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WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday determined that Russia has "wrongfully detained" American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, effectively saying that espionage charges are bogus and that the case is political. The Wall Street Journal has denied Gershkovich was spying. The Wall Street Journal's publisher and editor in chief said the "wrongfully detained" designation "will unlock additional resources and attention at the highest levels of the U.S. government in securing his release." Legislation passed by Congress in 2020 lists 11 criteria to help determine if a U.S. citizen is "wrongfully detained." The Biden administration has secured the release of at least 25 "wrongfully detained" Americans.

☆ After gaining control of our reporter's phone, a hacker ripped her off for $10,000. She set out to find them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

You can see pictures of the massive meatball here — but I warn you, it looks exactly how you would expect. Now, before the scientists start serving up Dinosaur DNA, let's take a look at the top tech stories this week. Once the hacker had control of Hartmans' phone, they didn't waste any time. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk plans to build a town named "Snailbrook" — but he isn't the only billionaire creating their own utopia. Some of Lee's friends and colleagues, including Elon Musk, have lambasted the "violent crime in SF."

☆ Trudeau and Biden call on Russia to release WSJ reporter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada called on Wednesday for the immediate release of a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested in Russia on spying charges. Russia's Federal Security Service said reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, was arrested last week because he was "suspected of spying in the interests of the American government". The Wall Street Journal denied Gershkovich was spying. "The prime minister and the president spoke about Russia’s illegal detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and called for his immediate release," Trudeau's office said in a statement following a telephone call between the leaders. In their telephone call, Trudeau and Biden also spoke about migration and implementation of a Safe Third Country Agreement, Trudeau's office said.

[1/2] Reporter for U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich appears in this handout picture taken in Moscow, Russia, 2019. The Moscow Times/Handout via REUTERSBRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - The United States is working through the process to determine whether Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's detention by Russia is "wrongful", U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, adding it would soon be completed. The Wall Street Journal has denied Gershkovich was spying. Legislation passed by Congress in 2020 lists 11 criteria to help determine whether a U.S. citizen is "wrongfully detained." The Biden administration has secured the release of at least 25 "wrongfully detained" Americans.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: IMF approves $15.6 billion Ukraine loan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 1 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said its executive board had approved a four-year $15.6 billion loan programme for Ukraine, part of a global $115 billion package to support the country's economy as it battles Russia's 13-month-old invasion. * A senior Ukrainian official ruled out any ceasefire in Russia's war on his country that would involve Russian forces remaining on territory they now occupy in Ukraine. * Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia faced "existential threats" to its security and development from "unfriendly states" as he presented President Vladimir Putin with an updated foreign policy doctrine. * U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will push back on Russia's attempts to "weaponise energy" and rally support for a Ukrainian counteroffensive when he meets NATO foreign ministers in Brussels next week, an official said. * Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Russia, which has decided to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, could if necessary put intercontinental nuclear missiles there too.

☆ Russia's war on Ukraine latest: IMF approves $15.6 bln Ukraine loan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Russia: U.S. threats over reporter's arrest will 'reap whirlwind'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, March 31 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that if the United States threatened Moscow over its arrest of Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovich, it would reap a "whirlwind", the state-owned news agency RIA reported. U.S. President Joe Biden urged Moscow on Friday to "Let him go", after his administration said on Thursday it was unacceptable for Russia to target U.S. citizens and urged all Americans in Russia to leave at once. Speaking on the "60 Minutes" programme of Russia's flagship Rossiya 1 channel, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States had made no attempt to understand what had happened to Gershkovich. If this logic continues in the public space, they will reap a whirlwind," Zakharova said. Gershkovich pleaded "not guilty" on Thursday as a court remanded him in pre-trial detention for two months.

Further fuelling the emotions surrounding the case, a letter from 13-year-old Masha to her father - who has been raising her on his own - was made public on Wednesday. Prigozhin asked the prosecutor to review the verdict, and also requested that lawyers associated with Wagner be allowed to work with Moskalyov's defence. Moskalyov's lawyer Vladimir Biliyenko told Reuters he was in favour of both requests, even if he was unsure of Prigozhin's motives. The head of the school called the police, who began examining Moskalyov's online activity and fined him for comments critical of the Russian army. Additional reporting by Caleb Davis, writing by Mark Trevelyan, Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ethics panel admonishes Graham for soliciting campaign donations during interview in Senate building
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Ryan Nobles | Zoë Richards | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Senate Ethics Committee said Thursday that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., violated Senate rules during a Fox News appearance last year when he requested donations for Hershel Walker's Senate campaign in Georgia. It is against Senate rules to seek campaign donations in a federal building. In its letter, the ethics panel issued an "admonishment" but opted not to sanction Graham. The panel also said Graham was a repeat offender, noting that he had asked for donations in an impromptu media interview in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in October 2020. "In response to a reporter's question regarding your reelection campaign fundraising, you directly solicited campaign contributions for your campaign committee," Coons and Lankford wrote.

☆ Netanyahu rebuffs IAEA chief's remarks against possible attack on Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel rebuffed as "unworthy" on Sunday comments by the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief that any Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be illegal. He was responding to a reporter's question about threats by Israel and the United States to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if they deem diplomacy meant to deny it the bomb to be at a dead end. "Rafael Grossi is a worthy person who made an unworthy remark," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks on Sunday. Is it permissible for Iran, which openly calls for our destruction, to organise the tools of slaughter for our destruction? The IAEA said on Saturday Grossi had received sweeping assurances from Iran that it will assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and re-install removed monitoring equipment.

☆ Reporters hid tracking devices in shoes that were supposed to be recycled, and they ended up at a market in Indonesia instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters tracked 11 pairs of donated shoes to test a recycling program launched by Dow and Singapore. Dow launched its own investigation and removed an exporter from the recycling program. That's not what happened to 11 pairs of sneakers in which a team of Reuters reporters hid tracking devices. After dropping the shoes in the program's recycling bins across Singapore, Reuters traced most of the shoes to secondhand markets or remote locations in Indonesia. A 2021 media release said the program aimed to divert 170,000 pairs of shoes annually from landfills.

☆ Tennessee governor targeting drag says a photo showing him dressed as a woman isn't a problem because it was 'lighthearted' when he did it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A photo purporting to show Tennessee's Republican governor in drag in 1977 resurfaced on Reddit. The bill would limit where drag shows can take place under the guise of protecting children. Bill Lee after a photo purporting to show Lee in drag in a 1977 high school yearbook was shared on Reddit. Lee's spokesperson did not deny that the image was of the governor, but said that it was different to what Lee is targeting, which would stop drag shows taking place on public property. Lee told reporters on Monday that he plans to sign a bill that would limit drag shows in public under the guise of protecting children.

☆ Ex-Amazon managers say they were pressured to cut successful workers to meet attrition goals — and faced retribution when they resisted
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Former Amazon managers say they were pressured to cut successful workers to meet attrition goals. In anticipation of Amazon's performance-review period, he told Insider, he'd kept careful notes on what his employees were doing well and where they could improve. These people said leadership would place employees in Focus even if the managers of those employees said that the workers had met or exceeded expectations. A few weeks later, he said, his manager told him he was on Pivot and had the option to leave the company with severance, which he did. Amazon managers are required to submit their performance ratings for employees in an online tool, then discuss their rationale with managers above them, he said.

☆ 'I really want to go back to fight:' A wounded Ukrainian soldier reflects on his recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The 6-foot-3-inch Ukrainian marine smiled and extended his right arm, a lightweight fusion of silicon, carbon fiber composites and thermoplastic. In a separate conversation with CNBC, Revived Soldiers Ukraine President Iryna Discipio said the effort to aid wounded soldiers "is extremely important." "I was in this sort of dark basement shelter with other wounded soldiers. "At that facility, there was one side for the [uninjured] imprisoned, another for wounded Ukrainian soldiers and a separate area for injured Russian soldiers." Russian troops staying in the hospital who could move on their own were allowed access to the open room where wounded Ukrainian soldiers were kept.

Adani argued the plants were "unviable" at the trucking rates it wanted to slash by around half. Truckers rejoiced, with a union leader in a street address labelling it as a victory after late-night talks with Adani. After the Hindenburg report, Congress has renewed its claims that Modi for years has unduly favoured Adani. The Adani group wanted freight rates to be lowered to around 6 rupees ($0.0725) per tonne per km, from around 11 rupees. "The Hindenburg report was a gift that saved our businesses."

Police officers involved in the deaths have become an intense focus of investigation, protest, and media coverage. Despite being at the heart of some of the most defining incidents in modern policing, most of the officers involved continue to live their lives under the radar. Insider's review of 72 cops involved in two dozen of the most notorious police killings of the past 30 years shows the many different paths officers have taken. There's no nationwide view into what happens to officers involved in egregious incidents of violence. In rare cases, cops involved in these killings have tried to publicly rehabilitate their image rather than seek out anonymity.

☆ Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity discussed wanting a Fox News reporter fired after she pushed back on Trump's election lies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity discussed trying to have a Fox reporter fired for a fact-checking tweet. The Fox News commentators took issue with the reporter's rejection of Trump's 2020 election lies. A new court filing in Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit again Fox includes troves of text messages. Carlson and Hannity apparently did not take kindly to her public rejection of Trump's messaging. Hannity responded saying he had already sent Heinrich's tweet to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott with a "really?"

☆ An F-16 fighter jet missed on its first try to shoot down a mysterious object over Lake Huron, top US general says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An F-16 fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to take down a flying object over Lake Huron on Sunday. "On the fourth one, over Lake Huron, the first shot missed, the second shot hit," Milley said in response to a reporter's question, confirming earlier reports. "And in this case, the missile landed harmlessly in the water of Lake Huron. Sunday's operation marked the fourth instance in about a week in which a US Air Force fighter jet shot down a flying object over North American airspace. The general leading North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command offered an explanation on Sunday for why there has been a seemingly sudden increase in flying objects appearing over North American airspace.

If sealed, this would be the second such deal between major LNG exporter Qatar and the world's no.2 LNG buyer, as Beijing looks to beef up gas supply and diversify its sources in a drive to replace coal and cut carbon emissions. CNPC's talks follow a deal announced last November by China's Sinopec, in which QatarEnergy agreed to supply 4 million tonnes of LNG annually for 27 years, the longest duration LNG supply contract ever signed by Qatar. "This is a good move for CNPC, securing additional long term supply from a reliable and well positioned partner. Sinopec said in November the gas purchase agreement was part of an "integrated partnership", which indicated the Chinese firm could be considering acquiring a stake in Qatar's North Field expansion export facility. Chinese customs data showed the country's imports of Qatari LNG surged 75% last year from 2021 to 15.7 million tonnes, making up a quarter of the nation's total imports, while China's total LNG imports shrank nearly 20%.

☆ How a photo of DeSantis allegedly partying with high schoolers enflamed a bitter rivalry between Trump and the Florida governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donald Trump launched a new attack on rumored 2024 rival Ron DeSantis. He shared an old picture that allegedly shows DeSantis partying with school pupils. "Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher," a caption on the user's post reads. In a New York Times article in 2022, former pupils at the school recalled DeSantis partying with seniors. The post Trump shared alludes to a far-right campaign to stoke opposition to LGBTQ education in classrooms by smearing teachers as "groomers", or pedophiles.

☆ 'Kelce Bowl' clash of brothers set to make Super Bowl history
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Feb 6, 2023; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce (62) and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) with their mother Donna Kelce are interviewed by NFL Network reporter Michael Irvin during Super Bowl Opening Night at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY SportsPHOENIX, Feb 6 (Reuters) - "Kelce Bowl" buzz descended on Phoenix as Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce prepare to make history on Sunday when they become the first brothers to play each other in the Super Bowl. At the Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, where throngs of fans packed the Footprint Center, the fraternal fracas was on the tip of every reporter's tongue. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, the pair dreamed that they might play in the Super Bowl together - of course, in their childhood fantasy, they were playing on the same team. Their mother, Donna, has made clear she won't be picking sides, appearing on Monday at the Super Bowl media blitz in a combined Eagles-Chiefs jersey.

☆ Biden says he is not sure whether U.S. would ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he was not sure if Washington would ban Chinese-owned short video app TikTok. "I'm not sure. I know I don't have it on my phone," Biden said, responding to a reporter's question about TikTok after returning to Washington from a weekend retreat in Camp David. Reporting by Jeff Mason; writing by Ismail ShakilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pope Francis says laws criminalising LGBT people are a 'sin' and an injustice
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Sunday that laws criminalising LGBT people are a sin and an injustice because God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God. Criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice," Francis said. He noted that the Catholic Church's catechism, or book of teachings, says same-sex attraction is not a sin but homosexual acts are. Francis mentioned his now-famous phase from soon after he became pope in 2013 that he could not judge people with same-sex tendencies who are seeking God.

☆ US takes down Chinese spy balloon over Atlantic Ocean, seeking to recover debris
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US has taken down a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic, according to The AP. The balloon earlier on Saturday had been detected over South Carolina near the Atlantic Ocean. According to The Associated Press, the balloon had been previously detected over South Carolina as it moved toward the Atlantic Ocean. China's Foreign Ministry on Friday stated that the aircraft "strayed into the United States due to force majeure." "China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States due to force majeure.

☆ Trump probably won't win his $50 million lawsuit against Bob Woodward with experts saying the suit 'turns the First Amendment on its head'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Former President Trump claims he owns the audio rights to interviews conducted by Bob Woodward. But legal experts say it's unlikely a court will agree with Trump, who claims he's owed $50 million. "The case centers on Mr. Woodward's systematic usurpation, manipulation, and exploitation of audio of [former] President Trump," states the complaint, filed with a federal court in Florida. The audiobook didn't go on sale for another two years — after, Woodward says, he decided its release served the public interest. "Filing a lawsuit over publishing those interviews turns the First Amendment on its head."

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