading of the waning years (or what are probably the waning years) of the Francis pontificate.

Persons: Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, I’ve, Francis Locations: Rome, United States

☆ House Republicans’ Next Target: Reports of Antisemitism in K-12 Schools
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Dana Goldstein | Sarah Mervosh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

School district officials have faced off with students, parents, school board members and teachers about issues related to the Israel-Hamas war — but until now, not members of Congress. For the three public school leaders, who are likely to face a similarly tense environment, “it’s hard to imagine a less welcome invitation,” said Justin Driver, a professor at Yale Law School who is an expert on how constitutional law applies to schools. The three school districts, all diverse, have robust American Jewish communities. They are also in staunchly liberal areas, making them ripe targets for the Republicans who run the committee. And they have had their share of controversies.

Persons: ”, Justin Driver Organizations: —, Education, Workforce, Yale Law School, Republicans Locations: Israel, — New York City, Berkeley, Calif, Montgomery County, Maryland

☆ Biden’s antisemitism speech leaves no doubt he’s standing by Israel despite tension with Netanyahu
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —The political rawness of the moment, as Israel pounds Gaza and outrage rocks American college campuses, means President Joe Biden’s big speech Tuesday condemning antisemitism is most notable for what he left unsaid. The speech was closely watched given the turmoil in the Middle East and its stunning political reaction in the US. “My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad. While praising the right to free speech as a fundamental American value, he condemned reported instances when some Jewish students have faced antisemitic taunting. Understanding history and preventing it from being manipulated for political gain was a major focus of Biden’s speech, which was delivered on the 79th anniversary of VE Day, when the allies defeated Nazism in World War II.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, movingly, you’re, ” Biden, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, ”, Joe ”, We’re, Biden’s, Donald Trump, Trump, Stormy Daniels, “, ” Johnson, Netanyahu, —, Mike Johnson, ’ Organizations: CNN, Jewish, Hamas, Holocaust Memorial, Capitol, Arab, Israel, Gaza Health Ministry, Democratic, Trump, Republicans, Republican, Louisiana Republican, White, GOP, Nazism Locations: Israel, Gaza, Nazi, Rafah, Michigan, Manhattan, Nazi Germany, United States, Louisiana, Charlottesville , Virginia, Gestapo

☆ Opinion | Senators Need to Stop the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

An unfortunate symbiosis has developed between pro-Israel culture warriors like Republican Representative Elise Stefanik and the most self-indulgent fringe of pro-Palestinian campus protesters. Together they are, wittingly or unwittingly, shifting attention from the urgent emergency in Gaza, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to defy the United States and invade the southern city of Rafah, to the much smaller problem of campus antisemitism. The United States has none.” Within the movement, I imagine such rhetoric functions as a sign of total commitment, a no-going-back rejection of hollow liberal pieties. Since 2016, pro-Israel politicians have pushed versions of a bill called the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which would codify, for the purpose of enforcing federal civil rights law in higher education, a definition of antisemitism that includes rejection of Israel as a Jewish state. In the past, civil libertarians were able to head such legislation off, but that’s become harder in the current fevered climate.

Persons: Elise Stefanik, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, ”, Panther, Kwame Ture, Stokely Carmichael, Israel, that’s Organizations: Palestinian, Columbia, National Lawyers Guild, United, Senate, Semitism Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Rafah, stoke

☆ How Shruti Gandhi, a solo venture capitalist with 15 exits in 5 years, went from underestimated to unstoppable
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Shruti Gandhi has a simple rule for meeting founders: She only takes the meeting if she wants to invest. Being the solo general partner of her firm, the early-stage outfit Array Ventures, also means she can get deals done quickly. Over the past five years, she's returned most of her maiden $7 million fund to limited partners at a net multiple of almost four. For founders, by foundersThe founders Gandhi has backed like working with her because of her technical chops and hands-on approach. We will back you if you raise a fund,'" Gandhi said.

Persons: Shruti Gandhi, Gandhi, Nikhil Teja Kolli, Kolli, she's, wasn't, Dumbledore, Harry Potter, Champ Bennett, Zimperium's Zuk Avraham, Mehul Nariyawala, Google —, Doktor Gurson, Gurson Organizations: Ventures, Business, PayPal, IBM, Columbia University, True Ventures, Samsung, Google, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Rad Locations: India, Poughkeepsie , New York, She's

☆ Biden faces widening partisan split over Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Ronald Brownstein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

CNN —President Joe Biden is facing more critical moments this week that will test his fraught relationship with his base over Israel’s war in Gaza and potentially widen the partisan split about the Jewish state that has been building for years. Against this backdrop, partisan polarization about Israel among American voters was already widening years before the brutal Hamas attack last October and the devastating Israeli response it triggered. An array of polls this spring show how the war in Gaza has hardened this partisan split. Nearly half of Democrats, but only a little over one-fifth of Republicans in the CBS poll, said the US should pressure Israel to stop the fighting. “Biden has a Democratic caucus that is putting a lot of faith in this process,” she said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Long, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, “, ”, Aaron David Miller, Biden, Harry Truman, Lyndon B, Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W, Bush, Reagan, George W, Donald Trump, Clinton, Barack Obama, Republicans —, Obama, Israel, Biden —, Gallup, Trump, That’s, Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson, Biden’s, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Waleed Shahid, Shahid, David, it’s Goliath, David ”, Miller, “ Biden, ’ ”, Ben Rhodes, ” Biden, “ We’re, Saudi Arabia — “, Mark Mellman, Schumer, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Israel’s, Chris Murphy of, Chris Van Hollen, Chris Coons, Tim Kaine, Virginia, Van Hollen, Amanda Klasing, — Organizations: CNN, Israel, Republican, Democratic, Gallup Organization, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Holocaust Memorial, GOP, Whites, Republican Party, Republicans, Gallup, Trump, Chicago Council, Global Affairs, Quinnipiac University, CBS, Liberal, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, National Security Council, Amnesty International, Amnesty Locations: Gaza, Israel, United States, Iran, Quinnipiac, Washington, New York, Missouri, Yom Kippur, Saudi Arabia, Sens, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Rafah

☆ Opinion | Trump Knows Dominance Wins. Someone Tell Democrats.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( M. Steven Fish | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

MAGA2024!”This is the sort of thing Mr. Trump is known for, even with people who came around and bent the knee. Politics is a dominance competition, and Mr. Trump is an avid and ruthless practitioner of it. What these Democrats seem to have forgotten is that they have their own liberal tradition of dominance politics — and if they embrace it, they would improve their chances of defeating Trumpism. But unlike Mr. Trump, whose lies and conduct after the 2020 election were damaging to democracy, leaders like Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exerted dominance in liberal ways and to prodemocratic ends.

Persons: Donald Trump, Bill Barr, “, Barr, Trump, MAGA2024, —, Franklin Roosevelt, John F, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr Organizations: Democratic, Trumpism

☆ Gallows Humor and Talk of Escape: Trump’s Possible Return Rattles Capital
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It has become the topic of the season at Washington dinner parties and receptions. It’s a gallows humor with a dark edge. Much of official Washington is bracing for the possibility that former President Donald J. Trump really could return — this time with “retribution” as his avowed mission, the discussion is where people might go into a sort of self-imposed exile. Whether they mean it or not, the buzz is a telling indicator of the grim mood among many in the nation’s capital these days. The “what if” goes beyond the normal prospect of a side unhappy about a lost election.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, ” Locations: Washington, Portugal, Australia, France, Poland

☆ Graduations Are Flashpoints for Campus Protests: Latest Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Emily Cochrane | Yan Zhuang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Pro-Palestinian protesters dismantled their encampment at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Saturday after reaching an agreement with the institution that requires administrators to review a divestment proposal. Student demonstrators pitched dozens of tents on Vassar’s campus, starting on Tuesday. The divestment language did not mention Israel or the war in the Gaza Strip, as the protesters had in their demands. The Vassar agreement is one of several in which student protesters have agreed to clear camps in exchange for commitments to discuss institutional investment policies around Israel. They said they would donate the roughly $7,000 they had raised since launching their encampment to families in Gaza, and redistribute any donated supplies to people and organizations in Poughkeepsie.

Persons: Elizabeth H, Bradley, Vassar, we’ve, “ Organizations: Vassar College, Student, Palestinian, Vassar, Hamas, Students for Justice, Israel Locations: Poughkeepsie, N.Y, Israel, Gaza, “, ”, Palestine

☆ This is 2024’s new political normal six months from the election
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It’s just another normal week in American politics as unpredictable forces rock both parties and augur a tense run to an election — now six months less one day away — that could fundamentally change the nation. Prosecutors argue he attempted a cover-up to mislead voters in 2016 in an early act of election interference. She also said that Trump felt it was better to deal with the story after the election than beforehand. Last week, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Trump refused to guarantee he’d accept the result of the next election. “We have to understand that this is a defining moment for this generation, similar to anti-Vietnam protests, anti-apartheid protests, anti-Iraq War protests,” he said.

Persons: Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s, Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, It’s, —, Trump, Story Daniels, Hope Hicks, Hicks, Michael Cohen, Daniels, Emil Bove, Cohen, Trump’s, Biden, James Singer, “ Trump, ” Singer, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mitch Landrieu, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Lyndon Johnson, Landrieu, Democratic Sen, John Fetterman of, ”, Ro Khanna, “, ” Johnson, Johnson, Greene, don’t, Kevin McCarthy Organizations: CNN, Trump, Republican, Georgia Rep, Prosecutors, White House, Nazi Secret Police, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Israel, Republicans, Union, Biden campaign’s, Independent, Democratic, CBS, Hamas, GOP Locations: Gestapo, New York, Gaza, Manhattan, Trump, “ State, Vietnam, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, Iraq, America, Ukraine, Louisiana

☆ We need to talk about whatever's happening with Starbucks' drinks
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Whatever is happening on the Starbucks menu right now is making me feel like I'm a senior citizen. AdvertisementThe rise of complicated, multi-ingredient sweet drinks has coincided with the rise in popularity of the Starbucks app, accelerated by the start of the pandemic in 2020 when many locations couldn't take walk-in orders. I tried the newer Starbucks drinks myselfMy Oleato Golden Foam Iced Shaken Espresso with Toffeenut drink, which was 360 calories and tasted like coffee ice cream. Katie Notopoulos / Business InsiderI acknowledge I'm a bit of a crank when I say: The Starbucks menu is out of control. (I should note here that my grande iced drink was 360 calories, which does seem like a dessert treat rather than a morning coffee.

Persons: —, anyone's, It's, lattes, chino, Lindsey Wasson, Katie Notopoulos, slurped Organizations: Service, Business, AP Locations: TikTok, chino

☆ Young Democrats face Gaza blowback as they try to mobilize students for Biden
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Gregory Krieg | Michelle Shen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

But the College Democrats insist their worries are also rooted in what they see as the Biden campaign’s unwillingness to grasp the scope of how difficult it is becoming to engage young voters. A mixed picturePolling of young voters on the Israel-Hamas War, specifically about its effect on Biden’s campaign, presents a mixed picture. Only 18% of young voters approved of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Harvard/IOP poll. Seth Schuster, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, touted its investment in engaging young voters. It is even hard for young people to talk to other young people about how to do this,” the Democratic strategist said.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, ”, Hasan Pyarali, ’ ”, Biden, “, Benjamin ) Netanyahu, Nicho Fernandez, hasn’t, haven’t, ” Fernandez, ” John Della Volpe, men’s, ” Biden, Santiago Mayer, ” Mayer, Joe Biden, Carolyn Salvador Avila, Biden’s, it’s, ” Salvador Avila, Allyson Bell, Bell, ” Bell, Seth Schuster, ” Schuster, “ It’s, Aidan DiMarco, It’s, DiMarco, they’re, we’re, Evelyn Schmidt, ” Schmidt, ’ ” Schmidt Organizations: CNN, Democratic, College Democrats, Wake Forest University, Muslim, Facebook, Biden, Democratic National Committee, Democrats, Harvard, Institute of Politics, Georgetown University, Harvard Institute of Politics, Trump, ”, University of Nevada, Meredith College, national College Democrats ’ Jewish, College Democrats ’, Democratic National, College Democrats of America, White, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater College Democrats, House Locations: Gaza, North Carolina, Israel, Washington , DC, “, Las Vegas, Biden’s Israel, Wisconsin

☆ Trump’s bombardment of dishonesty: Fact-checking 32 of his false claims to Time
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Daniel Dale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +43 min

We’re paying for close to 100% of NATO.”Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. They don’t pay their bills.”Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. (It rose to about $314 billion in 2020, Trump’s last full year in office.) Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. Facts First: Trump’s claim that “nobody died other than Ashli” is false.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, “, William Barr, Bill Barr, Barr, Bill, I’m, ”, it’s, Biden, Joe Biden, Tamar Hermann, Hermann, Bill Clinton, “ Trump, ” Trump, …, National Guard Trump, I’ve, George Floyd, Tim Walz, Walz, Paul —, –, Erwan, George Washington, “ don’t, they’re, Stoltenberg, Trump’s, Lagadec, Marc Lipsitch, Barack Obama, European Union won’t, Cortellessa, “ Moody’s, Moody’s, Mark Zandi, Zandi, ’ ” Zandi, Joe Biden’s, rioter Ashli Babbitt, Brian Sicknick, Sicknick, Trump’s ‘, patriotically, ‘, patriotically ’, ” Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi, “ Nancy Pelosi, Pelosi, Christopher Miller, Miller, Eric Cortellessa, Alvin Bragg’s, Bragg, Matthew Colangelo, Colangelo, Alvin Bragg, ” Cortellessa, Hillary Clinton, —, Roe, Wade, Kimberly Mutcherson, “ Donald Trump’s, Maya Manian, Mary Ziegler, Davis, Ziegler, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Roe should’ve, ’, Crime Biden, don’t, “ Biden, he’s, James Biden, Jeff Asher, Asher, It’s, ” “, ” Asher Organizations: Washington CNN, Time, Trump, NATO, Capitol, Trump’s, Trade Center, didn’t, World Trade Center, Department, ISIS, CNN, Democratic, White House, White, South Korea Trump, Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data, Biden Administration, Congressional Research Service, Israel, Israeli Democracy Institute, National Guard, Minnesota Democratic Gov, Minnesota National Guard, Guard, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, Transatlantic, for Disease Control, World Bank, Washington Post, Harvard, Harvard’s, National, Trump -, of Health, Human Services, Strategic, Biden, U.S . International Trade Commission, European, Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, European Union, US, European Automobile Manufacturers ’ Association, Bloomberg Economics, US Capitol Police, Capitol Police, “, Republican, Democratic Rep, National Guardsmen, District of Columbia National Guard, Army, Capitol Police Board, Senate, Justice Department, Pulitzer Foundation, Pulitzer, New York Times, Electoral, Democrat, ” Rutgers Law, American University, university’s Health, University of California, ”, Customs, Border Protection, Crime, Manchurian, Republicans, FBI Locations: “, New York City, Saudi, Florida, al Qaeda, New York, Texas, Mexico, South Korea, Trump , South Korea, South, Korea, Israel, Washington, Trump , Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Trump, Minnesota, St, United States, Germany, Brussels, Belgium, Harvard University, China, EU, DC, Trump’s, ”, York, Manhattan, York’s, Russia, That’s

☆ Tech titans love Modi's economic powerhouse India — despite mass unemployment and abject poverty
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Youth unemployment, income inequality, regional disparities, and Russian oil remain big problems. But the work starts there, as he'll have to navigate thorny issues such as youth unemployment, income inequality, and reliance on sanctioned Russian oil. "The other key economic policy was JAM — the trinity of bank accounts for the poor, mobile numbers and a biometric card. Indian demand for Russian oil has cooled in recent months as new sanctions have made it more expensive, but the buying remains controversial. Alexandr Demyanchuk/AFP/Getty ImagesIndia the IT hubUnder Modi, India has made big strides in modernizing its economy, combating bureaucracy, and appealing to foreign investors.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, Tim Cook, —, Modi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan's Dimon, He's, Musk, Apple's Cook, Joe Biden, Sundar Pichai, Anna Moneymaker, Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, Richard Rossow, Demonetisation, Kunal Sen, Sen, Tim Graham, Rossow, tycoons Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, Isha Piramal, Rihanna, Shloka Mehta Ambani, Akash Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Anant, Radhika, Ambani, they'd, Neelima Jain, Vladimir Putin, Alexandr Demyanchuk, Sanjay Shetty, Shetty Organizations: Service, titans, Monetary Fund, Gross, World Bank, Economic, of New, Google, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, India, Studies, Center for Strategic & International Studies, United Nations, United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics, University of Manchester, International Labor Organization, Oxfam, Bloomberg, Reliance Industries, Adani, CSIS, Indian, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Getty, Modi, Big Tech, Randstad, Economic Times Locations: India, Britain, Japan, Germany, China, of New York, Nimaj, Rajasthan, North Korea, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Moscow, Western, Samarkand, AFP, Randstad India

☆ Sadiq Khan wins third term as London mayor, Labour sources say, capping strong showing for opposition in English elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Sadiq Khan has won a third term as London’s mayor, Labour Party sources claimed on Saturday, capping a round of local elections across England that confirmed the political supremacy of the main opposition party. Sunak has resisted calls to outline when he will hold that vote, and Labour leads opinion polls by a huge margin. Keir Starmer’s opposition party won control of eight councils, and also stormed to victory on Thursday in a Westminster by-election in Blackpool. In particular the loss of Oldham council, a north-west English town, where around a quarter of the population is Muslim. If his victory is confirmed, Khan would become the first mayor of London to serve a third term since the post was created in 2000.

Persons: CNN — Sadiq Khan, Khan, Susan Hall, Rishi Sunak, –, Sunak, Keir Starmer’s, Yvette Cooper, Donald Trump Organizations: CNN, Labour Party, Conservative, England, Labour, Conservatives, Tories, BBC Locations: England, West Midlands, Tees, Westminster, Blackpool, Gaza, Oldham, London

For the first time in the history of the United States, billionaires had a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans. Opinion Guest Essay Make Billionaires Pay (Their Taxes)Until recently, it was hard to know just how good the superrich are at avoiding taxes. Let’s agree that billionaires should pay income taxes equivalent to a small portion — say, 2 percent — of their wealth each year. Billionaires who already pay the baseline amount of income tax would have no extra tax to pay. The idea that billionaires should pay a minimum amount of income tax is not a radical idea.

Persons: Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, we’ve, Demetrio Guzzardi, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Arnault’s, Arnault, Reagan, Critics, haven’t, Biden Organizations: Government, Social Security, European Economic Association, Institut des Politiques, Economic, Amazon, Elon, Twitter, Shepard, Getty, Trump, Internal, Abaca, New York, Facebook Locations: United States, Netherlands, States Netherlands Italy France, Italy, France, Tesla, LVMH, America, Europe, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, U.S, Brazil, South Africa, Spain

☆ Georgia rocked by protests as government pushes Putin-style ‘foreign agent’ bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —After spending his days making wine in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Tsotne Jafaridze returns home to Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, and begins his new routine. Jafaridze, who also owns a travel business and says he receives 95% of his income from foreign sources, says he would “immediately” be listed as a foreign agent under the broadly-written law. But the government reintroduced the same bill in March and appears determined to force it through, despite protests that grow fiercer every week. Despite recent Russian aggression against Georgia, Georgian Dream has long been accused of harboring pro-Russian sympathies and its billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, made his fortune in the Soviet Union. Bidzina Ivanishvili addresses a rally in support of the "foreign agent" law in Tbilisi, April 29, 2024.

Persons: Jafaridze, ”, Vladimir Putin, “, Giorgi Arjevanidze, isn’t, ” Natalie Sabanadze, –, Levan Khabeishvili, Khabeishvili, Bidzina Ivanishvili, ” Buziashvili, Ivanishvili, Bidzina, Shakh, Sabanandze, Irakli Kobakhidze, Kobakhidze, ” Sabanadze, Viktor Orban, Europe’s, Matthew Miller, Washington, Georgia “, Irakli Gedenidze, Viktor Yanukovych, doesn’t Organizations: CNN, European Union, Getty, EU, United National Movement, National Security Council, Soviet Army, Soviet Union, Belarus ’, Party, Georgian, Conservative Political, United, State Department, Protesters, Reuters Locations: Caucasus, Tbilisi, Georgia’s, Russia, Georgian, Russian, Soviet, AFP, Brussels, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Hungary, Hungarian, United States, stoke, ”

☆ Bill to Combat Antisemitism on Campuses Prompts Backlash From the Right
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A bipartisan push in Congress to enact a law cracking down on antisemitic speech on college campuses has prompted a backlash from far-right lawmakers and activists, who argue it could outlaw Christian biblical teachings. The House passed the legislation, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, overwhelmingly on Wednesday, and Senate leaders in both parties were working behind the scenes on Thursday to determine whether it would have enough backing to come to a vote in that chamber. House Republicans rolled the bill out this week as part of their efforts to condemn the pro-Palestinian protests that have surged at university campuses across the country, and to put a political squeeze on Democrats, who they have accused of tolerating antisemitism to please their liberal base. But in trying to use the issue as a political cudgel against the left, Republicans also called attention to a rift on the right. members said they firmly believe that Jews killed Jesus Christ, and argued that the bill — which includes such claims in its definition of antisemitism — would outlaw parts of the Bible.

Persons: Jesus Christ Organizations: Republicans

☆ Email startup Beehiiv just raised $33 million to build a big ad business and differentiate itself from rival Substack
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The firm closed a $33 million round of Series B funding, with the bulk of the money going toward building out its advertising business, CEO Tyler Denk told Business Insider. With the new round of funding, Beehiiv hopes to make $5 million from ads in 2024, he said. AdvertisementBeehiiv acquired the email ad platform Swapstack and launched its ad network that places ads in newsletters during the third quarter of 2023. Beehiiv's Denk said that Beehiiv has a "difference in philosophy" on ads than Substack does.

Persons: —, Tyler Denk, Beehiiv, Denk, Boston Globe Media's, Beehiiv's cofounders, Substack, Jesse Singal, Beehiiv's Denk Organizations: Service, Business, NEA, Sapphire, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Boston Globe, Morning, Netflix

☆ Why Closing St. John’s Staten Island Campus Is a Big Deal - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Stephen G. Adubato | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But St. John’s is hardly the only institution of higher learning to either merge campuses or close its doors as a result of low enrollment or economic challenges over the past few years. More than 91 colleges closed between 2016 and 2023, including 15 in 2023 alone; 44 percent of the schools were, like St. John’s, religiously affiliated. The Staten Island campus, created in 1971, has traditionally been home to students mainly from Brooklyn and Staten Island, the majority of whom, being commuters, appreciated being able to get a college education in the vicinity of their local communities. The campus’s culture reflects that of Staten Island, whose residents often value planting one’s roots in the neighborhood and maintaining proximity to family over making frequent moves in the name of upward mobility. “Small colleges,” Mr. Franek said, “have been outstanding at offering their students an excellent liberal arts education.

Persons: John’s, Vincent de Paul, — socioeconomically, Rob Franek, ”, Mr, Franek, “ Organizations: Vincentian Fathers, Queens, The Princeton, “ Locations: York, St, Staten, Brooklyn, Staten Island, U.S

☆ Trump says RFK Jr. is 'not a serious candidate,' refuses to debate him because his numbers are 'too low'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trump repeatedly attacked Kennedy over social media this past weekend, despite the former president's claim that he knows little about Kennedy. Trump's refusal to debate Kennedy may not be entirely in his hands. But Trump and his allies have been harshly critical of the debate commission. AdvertisementBiden recently told radio host Howard Stern that he would like to debate Trump, but there is rampant speculation such a debate will never occur. The second debate was canceled after Trump refused to accept a virtual format after the then-president tested positive for COVID-19.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Trump, Kennedy, Biden, He's, Nicole Shanahan, MAGA, Joe Biden, Ross Perot, Howard Stern Organizations: Service, RFK, Business, NBC News, Trump voters, Capitol, Politico, Republican National, Texas State University, Trump Locations: Manhattan, Texas, San Marcos , Texas

As Democrats confront a presidential race against a resurgent and resilient Donald J. Trump as well as a brutally challenging Senate map, they believe they have an increasingly powerful political weapon: ballot measures to protect abortion rights. Two crucial presidential and Senate battlegrounds, Arizona and Nevada, are expected to put such measures directly before voters. So are other states with top Senate races, including Maryland and potentially Montana. And abortion rights measures are set or could appear on ballots in states like New York, Florida and Nebraska, where competitive contests could help determine whether Democrats win back the House. Those measures have sometimes fueled surges in liberal turnout that have lifted Democratic candidates to victory, as well.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Democrats —, Republicans —, Roe, Wade Organizations: Senate, Democrats, Republicans, Democratic Locations: Arizona, Nevada, Maryland, Montana, New York , Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, Kansas, Michigan

Search resuls for: "Liberal"

25 mentions found