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☆ Nickel markets brace for nail-biting threequel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Jan 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda, notorious for disrupting the London Metal Exchange’s nickel trade last year and the year before, may have done it again. His Tsingshan Holding is planning to pump up production of refined nickel by repurposing a number of copper plants, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 9. If he succeeds, his novel strategy to take advantage of higher prices could double Chinese output of the metal products. In 2021, the entrepreneur sent prices plummeting when his group announced deals to deliver nickel matte to Chinese electric-car battery material suppliers. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Inside the turmoil at Cheddar News, where an editorial 'identity crisis' and misfired social media strategy divided the newsroom and drove staffers to the exits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Reed Alexander | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

16 insiders described unrest and discord partly fueled by the site's revamped social media strategy. Malaspina's plan was for Cheddar to look and feel like a social media platform and to position its stars as influencers. Concerns inside Cheddar intensified when Malaspina, a newcomer to journalism, refocused its coverage on social media content. Multiple segments and even an entire show — "Trending" at 7 p.m. — centered on social media trends and TikTok challenges. It's very troubling to think that news professionals would inflate or distort their social media followings.

☆ Blackstone used this data tool to upend its real-estate business. Now it's being deployed across its PE portfolio.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Carter Johnson | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Blackstone Chief Technology Officer John Stecher told Insider that Blackstone now uses Data Direct — previously called Real Estate Data Direct — across both its real estate and private-equity portfolios. From real estate to private equityInsider first detailed the launch of Data Direct, then known as Real Estate Data Direct (REDD), last year. That led to the roll out of the data tool to other parts of the business, like Blackstone's private-equity portfolio, and to new business lines next year. Data Direct, at its heart, is a data tool, and its success is predicated upon importing reliable information in the first place. Having good, clean data has made Data Direct very successful," he added.

☆ Hope Hicks, former Trump aide, on Jan. 6: ‘We all look like domestic terrorists now’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Hope Hicks, who served as a top adviser to former President Donald Trump, told an aide to Ivanka Trump that “we all look like domestic terrorists now” as the Capitol riot unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021. In texts released by the House Jan. 6 committee, Hicks expressed concerns about the consequences of Trump’s actions to Julie Radford, who was then Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff. She departed the White House several days after the Jan. 6 insurrection after serving as a counselor to the president. She previously served as White House communications director as well as director of strategic communications. Before joining the Trump White House, Hicks worked for Trump’s presidential campaign, the Trump Organization and Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand.

Here are four climate and environment lawsuits that are likely to make headlines in 2023. The oil companies in the nation's high court are hoping to upend a series of circuit court decisions saying the cases belong in state courts where they were filed. If the court takes the appeal and rules for the oil companies, then the cases would be moved to federal court, the preferred venue for the industry defendants. (Bellwether trials are chosen as test cases and are used to work through common legal and factual issues.) "I think it will be a huge year for this issue," Conroy said of 2023.

A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said President Joe Biden's administration will continue to back Venezuela's interim government "regardless of what form it takes." He did not comment on whether that support included extending a key protection to Citgo under the new structure. Another potential scenario with the commission taking over: a new U.S. court battle over the legitimacy of Citgo's board of directors. A federal court in 2020 ratified the executives appointed by Guaido to run Citgo. Lawyers advising Citgo's supervisory boards have warned about the challenges of presenting a new government structure before U.S. courts.

☆ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dominated oral arguments and challenged conservative thinking in her first months on the Supreme Court, observers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has sat on the Supreme Court for a little more than two months. The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 in Washington, DC. Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court during a formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Some court observers say oral arguments can potentially be an opportunity for justices to sway their colleagues' thinking – though that doesn't happen often. During the three hours of oral arguments, Jackson frequently threw cold water on the idea.

☆ A Meta employee paid $300,000 for a cruise ship condo so he can work from home while traveling, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Meta employee spent $300,000 on a condo on a cruise ship that will sail the globe. Austin Wells told CNBC he wanted to travel the world, as well as keep working from home. The cruise ship promises to let guests live permanently at sea – at a price. "The thing that most excites me is I don't have to upend my daily routine, in order to go see the world," Wells told CNBC. Wells told the outlet he plans to continue to work West Coast hours when the ship sets sail in Europe in 2025.

As the storm took shape over the Great Lakes on Thursday, a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone was likely to develop from a "rapidly deepening low-pressure" system, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch (1.25 cm) per hour and howling winds from the Upper Midwest to the interior Northeast, producing near-zero visibility, the weather service said. "It's dangerous and threatening," President Joe Biden said at the White House, urging Americans with travel plans to not delay and to set off on Thursday. Hundreds of Texans died in February 2021 after the state's power grid failed amid wintry storms, leaving millions without electricity. Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in Maryland, said freezing or below-freezing cold would bisect central Florida, with temperatures about 25 degrees below normal.

☆ Read the full Jan. 6 committee report detailing its investigation into the Capitol attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Nbc News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: 1 min

The House Jan. 6 committee released its full report on the Capitol attack Thursday, capping 18 months of investigative work. The report details the panel's evidence, as well as its conclusions, chief among them that former President Donald Trump oversaw a multipart effort to overturn the results of an election he knew he had lost, culminating in his supporters’ ransacking the Capitol with the intention to block the formalization of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. The panel voted Monday to recommend that the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against Trump over his role in the attack and his efforts to upend the 2020 election. Read the full document here.

☆ Oil rises after Russia says it could cut output due to price cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Oil prices rose by $2 per barrel on Friday after Moscow said it could cut crude output in response to the G7 price cap on Russian exports, putting the market on track for a second week of gains. Russia may cut oil output by 5%-7% in early 2023 as it responds to price caps, the RIA news agency cited Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Friday. "Crude prices are higher as energy traders focus on Moscow's response to the price cap put on Russian oil and not so much the thousands of flight cancellations that will disrupt holiday travel," OANDA analyst Edward Moya said. On Thursday, benchmark oil prices fell as flights were scrapped. "As U.S. crude oil inventories fall and winter storms hit the U.S., cold temperatures are expected to extend southward to Texas, Florida, and the Eastern states.

☆ Oil climbs on expected drop in Russian exports, offsets U.S. storm impact
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Florence Tan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

On Thursday, oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic settled lower as flights were scrapped. However, heating oil demand could be boosted as the extreme weather is expected to cause power outages. Brent and WTI are on track to post a second weekly gain, supported by expectations of an eventual rebound in oil demand at the world's No. However, surging COVID-19 cases in the mainland, concerns about further rate hikes globally and recession curbing fuel consumption limited oil price gains. "The oil market's biggest wildcard is China and optimism is still strong that the reopening will continue and eventually lead to more demand," Moya said.

☆ Microsoft tells judges its $69 billion Activision deal would benefit gamers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday its $69 billion bid to buy “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard would benefit gamers and gaming companies alike. “The acquisition of a single game by the third-place console manufacturer cannot upend a highly competitive industry. That is particularly so when the manufacturer has made clear it will not withhold the game,” Microsoft said in Thursday’s filing. The US Department of Justice recently stopped a $2.2 billion merger of Penguin Random House, the world’s largest book publisher, and smaller US rival Simon & Schuster. The Microsoft deal is also facing scrutiny outside the United States, with the European Union saying it would decide by March 23, 2023, whether to clear or block the deal.

☆ Microsoft responds to FTC case seeking to block Activision Blizzard deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft on Thursday filed its response to U.S. regulators' antitrust case attempting to block the software maker from buying video-game publisher Activision Blizzard . But then Microsoft revealed its plan to buy Activision Blizzard. To relieve government opposition to the deal, Microsoft has offered concessions. "Sony refuses to deal," Microsoft said in its filing. In the months since then, two groups of Activision Blizzard employees have voted to form unions.

☆ Tesla's cratering share price goes beyond Musk's preoccupation with Twitter. The entire EV market is slowing down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tesla's share price has been cut in half and a distracted CEO isn't the only issue. The wider EV market is facing a tough mix of challenges. At the time of writing, its share price sits at $126.31, down 60% since the beginning of the year. Tesla's woes are symptomatic of wider issues plaguing the EV market. Tesla's stock market value slid below ExxonMobil this week for the first time since 2020, falling to $435 billion on Tuesday-compared with the oil and gas company's $439 billion market value, according to the Financial Times.

☆ Massive winter storm threatens holiday travel for millions of Americans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Tyler Clifford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In its wake, the cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch an hour and winds of more than 50 mph (80 kph) in the Upper Midwest and interior Northeast, the weather service said. "This will lead to dangerous, to at times impossible, land and air travel leading up to the holiday weekend," the agency said on its website. Temperatures in parts of the Southern Plains and Southeast could stay below freezing -- 30-plus degrees less than normal -- for multiple days, the weather service predicted. The weather service also warned of freezing rain in parts of Oregon and Washington in the Northwest, where the storm originated, late Thursday. That would be the biggest daily drop in output since the freeze of February 2021 when a winter storm cut gas supplies from Texas and forced the Texas electric grid operator to impose rolling power outages.

☆ Why tech billionaires like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos are all investing in biotech startups that want to link your computer directly to your brain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Andrew Dunn | Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Tech moguls like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates are investing in brain-implant startups. Through their venture-capital funds, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates both recently backed the Brooklyn, New York, startup Synchron, which has tested its brain stent in seven humans. Peter Thiel, a billionaire cofounder of PayPal, invested last year in Utah's Blackrock Neurotech, an older BCI startup that has said it hopes to apply for Food and Drug Administration approval soon. That long-term potential has caught the attention of tech billionaires like Musk, Gates, and Bezos. No BCI startup has gone public, and most of their fundraising rounds have been modest compared with larger and more-mature biotechs.

☆ NFL roundup: Patriots fumble away game to Raiders on last play
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Carr completed 20 of 38 passes for 231 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Bengals 34, Buccaneers 23Joe Burrow threw four touchdown passes to help Cincinnati overcome a 17-point deficit and upend host Tampa Bay for its sixth straight win. Chicago regained possession trailing 17-13 with 8:25 to play after Jake Elliott's 38-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright. Saints 21, Falcons 18Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and Taysom Hill threw another one as host New Orleans defeated Atlanta. Dalton completed 11 of 17 passes for 151 yards and connected with Juwan Johnson for touchdowns of 19 and 22 yards.

☆ GOP Sen. Mike Lee proposes bill that could ban access to Internet porn in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GOP Sen. Mike Lee proposed a bill that would redefine obscenity and could upend the porn industry. Lee's bill targets content that has the "objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person." The Free Speech Coalition, which represents the adult film industry, said the bill threatens the performers' livelihoods. Lee, of Utah, introduced the one-page bill, titled the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act, on December 14. —Free Speech Coalition (@FSCArmy) December 15, 2022Mike Stabile, public affairs director with the Free Speech Coalition, also told VICE News that the bill "has gotten a huge amount of attention."

☆ Why Have Netflix, Hulu, and the Rest of Streaming TV Gotten so Boring?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Paris Marx | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

As a result, Netflix and other streamers are retreating from any sort of creative risk in favor of humdrum, lowest-common-denominator shows. But just as Netflix was pulling back from its most creative content, the streaming wars were heating up. Netflix is now churning out cheap and broadly appealing reality TV shows like "Is It Cake?" Despite positioning itself for years as the ad-free way to watch TV, Netflix in October launched a lower-cost, ad-supported tier in many of its major markets. As the cheap money disappears, we're starting to get a better picture of the actual price of streaming media.

☆ The golden age of streaming TV is over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Paris Marx | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

That August, the streaming analyst Eric Schiffer told The Verge that the "golden age" was over as competition increased, and Netflix was putting creators on a shorter leash. But just as Netflix was pulling back from its most creative content, the streaming wars were heating up. Netflix is now churning out cheap and broadly appealing reality TV shows like "Is It Cake?" Despite positioning itself for years as the ad-free way to watch TV, Netflix in October launched a lower-cost, ad-supported tier in many of its major markets. As the cheap money disappears, we're starting to get a better picture of the actual price of streaming media.

Fractured teams lose,” GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, co-chair of the centrist-leaning Main Street Caucus, told CNN, pointing to McCarthy’s broad support among the conference. During the meeting, they told McCarthy they would have his back and were committed to voting for him on multiple ballots if it comes to that. But one member told CNN they also conveyed concern to McCarthy about restoring the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. “He’s open to a lot of things,” Norman told CNN, including adopting the motion to vacate the chair rule. “I’ve said this over and over again: there is not this, like, enormous amount of drama,” Moore told CNN.

CNN —Special counsel Jack Smith has issued a subpoena to local officials in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, for information related to the 2020 election, a spokesperson for the county told CNN. “Yes, we received a subpoena from the Department of Justice’s special counsel regarding the 2020 election. The subpoena sent to Allegheny County is the latest in a string of requests for information sent by Smith, who is now overseeing the Justice Department’s sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Officials have also been subpoenaed in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin. Smith’s team has now sent subpoenas to local and state officials in all seven of the key states targeted by former President Donald Trump and his allies as part of their bid to upend Joe Biden’s legitimate victory.

☆ Moderna's CEO predicts how the biotech's work in cancer vaccines could transform healthcare, starting with your annual physical
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Personalized cancer vaccines could provide a new way to fight early cancer cases. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel told Insider he thinks cancer vaccines can upend cancer care. In an interview, Bancel shared his vision on how these personalized cancer vaccines could transform cancer care. Based off the blood work, Moderna would design vaccines that target the genetic mutations in cancerous cells that stand out from healthy cells. The blood tests could find cancer before it grows too much, and mRNA vaccines could squash it.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Jeremy Herb | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview. While Sanders and King formally caucus with Democrats, Sinema declined to explicitly say that she would do the same. She also brushed aside criticism she may face for the decision to leave the Democratic Party. “Nothing about the last two years indicates a major effort would’ve made helped – the exact opposite actually,” a White House official said. After a vote against filibuster changes in January, the Arizona Democratic Party’s executive board censured Sinema.

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