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☆ Twitter alternatives that got traction after Elon Musk takeover are suddenly seeing downloads plunge. Which has staying power and who is the next Clubhouse?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Long before Elon Musk came along, Twitter users bemoaned the service yet remained addicted to it. It is a text-based social platform, or "microblogging" site, home to independent servers, or "instances." In early November, the hashtag TwitterMigration was trending on Mastodon for several days as Twitter users set up accounts amid Musk's chaotic takeover. Daily users have held steady though, at 1.4 million, a major increase from its usage prior to Musk's takeover of Twitter, which typically hovered around 20,000 daily users. Yet, it has maintained more than 500,000 daily users.

☆ Here are the 14 Republican senators who may have doomed their bills in the new GOP House by voting for a major spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kevin McCarthy even vowed to block House consideration of bills sponsored by GOP senators who voted for it. But a slew of GOP senators voted for it anyway, including 4 who are retiring and 14 who will remain. "Kevin's in a tough spot," Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a former House Republican and an opponent of the omnibus himself, told CNN's Manu Raju. "Statements like that... is the very reason that some Senate Republicans feel they probably should spare them from the burden of having to govern." Additionally, four Republican senators who voted for the bill are retiring, making the threat meaningless to them.

☆ Russian soldiers drafted to Ukraine were told they wouldn't have to actually fight anyone, report says. Many of them were swiftly killed.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russian soldiers drafted for the war in Ukraine were told they would not face combat, per the NYT. A drafted Russian soldier bemoaned "the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders." In September, about seven months into the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of the country's military reservists. A drafted Russian soldier told the paper about a day in October when he witnessed many of his fellow soldiers being killed near the eastern Ukrainian town of Pavlivka. The latest revelations about drafted soldiers being misled echo previous reporting on Russian soldiers being duped about the invasion.

☆ App store avalanche forecast as Apple bows to EU demands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) will force Apple and fellow tech giant Google to provide space for third-party app stores on their respective iOS and Android devices. Ben Wood, CMO of industry analysis firm CCS Insight, said he expects "an avalanche of app stores" in the near future. "There's an emerging 'coalition of the willing', and all of them have a vested interest in no longer having to pay what they see as a tax to Apple," Wood told Reuters. Deals for exclusive content could drive competition in app stores in the same way as it has in the "streaming wars" between Netflix and challengers like Disney+ and Amazon Prime, Trezentos said, adding: "Netflix has content that HBO doesn't have ... App stores can be like that." "The biggest hurdle they are going to need to overcome is the consumer," Wood at CCS Insight said.

☆ Leaked audio: Salesforce execs cancel famously lavish holiday parties and dodge layoff questions while imploring workers to 'focus on delivering Q4'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce chief people officer Brent Hyder addressed layoff rumors in a town hall meeting. Benioff did not join Tuesday's town hall, according to two Salesforce employees. In a Slack screenshot viewed by Insider, one Salesforce employee bemoaned a lack of transparency from management on the subject of impending layoffs. Salesforce also announced in the town hall meeting that it's cancelling holiday parties this year. Are you a Salesforce employee or do you have insight to share?

☆ Kremlin says Minsk deals failure led to Russia's Ukraine offensive
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

President Vladimir Putin this week bemoaned the failure to implement the Minsk agreements - ceasefire and constitutional reform deals between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine brokered in 2014 and 2015 by Russia, France and Germany, at the outset of the conflict with Ukraine. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating the deal. Asked by a journalist whether Russia understood that it was being "deceived" over the Minsk accords, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Over time, of course, it became obvious. "And, again, President Putin and our other representatives constantly kept saying this," the TASS news agency quoted Peskov as saying. "This is all precisely the precursor to the special military operation."

☆ Putin says loss of trust in West will make future Ukraine talks harder
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Kevin Liffey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Summary Putin: 'Trust almost at zero'Putin accuses West of betrayal over 2014/15 Minsk agreementsU.S.-Russia intelligence contacts continue, howeverLONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia's near-total loss of trust in the West would make an eventual settlement over Ukraine much harder to reach, although contacts between Russian and U.S. intelligence services were at least continuing. "We thought we would still be able to agree within the framework of the Minsk peace agreements. There is a question of trust," Putin said. "It turns out that no one was going to fulfil all these Minsk agreements," Putin said, "and the point was only to pump up Ukraine with weapons and prepare it for hostilities." Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference following the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, December 9, 2022.

☆ Mitch McConnell could've tried to block a bill to protect same-sex marriage. He stayed silent about it instead.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Mitch McConnell never publicly offered his position on a bill to protect same-sex marriage. Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina on amendments to the bill, told Insider. "You know, the leader has to look at his conference," Tillis told Insider, referencing his own time as the Speaker of the North Carolina House. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a conservative opponent of the bill, told Insider that "of course" he wished McConnell had taken a vocal position on the bill. As Sinema stood up to embrace the Iowa Republican, McConnell rose from his seat and voted no.

☆ Trump has just a handful of vocal 2024 supporters in Congress. We asked them why they back him over Ron DeSantis and others.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Trump has just a handful of open supporters of his 2024 presidential bid in Congress. We asked some of them why Trump was preferable to DeSantis, who's been heralded as a savvier alternative. DeSantis, who's increasingly caught the former president's ire amid speculation that the popular governor could mount his own 2024 campaign, is viewed as a savvier, less problematic alternative to the twice-impeached former president. I think DeSantis will run, I think Trump will run, I think you'll have two or three of my friends here in the Senate will run," he added. "DeSantis hasn't announced he's running," said Greene, who's offered praise for his performance as Florida governor.

☆ Swiss coach already turning attention to decisive Serbia clash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Mitch Phillips | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The game plan seemed to be working for a long time and we had control of the game," Yakin told reporters. I can't really blame the team, they did a good job today, and had good control over a very good Brazil team for some time." "It was a good performance in many ways and I feel this is the right path for Serbia, which will be completely different. "I think we can be the dominant team and think we’ve proven that in the past." "We need to try to win this game and we have the skills and quality to do so."

☆ An appeals court sounded skeptical of Donald Trump's arguments in the Mar-a-Lago records dispute
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

An appeals court panel grilled a Trump lawyer but had few questions for the Justice Department. One judge scolded Trump's lawyer for referring to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago as a "raid." asked Grant, a Trump appointee who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his tenure on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. During Tuesday's arguments, Justice Department lawyer Sopan Joshi likened Trump's arguments to "shifting sands," saying that the former president had initially claimed seized records were subject to attorney-client privilege. At the Supreme Court, he said, Trump's lawyers then argued that the dispute centered on the issue of whether classified documents had been declassified.

☆ Bob Pisani: Heeding the investment wisdom of Jack Bogle starts with keeping it simple
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

But selling the public on just buying an index fund that mimicked the S&P 500 was a tough sell. Keep costs low by owning index funds, or at least low-cost actively managed funds. He made a case for owning a single balanced fund (65/35 stocks/bonds) and said it could capture 97% of total market returns. Having too many funds (Bogle believed no more than four or five were necessary) would result in over-diversification. The total portfolio would come to resemble an index fund, but would likely incur higher costs.

☆ Billionaire investor Charlie Munger defends the Fed's inflation fight - even if it causes a recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Charlie Munger defended the Fed, saying it needs to curb inflation even if the cost is a recession. Warren Buffett's right-hand man compared the US central bank to the sober person at a party. "That's what they're supposed to do," Munger continued. "They're supposed to be the one guy at the party that doesn't hang around the punch bowl getting drunk." "If you look at Japan today, you would find that the central bank has made our central bank look like a little mouse that hardly tries to do anything," he said.

Results of Tuesday's election remain uncertain, with President Joe Biden's Democratic Party performing better than expected and potentially in position to retain control of the Senate. "This will be de facto gridlock regardless of the outcome," said Brian Gardner, Washington-based strategist for Stifel. But it can also gum up the wheels of basic governance and pose its own set of risks. But it also may have helped trigger the current round of inflation, and has pushed U.S. public debt to record levels. That may mean a more reluctant fiscal response to any coming downturn.

And Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) raised its 2022 profit goal, helped by higher interest rates and lower loan loss provisions that also drove quarterly earnings above forecasts. For years, banks bemoaned ultra loose monetary policy, but now higher interest rates means banks can start to benefit from the increased gap between what they charge borrowers and what they pay savers. Standard Chartered's third-quarter profit surged 40% as higher interest rates boosted the emerging markets-focused bank's income, giving it ammunition to upgrade its revenue outlook despite a weakening global economy. For Santander, higher loan loss provisions in key markets like Brazil and the United States overshadowed better than expected third-quarter earnings. While benefiting from higher interest rates, banks also face the unwinding of a scheme that buoyed their profits for years.

☆ Diwali is having a mainstream moment in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

South Asian Americans who celebrate Diwali can now pick up fireworks from Costco, greeting cards from Hallmark and party decorations from Target. Malai, a Brooklyn-based ice cream business inspired by South Asian flavors and ingredients, started selling its Diwali Celebration Box in 2019. “Sometimes I wonder if that just comes hand in hand with visibility.”Bavishi is encouraged by the recent abundance of Diwali products, both from small businesses and mainstream retailers. Does it matter whether the person or company behind a Diwali product is South Asian or not? I don’t know yet what the answer is,” Satpathy-Singh says, referring to mainstream retailers selling Diwali products.

☆ Ohio Democratic Senate nominee Tim Ryan questions why the national party hasn't invested in his race, says they 'have been known not to make very good strategic decisions'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tim Ryan questioned why national Democrats haven't gotten involved in his Ohio Senate race. "National Democrats have been known not to make very good strategic decisions over the years," Ryan told The Post. Ohio Republican Senate candidate JD Vance speaks to reporters following a GOP debate at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, on March 28, 2022. In his interview with The Post, Ryan openly pondered why Democratic Party leaders "don't smell blood" in taking down Vance, a former venture capitalist who wrote the bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." "We're going to continue making strategic, effective decisions that put us in the best position possible to accomplish our mission: defending our Democratic Senate majority," he told the newspaper.

☆ Hulu insiders are confused and frustrated about their future as Disney and Comcast battle it out for control of the streamer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Sparring between Disney and Comcast CEOs over Hulu has stoked uncertainty among insiders about the streamer's future. Many wonder how Hulu will stay differentiated from Disney+ if Disney becomes Hulu's sole owner. Insiders and advertisers alike are also watching to see if Hulu will lose some of its distinctiveness as Disney invests more in Disney+. "That was a clear departure from Disney being family-focused and Hulu being general entertainment," said a second former Hulu exec. And as the CEOs posture, people inside the streamer are eager for leadership to tell them, as a third former company insider put it, "what Hulu means to the Walt Disney Company."

☆ Trump-backed congressional candidate Bo Hines says he 'can't afford' to give up his salary. But federal records show he has no salary.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bo Hines, a congressional candidate from North Carolina, twice claimed that he and his wife "can't afford to give up a month's salary." A trust fund is the only reported asset in Hines' financial disclosure. In the disclosure, Hines reported no salary and no spousal assets, and asserted that he has not excluded any assets that belong to his wife, Mary Charles Hines. Axios' Lachlan Markay first noted Hines' financial situation, which includes no reported bank account or earned income and compensation, and zero loans or liabilities. His trust fund, named Hines Children's Trust, is the only reported asset on his personal financial disclosure.

☆ Elite investor David Einhorn expects an economic slump and sticky inflation - and says the risk of a global financial meltdown is growing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

David Einhorn said the US economy is slowing down and inflation is here to stay. Einhorn pointed to red flags in global bond markets and warned a disaster may be coming. Einhorn also bemoaned a widespread decline in value investing, which centers on identifying undervalued companies based on their fundamentals. The combination of heady valuations, stubborn inflation, rising interest rates, and large amounts of debt could reveal cracks in the global financial system, Einhorn said. "When you have a down cycle is when these things tend to metastasize."

☆ Russian soldier says his comrades took armor off Ukrainian corpses because 'NATO armor is better than ours', according to audio obtained by The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian soldiers were frustrated by unsuitable military equipment as early as March. Recordings obtained by The New York Times reveal phone calls made by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. One man told his girlfriend how his comrades stole NATO armor off dead Ukrainian soldiers. The Russian military has resorted to pulling obsolete equipment out of storage, including Soviet-era equipment such as T-62 tanks. Prior to the Ukraine war, the Russian military was widely regarded as one of the most powerful in the world.

☆ Republicans Louie Gohmert and Paul Gosar 'may have had serious cognitive issues,' Jan. 6 committee advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republican Denver Riggleman says Reps. Louie Gohmert and Paul Gosar are in their own little worlds. They harbor "wild, dramatic fantasies about Democrats, the media and big tech," Riggleman says. "I came to believe Gosar and Gohmert may have had serious cognitive issues," Riggleman writes of his former colleagues in his new book, "The Breach: The untold story of the investigation into January 6th." Reps. Gohmert and Gosar did not respond to requests for comment about Riggleman's remarks. Republican Reps. Perry and Biggs have both been subpoenaed by the select committee investigating the deadly siege at the US Capitol.

Giorgia Meloni, a nationalist accused by political rivals and experts of spreading white supremacist ideas, was on Monday set to become Italy's first far-right leader since World War II. The results confirm her party’s rise from a radical fringe group to the driving force in right-wing Italian politics. Meloni, who would be Italy's first female leader, and the Brothers of Italy advocate naval blockades to stop unauthorized migration from Africa. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, in Rome on Monday. Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni casts her vote at a polling station in Rome on Sunday.

☆ A far-right nationalist looks likely to become Italy’s first female prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Meloni leads the Brothers of Italy Party (Fratelli d’Italia, or FdI), a populist party with roots in Italy’s post-war fascist movement. From left, The League's Matteo Salvini, Forza Italia's Silvio Berlusconi, and Brothers of Italy's Giorgia Meloni attend the final rally of the center-right coalition in Rome on Thursday. Meloni’s office and the Brothers of Italy Party did not answer requests for comment by NBC News. Clashes between protesters and police close to a rally held by election frontrunner Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday in Palermo, Sicily. And now it’s happening with Giorgia Meloni,” he said.

☆ Rick Scott joins Mitch McConnell in rallying around Ron DeSantis' migrant flight stunt
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Rick Scott plugs Ron DeSantis' migrant trafficking project in a new fundraising pitch. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed the migrant shuffling as "a good idea" on Tuesday. Exploiting migrants for political gain is the rare thing McConnell and Scott agree on right now. Scott is the second Senate GOP leader to climb aboard the DeSantis bandwagon this week. This spring McConnell threw cold water on Scott's self-styled midterm strategy blueprint, emphatically stating "that will not be part of a Republican Senate majority agenda."

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