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☆ Brazil central bank grants Google Pay payment institution status
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google Pay has received approval to operate as a payment institution in Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, the country's official gazette showed on Thursday, allowing it to initiate payment transactions. Payment initiators, according to Brazil's central bank, initiate a transaction ordered by the final user but never manage the payment account, nor hold the funds of the transactions. A press spokesperson for Google confirmed the central bank's authorization and said the move offered "more payment options to users through our platforms in Brazil." Google Pay currently operates an app serving as a virtual wallet, which allows the user to include their credit and debit cards, vaccination cards and concert tickets, for example. The approval comes days after Brazil's National Monetary Council also authorized fintechs to initiate payment transactions in the country.

The suspect in last month's deadly rampage at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub was charged Tuesday with 305 criminal counts in what could be the most heavily prosecuted murder case in state history, authorities said. The 305 charges filed in court include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes, District Attorney Michael Allen told the court. Allen said he couldn't recall a murder trial with so many counts. "But there could be others out there that I’m just not thinking of right now.”Lawyers on both sides asked the judge to schedule Aldrich's preliminary hearing for May. But 4th Judicial District Judge Michael McHenry insisted the hearing can start sooner and ordered both sides to be ready on Feb. 22 for a preliminary hearing he expected to last two days.

☆ Factbox: Saudi-China energy, trade and investment ties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Below are some details about oil, trade and security relations between China and Saudi Arabia. OIL TRADEChina is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade worth $87.3 billion in 2021. Chinese exports to Saudi Arabia reached $30.3 billion, while China's imports from the kingdom totalled $57 billion. REFINERIESAramco in early 2022 made a final investment decision to build a $10 billion refinery, petrochemical complex in northeast China, marking its single largest investment in China. Named Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company, the joint venture groups Aramco, Huajin Chemical Industries Group Corporation (000059.SZ) -- a unit of defence conglomerate Norinco-- and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group.

☆ Colorado governor visits shooting site as community heals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In a crowded brewery, Colorado Gov. Fierro squeezed Wyatt Kent, a drag queen whose 23rd birthday was being celebrated the night of the shooting, and chatted with his family. Club Q’s community had been a steadfast support network, said Kent, one which has continued to undergird the community’s healing since the tragedy. “If I pour myself out into others they will pour themselves out back into me,” said Kent, “and that’s what this community has always done.”The broader Colorado Springs community is pouring out support for the survivors, too. “Club Q will be back and the community will be back,” he said.

☆ Sen. Murphy proposes not funding police departments that don't enforce gun safety laws, such as the red flag laws
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Chris Murphy proposed defunding law enforcement agencies that don't enforce gun laws. Many counties that have red flag gun laws have said they will refuse to enforce them, Murphy said. Colorado officials said the 22-year-old suspected gunman should have triggered the state's red flag law, but officers at the El Paso County Sheriff's Office refused to utilize the red flag law. "The majority of counties in this country have declared that they are not going to enforce state and federal gun laws. The laws that we're talking about passing, red flag laws, assault weapons bans, they're wildly popular.

Aaron Brink told the news station that he had mourned the loss of his child and had gone through a meltdown. Aldrich's mother, Laura Voepel, was also living in Texas. Brink told KFMB that he was the one who taught his child to fight. Law enforcement personnel stand outside Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Sunday, following a fatal mass shooting. Brink told KFMB that he loved Aldrich "no matter what" and asked people to “please forgive” his child.

A man shot seven times dragged himself over a fence after escaping from Club Q. R.J. Lewis, who was at Club Q during the mass shooting, attends a service at All Souls Unitarian Church in Colorado Springs on Sunday. Parker Seibold / The Gazette via APBarrett HudsonBarrett Hudson, 31, took seven bullets in the back before escaping from Club Q through the rear exit. Tyrice Kelley, center right, a performer at Club Q, is comforted during a service at All Souls Unitarian Church in Colorado Springs, on Sunday. Club Q, many of the victims said, was a safe haven — one of the few that Colorado Springs had to offer to members of the LGBTQ community.

☆ Robert Clary, ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ star who survived the Holocaust, dead at 96
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters —Paris-born actor and singer Robert Clary, who survived 31 months in Nazi concentration camps but later co-starred in “Hogan’s Heroes,” the US sitcom set in a German World War II prisoner of war (POW) camp, has died at the age of 96. “Hogan’s Heroes” starred Bob Crane as American Colonel Robert Hogan, with Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis and Ivan Dixon playing other POWs. “Hogan’s Heroes” was popular with TV viewers during its run on the CBS network and for decades afterward in syndication even though some critics considered it in bad taste. In 1980, alarm over people trying to deny the Holocaust prompted Clary to end his self-imposed silence about his experiences. He also wrote an autobiography, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes.”“We must learn from history,” Clary told the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2002, “which we don’t.”

☆ 2022 Senate election results show Fetterman beating Oz on authenticity
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Jeff Gerritt | Jeff Gerritt Is The Editorial Page Editor Of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | For Which He Has Covered The Pennsylvania Senate Race | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

John Fetterman survived a bruising Senate campaign and overcame a serious stroke to prevail against Republican Mehmet Oz to claim his state’s open Senate seat Tuesday. Yet that stumble didn’t keep Fetterman from succeeding, because he was still better than Oz at selling himself as an authentic leader for Pennsylvanians. Fetterman has moved almost seamlessly from a 13-year run as the small-town mayor of Braddock to the lieutenant governorship in 2019 to the U.S. Senate today. Oz released his records a few days after a Post-Gazette editorial asked both candidates to do so, but Fetterman never did. Fetterman has also vowed to put a high priority on union rights and abortion rights, while Oz took the opposite stands.

The first was Democrat Wes Moore, who beat Republican Dan Cox, becoming Maryland’s first Black governor, and only the third Black governor in the country. Black female candidates hoped to make history across gender and racial lines in several states, from Rep. Val Demings and Aramis Ayala in Florida to Chelsea Clark in Ohio and several women bidding to be the country’s first Black female governor. Although many of these key races ended in upsets for the Black female Democratic candidates, some states have ushered in new progressive representation. And in Massachusetts, Democrat Andrea Campbell beat out Republican Jay McMahon to become the state’s first Black female attorney general. “What we just saw in the midterms is that these Black women were able to inspire multiracial coalitions that enabled their wins.

☆ Pennsylvania state lawmaker won big in the midterm elections despite being dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A state lawmaker in Pennsylvania won re-election by a landslide — even though he died last month. Late Rep. Tony DeLuca crushed Green Party challenger Zarah Livingston in Tuesday's midterm elections. Rep. Tony DeLuca, who died at the age of 85 on October 9 from lymphoma, crushed Green Party challenger Zarah Livingston in Tuesday's midterm elections. By the time DeLuca died, it had been too late for officials to change the election ballots, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. DeLuca was the longest-serving lawmaker in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and served the 32nd Legislative District for 39 years.

☆ Mayor Hillary Schieve faces off against Eddie Lorton in Reno, Nevada's mayoral election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Eddie Lorton and Mayor Hillary Schieve are facing off in Reno's mayoral race. Schieve has been Reno's mayor since 2014. Incumbent Mayor Hillary Schieve faces off against Eddie Lorton in Reno, Nevada's mayoral race. Schieve has been the mayor of Reno since 2014. Prior to her time leading the city, she was an at-large member of Reno's city council for two years.

☆ In Nevada, Cortez Masto taunts Laxalt with new ads boasting his family endorsed her
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

In the final days of a bitterly fought Senate campaign, Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto wants voters to know that 14 members of her rival’s family have chosen to endorse her — not him. “Today we, the undersigned members of the Laxalt family, are writing in support of the re-election of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto for the U.S. Senate. Cortez Masto’s campaign, in statewide television ads, accused Adam Laxalt of cashing in on his family name even though he was raised in the East Coast. In October, Laxalt responded to the letter from his 14 family members, tweeting: "It’s not surprising that once again a handful of family members and spouses, half of whom do not live in Nevada, and most of whom are Democrats, are supporting a Democrat,"It's the second time Laxalt family members have endorsed his opponent. Former President Barack Obama at a rally for Cortez Masto and other Nevada Democrats this week poked fun at the Laxalt family dynamic.

☆ Arkansas Issue 4: Voters could legalize marijuana with a measure that would also give stipends to law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Arkansas Issue 4 would legalize marijuana use and provide a stipend to law enforcement. Ballot measure detailsIssue 4 would legalize recreational marijuana use for adults over the age of 21 in the state of Alabama. The measure would establish a 10% sales tax for marijuana if passed and 15% percent of the tax revenue would then be allotted toward an annual law enforcement stipend. Gubernatorial nominee Chris Jones called Issue 4 a "good first step toward Arkansas embracing a pragmatic cannabis policy," according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Arkansas's Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson argued at the Arkansas Municipal Police Association Convention in August that supporters are "going to sell this as something that's going to help law enforcement.

☆ Nevada GOP chair says he was interviewed by the Jan. 6 committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans in critical battleground states Biden won in 2020, including Nevada, signed documents falsely asserting that they were their states’ rightful electors and that Trump — not Biden — was the true victor. McDonald was among the six people from Nevada who signed a document asserting that Trump was the winner of the state’s six electoral votes. “Many of you remember we were called, they called us fake electors,” McDonald said at a GOP event this summer, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The Justice Department is also investigating efforts to undermine the 2020 election, including what role the fake elector scheme played. As far as cooperating with federal investigators, McDonald said, his attorney has acted as a go-between, handling all communications.

☆ Gulf states use new oil riches to gain regional influence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

“Money talks,” Michael Maduell, president of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute in Las Vegas, told CNN. Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, last week announced that the nation’s wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is establishing five regional companies worth $24 billion across the Middle East. One of the key regional investment destinations for both Abu Dhabi and Riyadh has been Egypt. Once a regional rival, Turkey is now an economic ally of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Despite a political thaw, Gulf investments in Iran and Syria are unlikely for the time being, say analysts.

☆ Michigan librarian dedicated to 41-year-old Halloween cold case
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Sarah Portney | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

On October 31, 1981, 11-year-old Karl Heikell told his parents he was going out for a walk in his town of Calumet, Michigan. “And sure enough, I found newspaper clippings about Karl Heikell going missing.”The young librarian was eager to learn more about this local mystery. Cleary told Dateline. “It's a shame that so many people have Billy in their heads as this” kind of person, he told Dateline. Detective Cleary told Dateline that after Billy’s suicide, police looked into his possible involvement in the case.

☆ Algeria businesses hope government will stay the course on reforms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Lamine Chikhi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

As Algeria's foreign currency reserves fell by two thirds in six years and the long-term risk of unrest grew, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's government pushed reforms to strengthen the private sector, boosting local businesses. He passed some reforms but now enjoys high demand for Algerian energy and surging revenues. Free zones are going to be set up, customs code has been changed to make it more attractive for foreign investment, we have a new investment code," Agli said. A former government adviser on economic affairs said the authorities understood the need to press ahead with reforms despite the increase in energy revenue this year. We are running short of time because oil prices are so volatile and a global recession is a likely scenario," the former adviser said.

☆ The Great Propagandist of the American Revolution
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Stacy Schiff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

They were meant to return an unruly town—increasingly resistant to parliamentary efforts at taxation—to order. Vindex warned that the troops were more likely to have the opposite effect. There was no better court in which to try those who abused public office. The colonies were not represented in Great Britain. Was it not clear that “No man can take another’s property from him without his consent?”

☆ 'Changed my life': Trans teen testifies against nation's first ban on gender-affirming care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act bars minors in the state from receiving certain gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries. Carolyn Kaster / APThe American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of four trangsgender youths and their parents, as well as two physicians who provide gender-affirming care. ‘Changed my life for the better’The parents of four transgender young people represented in the suit spoke to how gender-affirming care has improved their children’s lives. Donnie Saxton of Vilonia, Arkansas, said his 17-year-old son, Parker, became “a new person” after coming out as trans and receiving gender-affirming medical care, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Three other states — Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee — have also passed measures restricting gender-affirming care for minors.

☆ South Africa moves to regulate crypto assets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 19 (Reuters) - South Africa's financial watchdog has classified cryptocurrency assets as financial products, a notice in the government gazette said on Wednesday, enabling them to be regulated. Regulations that the authorities have said they planned to introduce include applying foreign exchange controls and licensing crypto trading companies. Crypto assets are not issued by a central bank, but are capable of being traded, transferred or stored electronically. He added the SARB wanted regulation of crypto assets to prevent theft, money laundering and undermining of monetary policy because an ubiquitous cryptocurrency could weaken the authority of the central bank. He added the declaration would apply to crypto trading platforms, as well as those that provide advice or intermediary services for the buyers and sellers of digital financial assets.

Prosecutors with the 18th Judicial District and DEA agents seized 114 pounds of pure fentanyl in Colorado. A spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, which made the initial discovery of the fentanyl, provided a blunt account of the botched operation. But after this story was published, a DEA official confirmed the seizure of 114 pounds of fentanyl. "DEA is relentlessly pursuing the individuals that were involved in the trafficking of the seized fentanyl and will continue to do so." “We’ve got a record amount of fentanyl involved here, in fact, enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the state of Colorado,” Figliuzzi said.

☆ Just 1/3 of Americans back Republican migrant flights, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The two-day poll concluded on Thursday showed Americans are deeply divided on immigration, even within their political parties. Following a highly-publicized drive by Republican governors to bus or fly thousands of migrants to Democratic areas in recent months, 53% of Republican respondents in the poll said they supported the practice. Sixteen percent of Democrats supported the practice and 55% were opposed. Forty-five percent of respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll - including 63% of Democrats and 31% of Republicans - said state leaders transporting migrants were committing illegal migrant trafficking. The poll, conducted online in English throughout the United States, gathered responses from 1,005 adults, including 449 Democrats and 361 Republicans.

☆ 'Punked': DeSantis keeps White House, Delaware and media guessing on migrant flight plans
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Marc Caputo | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Lauren-Egan-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused DeSantis of not wanting a workable, bipartisan solution on immigration. “Obviously,” DeSantis said, “it’s sad that Martha’s Vineyard people deported them the next day. Ray Ewing / Vineyard Gazette via APThe migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard weren’t deported; they were moved to a military base near Cape Cod. “If you say you’re a sanctuary state, then don’t complain. Share in the pain — whether you’re president, God or anyone else.”Marc Caputo reported from Florida and Lauren Egan reported from Delaware.

☆ Developers rush to convert run-down hotels and offices into shiny new apartments as the costs of new construction and borrowing money soar
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some real-estate developers are increasingly targeting offices and hotels for conversion into apartments because, they say, these projects are the only ones that make financial sense right now. The company spent a total of $14.2 million to acquire the properties, which Hubbard described as "on the run-down side." With conversions, developers are also hoping to capitalize on the increased demand for rentals as buying a home becomes less affordable. By extension, the value of office space is declining — making conversion projects more profitable when financing can be secured. The program includes zoning reforms designed to make the conversion projects easier and funding from the federal American Rescue Plan, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

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