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☆ Uganda passes a law making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KAMPALA, March 21 (Reuters) - Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to rights group Human Rights Watch. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law bans promoting and abetting homosexuality as well as conspiracy to engage in homosexuality. Violations under the law draw severe penalties, including death for so-called aggravated homosexuality and life in prison for gay sex. In recent weeks, Uganda authorities have cracked down on LGBTQ people after religious leaders and politicians alleged students were being recruited into homosexuality in schools.

☆ Finland is the No. 1 happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Celia Fernandez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The World Happiness Report released its annual ranking of the happiest countries in the world and for the sixth year in a row Finland has landed in the top spot. "This gap is small in countries where almost everyone is very unhappy, and in the top countries where almost no one is unhappy," the report states. This year's ranking is similar to those in the past, with the same Nordic countries taking the top three spots. Finland is willing to share its wisdom: It's offering a free "masterclass of happiness" to help travelers find their "inner Finn." The United States didn't rank in the top 10 on the list, but it did land at No.

☆ U.S. drone may not be recovered from Black Sea after Russian interception -White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Doina Chiacu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In the first such incident since the Ukraine war began, Russian Su-27 jets struck the propeller of the unmanned drone and made it inoperable, the Pentagon said. Russia's defense ministry blamed "sharp maneuvering" of the drone for the crash and said that its jets did not make contact. The State Department on Tuesday summoned Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, to express U.S. concerns over the encounter. Antonov after the meeting said that the drone "deliberately and provocatively was moving toward Russian territory with transponders turned off." American officials have stressed that the United States would continue to fly over international waters in the area.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. surveillance drone brought down over the Black Sea after a Russian military intercept probably broke apart and would be difficult to recover given the depth of the water in the area, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday. Russia's defense ministry blamed "sharp maneuvering" by the drone for the crash and said its jet did not make contact. Milley said the United States had already taken measures to guard against a loss of sensitive intelligence if the drone were to be recovered by Russia. The State Department on Tuesday summoned Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, to express U.S. concerns over the encounter. Antonov after the meeting said the drone "deliberately and provocatively was moving toward Russian territory with transponders turned off."

☆ U.S. defense secretary aims to reassure Mideast allies, deliver tough message
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The United States has about 30,000 troops in the region and is seen as pivotal in helping counter Iranian influence. Austin is poised to send a clear message on the need for Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to respect human rights, underscoring Washington's concern on the issue. "I fully expect him to bring up human rights, respect for fundamental freedoms," the U.S. defense official said. The United States has withheld small amounts of military aid to Cairo, citing a failure to meet human rights conditions. The United States has committed more than $32 billion in weapons to Ukraine including sophisticated air defense systems and tanks.

☆ Oil companies hit with backlash after bringing in $200 billion in profits last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Oil companies pulled in record profits in 2022, as oil prices skyrocketed. Revenues for the biggest integrated European and American oil companies nearly doubled during 2021. "Oil companies' record profits today are not because they're doing something new or innovative," President Joe Biden said Oct. 31. The industry has said the depiction of oil companies as greedy war profiteers is false. And while oil companies raked in cash in 2022, their fates are closely tied to the price of oil — when it falls, they lose.

☆ Hollywood actress Raquel Welch dead at age 82
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Actress Raquel Welch, who helped redefine the traditional image of the Hollywood sex symbol with her portrayals of strong women in dozens of movies in the 1960s and '70s, died on Wednesday at age 82. Her death following a brief illness was confirmed in a statement released by Jane McKnight, her Los Angeles-based manager. She won a Golden Globe Award for best actress in a musical or comedy for her performance in the 1973 swashbuckling romp "The Three Musketeers." [1/3] Actress Raquel Welch poses at the 2014 Carousel of Hope Ball at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California October 11, 2014. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo 1 2 3Her portrayal of strong, willful women was credited with reshaping stereotypes.

Early on Friday, the core of the cold air mass, driven from Arctic Canada into the United States by high-altitude air currents, was centered over the U.S. Plains, said weather service forecaster Bob Oravec. International Falls, Minnesota, was the coldest spot as of 7 a.m., with temperatures hovering around -36 F (-38 C). "It's moving into the Northeast" and temperatures will drop throughout the day on Friday, he said. By comparison, air temperatures in Eureka, Canada's northernmost Arctic weather station, were hovering at -41 F (-41 C) on Friday morning. Boston was about 22 above zero F (-6 C) on Friday morning, with temperatures expected to plummet throughout the day and hit -3 F (-19 C) by midnight.

☆ Due diligence is top of mind for Wall Street in the wake of blowups at Frank and FTX. Here's what it means for the state of M&A.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In the long list of boring, behind-the-scenes stuff for deals to get done, due diligence ranks close to the top. One of the more fascinating knock-on effects is how buyers might leverage FTX and Frank as a way to get better terms on deals. Click here to read more about the new state of due diligence in the wake of FTX and Frank. I know you're a passionate bunch, so we compiled everything Wall Street is saying about the EV maker's fourth-quarter earnings. Which fast-food joint has the best coffee?

☆ The dealmaking boom meant fast timelines and loose due diligence. But high-profile implosions like FTX and Frank mean would-be sellers can expect more scrutiny, insiders say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Paige Hagy | Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

We don't want to look like JPMorgan,'" Jason Mikula, fintech analyst and writer behind Fintech Business Weekly, told Insider. How closely they adhere to it matters greatly in terms of if a deal is on the line," Mandelbaum told Insider. Investors pumped $132 billion globally into fintechs in 2021 and there were more than 900 fintech M&A exits, according to CB Insights. "It's now a buyer's market," Rob Brown, CEO of Lincoln International, a global investment-banking advisory firm, told Insider. One way companies might optimize the due-diligence process without cutting corners is by leaning on machines to help with the heavy lifting.

☆ Inside Ken Griffin's rise to one of Wall Street's most powerful people, and why politics could be next
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +30 min

JB and I are not on speaking terms these days," said Ken Griffin, the billionaire hedge-fund manager, referring to JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois. As Florida rolled back pandemic restrictions more quickly than Chicago, even more Citadel employees migrated south. Ken Griffin's hedge fund has had a run of eye-popping returns since 2020. Others worry that it gives Griffin's hedge fund an unfair advantage. Hundreds of Citadel employees, partners, and families gathered at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida.

☆ Why some cars from the 1990s are soaring in value
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Not that long ago, cars from the 1990s were just used cars. In addition to insuring collectible cars, Hagerty also owns the auction company Broad Arrow. Values for 1990s-era collectible cars have risen by an average of 78% over the past three years, “which is huge,” Rabold said. Cars from the ’90s have at least some modern comfort and safety features, and even relatively inexpensive cars can have respectable power and performance. We’re talking about “collectible” cars.

☆ Rolling back laws that set minimum wages for construction workers meant pay shrunk, jobs got more dangerous, and workers had to rely more on public assistance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new study looks at the impact of rolling back prevailing wage laws on wages and workers. Prevailing wage laws set pay standards for government contract workers, particularly construction workers. Researchers Frank Manzo, Robert Bruno, and Larissa Petrucci examine the impact of repealing prevailing wage laws — laws that essentially set minimum wages for construction workers on government contracts. Historically, prevailing wage laws have helped plug labor shortages, and contractors could have trouble competing with higher-paying competitors across the country. Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Michigan all repealed their prevailing wage laws between 2015 and 2018.

☆ Newcastle stunned but West Ham, Spurs, Leicester progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

West Ham secured their ticket to the fourth round after Said Benrahma scored a stunning long-range effort against his former club in a 1-0 win at Brentford. Josh Windass netted twice for Wednesday as they took a two-goal lead over Newcastle in the second half. Yet they did little in the way of replicating the form which saw them lead 2-0 after 43 minutes against West Ham when they met in the Premier League eight days ago. Brentford are now out of both domestic cup competitions, having exited the League Cup after a loss to League Two Gillingham in November. Elsewhere, Premier League sides Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest suffered defeats by Championship teams Burnley and Blackpool respectively.

☆ I'm a psychologist in Finland, the No. 1 happiest country in the world—here are 3 things we never do
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Frank Martela | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

1 as the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report. As a Finnish philosopher and psychologist who studies the fundamentals of happiness, I'm often asked: What exactly makes people in Finland so exceptionally satisfied with their lives? To maintain a high quality of life, here are three things we never do:1. Happiness tip: Focus more on what makes you happy and less on looking successful. Happiness tip: Spending time in nature increases our vitality, well-being and a gives us a sense of personal growth.

☆ The US relied on a secret force of Japanese-Americans to win World War II in the Pacific — while their families were locked up at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Katie Sanders | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Japanese-American Nisei soldiers at US Army Military Intelligence Service language school. Not many people know that we had Japanese-Americans fighting the Pacific war. The very first Japanese language school was started by the Army a months before Pearl Harbor. A US Army Nisei soldier gives water to a child in Okinawa. US Army Nisei soldiers interrogating a Japanese prisoner of war.

☆ Women journalists remember Barbara Walters: 'Her powerful legacy lives on'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters report from London during the wedding of Prince William and Princes Kate in 2011. Guthrie posted a throwback photo of Walters at the “TODAY” anchor desk with the caption: “thank you, Barbara. Harry Reasoner and Barbara Barbara on the set of ABC's evening news in 1976. "Her powerful legacy lives on in all the women journalists who were influenced by her passionate work and searing interviews," Roberts wrote. 'This is my legacy'Led by Oprah, 25 women journalists who were influenced by Barbara Walters say goodbye to her during her final co-host appearance on "The View" in 2014.

☆ Barbara Walters, pioneering TV journalist who began on ‘TODAY,’ dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Ethan Sacks | Ethan Sacks Writes For Nbcnews.Com. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV broadcaster who blazed a trail for women in a male-dominated medium, died Friday. “Barbara Walters proved to be the evolutionary step between Edward R. Murrow and Oprah Winfrey.”Barbara Walters interviews Ronald Reagan in 1980 for ABC News. NBCMcGee, who died shortly after being partnered with Walters, demanded that he ask three questions to every one of Walter’s in studio interviews. So, Walters started fielding interviews outside the studio, quickly building a reputation as an incisive and probing questioner. After nearly 60 years in journalism, Walters announced she was retiring in 2014.

☆ Factbox: Key facts about pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The following are key facts about the life and career of pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to anchor an American network evening newscast, who died on Friday:* Walters was born in Boston on Sept. 25, but she did not like to reveal the year, which reportedly was 1929, 1930 or 1931. * Walters started at NBC's "Today" show as a writer in 1961 and in 1976 became the first woman to co-anchor a network evening news broadcast on U.S. television. * Walters singled out her "Today" co-host Frank McGee and Reasoner on ABC News for making her life miserable. * Walters felt she was unfairly mocked for her asking actress Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would like to be. * Walters' marriages to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson all ended in divorce.

☆ Pioneering U.S. television journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Television personality Barbara Walters arrives for the premiere of the film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" in New York September 20, 2010. "I asked Yeltsin if he drank too much, and I asked Putin if he killed anybody," Walters told the New York Times in 2013. "These two men were really quite brutal to me and it was not pleasant," Walters told the San Francisco Examiner. The New York Times called her "arguably America's best-known television personality" but also observed that "what we remember most about a Barbara Walters interview is Barbara Walters." Walters' three marriages - to businessman Robert Katz, theatrical producer Lee Guber and television executive Merv Adelson - ended in divorce.

☆ Marble Lions and Roman Statues: Inside an Italian Villa on a Phoenix Mountaintop
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Libertina Brandt | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Be the first to know about the biggest and best luxury home sales and listings by signing up for our Mansion Deals email alert. The late Frank Mineo was a “flashy guy” who parlayed a basement fish-breeding operation into chains of pet stores, according to his son, Frank Mineo Jr., who said his father’s colorful personality is evident throughout his mountaintop compound in Phoenix.

☆ Here’s who Elon Musk could pick to be Twitter’s next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk may soon be on the lookout for a new chief executive to run Twitter. There is no successor.”If Musk were to look for a new Twitter CEO, he’d likely have many willing takers. Jack Dorsey, Twitter founder, CEO of Block and friend to Musk, has previously said he would not return to run the social network. The most obvious potential candidates for a new Twitter CEO are the Musk lieutenants who have been helping to run the company since his takeover. Who is insane enough to run twitter?!?

☆ Medical device makers drop products as EU law sows chaos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Nicola Osypka's German company has been selling medical devices used in surgery on newborn babies in Europe for decades, but new European Union rules have forced her to make tough decisions. While some companies say the products they have cut have no impact on patients or profits, others say some of withdrawn devices are essential, and doctors agree. Under the EU's Medical Devices Regulation (MDR), which came into effect in May 2021, all medical devices, from implants and prosthetics to blood glucose meters and catheters, must meet stricter safety criteria, sometimes with new clinical trials. Under the old system, it took about 15,000 euros and a few months to get a similar device approved, he said. Tom Melvin, an associate professor of medical device regulatory affairs at Trinity College Dublin, said there were nearly 100 such agencies a decade ago under the old system.

[1/2] U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia July 27, 2022. Griner arrived at the medical center last Friday after U.S. officials secured her freedom from Russia in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner, 32, was arrested on Feb. 17 at an airport outside Moscow for carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. U.S. officials pressed for the release of both Griner and Whelan, who is being held on what Washington called "sham" espionage charges, a Biden administration official said. "(I) encourage everyone that played a part in bringing me home to continue their efforts to bring all Americans home," said Griner.

☆ Ten years after Sandy Hook shooting, Connecticut town spends a day in reflection
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/8] Dr. Anthony Salvatore, co-president of the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators lays roses on the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial as part in a wreath laying ceremony hosted by The National Teachers Hall of Fame to mark the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S., December 14, 2022. Wearing a green sweater - the Sandy Hook school color - he walked the memorial, stopping at the names of the children who now would have been 16 and 17. He renewed a call to ban the kind of military-style rifles used in Sandy Hook and many other mass shootings. Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son Daniel was killed at Sandy Hook, is one of several parents who channeled their grief into advocacy. He co-founded Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit that aims to educate teachers and students about warning signs that can be used to identify likely mass shooters.

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