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But Gilliam gave Borodaenko, who lives in Scotts Valley, California, three weeks to file an amended lawsuit further detailing his claims in the lawsuit, proposed as a class action. Borodaenko, a cancer survivor, claims that Twitter fired him in November when he refused to stop working remotely. The lawsuit is one of several that Twitter is facing stemming from Musk's decision to lay off about half of the company's workforce. Twitter has denied wrongdoing in those cases, including ones claiming that female employees were targeted for layoffs and that the company failed to pay promised severance. Liss-Riordan also represents nearly 2,000 former Twitter employees who have filed legal claims against the company in arbitration.

DAKAR, May 8 (Reuters) - The presidential bid of a popular Senegalese opposition politician was thrown into doubt on Monday after a court of appeal handed him a heavier suspended sentence in a libel case, triggering a small protest in Dakar that riot police quelled with tear gas. But Monday's appeal hearing extended the suspended sentence to six months, said lawyer Boubacar Cissé, who represents the minister. "If this sentence is final, there is a good chance that his candidacy will be inadmissible," Diaw said. He has six days to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Aside from the latest ruling, Sonko is also charged with raping a beauty salon employee in 2021 and making deaths threats against her.

☆ Novo Nordisk rivals see room to compete in $100 billion weight-loss drug market
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michael Erman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The company has two oral GLP-1 drugs in mid-stage trials, and aims to choose one for a late-stage trial this year. He forecasts GLP-1s or similar drugs topping $100 billion in annual sales early in the 2030s, with Lilly's product accounting for more than $50 billion in sales. Smaller biotechs are also vying for a piece of the obesity market and hope large pharmaceutical companies will pay up for partnerships. "I don't know if it's $90 billion or $80 billion or $50 billion. The current GLP-1 drugs can cause nausea and vomiting.

☆ The top 7 podcast companies helping social-media influencers like Rhett and Link produce and make money from shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A new wave of podcast networks has emerged to help creators make content and earn money. Here's a breakdown of seven leading podcast networks that work with social-media influencers. "We are creator-led 100%," Faucett, now executive producer at TMG Studios, told Insider. "To expand podcast reach and earnings, we can also help implement additional strategies tailored to the creator — anything from Snapchat distribution to podcast clip services." Here are the top seven podcast networks for influencers, listed in alphabetical order by company name:

[1/5] A local resident leaves after a doctor's visit at a clinic in the liberated village of Vyshneva, near Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, April 21, 2023. He can be certain of one thing, however: many patients he meets will be suffering from high blood pressure after living for months under Russian occupation near the frontlines. "Patients who we chat to say there was a considerable number of deaths because of the lack of medical help." The World Health Organization estimates that the overall damage to the system could cost more than $15 billion to repair. But as more people return to liberated areas, a skeleton staff buttressed by volunteers will struggle to meet needs.

☆ Belarusian Sabalenka says Lukashenko's comments 'not helping'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

read more"I'm pretty sure that it's not helping," Sabalenka told reporters in Stuttgart on Tuesday when asked about Lukashenko's comments. "I don't know what to say because he can comment (on) my game, he can comment whatever he wants to. The 24-year-old said she kept away from the internet as much as possible to avoid reading negative comments. Sabalenka is playing at the Stuttgart Open this week after withdrawing from the Charleston Open with a minor injury. She will face Barbora Krejcikova in the second round of the claycourt event after receiving a bye in the opener.

☆ Switzerland indicts former Gambian minister for crimes against humanity
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, April 18 (Reuters) - Switzerland's attorney general has filed an indictment against Gambia's former interior minister for crimes against humanity committed under former authoritarian leader Yahya Jammeh, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Sonko was interior minister from 2006 to 2016, when he fled to Sweden and from there to Switzerland, where he applied for asylum. It will be the country's second ever crimes against humanity trial. "We hope this will generate momentum and that the trial will put pressure on Equatorial Guinea to eventually extradite Jammeh," he added. Gambia, a tiny West African country of 2.5 million, is still reeling from over two decades under former president Jammeh marked by authoritarianism and alleged abuses.

☆ One of Russia's few remaining allies asked Moscow for guarantees that it would defend his country if it was attacked
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko asked Russia to defend it if attacked, state media reported. The embattled leader asked Russia to protect his country "as its own territory." Lukashenko met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Minsk on Monday, according to Belarusian state-owned news agency Belta. In the meeting, Lukashenko requested that "in case of aggression against Belarus the Russian Federation protects Belarus as its own territory," the outlet reporting him as saying. Belarus has avoided committing troops to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but has aided it by training Russian troops and allowing Russian use of its military bases.

☆ 6 startups and VCs investing millions directly in influencers — from licensing back catalogs to full ownership of YouTube channels
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

As the creator economy matures, some startups are setting aside capital to invest directly in individual stars and their content. "No niche is too niche, if you will, and we continue to be surprised by that," said Megan Lightcap, principal at Slow Ventures. One of Slow Ventures' deals is with YouTuber Marina Mogilko, who runs a language learning channel. To help creators better understand who is investing and what those deals look like, Insider compiled a list of six companies investing directly into influencers and their businesses. Here are six leading companies investing capital in creators:

☆ 6 companies investing millions directly in content creators — from licensing back catalogs to full ownership of YouTube channels
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Putin opens talks with Belarus leader, no public mention of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, April 5, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Byrkin/Pool via REUTERSApril 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko to Moscow on Wednesday for two days of talks, but in their opening public remarks both men steered clear of the war in Ukraine. Last month Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Lukashenko allowed Putin to use the territory of Belarus as a launch pad for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia and Belarus are formally part of a Union State, a borderless union and alliance between the two former Soviet republics.

TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - Japanese regional lenders will be well able to weather even "large" losses on their foreign bond portfolios thanks to strong capital buffers, a senior banking regulator official said, rebuffing concerns fuelled by U.S. banking woes. "Overseas media seem to be focusing on Japanese regional banks in association with the SVB collapse, but I'd like to emphasise that they are completely different," he told Reuters in an interview. Analysts at SMBC Nikko Securities calculated unrealized foreign bond losses at over 70 listed Japanese regional banks totalling 1.4 trillion yen ($10.6 billion) at the end of last year, the worst in decades for global bond markets. "It is true that unrealized losses on foreign bond holdings at some regional banks are large, but the banks have enough capital buffers even when such losses are taken into account," Yashiki said. He also said he saw no immediate need to review Japan's regulatory framework as Japanese banks have grown resilient with significantly improved asset quality.

☆ Russia says Ukraine ceasefire now would not achieve Moscow's goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 31 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday that a ceasefire in Ukraine would not enable it to achieve the goals of its "special military operation" at the moment. But he said Russia's goals in Ukraine could not be achieved at the moment through a halt in fighting. "In terms of Ukraine, nothing is changing, the special military operation is continuing because today that is the only means in front of us to achieve our goals," Peskov said. That was a reference to Moscow's claims - unsupported by evidence - that Ukraine's Western backers have ordered Kyiv not to pursue a ceasefire. Ukraine has said Russia must withdraw its troops as a precursor to any peace deal, and says any temporary ceasefire would only allow Russia to regroup for future military action.

Shops and banks closed early on Wednesday as the West African nation braced for fresh protests over a court case that has fuelled tension and violence ahead of presidential elections next year. Violence broke out on the day of Sonko's last court appearance on March 16, as police fired tear gas at supporters accompanying his motorcade to the courthouse. Sonko has called for more nationwide protests on Wednesday, Thursday and April 3. Police fired several rounds of tear gas and stun grenades forcing mostly student protesters to retreat into the campus from where they hurled rocks. He is also on trial for allegedly raping a beauty salon employee in 2021 and making death threats against her.

[1/7] FILE PHOTO-Dmytro Zilko, a soldier and a patient of the clinic exercises on a new prosthesis with rehabilitation specialist Maria in a prosthetics clinic in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 9, 2023. "Unfortunately, the number of patients has increased significantly," said Andrii Ovcharenko, who works with a team of medics and technicians at the "Without Limits" prosthetics clinic, one of almost 80 now operating in Ukraine. On a recent morning, Ovcharenko's Kyiv clinic assessed two soldiers for artificial legs and adjusted the new limb of a third. U.S. Army General Mark Milley estimated in November at least 100,000 Russian military casualties - killed or wounded, with "probably" the same for Ukraine. It plans to expand, depending on how the war unfolds but is not sure where to open new clinics.

Yet investors aiming to amp up their bets face an ominous obstacle: a lack of liquidity that could trigger wild price swings. Slippage, a liquidity measure describing how much prices change between the placement and execution of a trade, has also increased. The vanishing liquidity can be traced back to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research. Until then, "liquidity is probably going to get worse and worse", said Joseph Edwards, investment adviser at Enigma Securities. "Even if some players haven't left the place, they are on the sidelines right now because of what's happening with banking turmoil," Edwards said.

☆ Bitcoin is poised to blow up Africa's $86 billion banking system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +16 min

Then there's mobile money, which has been around since the early 2000s. Africa's mobile money transactions rose 39% to more than $700 billion in 2021, according to data from the GSM Association, a non-profit representing mobile network operators worldwide. That cash network was extraordinarily difficult and expensive to build, which is why there aren't a lot of direct competitors. Bitnob is SMS-based and piggybacks on the mobile money system, making it easier for people to send money directly into bank accounts and mobile money wallets in African countries. "We're able to settle into bank accounts or mobile money accounts, without the recipients having to interact with bitcoin themselves," Parah tells CNBC.

☆ A massive explosion in Crimea destroyed a cache of Russian cruise missiles, a key weapon in its attacks on civilian infrastructure, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine's MOD said that Russian Kalibr missiles were destroyed in a blast in Dzhankoi, Crimea. Meanwhile, Russia said it had foiled a drone attack in the area. Ukraine said that Kalibr missiles are a key weapon in Russia's attacks on its civilian infrastructure, according to the Kyiv Independent. The paper cited military officials as saying dozens of Kalibr missiles were located on ships in the Black Sea as of January. A composite image appearing to show wreckage from a claimed drone attack in Dzhankoi, Crimea, on March 20, 2023.

[1/7] Security forces clash with supporters of Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko ahead of their leader's court appearance for a libel case against him in Dakar, Senegal March 16, 2023. Thursday's clashes began when supporters of presidential hopeful Ousmane Sonko were blocked from accompanying his motorcade to a courthouse where he faces trial for libel. Protests have taken place for three days ahead of Sonko's court appearance. Sonko supporters accuse Sall of seeking to eliminate him from the competition with a guilty verdict. The libel case was brought by Senegal's tourism minister who said Sonko had accused him of embezzlement.

☆ Bitcoin, ether fall after go-to crypto bank Silvergate announces liquidation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The slight move lower began late Wednesday, a few hours after Silvergate Capital announced it will wind down operations and liquidate its crypto-friendly bank. Crypto prices fell on Thursday after Silvergate, a bank that has been at the center of the industry's growth, made a decision to shut down. "This likely consolidates crypto exposure to a handful of smaller banks, which means more liquidity risk and more concentration risk. "We've also noticed a drop in liquidity on both USD crypto pairs and U.S. exchanges as liquidity providers are taking a wait-and-see approach. In the short term, lower liquidity will lead to more volatility in markets and bigger price moves up or down."

☆ 'Our movement is unstoppable': Exiled Belarusian opposition leader speaks out after receiving 15-year prison sentence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Emma Graham | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled opposition leader of Belarus, told CNBC she "wasn't surprised" by the court's verdict after she was handed a 15-year sentence in a prison camp. "It was predictable that Lukashenko would try to take revenge on me," Tsikhanouskaya told CNBC's Dan Murphy Tuesday after the verdict. Lukashenko's 2020 election victory, in which he claims to have won 80% of the vote, was called a "deeply flawed and fraudulent presidential election" by multiple western governments. The U.N. criticized Belarus "for police violence against peaceful protesters and journalists" following the "controversial presidential election." Tsikhanouskaya was forced into exile with her children a day after the 2020 vote.

☆ First Taiwan presidential contender to visit U.S. next month
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, March 6 (Reuters) - The head of a small Taiwanese political party will next month become the first contender for 2024's presidential election to visit the United States, to brief officials on his policies should he win office, though that may be a long shot. Taiwanese presidential candidates traditionally go to the United States before elections given Washington's oversized role in backing Taiwan internationally and ensuring its security in the face of China's military threats to the island Beijing views as "sacred" Chinese territory. Ko is a long shot contender for the presidency given the party's recent founding and minimal representation in parliament, with only five out of 113 lawmakers. Neither the DPP nor KMT have announced their presidential candidates yet, though the DPP is widely expected to select Vice President William Lai, who is also party chairman. The presidential and parliamentary elections take place next January.

☆ $30 million worth of Funko Pop figurines are headed to the dump, as the company looks to purge excess inventory
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Funko will throw away $30 million worth of its plastic figurines, the company said this week. The move comes after Funko Pop inventory ballooned nearly 50% in the last year. According to the company, by the end of 2022 its inventory was valued at $246.4 million, an increase of 48% from the same period last year. The way forward, according to the company, is to throw away much of that inventory, as its button-eyed dolls clutter warehouses and store shelves. Still, Funko executives said the company is working hard to course correct and keep its brand top-of-mind for consumers across the globe.

☆ Nobel winner Bialiatski jailed in Belarus for a decade, sparking outcry
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Andrew Osborn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Footage from the cramped Minsk court showed Bialiatski, who co-founded the Viasna (Spring) human rights group, looking sombre, his hands cuffed behind his back, as he and his co-defendants watched proceedings from a courtroom cage. Bialiatski, who was arrested in 2021, and three co-defendants were charged with financing protests and smuggling money. Belarusian state news agency Belta confirmed the court had handed down long jail sentences to all the men, including a decade in prison for Bialiatski. That, she said, placed human rights defenders at risk of criminal prosecution for their legitimate activities. Viasna, the organisation he co-founded, took a leading role in providing legal and financial assistance to those jailed.

☆ Dozens of sanctioned superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs still hang in limbo, racking up millions in maintenance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Seized yachts owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs hang in limbo as US and European authorities decide next steps. Annual maintenance for some of the yachts costs as much as $115.6 million. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that billions of dollars in oligarch's assets — from yachts and villas to private jets — are still frozen. And while the Russian oligarchs are still technically responsible for paying for yacht maintenance, they're unlikely to fork over the maintenance cost or authorities will encounter difficulty collecting the funds due to sanctions on financial transactions with the billionaires. According to Maltby, the maintenance cost of a yacht usually totals about 15% to 20% of its overall value.

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