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☆ Her son was an accused cult leader. She says he was a victim, too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

The man talking on the tape was her son, Michael Protzman. Michael Protzman got swept up in this alternate reality. We spoke to dozens of Americans whose lives and families have been affected by conspiracy theories, including Protzman’s own family. After Michael Protzman died this summer, some of his followers refused to believe he had passed. Vigrass never imagined that the conspiracy theories her brother was airing at the kitchen table could lead to him to join what she views as a cult.

Persons: CNN’s, O’Sullivan, Anderson Cooper, CNN —, “ John John, … Trump, Joe Kennedy, George Patton, Mussolini … ” Colleen Protzman, Michael Protzman, ”, “, John F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Junior —, “ He’ll, Trump, Jesus Christ, reemerge, opportunists, Protzman, Michael Brian Protzman, Michael “, Colleen Protzman, Michael, it’s, Sandy, ” Colleen Protzman, —, QAnon, Barack Obama, Rachel Maddow, Donie O'Sullivan, Michal Protzman, didn’t, JFK, Erica Vigrass, Jason, Erica, ‘ I’m, ’ ” Protzman’s, – Protzman, Erica Vigrass ’, Vigrass, ” Protzman, Jason –, They’re, Jesselyn Cook, It’s, Diane Benscoter, General, ” Benscoter Organizations: JFK, CNN, Dealey, Junior, Junior — JFK, WFAA, JFK Jr, Trump, Kennedys, Democratic Party, Michael Protzman CNN, Dallas CNN, Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Capitol, Facebook, Twitter, Hollywood, Unification Church, US Locations: United States, Dallas, JFK, Minnesota, Seattle, Washington, Dealey, –

☆ Rupert Murdoch's exit ends chapter for polarising figure in his native Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Even at a time when media consumption is splintering from traditional routes, particularly among younger people, Murdoch's influence is embedded in the country's information ecosystem because of its massive reach, media experts said. His local properties include Sky News Australia, a cable TV channel fashioned on the partisan style of U.S. network Fox News. "The Murdoch papers still have that key reach with working-class demographics that can still be influential," he said. "He has been in lots of ways a controversial figure, but an influential figure too, and this is an end of an era at News." Murdoch's exit cuts a native tie between News Corp and Fox Corp and Australia, where Murdoch was born.

Persons: Rupert Murdoch, Jonathan Ernst, Rupert Murdoch's, Stephen Mayne, Murdoch, Mayne, Shane Homan, Honan, Jim Chalmers, Chalmers, Penny Wong, Malcolm Turnbull, it's, Turnbull, Lachlan Murdoch, James Murdoch, Byron Kaye, Jamie Freed Organizations: USS, Air, Space Museum, REUTERS, Rights, Fox Corp, News Corp, Sky News Australia, Fox, Sky, Monash, Australian Broadcasting Corp, Labor, Labor Party, News, America, ABC, Google, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Adelaide, Australia, Britain, Australian, Sydney, Canada

The two cases, stemming from the efforts of Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, rely on many of the same facts, documents and witnesses. But as Monday’s court skirmishes demonstrated, the approaches of the two prosecutors in charge of the investigations — Jack Smith, the Justice Department’s special counsel, and Fani T. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County — could not be more different. Mr. Smith took over the two federal Trump investigations with a promise to move rapidly in hopes of wrapping up legal proceedings before the 2024 election, and the indictment handed down against Mr. Trump on Aug. 1 included just four counts. While it referred to six unindicted co-conspirators, only Mr. Trump was charged. By contrast, the indictment brought by Ms. Willis includes 41 counts against the former president and encompassed allegations against his long roster of co-defendants.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jack Smith, Willis, Smith, Mark Meadows, Trump’s Organizations: Trump, Mr, White House Locations: Washington, Fulton County ,, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia

CNN —Yevgeny Prigozhin turned the Wagner Group from a shadowy band of mercenaries into a feared military powerhouse operating across multiple countries on three continents. The kind of clear chain of command that is common in traditional military does not exist in Wagner, which makes Prigozhin’s demise a potentially existential problem for the group. Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. A Russian military delegation went to the Libyan city of Benghazi this week to meet with Haftar, who has been supported by Wagner for several years. He said the cracks in the foundations of West African and Central African countries that have leaned on the Wagner Group for support could begin to emerge now.

Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, ”, Natasha Lindstaedt, “ It’s, ” Lindstaedt, – Wagner, Dmitriy Utkin, Valeriy Chekalov –, “ Wagner, Russia ” Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, “, ” Wagner, Huseyn Aliyev, –, ” Aliyev, Aliyev, Lindstaedt, Putin, Stringer, Yevgeny Progozhin, Khalifa, Haftar, Yevkurov, ” Oluwole, there’s, ” Prigozhin, Christopher O, Ogunmodede, couldn’t, Sergey Lavrov Organizations: CNN, Wagner, University of Essex, Russia, University of Glasgow, Kremlin, Ministry of Defense, Prigozhin's Press Service, Russian Ministry of Defense, Kommersant, UK Ministry of Defense, Getty Images Security, Russian, Central African, Forces, Reuters, Libyan, Central Africa, Institute for Security Studies, Central, Wagner Group, Politics, Russia’s Locations: Moscow, Russia, Russia’s, Russian, United States, Ukraine, Africa, Middle, Bakhmut, Rostov, AFP, Syria, St . Petersburg, Mali, Crimea, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Libya, Libyan, Benghazi, West African, “, Mali …

☆ Elon Musk doesn't care that Tesla values are tanking — but it could drive buyers to Ford and GM
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Used Tesla values are down 30% year-over-year, according to firm Recurrent. Used Tesla values have dropped dramatically from last year as the company continues to slash prices and flood the market with more new cars. That's because resale value hasn't been the biggest priority for Tesla buyers so far. There are a few reasons for that: Tesla buyers are loyal to the company. The Tesla dynamics benefit more EV-buyersIn the meantime, Tesla is forcing the EV market to become more affordable for mainstream buyers — a noticeable impact especially in the used EV space.

Persons: Tesla, Liz Najman, Tesla's, It's, Stephen Beck, Beck, Martin French, Najman Organizations: Morning, Elon, EV Locations: EVs

☆ Meta's Threads vs. Twitter's threats: How rival apps affect advertising revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMeta's Threads vs. Twitter's threats: How rival apps affect advertising revenueMark Zagorski, DoubleVerify CEO, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss advertisers' interest in Threads, the splintering of audiences in social media, and what could mitigate the profitability of Threads.

Persons: Mark Zagorski

A low-riding shuffle beat isn’t the Cuban-born pianist, composer and folklorist David Virelles’s most common environment. But “Carta,” Virelles’s new LP, puts him and his longtime first-call bassist, Ben Street, together with Eric McPherson, an innovator and tradition-bearer in today’s jazz drumming. This is the closest Virelles has come to making a standard-format jazz trio album, though it’s still not exactly that. You wouldn’t need to be told this album was recorded at Van Gelder Studio to realize it’s speaking with jazz history — the antique, the modern and what’s barely come into shape. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLOBen van Gelder, ‘Spectrum’

Persons: David Virelles’s, ”, Ben Street, Eric McPherson, it’s, Virelles, Don Pullen’s, Craig Taborn, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO Ben van Gelder Organizations: Van Gelder Locations: Cuban

☆ Pence attacks Trump as he challenges his ex-boss in 2024 White House race
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Tim Reid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

During Trump's tumultuous four years in the White House, Pence repeatedly defended him through multiple scandals. Pence, who turned 64 on Wednesday, joins a crowded nominating contest that is currently a two-man race between front-runner Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump supporters stormed the Capitol during the certification process, forcing Pence, family members, lawmakers and staff to flee to safety. "The American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. As president, Trump appointed conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped end the national right to abortion last year.

Persons: Mike Pence, Donald Trump, Trump, Pence, Joe Biden's, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, Doug Burgum, Karen, Read, DeSantis, Todd Starnes, Trump's, Tim Reid, Susan Heavey, Colleen Jenkins, Alistair Bell Organizations: Wednesday, U.S . Capitol, U.S, Congress, Republican, Senate, Trump, Florida, Former New Jersey, North Dakota, Republican White House, Reuters, Capitol, CNN, Farmers of, Supreme, Pence, Thomson Locations: United States, Iowa, Former, North, Farmers of America, Ankeny , Iowa, U.S, UKRAINE, Ukraine, Indiana

☆ A member of Putin's NATO equivalent said it is 'not Russia's ally' in the fight against Ukraine, further splintering the alliance
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Armenia, a member of the CSTO, said it is "not Russia's ally in the war with Ukraine." The CSTO is Russia's equivalent of NATO, but members have snubbed Putin since its invasion of Ukraine. Experts say the alliance is crumbling as Russia's invasion exacerbated existing tensions. "We are not Russia's ally in the war with Ukraine. Some of those snubs directly related to the Ukraine war, including Kazakhstan denying Russia's request to send troops when the invasion began.

Persons: Putin, —, Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Vladimir Putin, it's, Dmitry Peskov Organizations: NATO, Service, CNN Prima, Security, Organization, Reuters Locations: Armenia, Ukraine, Czech, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Moscow

☆ Why Do American Diners Have Such a Limited Palate for Textures?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ligaya Mishan | Esther Choi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

What of the worlds that lie between slime and velvet, collapse and refusal, succulence and desiccation? Not only does English lack a robust vocabulary for food textures but, whether as corollary or coincidence, English speakers also tend to value a narrower range of textures. In a survey by the American sensory scientist Jeannine F. Delwiche conducted at Ohio State University in 2002, respondents considered texture significantly less important than taste and scent in its impact on flavor. It is often defined as a confluence of taste, scent and memory, yet other senses intrude. Studies have shown that diners have difficulty identifying flavors when foods are dyed different colors, for example.

☆ Elon Musk dreams of Twitter's AI power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's personal AI ambitions. Elon Musk was one of the more prominent names on an open letter calling for a pause in AI development. My teammate Asia Martin points out that Musk's position on AI is contradicted by Twitter's investment in generative AI. Twitter's recent purchase of hardware normally used to develop generative AI products shows the extent of this ambition. Read more on Elon Musk's AI ambitions.

April 5 (Reuters) - Five people were killed in a predawn tornado that ripped through southeastern Missouri on Wednesday, shearing off roofs, splintering trees and taking down power lines in devastated Bollinger County, officials said. First responders from multiple agencies combed through destroyed homes and businesses in the rural area that Missouri Governor Mike Parson said faces "a long journey ahead" toward recovery. Five people were also injured and 87 structures damaged with 12 of those buildings destroyed, said Eric Olson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. "It's just heartbreaking to see people's homes missing roofs and their homes gone," Missouri State Patrol Highway Sergeant Clark Parrott told Reuters said after surveying the damage. A week before, a tornado devastated the Mississippi Delta town of Rolling Fork, killing 26 people.

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) - As "fragmentation" of politics and economics becomes the new buzzword for a world that appears to be splintering into blocs, the related costs of the new order are only now being totted up. Corporate rethinking of foreign direct investment (FDI) - bricks-and-mortar developments overseas as well as mergers and acquisitions - would make the hit even scarier. And if FDI fragmentation is defined by a permanent rise in cross-bloc barriers to imported investment inputs, the IMF said developments could cut world output by 2% in the long term. "Fragmentation of the global economy will likely put inflation at a higher structural level, and the cost of capital will likely go up, squeezing low-quality and leveraged companies." Reuters GraphicsBIS chart on global trade as share of GDPBCG projections on world trade to 2031The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

"I don't know what that reaction is going to be," said Woods, who will tee it up at the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational this week. "I know that some of our friendships have certainly taken a different path, but we'll see when all that transpires. Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are among the big names who have left the PGA Tour for the lucrative, Saudi-backed LIV Golf. While banned from PGA Tour events, LIV players have been invited to compete at the Masters. Woods called world number one Rory McIlroy the PGA Tour's "ambassador" and said he had been extraordinary at navigating the new, and at times hostile, terrain.

Western policy-makers are still mindful of the supply-chain chaos caused by U.S. sanctions on Russian aluminium giant Rusal and its owner Oleg Deripaska in 2018. A unilateral move to shut out Russian aluminium will accelerate the splintering of what was once a highly globalised market-place. Excess Chinese product in the Asian region is now being supplemented by excess Russian primary aluminium as many Western users choose to self-sanction and not buy Russian metal. Were the United States to impose high tariffs on Russian metal, the LME need only suspend delivery to U.S. locations, a precedent set with the United Kingdom's post-war tariffs on Russian nickel. The LME decided in November not preemptively to ban Russian metal deliveries ahead of formal government action against Russian producers.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party reshapes the dynamics of the 2024 Senate race in Arizona, creating fresh obstacles for Democrats to hold the seat in two years. But I’m still shockingly disappointed at how awful she continues to be,” said Michael Slugocki, an outgoing vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. A bipartisan poll by Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research in September found that Sinema's favorable rating among Arizona Democrats was 37%. The state party censured Sinema last year after she opposed a Senate rules change to pass a major voting-rights bill. “There is every intention that the Arizona Democratic Party will run a true Democrat in 2024,” he said, adding that he favors Gallego.

☆ Women priests, homosexuality, not closed debate in Church, German bishop says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A leading German Catholic bishop on Saturday contested the Vatican's view that debates about women priests and homosexuality were closed, saying they will have to be confronted in the future. "As far as the ordination of women is concerned, for example, (the Vatican's) view is very clear, that the question is closed. The Catholic Church teaches that women cannot be priests because Jesus chose only men as his apostles and that while same-sex attraction is not sinful, homosexual acts are. "Popes have tried to say the question (of women priests) is closed but the fact is that the question exists. Many young women say 'a church that refuses all of this cannot be my church in the long run,'" he said.

☆ Complexity for Marketers Has Meant Opportunity for Ad Agencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Their performance is striking compared with ad agencies’ plight five years ago: Facebook and Google had established direct relationships with marketers and were winning growing portions of their ad budgets before agencies could even offer their services. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CMO Today CMO Today delivers the most important news of the day for media and marketing professionals. PREVIEWSome major owners of ad agencies watched their growth slow or flatten in 2017 and 2018. Agency companies have responded by building practices to help marketers on platforms like TikTok and Amazon. Marketers navigate outside partnersSome major marketers still want to keep a close handle on some of their data efforts.

Trump in turn has blasted back, accusing the media without evidence of favoring DeSantis in a conspiracy to deny him the nomination. There is also an effort underway to get Trump to focus less on past grievances. In a Friday post on his Truth Social network, Trump called Youngkin "Young Kin" and said, "sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?" The day earlier, Trump posted a long harangue about DeSantis that again called him Ron "DeSanctimonious" and said he owes his political fortunes to Trump. Two Florida Republicans close to DeSantis predicted the governor would be wary of responding directly, keeping his focus on the state's recovery from Hurricane Ian and policy issues.

☆ U.S. Pensions Take a Fresh Look at China
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Heather Gillers | Michelle Chan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, based in West Sacramento, began searching in August for dedicated China stock managers. U.S. public pension funds are splintering in their approach to China, reflecting rising investment risks and the increasingly fractious politics of the two largest global economies. Retirement-plan officials are staking out a range of positions. California’s teacher-pension fund launched in late August a search for its first dedicated China stock managers, while Texas’ teachers retirement fund is cutting its China stock allocation by half. Florida’s public-worker fund earlier this year halted new investment strategies in China, citing past crackdowns on education and tech companies.

☆ Analysis: UK's Hunt faces triple threat from debt, recession and Conservative rebels
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Hunt, re-appointed to his job by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, is due to announce a budget plan on Oct. 31. Hunt, a former foreign and health minister, was rushed in as Truss's new finance minister after she fired her friend and fellow low-tax disciple Kwarteng less than two weeks ago in a bid to appease the markets. Hunt immediately ripped up Truss and Kwarteng's programme, reversing most of its 45 billion pounds of tax cuts, and he warned of tough decisions ahead to restore Britain's economic credibility. But the scale of the problem remains huge, with health, education and other public services in Britain under huge strain after more than a decade of tough controls on public spending. Just as important in the short term, Hunt and Sunak must decide what to do with Britain's hugely expensive energy price cap for homes and businesses.

☆ When Chinese protesters came up against Xi's security machine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Handout via REUTERSBEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jack Yao, a Chinese Communist Party member, never wanted to be an activist. It offers a glimpse of the lengths some frustrated citizens will go to in taking on the world's most powerful security state. China's Ministry of Public Security, the Henan and Anhui local governments, and police departments in those provinces and Beijing didn't respond to requests for comment for this article. Chinese authorities say social stability is the foundation for a prosperous future and dismiss human rights complaints as Western propaganda and interference in internal affairs. Protesters chanted: "Henan banks, give us back our deposits."

☆ Inflation is here to stay despite rising interest rates, Asian business leaders warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Iya Forbes | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesInflation in consumer goods will persist as a "new normal" as the global economy undergoes structural changes, Asian business leaders warn. While rising interest rates might eventually temper asset prices, deglobalization and decarbonization could continue to drive up costs for everyday goods, said V. Shankar, chief executive of emerging markets investment manager Gateway Partners. "Despite helicopter money and zero interest rates, the reason why the price of goods stayed down for so long is because of a vast efficient manufacturing agent called China, and the integration of global supply chains." Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Singapore's multinational hospitality group Banyan Tree Holdings agreed, saying higher interest rates are not the new normal, rather, zero or low interest rates were "abnormal." "The world is going, in my view, back to probably a long-term situation of low interest rates, and hopefully, low inflation, but zero inflation, zero interest rates, that's the abnormality, and not the future that we're looking at."

☆ Trump's own former intel chief worried that Russia had compromising material on him, book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dan Coats, former director of national intelligence, worried about Trump's relations with Putin. According to a new book, Trump's behavior at a summit with Putin sparked his concern. Trump's relationship with Russia has long been a subject of rumor and speculation. According to the authors, Trump's behavior as president raised alarm among top officials, including Dan Coats, then the DNI. Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not find sufficient evidence to substantiate claims the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia in 2016.

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