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☆ Meta, Microsoft, hundreds more own trademarks to new Twitter name
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters —Billionaire Elon Musk’s decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta and Microsoft (already have intellectual property rights to the same letter. X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges - and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future. Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms - whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival - owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter “X” for fields including software and social media. Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter’s X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said.

Persons: Reuters — Billionaire Elon, “, ”, Josh Gerben, Nikolas Kokovlis, Gerben, Meta, Douglas Masters, Loeb, Ed Timberlake Organizations: Reuters — Billionaire, Twitter, Meta, Microsoft, Elon, Getty, Facebook Locations: Athens, Greece

[1/2] Judge Elizabeth Scherer reads the verdict in the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., October 13, 2022. Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoJuly 25 (Reuters) - Florida's top court has publicly reprimanded the judge who presided over the trial of Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018, for appearing partial to the prosecution. Monday's decision by the Florida Supreme Court came after the 15-member Judicial Qualifications Commission concluded in June that Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer violated judicial conduct rules during last year's trial. Her decision to hug members of the prosecution and the victims’ families in the courtroom after sentencing Cruz in November prompted the Florida Supreme Court to remove her from another death penalty case involving a different defendant, Randy Tundidor, in April. Scherer admitted her treatment of defense lawyers was times not patient or dignified, though she said she offered to embrace defense counsel too, according to court records.

Persons: Elizabeth Scherer, Marjory Stoneman, Nikolas Cruz, Amy Beth Bennett, Cruz, Scherer, Randy Tundidor, Nate Raymond, William Maclean Organizations: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Supreme, Broward, Circuit, Parkland, Thomson Locations: Broward, Fort Lauderdale , Florida, U.S, South, Parkland, Florida, Boston

☆ Jury acquits former Florida deputy of failing to protect students in Parkland school shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

June 29 (Reuters) - A Florida jury on Thursday acquitted a former sheriff's deputy accused of failing to protect students during the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. After the verdict, Peterson told reporters at the courthouse that he would like to talk to the parents of students who lost their lives in the shooting. Peterson was armed but never went inside while the shooting was underway, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office and surveillance video. A jury in October spared Nikolas Cruz, the gunman in the Parkland shooting, from the death penalty, instead calling for life in prison without possibility of parole. In May, the United States marked the one-year anniversary of the deadliest U.S. school shooting in nearly a decade, in which a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 children and two teachers and injured 17 others.

Persons: Parkland's Marjory Stoneman, Scot Peterson, Peterson, Tony Montalto, Gina, Montalto, Nikolas Cruz, Julia Harte, Deepa Babington Organizations: Parkland's, Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Broward State Attorney’s Office, Broward County Sheriff's Office, Police, Texas Department of Public Safety, Thomson Locations: Florida, Broward County, Parkland, United States, Uvalde , Texas

☆ Trial opens for former Florida deputy in Parkland school shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People attend a memorial service on the five-year anniversary since gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killing 14 students and three staff members, in Parkland, Florida, U.S., February 14, 2023. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File PhotoJune 7 (Reuters) - Florida prosecutors and defense attorneys will make opening statements on Wednesday in the trial of a former sheriff's deputy charged with failing to protect students as the 2018 mass shooting unfolded at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Peterson never went inside while the shooting was underway, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office and surveillance video. A jury in October spared Nikolas Cruz, the gunman in the Parkland shooting, from the death penalty, instead calling for life in prison without possibility of parole. In May, the United States marked the one-year anniversary of the deadliest U.S. school shooting in nearly a decade, in which a gunman in Uvalde, Texas killed 19 children and two teachers and injured 17 others.

Persons: Nikolas Cruz, Marjory Stoneman, Marco Bello, Scot Peterson, Peterson, Julia Harte, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, REUTERS, Broward County Sheriff's Office, Police, Texas Department of Public Safety, Thomson Locations: Parkland , Florida, U.S, Florida, Broward County, Parkland, United States, Uvalde , Texas

☆ Gen Z Fast Fashion, Live Shopping, Clothes Addiction Destroying Planet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Eve Upton-Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Gen Z paradoxGen Z's economic power is growing faster than other generations, according to Bank of America. In the US, fashion is the preferred category for entertainment spending among Gen Z, outranking dining out, video games, and music. A 2021 McKinsey survey found that 42% of American Gen Zers said they didn't even know what makes clothes sustainable. In addition to pushing people to buy more clothes, the buy-now, think-later model of live shopping also encourages people to buy clothes that are worse for the planet. To solve that problem, she founded Viviene New York in 2022, a Gen Z-led marketing agency that helps sustainable brands connect with Gen Z audiences through social media.

☆ DeSantis signs bill to lower bar on death sentence in Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Three jurors voted against a death sentence, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, leaving Cruz to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "Once a defendant in a capital case is found guilty by a unanimous jury, one juror should not be able to veto a capital sentence," he said in a statement. Florida prosecutors trying capital felony cases would need to convince a supermajority, or two-thirds, of a 12-member jury panel that someone who is convicted deserves the death penalty. It would have no effect on the requirement for a jury's unanimous vote to convict a defendant. Florida joins Alabama as the only states where a unanimous jury decision is not required, the Death Penalty Information Center noted.

☆ Florida to allow death penalty with 8-4 jury vote instead of unanimously
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

If the Republican governor signs the bill into law, Florida prosecutors trying capital felony cases would need to convince only two-thirds of the 12-member jury that someone who is convicted deserves the death penalty, rather than a unanimous decision by a jury. It would have no effect on the requirement for a jury's unanimous vote to convict a defendant. Three jurors voted to spare Cruz, and by default his sentence was life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. If the bill becomes law, Florida would join Alabama as the only states where a unanimous jury decision is not required, the center noted. In 2017, Florida passed a law that required death penalties to be imposed only after a unanimous recommendation by a jury.

☆ Key banking crisis lesson: 'The first line of defense should always be cash,' advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People wait outside the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, to withdraw funds after the federal government intervened upon the bank's collapse, on March 13, 2023. watch now"The first line of defense should always be cash," said Braxton, who is a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council. Without liquidity, SVB couldn't "absorb the shock of the cash run," and had to sell its assets at the wrong time, she said. It's a valuable lesson for investors who may someday face their own cash crunch due to a job loss or another financial emergency, Braxton said. The first line of defense should always be cash.

☆ SVB's failure will have a ripple effect across technology 'for years to come'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The 40-year old institution had an intimate link to the technology world offering traditional banking services as well as funding companies that were deemed too risky for traditional lenders. SVB also provided other services like credit lines and lines to startups. But over the past year, the U.S. Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates, hurting the once high-flying technology sector. SVB's collapse has come at an already difficult time for startup investors. The SVB collapse will also likely put the focus on startups to pivot to profitability and be more disciplined with their spending.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank seizure leaves a massive hole — and a large opportunity — in the world of climate finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"Nobody understands startups as well as Silicon Valley Bank and how to lend to them," says Zachary Bogue, a long-time tech investor and cofounder of DCVC. "Silicon Valley Bank understood that even though we may have only had $10,000 or so in deposits at the time, we had a lot of potential," Clerico told CNBC. "That early investment in our relationship paid off," Clerico told CNBC. In this, the bank "was a climate bank pioneer," said Steph Speirs, co-founder and CEO of Solstice Power Technologies, which has built a technology to help connect people to community solar projects. But it will take some time, and delays can be costly in the fight against climate change," Bhatraju told CNBC.

☆ SVB fallout unlikely to affect fundraising for Southeast Asia startups, venture capitalists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Golden Gate Ventures, which also invests in Southeast Asian startups, said the SVB fallout is an opportunity for the region. "This has actually been helpful to Southeast Asia. Investors are starting to say: I want to diversify to different bank accounts, different geographies, different currencies," Vinnie Lauria, managing partner at Golden Gate Ventures, told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" on Tuesday. "And this is where Southeast Asia has the time to shine, in light of the situation," added Lauria. When asked if the situation makes fundraising more difficult, Gowdey said funds in Southeast Asia are well capitalized.

☆ Silicon Valley investors and founders express shock over SVB's collapse, describe struggles to get money out
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Jonathan Vanian Ashley Capoot Jordan Novet Annie Palmer | Jonathan Vanian | Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesVenture capitalists and technology executives are scrambling to make sense and account for the potential repercussions of the sudden implosion of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that U.S. federal regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank , the premiere financial institution for Silicon Valley tech startups for the past 40 years. On Friday, Yang returned to the Silicon Valley Bank branch 15 minutes before it opened to remove the remaining money. One person showed a tweet on their phone suggesting that bank employees had been instructed not to come to work. Watch: CEO's react to the closure of Silicon Valley Bank

☆ Formula One rewrites the rule on shortened races
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Formula One has rewritten a rule to ensure reduced points are given for shortened races after Red Bull's Max Verstappen clinched his second title in confusing circumstances last October. A statement of key decisions -- to be rubber-stamped by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council -- included a change of wording "to ensure that shorter races have reduced points even if they don’t finish with a suspended race." It turned out to be full points, enough for Verstappen to clinch the title with four races to spare. The FIA explained at the time that the reduced points rule only applied to grands prix that were suspended and could not be resumed. The meeting was chaired by Formula One Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali and FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis.

☆ Brazil Justice Moraes fines Telegram for not complying with court order
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRASILIA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes fined on Wednesday messaging app Telegram for failing to comply with a court order that called for the suspension of accounts of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Telegram will be fined 1.2 million reais ($236,527), the decision said. Moraes gave Telegram five days to pay the fine from the day of the decision. In March 2022, Moraes ordered the suspension of messaging app Telegram, saying it had repeatedly refused to adhere to judicial orders to freeze accounts spreading disinformation. The suspension was revoked days later, after the company complied with court requests.

☆ Musk says 'possible' that Twitter gave preference to leftists during Brazil election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Electronic voting machine is seen during the digital signature and sealing operation of the electoral systems that will be used in the Brazilian presidential election in Brasilia, Brazil August 29, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File PhotoSAO PAULO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Twitter owner Elon Musk said on Saturday he thought it was "possible" that personnel at the social media firm gave preference to left-wing candidates during Brazil's election this year, without providing evidence. "I've seen a lot of concerning tweets about the recent Brazil election," Musk wrote on Twitter when asked by a user about elections possibly "handled" by the company's previous management. "If those tweets are accurate, it's possible that Twitter personnel gave preference to left wing candidates," added the billionaire. Both Lula and Bolsonaro widely used Twitter during their campaigns.

☆ Top Hollywood lawyer Bryan Freedman paid a $40,000 settlement after being accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old while in college
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kate Taylor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But clients may not know that Freedman, 58, was accused of sexual assault in the 1980s and paid a $40,000 settlement to the accuser. She said that instead of taking her there, the men brought her to the nearby Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. The plaintiff said she and her friend then returned to Zeta Beta Tau to retrieve her shoe and car key. The 17-year-old and her parents sued Freedman and the two other fraternity brothers, as well as Zeta Beta Tau and Tau Kappa Epsilon. (Zeta Beta Tau and the other college students accused of sexual assault also agreed to pay settlements, none of which admitted liability.)

☆ Parkland school shooter expected to get life in prison without parole after emotional victims’ statements
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Antonio Planas | Antonio Planas Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Following dramatic statements from victims and victims' families, a Florida judge is expected to formally sentence Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz to life in prison without parole Wednesday for the 2018 campus massacre that killed 14 students and three staff members. Amy Beth Bennett / Pool/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP fileProsecutors had sought the death penalty, while the defense had asked for life in prison. The jury’s decision on Oct. 13 shook family members of victims who were visibly distraught by the verdict. On Tuesday, survivors of the shooting and victims’ loved ones had the chance to deliver impact statements before the sentence was formally announced. “Whatever pain you experience in prison will unfortunately be a fraction of what Ben endured,” his father, Eric Wikander, said.

☆ Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz Is Expected to Get Life Without Parole
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Arian Campo-Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nikolas Cruz is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday for the murders of 17 people at a Parkland, Fla., high school in 2018, concluding a case that was emotionally grueling for victims’ families and whose outcome left them fuming. A jury in October spared him the death penalty and instead recommended that he spend the rest of his life in prison. At the request of prosecutors, Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer scheduled a hearing that began Tuesday to allow victims’ family members to express themselves before the court and the defendant. It is scheduled to resume Wednesday, and once concluded, the judge is expected to sentence Cruz.

☆ Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz Sentenced to Life Without Parole
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Arian Campo-Flores | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday for the murders of 17 people at a Parkland, Fla., high school in 2018, concluding a case that was emotionally grueling for victims’ families and whose outcome left them fuming. A jury in October spared him the death penalty and instead recommended that he spend the rest of his life in prison. At the request of prosecutors, Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer scheduled a two-day hearing that began Tuesday to allow victims’ family members to express themselves before the court and the defendant.

Nov 2 (Reuters) - A Florida judge was due to formally sentence Nikolas Cruz, the man who killed 17 students and staff with a semi-automatic rifle at a school in Parkland, to life in prison on Wednesday. A jury voted last month to spare Cruz, 24, the death penalty, instead choosing life in prison without possibility of parole for one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Cruz pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder, then faced the three-month penalty trial earlier this year. A number of victims' relatives castigated the jury's decision and criticized a state law requirement that all 12 jurors be unanimous in order to sentence a convicted person to be executed. Many victims' relatives directly addressed Cruz, who sat inscrutable behind large spectacles and a COVID-19 mask at a table alongside his public defenders.

☆ Parkland school shooter faces victims in court in sentencing hearing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The sentencing of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz began Tuesday with victims and family members sharing their heartbreak before him in court. With so many who wish to be heard, the actual sentencing is expected to take place Wednesday, according to the Broward State Attorney’s Office. Stacey Lippel, a teacher at Parkland who was shot and survived, told Cruz: “You don’t know me but you tried to kill me." “Whatever pain you experience in prison will unfortunately be a fraction of what Ben endured,” his father, Eric Wikander, said. The jury’s recommendation of life in prison last month, was met with tears and outrage by family members of the victims, with many saying the shooter deserved the death penalty.

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Grieving relatives of the 17 students and teachers killed in a 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, confronted the killer, Nikolas Cruz, with tearful, angry words as his sentencing hearing began on Tuesday. The jury voted to spare Cruz from the death penalty for one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, a decision several survivors' relatives decried in court as injustice. [1/4] Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz enters the courtroom for the sentencing hearing in Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, U.S. on Monday, Nov. 1, 2022. Cruz was 19 at the time of his attack and had been expelled from the school. Florida law requires that Scherer must follow the jury's recommendation in formally sentencing Cruz.

☆ Florida prosecutors file motion to interview Parkland shooter trial juror after alleged threat from co-juror
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Prosecutors in the high-profile Parkland school shooter trial have filed a motion to have law enforcement interview a juror who reported feeling threatened by a peer on the panel. The motion by the Broward County State Attorney's Office was filed Thursday evening. According to the motion, a juror referred to as “Juror X” called the state attorney’s office around 2 p.m. and requested to speak with Assistant State Attorney Michael Satz, the lead prosecutor in the trial. The motion requests that law enforcement, rather than the court, conduct the interview with Juror X. Ultimately the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating factors, the jury found, and the shooter was sentenced to life.

☆ Watch: Jan. 6 Committee Votes to Subpoena Former President Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Family Members of Parkland Victims React to Nikolas Cruz Verdict Family members of victims in the Parkland school shooting responded on Thursday after a Florida jury recommended life imprisonment without parole for Nikolas Cruz, who shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Photo: Amy Beth Bennett/Press Pool

☆ Unseen Jan. 6 Video Shows Lawmakers Respond to Capitol Attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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