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☆ Rupert Murdoch gave Jared Kushner 'confidential information' about Biden's 2020 ads before they were public, Dominion alleges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dominion Voting Systems made new claims about Fox News' workings around the 2020 election. In its defamation suit against Fox, Dominion claimed that Rupert Murdoch shared confidential info. Jared Kushner was provided early access to Biden's 2020 election ads, per the filing. "During Trump's campaign, Rupert provided Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, with Fox confidential information about Biden's ads, along with debate strategy (providing Kushner a preview of Biden's ads before they were public)," Dominion's lawyers wrote in the filing. And in the company's lawsuit, Dominion claimed that Fox News "sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process."

☆ War in Ukraine by the numbers: Mass deaths, billions in aid, thousands of destroyed tanks, and more stats that paint an image of Russia's unprovoked invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Erin Snodgrass | Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

February 24, 2023, marked the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Billions of dollars of aid has been sent, and Russia has lost about half its fleet of tanks. When his troops invaded on February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin expected to quickly sweep through the country and capture Kyiv. Still, the cost of the war — in lives, dollars, and military equipment — has been high. AP Photo/Daniel ColeThe dead and woundedUkrainian refugees are seen after crossing into Poland on March 13, 2022.

☆ Russia was cut off by Viagra's manufacturer, leaving the Kremlin scrambling to commission generic erection pills
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia has been cut off by the pharmaceutical company that produces Viagra, according to the Washington Post. On Wednesday, Russia also announced that 36 companies were raring to produce a domestic alternative. Viatris initially stopped clinical trials in Russia after the Kremlin launched an invasion into Ukraine in February 2022, the Post reported. Throughout the year, Viatris suffered financial losses in Russia due to supply chain issues but continued to supply pills to pre-existing patients. According to the Post, Ukraine adopted a law in May 2022 which banned the sale and distribution of medication from companies that maintained ties with Russia.

☆ Olaplex hit with lawsuit by customers accusing the buzzy brand of causing hair loss, downplaying complaints
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Insider has previously reported on Olaplex customers who said they experienced hair loss and got refunds. "OLAPLEX products do not cause hair loss or hair breakage," a spokesperson for the company told Insider in a statement. Insider has previously reported on customers alleging that they experienced hair loss after using Olaplex products and reported that some had even received refunds. Olaplex's statement added that there are "a wide variety of reasons for hair breakage or hair loss," calling the allegations in the lawsuit, "baseless accusations." "Defendants have been dismissive of their customers' hair loss, instead describing hair shedding as normal and unavoidable and attributing the hair loss to a long list of other potential causes," they wrote.

☆ Biotech CEO famous for spending millions to reverse age accused of walking out on ex after her breast cancer diagnosis and manipulating her in the spirit of 'radical transparency"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A biotech CEO famous for trying to reverse his age was accused of walking out on a cancer-stricken partner. Ex-fiancée Taryn Southern alleged that Bryan Johnson emotionally and financially manipulated her. "Trickery, deceit, preying on Ms. Southern's physical and emotional weaknesses and financial dependence, and creating confusion and fear with his threats of legal action were major features of Johnson's scheme against Ms. Southern," Southern's attorneys wrote. "He aggressively pursued and propositioned Ms. Southern's own friends and acquaintances – while other women were paid prostitutes or girls from 'Sugar Daddy" apps,' Southern's attorneys said in the suit. "He became obsessed with his sexual conquests and relaying the details of his triumphs to Ms. Southern under the guise of 'radical transparency and honesty.'"

☆ Commercial real estate's biggest investors are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the grittiest land in America. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Big commercial-real-estate players from Brookfield to Fortress are snapping up industrial land. Brookfield is one of several big-name investors that are paying increasing attention to lowly industrial land. Industrial land also generally has lower operating costs and taxes compared to other real estate. It's hard to find big enough portfolios of industrial landThere are challenges, too, in breaking into the business of owning industrial land. Atkins said he has been impressed by the robustness of the IOS market, even with fears about the broader economy.

Former VP Mike Pence was subpoenaed by the Department of Justice on Thursday, per ABC News and CNN. DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is focused on Trump investigations, sent the notice, per reports. CNN reported that the subpoena was tied to the DOJ's investigation into the January 6 insurrection. According to a new report by ABC News, which cited multiple unnamed sources, Pence was subpoenaed after negotiations between federal officials and his legal team. Jack Smith, the DOJ's special counsel, has been leading investigations into Trump since November 2022, when Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned him to lead probes into attempts to overturn the 2020 election and Trump's mishandling of classified documents.

☆ Ukrainian UN diplomat tells Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters to keep to 'strumming guitar' after pushing Ukraine misinformation during council meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters spoke on behalf of Russia at the UN security council Wednesday. He regurgitated conspiracies about the Ukraine war, calling it "illegal" in the same breath. During Wednesday's meeting, Waters struck a more flimsy tone, criticizing Russia on one hand and obfuscating its role on the other. I'm on the fucking list," Waters told Rolling Stone in October 2022. He has also denied the existence of chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government and defended Russian bombardment in Syria, according to Rolling Stone.

☆ Bill and Melinda Gates: Here's a look inside their 27-year marriage, from meeting at work, to spending $45 billion on philanthropy, to their 2021 divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Áine Cain | Allana Akhtar | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, announced he and his wife, Melinda, divorced in 2021. The two ran the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which had an endowment of $49.8 billion in 2019. "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," Bill Gates said in a tweet. Bill and Melinda Gates had been married since 1994, raised three kids, were worth $130.5 billion, and ran a namesake philanthropic enterprise boasting a $49.8 billion endowment. Here's a look at the marriage between Bill and Melinda:

☆ George Santos once lied that he was a producer on 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,' one of the biggest Broadway debacles of all time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. George Santos told campaign donors he produced the most expensive Broadway play of all time. But it turns out Santos was never a producer for "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," per Bloomberg. The play cost $75 million to produce and at the time, Santos was a customer service rep in Queens. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Santos told donors on the campaign trail that he was a producer on "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," a Broadway adaptation of the superhero saga. Michael Cohl, who produced the play, told Bloomberg that Santos was not a producer and that his name was nowhere on the playbill.

☆ Tyre Nichols video released: Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre NicholsPresident Joe Biden speaks at the White House on January 12, 2023. AP Photo/Andrew HarnikPresident Joe Biden spoke out on Friday moments after the release of several videos showing police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols, who died from his injuries days later. On Friday, The City of Memphis released four separate videos related to events surrounding the arrest and beating of Nichols, who died three days after being beaten during a traffic stop on January 7. Biden said in a statement that he was "outraged" by what he saw. "Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols' death," Biden said.

☆ Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

President Biden released a statement on the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols on Friday. The City of Memphis released four different graphic videos related to the incident. One video shows officers beating Nichols for minutes on end. "Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols' death," Biden said. "My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols' family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss."

☆ Feds seized a party boat, a Rolls Royce, and a motorcycle from a man accused of using COVID loans to buy his way into a Texas yacht club
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A deceased Texas man had his party boat, Rolls Royce, and yacht club membership seized by the feds. He secured the goods through a COVID PPP loan fraud scheme, seeking $23 million, feds alleged. Between April 2020 and May 2020, he received almost $1 million in PPP loans and started spending. McQuarn agreed to hand over the items he bought with some of the $23 million in COVID PPP loans he tried to secure, which included a Rolls Royce and a sizable boat. By June 2020, federal investigators had caught up to McQuarn and his associates, seizing all of the money and luxury items that they had amassed in their scheme.

☆ Biden confirms that White House cat Willow has 'no limits' and sleeps on top of his head at night
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

At a Lunar New Year reception, Biden said that Willow sleeps on top of his head at night. The Biden family adopted the cat after she jumped on stage at a 2020 campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Willow is a wild child with "no limits," and often ends up dozing off on top of his head at night, Biden told the crowd. The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for more information about Willow. The Bidens brought 3-year-old Willow, a gray tabby, to the White House a year ago, after the cat jumped on stage during a presidential campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

☆ This timeline shows everything we know — and what we don't — about the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and 8 other people
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alexandra Ma | Ashley Collman | Rosie Perper | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Thursday marks the three-year anniversary of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant. The eight others in the helicopter, including Bryant's daughter Gianna, also died in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. The retired NBA star Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration investigated the crash.

☆ Fans want a popular TikToker to replace 'Rick and Morty' co-founder Justin Roiland in 'Adult Swim' series
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Mara Leighton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fans are lobbying for TikTok creator Sean Dorrough to replace Justin Roiland in 'Rick and Morty.' Fans have flooded Dorrough's accounts, tagging Adult Swim and leaving comments like "Replace Justin for Rick and Morty," and "Any calls from Adult Swim yet?" Dorrough told Insider he'd reached out to Roiland about a year ago after noticing an interview in which Roiland mentioned Dorrough's impressions. And, Dorrough told Insider, it's why he doesn't "dub a lot of cartoons." As a spokesperson previously told Insider, "Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland."

☆ Meta is letting Trump back onto Facebook and Instagram
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donald Trump will regain access to his Facebook account in the coming weeks, Meta announced. Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, defended the decision ahead of the 2024 election. Clegg added that he hoped Trump wouldn't want to "delegitimize" the 2024 election as he did the 2020 election, should he decide to return to the platform. "Like any other Facebook or Instagram user, Mr. Trump is subject to our Community Standards," Clegg said in a statement on Meta's website. Trump lashed out at the company's decision, calling Zuckerberg and other tech leaders "sick" in an interview with Fox News that year.

☆ McCarthy kicks 2 top Democrats who spearheaded Trump impeachment efforts off of the intelligence committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rejected two democrats' bids to be on the intelligence committee. McCarthy said that Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell were not fit to serve on the committee. The two democrats served on it from 2015 to 2019 and headed up impeachment efforts against Trump. Previously, McCarthy had argued that because of Swalwell's past association with a Chinese spy, he should not serve on the committee. He claimed that Schiff "lied to the American public" about his knowledge of the whistleblower at the center of the first impeachment proceedings.

☆ Indian police are looking into the death of a Russian sausage magnate critical of Putin's war in Ukraine, who died after an alcohol-fueled trip in the jungle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian sausage magnate Pavel Antov died in India in late December and was a longtime Putin ally. According to The Wall Street Journal, Indian police have discovered new details about the pair of deaths in late December. Russian lawmaker Pavel Antov died in Rayagada, India, two days after his friend, Vladimir Bydanov. Bydanov, who shared a room with Antov, died of a heart attack on Antov's birthday. Antov is at least the 19th Russian executive who has mysteriously perished throughout the course of the war, according to The Journal.

☆ At meetings, Proud Boys sing 'Proud of Your Boy,' a weepy ode to mom from Broadway's 'Aladdin,' documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Proud Boys are urged to sing a Broadway show tune at meetings, a new court document reveals. The song is "Proud of Your Boy," a weepy ode to making mom proud by the title character in "Aladdin." The anthem is 'Proud of Your Boy," an emotional ode to winning mom's approval from the hit musical, "Aladdin." "Do the 'Proud Boys' know their anthem was written by a gay Jew?" The Southern Poverty Law Center, which calls the Proud Boys a violent, right-wing hate group, has also noted that the song "Proud of Your Boy" inspired the group's name.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes booked a 1-way ticket to Mexico for a friend's wedding while out on bail, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes bought a one-way ticket to Mexico last year, per prosecutors. In response, Holmes' attorney, Lance Wade, said the trip was planned prior to Holmes' conviction on January 3, 2022. "The hope was that the verdict would be different and Ms. Holmes would be able to make this trip to attend the wedding of close friends in Mexico," he wrote. The Theranos founder has sought to stay out of custody as her appeal is pending. "There are not two systems of justice — one for the wealthy and one for the poor — there is one criminal justice system in this country," government lawyers wrote in the document.

☆ Twitter auctioned off a $16,000 piece of kitchen equipment known as the 'Lamborghini of meat slicers' from its San Francisco office
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter auctioned off a number of office items from its San Francisco office this week. The auction included luxury kitchen equipment that was being sold at cut-rate prices. During the auction, Twitter's blue bird logo was sold for $100,000, and a high-end machine known as the "Lamborghini of meat slicers," was also sold. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Berkel 330M-STD Manual Fly Wheel Slicer, a top-of-the-line meat slicer used in top restaurants, was one of the items listed during the auction. The meat slicer, which sells for $16,000 at retail price, was originally listed at $7,500 at the start of the auction, and much of the luxury kitchen equipment was highly discounted, per The Chronicle.

☆ New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigns, saying the job has 'taken a lot out of me'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation on Thursday. Ardern governed over tumultuous times in New ZealandArdern was elected to her role in October 2017 as New Zealand's youngest prime minister, and as the third woman to serve in the position. By early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had gripped the world, positioning Ardern as a sensible leader in the face of varied policy reactions. "It's one thing to make a big decision a week, but with Covid, it was constant," Ardern told New Zealand broadcaster 1 News in April 2022. Absolutely," Ardern told 1 News.

☆ Satellite images showing thousands of craters at a battle site in eastern Ukraine capture just how intense the 'savage' artillery fight there actually is
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New satellite imagery illustrates the Russian campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian towns of Bakhmut and Soledar. Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies"You're talking about thousands upon thousands of artillery rounds that have been delivered between both sides," the official said. Satellite imagery showing the ongoing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces over the eastern Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. Satellite imagery showing the ongoing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces over the eastern Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. Satellite image ©2023 Maxar TechnologiesThe above image shows rows of crushed apartments in Soledar.

☆ The far-right wore Brazil's national soccer team jersey during anti-democratic riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Brazilian national team's soccer jersey has been appropriated by Bolsonaro for years. When Brazil's national team won the 2019 Copa America, Bolsonaro sat squarely with the players and trophy, smiling ear to ear as he parroted the win. "The Brazilian national team shirt is a symbol of the joy of our people," the CBF tweeted on Monday. "Brazil's yellow shirts shimmered and sparkled in the blistering white sunlight of the Mexican noon — the appointed time of kick-offs to support European TV schedules." "We can't be ashamed of wearing our green and yellow shirt," da Silva said in late November, per The Guardian.

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