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☆ Japan stocks snap seven-day winning streak as Hong Kong sinks to 2-month low
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Lim Hui Jie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

(Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)Asia-Pacific markets mostly slid on Tuesday as talks between U.S President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ended without a deal. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he had a "productive" and "professional" meeting, and said "I think the tone tonight was better than any other night we've had discussions," McCarthy said outside the West Wing following the hourlong meeting. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed 0.42% down at 30,957, snapping its seven day winning streak. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index reversed earlier gains and to sink 1.27% to 19,428.08, its lowest closing levels since March 21, while mainland Chinese markets also traded lower. The Shanghai Composite closed down 1.52% at 3,246.24 while the Shenzhen Composite ended down 1.03% at 11,012.58.

Persons: Kazuhiro NOGI, KAZUHIRO NOGI, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, we've, McCarthy, Kospi Organizations: Nikkei, Getty Images, U.S, Wing, Juno Bank Locations: Tokyo, AFP, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Australia, Shanghai, Shenzhen

☆ Biden to continue debt talks later this week amid G7, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will continue to hold talks with congressional leaders on the nation's debt limit later this week and will meet with them again after the G7 summit, a White House spokeswoman said on Wednesday following an hourlong meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Karine Jean-Pierre, in an interview on MSNBC, said Biden would speak with top lawmakers by telephone during his trip to the Group of Seven gathering in Japan as negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling continue. Biden called his meeting Tuesday with House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy productive. The president, a Democrat, on Tuesday postponed plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia, cutting short his Asia trip so he can return to Washington. Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ That’s the Funny Thing About Grief
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jason Zinoman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Either way, there’s no question that in certain quarters of comedy, jokes are not enough. For instance, at shows around New York, the quirky, swaggering Gastor Almonte has been performing a hilarious 10 to 15 minutes about his hatred of oatmeal. In a previous era that might have added up to a debut special that resembled the work of Jim Gaffigan. “What is trauma but unmonetized content?” he asks, echoing a line from “WandaVision,” a series that itself is a grief narrative. “We don’t talk about grief: We keep our grief to ourselves,” Kayne says in “Sorry for Your Loss.” Glazer hit this same theme.

But attendees said they made progress, including through an agreement to turn the multilateral debt limit negotiations into direct one-to-one talks between a close ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and two White House aides, on Biden's behalf. The White House said Biden "directed staff to continue to meet daily on outstanding issues. It was "a good and productive meeting," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who noted that it was "more cordial" than a previous meeting last week. The White House also said Tuesday that it would cancel the second leg of the president's upcoming international trip, given the delicate state of the debt ceiling negotiations. His return will set up a critical stretch in the efforts to avoid a first-ever default on U.S. debt and prevent major economic damage.

[1/2] Workers and supporters of the Writers Guild of America picket outside Sunset Bronson Studios and Netflix Studios, after union negotiators called a strike for film and television writers, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - The Hollywood writers' strike that kicked off this week could last well into the summer and likely beyond, top executives close to the discussions told Reuters this week. Moody’s estimates a three-year contract with writers ultimately will cost the media industry $250 million to $350 million per year, a more modest estimate than the guild's projections of about $429 million per year. Television writers say their pay has suffered, as studios squeeze writers into smaller rooms for fewer weeks at minimum pay, despite financing lavishly produced streaming series. Hollywood writers must pay their agents and managers out of their wages -- and, unlike staff writers, can go long periods between gigs.

☆ Harry Belafonte, Folk Hero
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Wesley Morris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

And rather than simply translate his hot-ticket cabaret act for American living rooms, Belafonte imagined something stranger and more alluring. “The bleaker my acting prospects looked,” Belafonte wrote, in “My Song,” his memoir from 2011, “the more I threw myself into political organizing.” That organizing took familiar forms — marches, protests, rallies. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with Coretta Scott King as the beneficiary, because Dr. King didn’t believe he could afford it. (“Martin began drafting his antiwar speech in my apartment.”) So, yes, Belafonte was near the psychic core and administrative center of the movement. But those bleak Hollywood prospects — some incalculable combination of racism and too-raw talent — kept Belafonte uniquely earthbound, doing a kind of cultural organizing.

☆ Tesla's price cuts highlight Elon Musk's last advantage in the EV business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Matt Turner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Teslas are cheaper than everA Tesla Model Y. Patrick Pleul/Getty ImagesIn the market for a new car? Elon Musk's hoping that recent price cuts might turn you on to a Tesla. The billionaire might just be turning to his one remaining advantage in the EV business. But Tesla can cut prices and still deliver profits, something rival automakers struggle to do in their EV businesses. While Tesla investors are worrying about profits, Musk's rivals have their own reasons to be concerned, Stephen Beck, founder and managing partner of consultancy cg42, told Insider.

☆ Inside the Wild World of Celebrity Keynote Speakers: Drugs, Alcohol
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

"I never saw myself as a speaker, let alone a motivational speaker," Leonard tells me while his assistant irons his jeans. 'When I ramble," Hunter told me, "hit me in the leg!" Every plane had been grounded, including the one stuck on the tarmac with an increasingly inebriated Hunter Thompson trapped inside. But by far the most all-consuming task was booking gigs for Hunter Thompson. Just before a debate with G. Gordon Liddy at Brown University, Hunter demanded that Betsy Berg, whom I now worked alongside at GTN, score him some crystal meth.

☆ Gail Christian, Trailblazing News Correspondent, Dies at 83
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Alex Williams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“I always wanted to be ‘the Black reporter,’ as in covering Black stories,” she said in an interview with The Chicago Tribune in 1986. “I felt that was the reason I was there. I didn’t resent it in the least. “And her pioneering role as a Black news reporter allowed young Black kids to see, many for the first time, someone admirable on TV who looked like them. That program featured several award-winning segments, including one about a banking scandal that hurt low-income communities and another about a chemical spill in Orange County that caused illnesses in the area, each of which won a Peabody Award.

☆ ‘Mrs. Davis’ Review: Algorithm and Blues
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( James Poniewozik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The pilot introduces Simone (Betty Gilpin), a sister in a remote Nevada convent who has a sideline exposing dishonest magicians. Besides leaving her time for her hobby, convent life lets her avoid the reach of an omniscient A.I. Davis” in America, “Mum” in Britain, “Madonna” in Italy and so on — has not given up on Simone. Simone, Mrs. Davis believes deep in her code, is the one person equipped to carry out a mission: to find and destroy the Holy Grail. Simone agrees, hoping the quest will be a means to Mrs. Davis’s unplugging.

☆ This could've been an email: If MLB can speed up games, bosses can shorten meetings. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Josée Rose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If new rules can improve game speed, surely bosses can make meetings run more efficiently. If Major League Baseball can speed up games, surely bosses can make meetings more efficient, right? Try, for instance, forcing yourself to cut meetings by half: Your weekly meeting becomes an every-other-week meeting; your hourlong meetings become 30-minutes ones. Ask for adviceJust as MLB needs to consider the fan experience of being at the ballpark or watching a game on TV, bosses need to think about their workers' experiences in meetings, Rogelberg said. "Instead of putting people in hours of meetings without ever asking them about what they're accomplishing, you need to engage," he said.

☆ I thought I was an introvert, but what if I'm just a shy narcissist instead?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider's new work-advice column centers on a shy introvert who worries she might be a narcissist. I always thought that because I wasn't aggressive or self-aggrandizing, I couldn't possibly be a narcissist. To be clear, I'm not a professional shrink — and I'm not above getting carried away by the gospel of online personality quizzes (ahem! You're an introvert or, perhaps, a highly sensitive person, depending on the theory you subscribe to. "You might not like your manager's solution, but they may have identified a problem that you hadn't thought of.

Max Cho found himself in the middle of a bank run while sitting on a shuttle bus in Montana. The co-founder of insurance startup Coverage Cat, Mr. Cho had landed at the Bozeman airport Thursday and boarded the bus for the hourlong drive to a startup founders’ retreat in Big Sky.

☆ Texas congressman who broke with GOP is censured
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That independent streak includes opposing a sweeping House GOP immigration proposal over the U.S.-Mexico border, which includes a large portion of his South Texas district. Gonzales was defiant before the vote and did not attend the meeting of Texas GOP leaders and activists in Austin. "The Republican Party of Texas would be wise to follow his lead and do some actual work." Last year, former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West stepped down from the job to mount a faint primary challenge against Republican Gov. The state party in 2018 also censured a former moderate Texas House speaker who opposed bathroom restrictions for transgender people.

☆ These cofounders are giving parents-to-be an alternative option to traditional hospital care by addressing the system inadequacies for people of color
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Allegra Hill and Kimberly Durdin launched Kindred Space LA, a birth-support center, in 2018. They shared their experiences launching Kindred Space LA and their hopes for the future. Today, Kindred Space LA offers in-clinic births, home births, support groups, sessions with mental-health professionals, and collaborative care with ob-gyns and midwives who work in hospitals. Insider spoke with Hill and Durdin about their experiences launching Kindred Space LA and their hopes for the future. Kindred Space LA ultimately raised around $50,000, enough to open the birth clinic that year.

☆ I got a 'useless' fashion-psychology degree — and now work with brands like Maybelline and Depop. Here's how I used it to land my dream career.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lola Christina Alao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Shakaila Forbes-Bell is a fashion psychologist who has worked with brands like Next and Depop. It was one of my goals to become a published psychologist, but I still never imagined myself as a fashion psychologist. Even the careers advisors at the job fair I went to after I finished my master's didn't have much knowledge about which jobs I could go into. On my Instagram account, I posted an image of me at my graduation, with the caption "first Black woman to get a degree in fashion psychology." She said that I'd substantiated fashion psychology as a real career.

☆ Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan martial ruler in 9/11 wars, dies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has died in Dubai aged 79 after a long illness, the army said on February 5, 2023. By Sept. 12, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Musharraf that Pakistan would either be "with us or against us." They regrouped and the offshoot Pakistani Taliban emerged, beginning a yearslong insurgency in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Though Pakistan under Musharraf launched these operations, the militants still thrived as billions of American dollars flowed into the nation. Born Aug. 11, 1943, in New Delhi, India, Musharraf was the middle son of a diplomat.

“We spoke with a clear voice in November,” Whitmer said in her annual State of the State speech, which she delivered in person for the first time since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Whitmer, who was on President Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president, is seen as a rising national star. “I know we might have different perspectives here, but I sure hope we can all get around supporting 4-year-olds across Michigan,” she said. “But the truth is that she set a record during her first term for vetoing bills, many which Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass.”In several policy areas, Whitmer spoke more defiantly or struck more partisan tones. I’m looking at you, Ohio and Indiana.”Those remarks drew a rebuke on social media from the Michigan Republican Party, which during the speech tweeted: “No.

☆ Kevin Spacey celebrated in Italy at first major speaking event since sexual assault allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

TURIN, Italy — Making his first speaking appearance since sexual assault allegations derailed his career, actor Kevin Spacey used a colorful Italian term to thank the National Cinema Museum in the northern city of Turin on Monday for inviting him. “By presenting this award, they are making a strong defense of artistic achievement and for that they should be applauded,” Spacey said. After multiple allegations of sexual assault surfaced, the actor lost his starring role on the Netflix series “House of Cards” and saw other opportunities dry up. Spacey did not directly address the allegations while accepting the award or during the hourlong class. After the master class, fans lined up to take selfies and get DVDs signed.

☆ Bestselling author James Patterson works 77-hour weeks to stay productive at age 75: 'Hungry dogs run faster'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bestselling author James Patterson's first book published 47 years ago — and his hustle hasn't stopped since then. Patterson pointed to a piece of guiding advice from his grandmother that helps illuminate the drive behind his work ethic. Typically, Patterson writes an initial 50- to 70-page outline for a story before encouraging his co-writers to start filling in the gaps with sentences, paragraphs and chapters, he said. As for the writing itself, Patterson writes longhand, with an assistant transcribing his handwriting into typed drafts, he said. Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletterDon't miss: James Patterson's writing started as a side hustle—now he's one of the world's highest paid authors

Sotomayor, who has dissented in major cases including the abortion decision as the court's 6-3 conservative majority has become increasingly assertive, described herself as "shell-shocked" and "deeply sad" after that term ended in June. The court's current term, which began in October, could be just as consequential as its previous one. In October, conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Dobbs opinion, warned against questioning the court's integrity. At Wednesday's conference, Chemerinsky noted that he had never before seen his law students so discouraged about the Supreme Court. Sotomayor, appointed to the court by Democratic former President Barack Obama in 2009, expressed optimism that the direction of the court will change in the future.

☆ ‘Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas’ Review: A Scrumptious Holiday How-To
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

No one’s goose gets cooked during “ Mary Berry ’s Ultimate Christmas” and why is that? But geese are actually greasy, relatively meatless and too busy polluting public parks to make an appearance on TV. Besides, their absence is reassuring: The English may have given us our traditional Christmas celebration. And that’s what the merry Ms. Berry makes the main attraction of the elaborate meal she prepares—and more importantly plans for—in this hourlong tutorial on the art of the holiday. The music is a bit insistent about creating a mood, but Ms. Berry’s enthusiasm is real and never wavers.

☆ Alleged Pelosi attacker also planned to go after Hunter Biden, Tom Hanks and Gavin Newsom, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Zoë Richards | Bryan Lavietes | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The man charged with attacking the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also had plans to target Hunter Biden, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and actor Tom Hanks, according to a police officer who interviewed the alleged assailant. Hanks, meanwhile, has lent his star power to support Joe Biden, appearing alongside him at a grassroots fundraiser in 2020. In January, Hanks narrated a video released by the Biden Inaugural Committee highlighting the president’s accomplishments in his first year in office. DePape will be arraigned Dec. 28 on the state charges.

☆ Ex-'socialite heiressblogger' Emily Brill is back — and she's terrorizing the pet industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Kate Taylor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Emily Brill might be the most hated woman in the pet industry. Now, Brill — the preppy blond daughter of the media magnate Steven Brill — is reinventing herself as the founder of the dog-centric publication The Canine Review. Courtesy of Emily Brill Show less One reader even threatened to cancel their subscription because of the so-called bird-massacre photo shoot. Courtesy of Emily Brill Show less Brill says the photos reassure readers that "I'm not a stereotypical sort of Manhattan, head-up-my-ass, agenda, PETA person." It isn't a bad start, but "she's got a long way to go to make it really thrive," Steven Brill told Insider.

☆ Fox News cut away from Trump's rambling presidential announcement speech after 40 minutes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

During his rambling, hourlong speech, Fox News cut away from his live remarks. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyDuring his rambling, hourlong speech on Tuesday, Fox News cut away from Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign announcement after approximately 40 minutes. Fox News briefly returned to Trump's remarks near the one-hour mark of the former president's approximately 67-minute-long speech, then cut away for more analysis by host Laura Ingraham. CNN also aired Trump's long-anticipated announcement live, cutting away after he formally announced his candidacy. MSNBC, NBC, ABC, and CBS opted for regularly-scheduled programming and skipped airing Trump's speech entirely.

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