DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu says any Republican in the presidential race who isn't 'hitting Donald Trump hard right now' is 'doing the entire party a disservice'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

"Any Republican that isn't hitting Donald Trump hard right now is doing the entire party a disservice," he said. Chris Sununu is still mulling jumping into the presidential race but sternly warned declared candidates who have yet to aggressively target former President Donald Trump to shift their gears. "All Republicans have to be hitting Donald Trump," Sununu told The New York Times. "Any Republican that isn't hitting Donald Trump hard right now is doing the entire party a disservice because if only one or two people are willing to take a shot at Donald Trump, it looks personal. The country is going to push back against it," Sununu told ABC News earlier this year.

☆ A GOP congresswoman says TikTok CEO's testimony made it clear to her that the app is 'an immediate threat' from China and that she supports a ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers called TikTok "an immediate threat" and wants it banned in the US. McMorris Rodgers said she's deeply concerned about the user data of millions of US TikTok users. "I would say there's an immediate threat via TikTok from the Chinese Communist Party. "What the hearing made clear to me was that TikTok should be banned in the United States of America to address the immediate threat and we also need a national data privacy law," she added. McMorris Rodgers pointed to Tiktok and parent company ByteDance as having ties to the Chinese government, which she said is a major risk to Americans.

☆ Trump said he'd 'fight like hell' for Marjorie Taylor Greene if she ran for the Senate: 'People don't realize how brilliant she is'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former President Trump said he'd "fight like hell" for MTG if she decided to pursue a Senate bid. While speaking at his rally in Waco, Tex., Trump praised Rep. Greene as a tough GOP politician. Greene has also been floated as a potential vice presidential running mate for the former president. But Greene, a national conservative star, has also been mentioned as a potential vice presidential running mate for Trump next year. "People don't realize how brilliant she is," Trump said of Greene.

☆ Where TikTok users may go if the app gets banned
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —On the eve of a high-profile TikTok hearing this week, the company shared that it now has more than 150 million US monthly active users. “This uncertainty could push some TikTok content creators to focus more on, and possibly begin, pushing their audiences to other social network platforms,” Mogharabi said. Snap’s stock rose in the days leading up to TikTok’s appearance before Congress amid renewed talks among federal officials of a TikTok ban. Alex Brandon/APIf that happens, Lian Jye Su, an analyst with ABI Search, believes users will follow their favorite TikTok influencers and content creators wherever they go. For now, talk of a TikTok ban may still be premature.

☆ TikTok CEO to testify before Congress in March
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify at an upcoming hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a committee spokesperson confirmed to CNN Monday. “We’ve made our concerns clear with TikTok,” said the committee’s chair, Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, in a statement. The high-profile hearing underscores the rising political risk for TikTok as its negotiations with the US government on a national security deal continue to drag on. Chew, who took over as TikTok CEO in April 2021, has largely stayed out of the spotlight at a time when the app he leads can’t seem to avoid it. Members of Congress previously grilled TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas, arguably the public face of the company in the United States, during a Senate hearing last year.

☆ Washington D.C.'s free bus bill becomes law as zero-fare transit systems take off
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A bus is seen in Washington, DC, on December 12, 2022. - The Washington government voted to institute free bus rides for all starting in the summer of 2023. Washington, D.C., has enacted a zero-fare bus bill into law, according to the D.C. Council. Kansas City, Missouri, previously the largest city with such a law, made its own transit system zero-fare in 2019, though that city doesn't have a train system. The council officially announced the mayor's decision on Monday.

☆ Outrage mounts in D.C. after man fatally shoots boy, 13, he suspected was breaking into cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Outrage is simmering over the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Black middle school student in Washington, D.C., by a man who suspected the teen was breaking into cars in his neighborhood. Members of the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences investigate the crime scene of a shooting in Washington, D.C. via WRCDetectives are working with the U.S. Attorney's Office to determine any potential criminal charges. "Although he loved his neighborhood, he loved Brookland MS (the faculty & his peers) and the structure it presented to him even more,” Richardson wrote. Community groups DC Safety Squad, Ward 5 Mutual Aid and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams are demanding the release of the shooter's name and any visual evidence. In a statement, DC Safety squad said: “Karon Blake was senselessly murdered.

☆ Gunman impersonating police officer wanted in shooting of boy and man in Washington, D.C.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Police are searching for a man who impersonated a police officer and shot a man and a boy at a facility for youth awaiting trial in Washington, D.C. The suspect claimed he was an officer serving a warrant on one of the juveniles housed at the privately owned facility, NBC Washington reported. “He recognized that individual who was in the facility, immediately pulled out a handgun and started shooting at that individual,” Metropolitan Police Department Cmdr. “He was absolutely trying, specifically targeting that individual,” Haines said. Juveniles housed at the facility have been relocated following the shooting, an official familiar with the investigation said to NBC Washington.

☆ Scandal-plagued Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn failed to report another trade of 'Let's Go Brandon' coin — a violation of the federal STOCK Act
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Madison Cawthorn just violated a federal conflict-of-interest law, the STOCK Act, for the third time this year. Cawthorn in January sold up to $50,000 in Let's Go Brandon coin, a cryptocurrency, but waited months to disclose it. The House Ethics Committee recently fined Cawthorn $15,000 for purchasing the cryptocurrency on terms more favorable than available to the public. Cawthorn's latest personal financial disclosure, mandated by federal law, shows he sold an amount of "Let's Go Brandon" coin valued between $15,001 and $50,000 in January. He waited until earlier this month to report the trade, in violation of the federal Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012.

☆ Facebook owner Meta may remove news from platform if U.S. Congress passes media bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) on Monday threatened to remove news from its platform if the U.S. Congress passes a proposal aimed at making it easier for news organizations to negotiate collectively with companies like Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Facebook. Sources briefed on the matter said lawmakers are considering adding the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to a must-pass annual defense bill as way to help the struggling local news industry. loadingHe added the proposal fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters put content on the platform because "it benefits their bottom line - not the other way around." If Congress does not act soon, we risk allowing social media to become America’s de facto local newspaper." Since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, various tech firms including Meta and Alphabet have signed more than 30 deals with media outlets, compensating them for content that generated clicks and advertising dollars, the report added.

☆ Leaked email from Amazon executive shows the Astro home robot will survive a massive cull of jobs and projects across the company
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

VP of consumer robotics Ken Washington reaffirmed commitment to home robots in an email to employees last week. Washington's team is primarily in charge of Astro, the home-roaming robot Amazon revealed last year. While the company has been unusually vague about layoff details, one team appears to have continued support: consumer robotics. Washington reports to Dave Limp, Amazon's SVP of Devices and Services, who confirmed layoffs in a team-wide email last week. "We are committed to the future of consumer robots and, as Dave said, we will further prioritize what matters most to our customers and the business," Washington wrote in the email.

☆ Josh Hawley proclaims the 'old' GOP is dead after a disappointing midterms for Republicans: 'Time to bury it'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Josh Hawley thinks the "old" GOP is dead. Build something new," Hawley tweeted on Saturday. "The old party is dead. The old party is dead. Hawley is, per Politico, in the process of forging his own path in the Senate with other Trump Republicans.

A Maryland homeowner found five adults dead inside the residence Friday, sheriff's officials said. Deputies from the Charles County Sheriff's office were called to the La Plata home after a shooting report, the agency tweeted shortly before 2 p.m. An aerial view of the home where police report the discovery of five bodies, in La Plata, Md., on Friday. Representatives of the sheriff's and county medical examiner's offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment. NBC Washington reported on-air that the home is in the Agricopia neighborhood in La Plata, which is about 35 miles south of Washington, D.C.

☆ A Michigan judge tried to block an abortion rights measure. His ex-wife says he helped her get an abortion in college.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

On May 18 that year, Jones said, Zahra drove her to the clinic and paid for her abortion. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra. Michigan CourtsAside from Zahra, Jones said she did not immediately tell anyone that she was pregnant in May 1983. The abortion-rights coalition sued to place it on the ballot, and the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the coalition — ordering state officials to put the proposed amendment to voters on Nov. 8. She calculated her menstrual cycle and told Zahra she thought she might be pregnant.

☆ A Progressive Reversal on Ukraine Letter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Congratulations to Democratic leaders for taking on a progressive revolt in Congress and causing a reversal of a statement suggesting reduced support for U.S. aid to Ukraine. Vladimir Putin watches American politics closely, and this was a sign of U.S. retreat that needed to be beaten back. Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal , chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, withdrew on Tuesday a letter that 30 Members of the caucus had sent a day earlier to the White House. The letter had urged President Biden to pursue diplomacy with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. The missive was a terrible message to send while Mr. Putin is bombing civilian targets in Ukraine even as his troops retreat from territory they occupied early in the invasion.

☆ 30 House Democrats urged Biden to negotiate with Russia, a crack in support for the White House's Ukraine strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A group of liberal Democratic representatives wants Joe Biden to negotiate with Russia. They say they want to avoid a prolonged conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The US has provided Ukraine with $60 billion in aid, and says it's up to Kyiv when to negotiate. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that GOP backing for Ukraine aid is not assured, remarking recently that there would be no "blank check" for Kyiv. The US has provided Ukraine with more than $60 billion in humanitarian and military aid since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion in February.

☆ The Arizona GOP raised funds in 2021 by asking for donations to support the election audit — but that's not where the money went: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Arizona GOP asked for donations to help with the 2021 Maricopa County election analysis. Texts show the GOP was clear that the money would not go toward the audit, per the Washington Post. "We were expressly told that we could/should not raise money for the audit," Arizona state GOP chairman wrote. In response to questions about the fundraising emails, Arizona GOP spokeswoman Kristy Dohnel told the Post the money went to "covering costs for security" during the audit. Following the Post story about the Arizona GOP audit emails published Monday, journalist Josh Dawsey reported that Trump had a "tense" phone call with Ward.

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - China's ambassador to the United States thanked Elon Musk for proposing a special administration zone for Taiwan, while Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington reprimanded the billionaire saying its "freedom and democracy are not for sale." "Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale," Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington, tweeted on Saturday. "Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan." Musk was responding to a question about China, where his Tesla (TSLA.O) electric car company operates a large factory. In tweets posted on Saturday, the Chinese ambassador wrote: "I would like to thank @elonmusk for his call for peace across the Taiwan Strait and his idea about establishing a special administrative zone for Taiwan."

Search resuls for: "Washington Rep"

18 mentions found