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☆ Disinformation researcher who led now-defunct DHS unit sues Fox News for defamation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The researcher, Nina Jankowicz, briefly served in the Biden administration as head of the now-defunct Disinformation Governance Board, which was housed in the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of high-profile defamation cases brought against Fox News in recent years. The network last month settled a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, the largest publicly known settlement in US history. Smartmatic’s case survived a motion to dismiss filed by Fox News last year and continues to move through the court system. Lachlan Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corporation, the parent company of the right-wing channel Fox News, said on Tuesday that the company will fight Smartmatic’s lawsuit.

☆ Inside Wells Fargo's 'chaotic' journey to transform its services for the ultrarich
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

In late 2020, some 300 Wells Fargo employees were summoned to a conference call. "I actually welcomed that, although I did like Abbot Downing," he said of folding Abbot Downing into the private bank. One team of legacy Abbot Downing employees with $3.5 billion in assets left for Hirtle Callaghan in June 2021. Today, Ginter runs a registered investment advisor called Callan Family Office, which some former Abbot Downing employees refer to as "the new Abbot Downing." Are you a current or former client of Wells Fargo Private Bank or Abbot Downing?

☆ 'Ghosted' review: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas reunite in a spirited action comedy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —“Chris Evans and Ana de Armas” is about all that’s required to make the sales pitch for “Ghosted,” a spirited if familiar action-based romantic comedy, where the sparring banter generally outshines the muscular stunts. Throw in clever cameos and this Apple TV+ movie delivers on its promise of unpretentious fun. Unlike the needy Cole, “Ghosted” doesn’t ask for anything more than a couple intermittently attentive hours of your time. Thanks to Evans and de Armas, it’s the sort of invitation that’s pretty hard to ignore. “Ghosted” premieres April 21 on Apple TV+.

☆ Tech leaders are urging caution on AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Insider asked ChatGPT, the viral AI chatbot sweeping the internet, to whip up a layoff memo for a pretend tech company, Gomezon. Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, researchers at Alphabet's DeepMind, and other AI leaders are calling for a pause on training AI models more powerful than OpenAI's GPT-4. My colleague Emilia David looked at why Elon Musk and other tech leaders are right: AI needs to slow down. An Apple Watch is an essential for many of us these days, but the right band can make all the difference. Check out Insider's review of the 18 best Apple Watch bands in 2023.

☆ A key recession indicator suggests the Fed may slash rates soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There's another bond market signal flashing and it could mean the Fed's about to step in. The Fed raised short-term interest rates by a quarter percentage point as expected today, with market watchers expecting one more increase this year and three more in 2019. But there are other bond market signs, too, and the recent rally in bonds at the shorter-term end of the Treasury curve may just be the indicator with the most troubling track record. In effect, the bond market is telling us that the Fed could be on the brink of making a policy pivot as the economy falters. Investors are shifting focus back to the Fed's thinking on interest rates, with a PCE inflation update due Friday.

☆ Wall Street wants to lend to Hollywood, and that could be bad news for the rest of us
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Today, we've got stories on an upheaval within BlackRock's communications department, a debate over the merits of the man bun on Wall Street, and why I'm not intimidated by Gen Z anymore. Insider's Rebecca Ungarino and Reed Alexander have a story on private lenders looking to make investments in media and entertainment. Hollywood has long represented an interesting investment opportunity for Wall Street, but lending to the industry is an interesting twist. As Reed pointed out in a follow-up story, Wall Street is keen to apply artificial-intelligence tools to identify projects worth greenlighting. And here's more on why Wall Street is so high on the entertainment industry leveraging AI.

☆ Lineker row grows as another BBC soccer presenter pulls out
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Other presenters have also pulled out of BBC appearances after former England soccer captain Lineker, who presents the flagship "Match of the Day" soccer highlights programme, was taken off air by the BBC on Friday. Jason Mohammad, who presents the BBC's "Final Score", also said on Saturday that he has pulled out of his programme. "As you know, Final Score is a TV show very close to my heart," Mohammad wrote on Twitter. Presenter Kelly Sommers, who has appeared on a number of BBC shows, wrote on Twitter on Saturday: "just to confirm I won't be on BBC television today." The BBC said that neither "Football Focus" nor "Final Score" would air on Saturday.

☆ Biden to promote U.S. infrastructure spending in bipartisan Kentucky visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] U.S. President Barack Obama speaks in front of the dilapidated Brent Spence Bridge during a visit to Cincinnati, Ohio September 22, 2011. McConnell, of Kentucky, was among the Republicans who voted for the infrastructure law, which was passed in November 2021, while many House Republicans including Representative Kevin McCarthy opposed it. McConnell said last week in a statement that "building a new companion bridge on the Brent Spence Bridge corridor will be one of the bill's crowning accomplishments." Kentucky and Ohio had sought funding for the project for years. Other administration officials including Vice President Kamala Harris will also tout infrastructure awards in other events this week.

☆ These top deputies of Sam Bankman-Fried were former regulators who tried to expand FTX's reach in Washington, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some of Sam Bankman-Fried's top advisers were former officials at the CFTC and SEC, according to the LA Times. And in August 2021, Wetjen requested a meeting with CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam and his chief of staff. "Reaching out to seek some time to discuss with you a LedgerX matter of considerable urgency," Wetjen wrote to Behnam. Behnam was forthright about his meeting with Bankman-Fried when asked on December 1 by the Senate Agriculture Committee, and said the meeting was related to FTX's clearinghouse application. Bankman-Fried."

[1/3] A natural gas flare on an oil well pad burns as the sun sets outside Watford City, North Dakota January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Cullen/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Major energy companies are not doing enough to prevent the worst effects climate change despite public promises to fight the problem, a U.S. House panel said about documents released on Friday that it got in a probe. Shell's Smith said the House panel's probe failed to uncover evidence of a climate disinformation campaign. "Today's new evidence makes clear that these companies know their climate pledges are inadequate, but are prioritizing Big Oil’s record profits over the human costs of climate change." The House panel previously released a memo on Sept. 14 showing that oil majors "greenwashed" their record on climate change "through deceptive advertising and climate pledges - without meaningfully reducing emissions."

☆ Biden rallies lawmakers to act to avert rail strike ahead of looming deadline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

There are several steps Congress has the authority to take to prevent a rail strike, something it has done 18 times since the 1960s. It could extend the so-called cooling off period, giving the parties more time to try to reach a voluntary agreement before workers can strike. Pelosi said the House would vote this week on the legislation Biden is calling for, which wouldn’t make any changes to the current agreement. But it could also provide an opportunity for Democrats to step in and give additional benefits to the rail workers, like paid sick days, though that would likely make it more difficult to garner Republican support. "The president says he is going to ask Congress to act, and I would expect Congress to support that request,” he said.

New York CNN Business —From retailers and computer chip makers to the oil-and-gas industry, businesses are scrambling to find workarounds where possible for a potentially devastating freight rail strike. Retailers, which rely on rail to move cargo from ports to warehouses, are considering shifting the timing of orders and shipments. Critically, the rail strike could disrupt the supply of chlorine and other critical chemicals used to keep drinking water safe. The oil-and-gas industry, for instance, warns a rail shutdown would spark fuel supply crunches and price spikes. “Congress appears likely to intervene in the coming days to avert a rail strike,” economists at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

☆ Biden’s oil windfall tax would backfire, warns Larry Summers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Economist Larry Summers is pushing back after President Joe Biden floated the possibility of punishing the oil industry for high prices by imposing a windfall profit tax. “I’m not sure [I] understand the argument for a windfall profits tax on energy companies,” Summers said on Twitter Tuesday morning. Oil companies lost billions of dollars — and many went bankrupt — in 2020 when oil prices briefly crashed below zero for the first time ever during the Covid recession. Not surprisingly, the oil industry itself fired back at talk of a windfall profit tax. Raising taxes on the oil industry would discourage investment in new production, the API warned — “the exact opposite of what is needed.”

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