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☆ Charges Against a Congressman Lay Bare Foreign Government Influence Attempts
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Kenneth P. Vogel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As tensions flared over disputed territory in the Caucasus region in the summer of 2020, Azerbaijan’s squadron of high-priced Washington lobbyists scrambled to pin the blame on neighboring Armenia and highlight its connections to Russia. Unbeknown to members of Congress, Azerbaijan had an inside man who was working closely with the Azerbaijani ambassador to Washington at the time on a parallel line of attack, according to text messages released by federal prosecutors. Azerbaijan’s ambassador responded enthusiastically. “Your amendment is more timely than ever,” the ambassador, Elin Suleymanov, wrote to Mr. Cuellar. “It is all about Russian presence there,” added Mr. Suleymanov, who referred to the congressman as “Boss.”

Persons: Unbeknown, Henry Cuellar, Elin Suleymanov, Cuellar, ”, Suleymanov Organizations: Azerbaijan’s, Texas Democrat, Russian Locations: Caucasus, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Washington, Texas, “

☆ ‘Infested’ Review: Bugging Out
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jeannette Catsoulis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There are no fresh ideas in the French creepy-crawler “Infested,” yet this first feature from Sébastien Vanicek scurries forward with such pep and purpose that its shortcomings are easily forgivable. Add a handful of eager young actors, a sociopolitical slam and a claustrophobic location swarming with venomous spiders and you’ll be hunting for the DEET long before the credits roll. His latest acquisition is a spider that, unbeknown to Kaleb, was smuggled from a Middle Eastern desert after rendering one of its captors agonizingly kaput. In less time than it takes to say “arachnophobia,” it will escape, reproduce like a bandit and send its deadly progeny scampering into every unsealed nook and cranny. Woe betide anyone not wearing a hoodie.

Persons: Vanicek, Kaleb, Théo Christine, agonizingly kaput Locations: Paris, Kaleb

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. The painting followed me from Amherst to my first job in New York, and on to London and Delhi. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. I’m especially moved by those first moments of validation by which an artist comes out to himself, as it were. It’s this, the inexorability of the correspondence between an artist and the world, that gives those first steps their magical quality.

Persons: Naipaul, Neil Shah, James Wood —, Zack, who’d, ”, Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna, Elders ”, I’m, ” Gustave Flaubert, “, ” Zack, it’s, Bruce Chatwin, Paul Gauguin, Salman Rushdie, Somerset Maugham, Kathryn Bigelow, Philip Glass, Arundhati Roy, Booker, Joseph Conrad, Conrad, Jacques, ” Conrad, brimming, ’, ’ ”, Clarice Lispector, Benjamin Moser, ” Lispector, Maugham, eludes, Jan van Kessel, Elder, — Pieter Bruegel, —, Rebecca West —, “ Black Lamb, J.R, Hammond, Wells, Rebecca West ”, sloughed, Henrik Ibsen’s, Rosmersholm ”, Karan Mahajan, Salman Toor, what’s, ” Hemingway, Anoushka Shankar, Ravi Shankar, Harold Bloom, Ravi, Uday, René Daumal, Rasa ”, ” Anoushka, Norah Jones, Norah, I’ve, “ Raphael, Rachel Cusk, Italy ”, Perugino, Raphael, Cusk, J.M, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon’s, James Joyce, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Marcel Proust’s, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Read, Emma Kehlbeck, Quinton Kamara Organizations: Amherst College, Elders, Fayerweather, ”, Google, Sunday Times, Somerset, Yugoslavia, The, “, . Locations: Delhi, ”, Massachusetts, Italian, Topeka, Kan, Amherst, New York, London, Patagonia, New Delhi, Torrens, Cambridge, Polish, Ukrainian, Brazil, Flemish, Victorian England, “ H.G, Fairfield, United States, “, East, Lahore, Europe, America, Texas, Side, Manhattan, India, Italy

He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish. IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. No one captured the massive cultural and economic disparities of my life in Delhi (and his in Lahore) like Toor. But quite unbeknown to me, Toor’s life in New York had opened up a new vein of material. Not everyone who sees a Michelangelo can go off and paint a Michelangelo.”THERE ARE SO many ways to begin.

☆ Ukraine’s Creative Use of Weapons Carries Promise and Risk
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Julian E. Barnes | Marc Santora | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. officials say Ukraine should continue to develop innovative ways to strike at Russian forces as the war approaches its third year. But Ukraine’s use of a Patriot missile to take down a plane last month is an example of how novel battlefield tactics can be fraught with peril as well as promise. Unbeknown to Ukraine’s military, the Russian aircraft it targeted may have been carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to U.S. officials. The Patriot is a defensive system, usually used to protect a location and not to shoot down planes. Russian officials immediately claimed the aircraft was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were to be exchanged for Russian service members.

Persons: Unbeknown Organizations: Russian, Patriot, Russian Ilyushin Locations: Ukraine, Russian

☆ Warring Billionaires, a Rogue Trader, a Divorce: One Hedge Fund’s Tale of Woe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Maureen Farrell | More About Maureen Farrell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two Sigma, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, has long prided itself on two things: the sophisticated, in-house algorithms that power its trading, and its commitment to secrecy. But recent internal troubles have forced Two Sigma to air its dirty laundry. In October, it had more bad news: An employee had altered some trading models without the firm’s knowledge, affecting its returns and drawing regulatory scrutiny. It’s the kind of mess that any investment firm wants to avoid for fear of losing clients and talent, especially one that has avoided the spotlight for much of its 22 years of existence. In a 2015 profile of Two Sigma, Forbes magazine said the two founders were “obsessive about avoiding publicity and keeping the firm’s secrets under wraps.”

Persons: David M, Siegel, John A, unbeknown Organizations: Sigma, New, Mr, Internal Revenue Service, Forbes Locations: New York

☆ Grandmother and granddaughter flight attendant duo hit the skies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —Flight attendant Cynthia Heck finished up the safety demonstration and walked through the cabin, confirming passengers were ready for takeoff. Fellow flight attendant Hannah Heck watched on, admiringly. Hannah Heck and Cynthia HeckCynthia, 72, has worked as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines for almost 20 years. Everyone in my class was in awe of my flight attendant grandmother,” says Hannah. Hannah Heck and Cynthia HeckBut while Hannah always thought Cynthia’s job was glamorous and exciting, she also saw the tougher sides to flight attendant life.

Persons: Cynthia Heck, Hannah Heck, Hannah, ”, Cynthia disbelieving, Cynthia, ” Cynthia, Everyone’s, ” Hannah, Cynthia Heck Cynthia, “, ‘, Heck, Harry Reid, ” “, ’, ’ ”, – you’ve, You’ve, you’ve, it’s, –, Cynthia she’d, Hannah’s, they’re, “ It’s, She’s, ” It’s, Hannah Heck Hannah’s, she’s, Cynthia’s, I’m, don’t Organizations: CNN, CNN Travel, Southwest Airlines, Mesa, US, Harry Reid Las Vegas Airport Locations: “, Oakland, California, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Vegas, Houston , Texas

☆ They fell in love and lost each other in South America. Then a note stuck on a door brought them back together
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

When he met Tracy, Tim was enjoying a six month traveling stint, unsure what came next. If you see this, let me know where you are staying!”As she and Monique closed, then locked, the hotel door, Tracy jammed the piece of paper into the door frame. A note on a hotel doorTracy had the idea to write a note and attach it to the hotel door. Tracy FerrellUnbeknown to Tracy, Tim had arrived in Cuenca a few days before her. Leaning against the hotel door, he wrote a reply underneath Tracy’s message, detailing where he was staying.

Persons: CNN — Tracy Ferrell, ”, Tracy, “, we’ve, Monique, let’s, ” Tracy, Tim, “ I’m, Tracy Ferrell, She’d, Cuenca –, German Shepherd, Tim Zych, Zealander who’d, Tim chatted, Tracy’s, Salar de, Tim didn’t, ’, Tracy Ferrell Unbeknown, he’d, Tim couldn’t, he’s, they’d, Keen, ” Tim, They’re, she’d, Tracy wasn’t, Tim Boulder, “ We’ll, ” Here's Tracy, –, ’ ”, they’re, Tracy Ferrell Tracy, Tracy “ Organizations: CNN, America, University of Colorado, South American Explorers ’, –, CNN Travel, Zealander, they’d, Communication, American Express, Denver International Airport, Boulder Locations: Cuenca, Ecuador, Quito, Peruvian, Ollantaytambo, South America, Ecuador –, German, London, New Zealand, Zealand, Salar, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Tim’s, Blanca, Tracy, Costa Rica, San Jose, Boulder , Colorado, Colorado, She’d, Boulder, Boston, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, Boulder county, Quinto

☆ Why former Goldman Sachs partners say they left the firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

Goldman Sachs partners are leaving — some 202 during David Solomon's five years as CEO by Insider's calculation. In particular, before Solomon, Goldman nurtured many fiefs and then spread the wealth from the most successful ones across the firm. Of the former Goldman executives that Insider interviewed, here are the most cited reasons they gave for leaving Goldman. When both men struggled, senior partners left, and Goldman stumbled in its efforts to wind down its balance-sheet investments. Goldman Sachs partners are paid well by any standard: $950,000 in base salary and often multiples of that in annual bonuses.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, David Solomon's, Solomon, Goldman, David Solomon, John Waldron, Goldman's, Adebayo Ogunlesi, Mike Mayo, Andrew Toth, Devin Ryan, Ryan, Waldron, Tony Fratto, Mike Blake, Eric Lane, Julian Salisbury, Lane, Luke Sarsfield, Sarsfield, Marc Nachmann, he's, Fratto, Stephanie Cohen, Cohen, Kathy Ruemmler, Charles Dharapak, Barack Obama's, Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Ruemmler, Unbeknown, Jeffrey Epstein, dealmaking, David S, Holloway, Mayo, David doesn't, GreenSky, Brendan McDermid, It's, Alison Mass, Hank Paulson, Russell Horwitz, David, it's, Emmalyse Brownstein Organizations: Wall, JPMorgan, Wells, Wells Fargo Securities, Investors, Goldman, AWM, Sarsfield, BAE Systems, Justice Department, Street Journal, Bloomberg, Employees, Partners, Federal Reserve, United Capital Financial Partners, Reuters, GreenSky Locations: New York, Wells Fargo, Salisbury, Manhattan, Texas, Plano, London, Paris, Chicago

☆ Mother, Accused of Human Trafficking While Flying With Daughter, Sues Southwest Airlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Christine Chung | More About Christine Chung | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The mother and daughter had flown a Southwest Airlines flight to Denver for a funeral. Unbeknown to Ms. MacCarthy, a flight attendant had suspected Ms. MacCarthy, who is white, of human trafficking, Ms. MacCarthy said in an interview Monday. Moira, her daughter, is Black. The officers questioned them, Ms. MacCarthy said, adding that her daughter cried in her arms throughout the entire interaction. Ms. MacCarthy showed her driver’s license to the officers; they did not ask for identification for Moira, proving that they were related.

Persons: Mary MacCarthy, Moira, MacCarthy’s, Unbeknown, MacCarthy Organizations: Denver International Airport, Denver, Southwest Airlines Locations: Denver

☆ Ambivalent Relationships May Be Hazardous to Your Health - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Adam Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But groundbreaking research spearheaded by the psychologists Bert Uchino and Julianne Holt-Lunstad shows that ambivalent relationships can be damaging to your health — even more than purely negative relationships. I had assumed that with a neighbor or a colleague, having some positive interactions was better than all negative interactions. Unbeknown to the participants, the researchers had randomly assigned the friend to give ambivalent or negative comments. Receiving mixed feedback caused higher blood pressure than pure criticism. “I would have gone about the topic differently, but you’re doing fine” proved to be more distressing than “I totally disagree with everything you’ve said.”The evidence that ambivalent relationships can be bad for us is strong, but the reasons can be harder to read — just like the relationships themselves.

☆ The Religious Right’s Hidden Sway as Japan Trails Allies on Gay Rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Motoko Rich | Hikari Hida | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To millions of Japanese, the Shinto faith is not so much a spiritual practice as a cultural one. Few regard these rituals as being tethered to any fixed doctrine — Shintoism, an indigenous religion, has no official dogma or scripture. But unbeknown to most in largely secular Japan, a national Shinto association has tried to spread a conservative ideological message among lawmakers, including on gay and transgender rights. Polls show overwhelming support for same-sex marriage in Japan; one of the country’s most influential business leaders recently called it “embarrassing” that Japan has not sanctioned the unions. Lawmakers, under pressure from the Shinto group and other traditionalist forces, have lagged behind public opinion, struggling to agree on even limited expressions of support for the rights of gay and transgender people.

☆ ‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 7 Recap: The Scorpion and the Scorpion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Noel Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Season 4, Episode 7: ‘Tailgate Party’This “Succession” season’s premiere episode ended with Tom and Shiv lying together in bed, bitterly angry but still holding hands. Their weird romantic renaissance peaks with this week’s episode, which sees them sexting each other incessantly — and sees Tom confusingly gifting Shiv with a glass-encased scorpion, in an apparent reference to “the scorpion and the frog” parable. As always with “Succession,” the Roys arrive at this party with discrete agendas. It’s only after Shiv warns him that the Roy boys are making moves that Matsson mobilizes. His strutting GoJo band barges into the triplex right when Kendall is leading a moment of silence for Logan.

☆ Here are the most shocking details of how FTX misused funds and treated customer money as its own private ATM, according to CFTC findings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

FTX customer funds were comingled with Alameda since the beginning of the exchange's inception, according to a recent CFTC complaint. When Alameda's external loans were called in, FTX customer funds were used to cover the debts. The complaint also alleges Bankman-Fried, his parents, and some employees used customer funds for personal purchases and loans. Under the direction of Bankman-Fried, FTX customer funds were further used to cover the debt. It has also become clear that the flashy ad and sports campaigns were funded by customer deposits.

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