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☆ The President, the Soccer Hooligans and an Underworld ‘House of Horrors’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Robert F. Worth | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

direction, and he chose not to.” Serwer speculated that Vucic has concluded the reforms required to join the E.U. The notion that Serbia can “balance” the West against Russia is largely a mirage, Bassuener said. One afternoon in Belgrade, I spent an hour talking to Boris Tadic, who served as Serbia’s president from 2004 until 2012, when he lost to Vucic’s party. Vucic, he said, had “helped put criminals in power” with the belief that he could control them. “What is the final outcome of your power if you’re going to destroy the foundations of society with hooligans and criminals?” he asked.

May 1 (Reuters) - Donald Trump should be able to talk about the evidence in the criminal case against him over a hush payment to a porn star, especially with others free to do so, his lawyers said in a court filing on Monday. The Manhattan district attorney wants to bar Trump from disclosing the material on news or social media platforms without court approval. Prosecutors last week asked for a court order restricting Trump's use of the evidence because of his attacks on people involved in proceedings against him. They said they wanted to reduce the risk of harassment to witnesses and other participants in the case. "Trump cannot be the only interested party in this case whose speech about the evidence in the case is restricted by the court," the lawyers, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, wrote.

☆ World's longest bridge could transform Sicily. But not if the Mafia and earthquakes get in the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Since then, various plans, including a short-lived idea for a tunnel, have come and gone – like water under the bridge. If built, the bridge across the Straits of Messina would span two miles (3.2 kilometers) and would be the longest suspension bridge in the world. When Salvini became transport minister, he made it his priority, betting his legacy on the bridge. “The bridge over the Strait of Messina is a project that can break ground immediately. The recent arrest of Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro after 30 years on the lam in Sicily represented a victory.

☆ Moscow's 'special' forces: An inside look at how Russia's famed Spetsnaz really operate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Mark Galeotti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Russia's Spetsnaz forces are often depicted as a kind of Russian super troops. Osprey PublishingMost countries' special forces emphasize physical fitness, determination and aggression. Special people, for special tasksMembers of the Russian military's 16th Separate Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in 2018. Even so, being better than most of the Soviet army's miserable and recalcitrant conscript forces did not make most of them truly special, special forces. The special operations commandMembers of Russian's 22nd Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade during an exercise in November 2017.

☆ Billionaire LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman reveals 2 Buddhist principles that shape his worldview and help him navigate failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In an interview with The Generalist, Hoffman said he's been most influenced by Buddha. Hoffman also said in the interview that Aristotle initially inspired him to study philosophy. Hoffman, who cofounded LinkedIn, announced he was stepping down from the board of OpenAI last month. Hoffman holds a master's degree in philosophy from Oxford and planned to go into academia at one point. Hoffman, who calls himself an "accidental technologist," credits his philosophical instincts as the reason he is in the industry.

☆ A Meta executive reportedly warned staff last year that 'we have a significant gap' when it comes to AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Meta exec warned last year that the company is falling behind in the AI race, Reuters reports. "We have a significant gap in our tooling, workflows and processes when it comes to developing for AI. AI systems require more computing power, as its training requires the system to sift through a large amount of data. Reuters reported that Meta similarly began focusing on converting its generative AI research into sellable products after the launch of ChatGPT in November. A Meta spokesperson told Reuters Meta has been working on generative AI products for over a year.

☆ The Janes 1960s underground abortion network
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +28 min

The group was officially created in 1969 as the “Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation.”But after running ads in an underground newspaper: “Pregnant? “It wasn’t just abortion,” Barron explained. “Vacuum aspiration was much easier to do, and I think it’s less difficult for the woman,” Scott said. We had to keep the service running.”Laura Kaplan volunteered for the Janes, later immortalizing the group in her book, "The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service." Each Jane was charged with 11 counts of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion, with a possible sentence of up to 110 years in prison.

☆ Meta is one of the most brutal tech job-choppers so far, axing about a quarter of employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The major tech firms are conducting ongoing, brutal layoffs. We crunched the numbers to see which major tech firms have reduced their headcount the most. According to Insider analysis, Meta follows after announcing cuts that amount to almost a quarter of its workforce, which was around 87,000 staff in 2022. Our analysis doesn't include the third round of Meta job cuts which began this week, reportedly numbering in the thousands. A recent Insider analysis shows that revenue per employee dropped at many of the major tech firms now chopping jobs.

In this Aug. 12, 2002 file photo, attorney Mark Pomerantz arrives at Federal Court in New York. A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily blocked a House Judiciary Committee subpoena for testimony from a former Manhattan prosecutor who was involved in a criminal investigation of ex-President Donald Trump. In response to the subpoena to Pomerantz, Bragg sued the Judiciary Committee to try to block the former prosecutor from testifying. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump nominee, on Wednesday denied Bragg's effort to invalidate the subpoena for Pomerantz. "The subpoena was issued with a 'valid legislative purpose' in connection with the 'broad' and 'indispensable' congressional power to 'conduct investigations,'" Vyskocil wrote in federal court in Manhattan.

The extrajudicial killing has sparked widespread concern about the state of law and order in Uttar Pradesh as well as fears of retaliation. A decade later, he was elected as a member of Uttar Pradesh’s legislative assembly where he served five times, from 1989 to 2004. Police in Uttar Pradesh have killed more than 180 suspected criminals during encounters over past six years, according to Reuters. “The shoot out that happened is unacceptable.”CNN reached out to Uttar Pradesh police for comment on the situation but did not receive a response prior to publication. A political flashpointFollowing the incident, the Uttar Pradesh state government announced it will form two three-member Special Task Forces (SIT) to investigate the killing of Atiq and his brother.

☆ House Republicans chart new strategy to pressure Biden, Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Any proposal Republicans introduce would need to be negotiated with Biden's Democrats, who control the Senate, before it could become law. The White House, which is leading the Democrats' approach to the debt ceiling, has dismissed the Republican proposals as unrealistic. That would set the stage for another debt ceiling debate in the closing months of the 2024 presidential campaign. Biden and McCarthy met at the White House in February to discuss the standoff, but they have not held further talks as the administration has called on House Republicans to release a budget proposal. Some Republicans also favor the clean debt ceiling increase that Biden has demanded.

☆ U.S. House Republicans chart new strategy to pressure Biden, Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

☆ Former Indian lawmaker slain live on TV while in police custody, state restricts gatherings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Saurabh Sharma | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Police officers escort Atiq Ahmed, a former lawmaker in India's parliament, accused in several criminal cases, outside a court in Prayagraj, India, April 13, 2023. A gunman is seen reaching over the shoulders of police to point a pistol at the temple of the former lawmaker, Atiq Ahmed, whose turban is blown off as the gun discharges. Fearing the possibility of violent unrest in the wake of the killings, the Uttar Pradesh government barred gatherings of more than four people across the entire state. He had been wanted in connection to a murder case that was being investigated as part of a wider crackdown into a land mafia operating in Uttar Pradesh. Police in Uttar Pradesh have killed more than 180 suspected criminals during encounters over past six years.

☆ French police have warned about an Irish gang posing as builders to defraud property owners, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

French police have warned about an Irish gang defrauding property owners by posing as builders. The gang offers to pave areas with tar at a far lower price than normal but the work is substandard. They actually belong to the Rathkeale Rovers, a criminal clan named after a town in Ireland. Some members of the Rathkeale Rovers were now living in France, authorities believe, acting as a "base" for the scammers, per Le Parisien. The French interior minister didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

☆ Italian drugs cartels conceal payments via Chinese shadow banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Emilio Parodi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

[1/3] Seized drugs are seen following an investigation on drugs cartels operating in Italy increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to launder their proceeds in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on April 4, 2023. Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERSMILAN, April 6 (Reuters) - Drugs cartels operating in Italy are increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to conceal cross-border payments, according to Italian judicial and law enforcement authorities. U.S. authorities have said Chinese “money brokers” represent one of the most worrisome new threats in their war on drugs, as a Reuters investigation in 2020 found. Chinese authorities have previously vowed to crackdown on underground banking. One of the first probes to come to light involving use of Chinese money brokers by Italian mobsters was linked to the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta group, one of the largest crime gangs in the world.

☆ LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman credits Buddha as his biggest influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In an interview with The Generalist, Hoffman said he's been most influenced by Buddha. Hoffman also said in the interview that Aristotle initially inspired him to study philosophy. Hoffman, who cofounded LinkedIn, announced he was stepping down from the board of OpenAI last month. Hoffman holds a master's in philosophy from Oxford and even planned to go into academia at one point. Hoffman, who calls himself an "accidental technologist," credits his philosophical instincts as the reason he is in the industry.

☆ LinkedIn cofounder says Elon Musk has an 'it's only great if I do it' mentality when it comes to ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman told CNBC the call for an AI slow down is a "mistaken effort." He said Elon Musk has an "it's only great if I do it" mentality when it comes to ChatGPT. Both Musk and Hoffman helped found OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left the company's board of directors in 2018 and has been critical of the company ever since. Despite his longtime friendship with Musk, Hoffman said he's "much more on the path that OpenAI has gone" when it comes to developing the technology. Spokespeople for Musk, Hoffman, and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

☆ CHART: Twitter's revenue per employee crashed 60% in the years leading up to Musk's drastic firings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter's revenue per employee crashed 60% in the years before Elon Musk's takeover. Twitter's revenue per employee cratered by almost 60% between 2018 and the period of 2022 before Musk's takeover of the embattled social media company, Insider analysis of the firm's SEC filings found. Revenue per employee is a simple measure of efficiency that was previously in vogue in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash. A growing number of influential tech executives and investors say tech firms, bloated by over-hiring, should re-prioritize the metric. Since 2018, Twitter has seen a drastic fall in the revenue generated per employee.

☆ CHARTS: We analyzed revenue per employee to show why Amazon, Meta, and others are axing workers with brutality and speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

One productivity metric to watch is revenue per employee, which has fallen at some big firms. Tech companies swelled in the years up to and during the pandemic, but more manpower didn't necessarily mean more money. The chart shows Amazon, Meta, and Twitter in particular hired heavily from 2018, but also experienced declining revenue per employee. Size isn't everythingAnd how have tech companies fared against each other? The chart above shows Amazon and Salesforce are producing roughly the same revenue per employee as Twitter despite having tens of thousands more workers: each employee at Amazon generated $333,550 in revenue last year, while Salesforce employees generated $394,911.

☆ 35 secret terms only cruise workers know — and the ones you don't want to hear as a passenger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Cruise workers have their own secret language they use to communicate with one another. That's because crew members have dozens of secret code words and sayings they use to communicate while keeping passengers in the dark. Insider compiled a dictionary of cruise ship language based on interviews with cruise workers, previous reporting, and industry blogs. GUSTAVO GRANADO/AFP via Getty ImagesBabaloo: Alternatively spelled "Babalu," this is widespread cruise worker slang that means "fool" or "idiot." Cruise to Nowhere: Also called a "stay-cation" by some cruise workers, this is when a ship cruises at sea without stopping at any ports.

☆ The notion of 'fake work' or coasting in the tech industry has a long history, but experts say it's just an 'excuse for bad management'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech workers have been accused of "coasting," as well as "resting and vesting" in the past. Experts said the notion of fake work is part of a larger issue in the industry and often an excuse. People have long accused tech workers of failing to pull their weight — they've just had different names for it over the years. These claims are shedding light on larger management issues and internal problems within major tech companies, experts told Insider. And while some experts say a certain level of "fake work" is a natural part of the boom-and-bust cycle in tech, not all agree.

CARACAS, March 25 (Reuters) - An expanding anti-corruption probe in Venezuela has led to the detention of 10 officials and 11 businessmen, the country's attorney general said on Saturday, adding that arrest warrants for 11 more people have been issued. The investigation, which began in October, is focused on state oil company PDVSA, a government entity supervising crypto currency operations, and the judiciary. This week, it led to the resignation of the country's powerful oil minister, Tareck El Aissami, who had served the government for two decades. The 21 people arrested face accusations of appropriation of public assets, money laundering, influence peddling and criminal association. Officials involved could also face charges of treason, the attorney general said.

☆ Tech workers are taking to TikTok to debate 'fake work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Grace Kay | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former tech staffers have taken to TikTok to discuss and debate "fake work." Earlier this month, Kendall Smith, known by her TikTok name @roilysm, shared a story from Insider about PayPal Mafia member Keith Rabois saying workers at Meta and Google were doing "fake work." Aube told Insider in a comment that he never saw anyone at the company "not doing any work or doing fake work." One TikTok creator, Arianna Tong, says she couldn't disagree more with the idea of fake work at Meta. "I've seen so many videos chiming in and saying they did fake work at Meta," @ariannatong said in a TikTok video.

☆ Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn cofounder, said he talks to his friend Peter Thiel less to avoid political discussion and feuding over Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman said he talks to his friend Peter Thiel less now on an episode of "On with Kara Swisher." Hoffman wants to avoid arguing with Thiel over former President Donald Trump. When Swisher asked Hoffman if Thiel hears him, Hoffman said, "I don't know." When they met as sophomores at Stanford in the mid-1990s, Hoffman heard Thiel was a "libertarian wacko," while Thiel was told Hoffman was a "pinko commie," Hoffman said on his podcast "Masters of Scale." Hoffman told Swisher he will "spend as much as I possibly can" to avoid another Trump presidency, saying it would be "destructive to our society."

☆ A popular post on Blind says all tech workers who got jobs during the pandemic were 'charity cases,' but getting hired now at a big tech company will actually mean something
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A popular post on workplace forum Blind calls tech workers hired during the pandemic "charity cases." One popular post on the anonymous workplace forum Blind takes that a step further, saying tech employees brought on during the pandemic were "charity cases." Tech companies added many new employees to their ranks during the pandemic, when business was booming for the sector. At the time time, other commenters on the popular Blind post defended employees who got tech jobs during the pandemic. "Also I refuse to believe I am some charity case, I was good enough for the company, did their process and got hired.

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