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☆ Putin cancels annual marathon year-end TV news conference
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 12 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin will not hold his traditional televised year-end news conference this month, the Kremlin said on Monday, 10 months into Russia's stuttering invasion of Ukraine. But the war, which began on Feb. 24, has not gone well for Putin. His forces were beaten back from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on, and have suffered major battlefield setbacks in the east and south of Ukraine. He said Putin would find other ways to communicate with journalists, noting that he had held other news conferences, including on his trips abroad. Last Friday, Putin answered questions from reporters during a visit to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

☆ Trust between the West and Russia has been destroyed, NATO chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The West has tried to build bridges with Russia since the end of the Cold War but any trust that was established in recent years has been destroyed with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NATO Director-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. "NATO strived for decades to develop a better, more constructive relationship with Russia," he told CNBC's Hadley Gamble in Brussels. Stoltenberg said a level of trust that had been established during a rapprochement between Western nations and Russia in recent decades had been destroyed by Moscow's decision to invade Ukraine. "Even if the fighting ends, we will not return to some kind of normal, friendly, relationship with Russia. "I think the war has had long-lasting consequences for the relationship with Russia."

☆ Supreme Court takes second case challenging Biden student loan relief
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the student loan forgiveness program from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, October 17, 2022. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear arguments in a second case challenging the legality of the Biden administration's ambitious student loan relief program. The case, originally filed in Texas, will be argued in February before the Supreme Court along with the first case the court accepted. The Supreme Court, when it accepted the first case on Dec. 1, declined to lift the orders blocking the program from taking and processing applications. That pause will continue until June, or until the Supreme Court rules on the program's legality.

☆ Elon Musk booed off stage at a Dave Chappelle show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Elon Musk joined Dave Chappelle on stage Sunday in San Francisco, home of Twitter’s headquarters where the world’s richest person recently laid off ] many of its employees. The crowd at the Chase Center loudly booed Musk, who had spent much of the weekend wading into the culture wars, making transphobic statements and seemingly echoing QAnon tropes. Video of the incident at Sunday’s Chappelle show captured by people in attendance shows the controversial Twitter owner taking the stage and yelling Chappelle’s famous Rick James impression: “I’m rich, b***h.” Afterward, Musk got loudly booed for several minutes. That’s the sound of pending civil unrest.”After more jeers, Chappelle ended his show with a reprimand and a prayer. Musk continued his culture war campaign on Monday, once again warning about the thread of what he calls “the woke mind virus.”

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the student loan forgiveness program from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, U.S., October 17, 2022. The investment is a big win for Biden after supply-chain issues disrupted the U.S. economy early in his presidency. They will attend a "tool-in" ceremony, which is the symbolic moving of the first equipment onto the shop floor of the new $12 billion facility. The $52.7 billion "Chips and Science" act, signed by Biden in August, is aimed at preventing a resurgence of supply-chain woes. Biden's victory in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election helped catapult him to the White House after Republican Donald Trump won the state in 2016.

☆ Jill Scott announces ‘Who is Jill Scott? Words & Sounds Vol. 1’ 23rd anniversary tour
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Marianne Garvey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —After a 20th-anniversary tour of Jill Scott’s chart-topping album, “Who Is Jill Scott? : Words and Sounds Vol I” was forced to end prematurely due to the pandemic, it will resume. The tour, produced by Live Nation Urban, will play in over 20 markets across the country. It went double platinum album and earned her several Grammy nominations, including best new artist (2001), best R&B album (2001), and best female R&B vocal performance for three years in a row (2001-2003). Pre-sales for Scott’s tour will begin Dec. 6.

☆ Jan. 6 committee is questioning ex-Trump aide Kellyanne Conway
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former top Trump White House aide Kellyanne Conway is being questioned by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, NBC News reported Monday. An ABC News reporter on Monday morning had spotted Conway entering a conference room used by the select committee. The former White House senior advisor did not respond to questions at that time. During the break in Monday's deposition, Conway told reporters that Trump had called her last week. The select committee is set to expire at the end of the current Congress.

☆ Trump's White House blocked government websites aimed at helping Americans vote, fighting human trafficking, easing homelessness, and stopping fraud, federal records show
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Federal agencies asked the Trump White House to approve dozens of new ".gov" websites. Such custom ".gov" website domains enhance government agencies' ability to effectively provide and market services to an American public that's all but universally connected to the internet. On December 23, 2019, the CIA asked Trump's White House to approve the website domain DataTransport.gov. Chiu/APBlock and delayIn at least one case, Trump's White House denied a website request — the United States Agency for International Development-sponsored ProsperAfrica.gov — that Biden's White House later approved. In March 2021, Office Management and Budget officials denied Insider's FOIA request, stating that "no responsive records were located."

☆ Walmart Is Flexing Its Muscle Again
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Sarah Nassauer | Sharon Terlep | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

America’s biggest retailer has a new message for its suppliers: We’re not going to pay higher prices anymore. Walmart Inc. Chief Executive Doug McMillon delivered the warning in person last month in an appearance before companies that produce products sold by the company’s Sam’s Club chain. Inside a hotel auditorium, he said Walmart would be pushing back against suppliers’ efforts to raise prices, according to people familiar with the situation. Innovative products will spur more purchases, he added, according to these people.

☆ Nike execs have become some of the hottest hires in sportswear, triggering a talent war among rivals like Lululemon, North Face, and Columbia — and raising fears of a brain drain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Nike alums lead numerous brands, including Lululemon, Allbirds, Columbia Sportswear, and The North Face. Tim Sheerin, the senior vice president of global wholesale at Columbia Sportswear, at an investor day event this year. The trend has accelerated in recent years, with competing sportswear companies including Lululemon and Allbirds opening offices in Portland, Oregon. While sportswear companies are a natural fit for former Nike executives, nonathleticwear companies also have hired from Nike's top ranks. Crocs, which named the former Nike vice president Emma Minto the senior vice president of the Americas in 2020, also has been on a hot streak.

☆ Inside the $23 million mega-mansion that Yankee Candle built
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It was built by Kittredge's father, Michael Kittredge II, who made his fortune as the founder of the Yankee Candle Company. Juggler Meadow is listed at nearly 10 times that amount, but is also a rare combination of space, amenities and sports facilities. Kittredge began making more, and in the early 1970s founded Yankee Candle Company. By the late 1990s, Yankee Candle had become the biggest scented candle company in the county. With the flood of cash and a non-compete clause that prevented him from launching another candle company for years, Kittredge built his dream life.

☆ Obama zings 'birtherism' antics he faced as president while stumping for Wisconsin Democratic Senate nominee Mandela Barnes: 'Get ready to dig up that birth certificate'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former President Obama mocked GOP "birtherism" while boosting Mandela Barnes' Wisconsin Senate bid. During a Friday rally, Obama mocked Republican campaign attempts to paint Barnes as "different." Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin's high-stakes Senate race. Johnson is currently averaging a 3.4% lead over Barnes on FiveThirtyEight using data from the most recent polls. Tony Evers, who is up for reelection this fall against Republican businessman Tim Michels, defeated two-term GOP Gov.

☆ What happened to former Chinese leader Hu Jintao?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Analysis Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

China's former leader Hu Jintao is lifted from his chair by a young aide at the closing of the Communist Party Congress on Saturday. Neither has the incident been reported in Chinese language media, or discussed on Chinese social media, where conversations around senior leaders are highly restricted. Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao is taken by the arm and escorted out. “For whatever reasons, Xi ordered Hu to be escorted out when he must have thought that Hu might not behave exactly as Xi would have wanted,” he said. Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao pats the shoulder of his protege, Premier Li Keqiang.

☆ Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay has shed almost 50 pounds in 5 months
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —One half of Grammy-winning duo Dan + Shay is less of a man than he used to be. Shay Mooney has shared on social media how he lost almost 50 pounds over the past few months. The singer/songwriter share a note on the Instastories portion of his verified Instagram account on Thursday to thank his followers for their “kind words” about him “looking healthy.”Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney of Dan + Shay perform during the 15th Annual Academy Of Country Music Honors at Ryman Auditorium on August 24, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. Jason Kempin/Getty Images“Been a little over 5 months I believe and I’m down almost 50lbs.,” he wrote. And some weights, That’s it’!”Mooney added, “I completely changed my lifestyle and I’ve literally never felt better physically, mentally and spiritually.”The country pop music duo served as mentors last year on “The Voice.”

"These are junk fees," President Joe Biden told reporters at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The White House said the move could eliminate billions in banking fees. The agency said that both fees likely violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act's prohibition on unfair fees that are unavoidable to consumers. In a fact sheet, the White House noted that bank overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees accounted for an estimated $15.5 billion in revenue for banks in 2019. He cited processing fees for concert tickets and resort fees at hotels as two items his administration is examining.

☆ White House hammers economic issues with attack on 'junk fees' two weeks out from Election Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the U.S. economy from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, U.S. October 26, 2022. Junk fees are surprise costs added to consumer bills. "And we're just getting started," he said, adding that there are tens of billions of dollars in junk fees across industries that he's directed his administration to reduce or eliminate. Airlines have added myriad fees over the past decade, such as preferred seating fees that don't come with extra legroom. Biden said the move would "immediately start saving Americans collectively billions of dollars in unfair fees" and hold corporations accountable.

"These are junk fees. The agency said that both fees likely violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act's prohibition on unfair fees that are unavoidable to consumers. In a fact sheet, the White House noted that bank overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees accounted for an estimated $15.5 billion in revenue for banks in 2019. He cited processing fees for concert tickets and resort fees at hotels as two items his administration is examining. There's tens of billions of dollars and other junk fees across the economy that I'm directing my administration to reduce or eliminate," Biden said.

☆ 6 things Taylor Swift has taught me about living well
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Over that time, here is what I’ve learned from Taylor Swift about living better. Taylor Swift performs at the 41st Annual Country Music Association Awards, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007, in Nashville, Tennessee. When “Taylor Swift is canceled” was trending on Twitter, she turned the experience into an album. I’ve learned from Swift not to take life too seriously and to be the first to laugh at my blunders. Many young people growing up alongside Taylor Swift have learned so much as she shares her growth with us.

☆ Hu's dramatic China congress exit fuels speculation, official silence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

During the once-in-five-years congress, Xi solidified his grip on power by appointing a Standing Committee made up entirely of loyalists - and excluding the three most senior members of Hu's once-powerful Communist Youth League faction. State TV's Saturday night news broadcasts included images of Hu at the congress, before his exit. Chinese politics, always opaque, have become even more secretive under Xi's decade-long tenure. "Despite the plausibility of a mundane explanation of ill-health, the CCP's secretiveness vis-à-vis senior Chinese leaders and elite Chinese politics lends itself to many more salacious explanations," he said. On China's Twitter-like Weibo, a few social media users alluded to the incident by commenting on old posts featuring Hu.

☆ An Auditorium’s Sound in Concert
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Barbara Jepson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/david-geffen-hall-lincoln-center-wu-tsai-theater-liang-wang-paul-scarbrough-jaap-van-zweden-diamond-schmitt-architects-helen-huang-etienne-charles-christopher-martin-caroline-shaw-roomful-of-teeth-11666388354

☆ The Refreshed David Geffen Hall Hits the Right Notes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Michael J. Lewis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

New YorkWhen Max Abramovitz revealed his plans for Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall in 1959, the public was told that “the matter of acoustics has been given preference to every other consideration.” If only this had been true. He designed the building to seat 2,400, far more than he thought ideal, but even that number fell short of Carnegie Hall, the orchestra’s previous home. He was pushed to enlarge the auditorium past the breaking point, accommodating 2,646 seats. So much for acoustics being the primary consideration.

☆ Analysis: 'From Scratch' serves up one of this week's tastiest new shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Three things to watch‘From Scratch’(From left) Eugenio Mastrandrea, Zoe Saldaña, Judith Scott and Keith David in a scene from "From Scratch." Even though I know how it all ends, I’m looking forward to “From Scratch,” which is streaming now. ‘The School for Good and Evil’(From left) Kerry Washington as Professor Dovey and Charlize Theron as Lady Lesso in a scene from "The School for Good and Evil." There are plenty of arbitration shows out there, but this one is definitely in a courtroom of its own. Something to sip on(From left) Selma Blair and her dance partner, Sasha Farber, perform on an episode of "Dancing With the Stars."

☆ Former Chinese president Hu Jintao escorted out of party congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Former Chinese President Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping's immediate predecessor, was unexpectedly escorted out of the closing ceremony of a congress of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday. According to videos taken by some journalists at the venue and shared on social media, Hu appeared confused as the stewards escorted him out. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOn his way out, Hu exchanged words with Xi and patted Premier Li Keqiang, seated to the right of Xi, on the shoulder. Hu had appeared slightly unsteady last Sunday when he was assisted onto the same stage for the opening ceremony of the congress. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Eduardo Baptista and Ryan Woo; Editing by Robert Birsel and Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Court temporarily blocks Biden's student loan forgiveness
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about the student loan forgiveness program from an auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, October 17, 2022. A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's plan to cancel billions of dollars in college student loans, one day after a judge dismissed a Republican-led lawsuit by six states challenging the debt-forgiveness program. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the states' emergency petition to freeze the loan forgiveness plan until the court rules on their request for a longer-term injunction while Thursday's decision against the states is being appealed. Their case is one of a number that conservative state attorneys general and legal groups have filed seeking to halt the debt forgiveness plan announced in August by Biden, a Democrat. The Congressional Budget Office in September calculated that the debt forgiveness would cost the government about $400 billion.

☆ President Biden says 22 million people have signed up for student loan forgiveness
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the student debt relief plan in the South Court Auditorium at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on October 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. President Joe Biden said 22 million people have registered for student loan relief since applications opened on Monday. Biden campaigned on a promise of student loan forgiveness. In August, he announced that federal student loan borrowers earning under $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income would be eligible for up to $10,000 in forgiveness. "In total more than 40 million Americans stand to benefit from this relief," Biden said.

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