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☆ Bankman-Fried faces long odds of tossing charges despite Supreme Court decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But legal experts said Bankman-Fried's odds of getting the charges dismissed remain slim. Days later, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated that theory known as "right to control" when it overturned the conviction of a Buffalo construction executive accused of bid-rigging. The Court said the theory is "inconsistent with the structure and history of the federal fraud statutes." Officials say Bankman-Fried portrayed FTX as a safe, responsible platform in the volatile sector, even as he was diverting customer funds. Even if the bank fraud count is dismissed, Bankman-Fried would still face 12 other counts at his Oct. 2 trial.

☆ Special counsel John Durham concludes FBI never should have launched full Trump-Russia probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Zachary Cohen Devan Cole Tierney Sneed Evan Perez Hannah Rabinowitz Jeremy Herb Marshall Cohen | Zachary Cohen | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

“Strzok, at a minimum, had pronounced hostile feelings toward Trump,” Durham wrote, while quoting in a footnote previously known texts between Strzok and Lisa Page, then an FBI attorney. Witness testimony exposed the FBI’s overreliance on the dossier as it sought court approval to wiretap a former Trump campaign adviser in 2016. Mixed results over 3+ yearsBarr tapped Durham in 2019 to review the origins of the Russia probe, and the scope of Durham’s work grew over the years. Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which inherited the initial Russia probe, released a detailed accounting of Russia’s effort to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller found no evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but investigators documented numerous contacts between Trump associates and Russians.

☆ TikTok is quietly moving in on record labels' territory and insiders say its ambitions could end up 'pissing off' music partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Its music ambitions could ruffle feathers at record labels and publishers — unless it pays out. TikTok's app regularly sparks trends that help songs go viral, making it a favorite of marketers at major labels and independents. TikTok works closely with record labels and artists on promotional efforts like livestreamed concerts, in-person performances, and private listening parties with TikTok stars. Spotify has maintained a tenuous relationship with the labels over the years as it's sought to balance profit margins while splitting revenue with artists, labels, and publishers. Still, even as record labels and publishers push TikTok to pay more to music rights holders, they're investing more in the app.

In 2017, with Mr. Connors’ help, Mr. Maichle started his own company, Precision Compliance Consulting. ‘Boss Man’Mr. Connors, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Maichle were all active in college conservative politics in Wisconsin about 15 years ago, when Mr. Connors was the leader of campus Republicans at Marquette University. Of that, about $102,000 went to Campaign Now, the firm started by Mr. Connors, and another $112,000 to companies where Mr. Connors, Mr. Maichle or Mr. Lewis was either the owner or a partner, tax records show. Most of the money — more than $4.4 million — went to fund-raising companies via tens of thousands of small payments. Most of the money — more than $4.4 million — went to fund-raising companies via tens of thousands of small payments.

☆ Fact Check-UK COVID vaccine offer for vulnerable young children not mandatory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The offer of COVID vaccination for very young children is voluntary and specifically targeted to children who are most at risk from COVID, according to the government’s April announcement of the new policy. After Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that young children in clinical risk groups should be offered COVID vaccination, some social media users responded with outrage. JCVI ADVICEThe UK advice does not include all young children. In fact, the prioritisation of COVID-19 vaccination for clinically vulnerable children explains higher mortality rates seen during the pandemic among vaccinated children as compared with unvaccinated children (here and here). There is no evidence the vaccine is unsafe for infants and young children, according to experts and health regulators.

☆ Macy's top retail media exec reveals the company's plan to use The Trade Desk to propel its surging $144 million ad business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Macy's has signed a deal with adtech firm The Trade Desk to sell targeted programmatic ads. Macy's data can also find people who are likely to be luxury shoppers and buy big-ticket products. Advertisers pay for those ads using their trade marketing budgets that brands spend in exchange for selling products at Macy's. That spend is typically handled by ad agencies that purchase ads using digital ad buying platforms like The Trade Desk. The Macy's deal is significant for The Trade Desk as well and shows how the adtech company is expanding its influence within retail media.

☆ In a new hacking crime wave, much more personal data is being held hostage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Kevin Travers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Gorodenkoff | iStock | Getty ImagesThe cybersecurity world faces new threats beyond targeted ransomware attacks, according to experts at the recent RSA cybersecurity industry conference in San Francisco. McMann said hackers are now focusing on stealing customer or employee data and then threatening to leak it publicly. At the end of March, OpenAI documented a data leak in an open-source data provider that made it possible to see personal AI chat histories, payment information, and addresses. The team patched the leak in hours, but McMann said once data is out there, hackers can use it. "For example, the LastPass breach saw one of four key individuals targeted on their personal computer, through a personal public IP address getting in through an unpatched solution," he said.

☆ Ocean temperatures are off the charts right now, and scientists are alarmed
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Ocean surface heat is at record-breaking levels. Since La Niña ended in March, ocean temperatures seem to be on a rebound, scientists say. Worrying impacts of ocean warmingWhatever the reasons behind the increase in ocean heat, the impacts are potentially catastrophic if temperatures continue to head off the charts. For now, ocean surface temperatures have started to fall, even if they remain high for this time of year. As scientists continue to analyze the reasons for record ocean warming, they are clear records will continue to be smashed as the climate crisis intensifies.

☆ Career advice for the class of 2023: How to find a job you love
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Cindy Perman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

What's important, Ng and other career experts say, is that you don't just look for a job, whether it's your first or fifth. Gorick Ng author of "The Unspoken Rules"LinkedIn career expert Blair Heitmann recommends making a career bucket list. Are you on the right career ladder? Ng offers this visual: Jobs are rungs on a career ladder. Don't assume that you will get something because you 'deserve it'OK, so let's say you are lucky enough to land at a job is on the right career ladder for you.

☆ TikTok has shuffled key music execs who work with artists as its owner streamlines its operations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok has shifted staff on its music team in North America. An exec from its song-distribution tool is now leading TikTok's artist services for the region. TikTok has shuffled staff on its music team in North America over the past few months, naming a new artist-services lead and moving a key exec into a role at its parent company. TikTok has invested heavily in its music staff over the last few years after becoming an essential platform for song discovery and artist marketing. The company may even roll out its own TikTok Music streaming service one day, a trademark filing suggests.

☆ How to start 'career cushioning' so you aren't screwed if you lose your job
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

That's why it's wise to "career cushion" so you're not blindsided if you lose your job. Experts recommend updating your LinkedIn profile and ramping up your networking. Knowing you're prepared for a possible worst-case scenario by "career cushioning" can mitigate some of the stress you're feeling, according to Blair Heitmann, a career expert at LinkedIn. Cushioning makes you feel that you're ready "for whatever comes next in the economy and in the job market," Heitmann told Insider. Update your social-media profilesHeitmann said the first — and potentially easiest — thing to do is update your LinkedIn profile.

CNN —The editor-in-chief of Die Aktuelle, a German magazine that published a fake artificial intelligence (AI) interview with Michael Schumacher, has been “relieved of her duties,” a statement from publishing house FUNKE said, alongside an apology to the Schumacher family. Schumacher has not been seen in public since he suffered a brain injury in a skiing accident in December 2013. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publishing house like FUNKE,” FUNKE magazine managing director Bianca Pohlmann said in the statement. Only toward the end of the article does it become apparent that the interview was produced by AI. Hannibal Hanschke/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockSince the accident, the Schumacher family has kept updates about the health of the motorsport legend to a minimum to protect their privacy.

☆ How TikTok is trying to become the music industry's everything app, even if it risks 'pissing off' record labels
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

☆ Airbus tells shareholders Europe needs to 'get its act together' on autonomy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The chairman of Europe's largest aerospace group, Rene Obermann, told investors last year's invasion of Ukraine by Russia had been a wake-up call. "It has highlighted the essential role that defence plays in society and that European nations need to get their act together for higher levels of strategic autonomy. "We are committed to playing a role of enabler for more co-operation in defence, which we believe is one of the key prerequisites to make sure that Europe maintains its strategic autonomy, Obermann said. He also cited sovereign capabilities for which Europe does not want to depend on the United States. DEFENCE DIVIDENDFrench President Emmanuel Macron is pursing an agenda to beef up Europe's "strategic autonomy" separate from the U.S.-led NATO umbrella, with eastern allies trusting the United States more for their defence.

☆ Agnellis' Exor eyes further healthcare investment for expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Giulio Piovaccari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After completing the sale of its reinsurer PartnerRE, Exor has around 6.5 billion euros in cash available for investments, including 5 billion euros for acquisitions. It has already said its M&A activity would mainly focus on healthcare, luxury and technology businesses. Through its venture capital arm Exor Ventures, Exor was also developing partnerships with healthcare companies at an early stage of their development, Elkann said. NEW CHAIRMANExor is the single largest investor in carmaker Stellantis and has controlling stakes in companies including Ferrari (RACE.MI), CNH Industrial (CNHI.MI) and soccer club Juventus (JUVE.MI). It said its profit rose to 4.227 billion euros ($4.64 billion) last year, from 1.717 billion euros in 2021 mainly due to the net gain it booked from the 8.6 billion euro sale of PartnerRe.

☆ Europe's battery pass project outlines manufacturers' transparency challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Victoria Waldersee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, April 17 (Reuters) - The consortium behind a European battery passport project laid out on Monday how companies must prepare to meet increasingly stringent regulations on disclosing batteries' origins and social and environmental footprints. Manufacturers in Europe must disclose the carbon footprint of their batteries from 2024 and comply with a CO2 emissions limit from 2027. Monday's guidance is the first attempt to interpret what the new demands will mean for electric car makers, industrial battery producers and light transport battery makers. Still up for debate is the methodology for accurately calculating the carbon footprint and recycled content, and who will have access to what depth of data in the battery passport, consortium representatives told Reuters. Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

These kind of megadeals are at the vanguard of billions of dollars of annual spending on classic cars globally in a wave of investment in this alternative asset. "The track record of the past 30 years tells us classic cars have become a financial asset class we want our clients to have in their portfolios." [1/5] A general view of the classic car collection of Florian Zimmermann, owner of over 300 classic cars, in a warehouse in Lindau, Germany, April 5, 2023. "Electrification will favour classic cars," said Cristiano Bolzoni, head of Maserati's vintage car unit Maserati Classiche. "The classic car community has changed tremendously over the past five to 10 years," Zimmermann said.

☆ Lamborghini CEO says orders for hybrid Revuelto show 'incredible' demand from wealthy car-buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowLamborghini's quick sellout of its new $600,000 hybrid supercar is proof that wealthy car buyers are still spending, according to the CEO. Lamborghini already has a waiting list and two years worth of orders for the Revuelto, its first ever plug-in hybrid that was launched last month, CEO Stephan Winkelmann told CNBC. Every Lamborghini model launched after the Revuelto will be a hybrid, with plug-in versions of the Urus SUV and Huracan sportscar expected in the coming years. With the Revuelto, Lamborghini utilized the best of both worlds, pairing three electric motors with a new 6.5-liter, naturally aspirated V12 engine for a combined 1,001 horsepower. Lamborghini Revuelto Ambient Courtesy: Lamborghini"The team worked hard on this car for years," Winkelmann said.

☆ LIV Golf contingent leave mark on Masters leaderboard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Frank Pingue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Patrick Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, was a further shot back with a share of fourth, while Joaquin Niemann was the next best from LIV Golf as he ended up tied for 16th. This year's Masters was the first since LIV Golf launched last June, and 18 players from the lucrative circuit, whose 54-hole tournaments with no cuts have raised talk about their competitiveness, teed it up in the year's first major. Koepka said nobody should be surprised to see that he and his LIV Golf peers posed a threat at Augusta National, which is one of the game's biggest stages. Although it proved too little too late for Mickelson, the six-time major said he and the others from LIV Golf were not out to prove a point to other players in the field. Augusta National cleared the way last December for eligible players from LIV Golf to compete in the year's first major.

☆ Here's why travel to Europe is no longer a 'screaming, bargain-basement' deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Not all European countries use the euro — it's the official currency for 20 out of 27 European Union members. By the end of September, Americans could buy one euro with just 96 cents. "Europe for much of last year was a screaming, bargain-basement deal for Americans," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. International trips account for about 56% of search demand among U.S. travelers, up from 46% last year, according to travel app Hopper's Consumer Travel Index published in February. Foreign travel for Americans is still a bargain.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said: "The defendant Donald J. Trump falsified New York business records in order to conceal an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election and other violations of election laws." SOCIAL MEDIA POSTSProsecutors during the arraignment said Trump made a series of social media posts, including one threatening "death and destruction" if he was charged. "They can't beat us at the ballot box so they try to beat us through the law," Trump said. The false records included invoices from Cohen, entries in a ledger for Trump maintained by the Trump Organization, and check stubs, according to the indictment. "Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime.

☆ Exxon says its decarbonization business could outgrow oil, in multi-trillion market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Exxon is tackling what should be a multi-trillion market in 10 years or more, Woods said. The result will be an Exxon less prone to commodity price swings through predictable, long-term contracts with customers striving to reduce their own carbon footprint. "This business is going to look quite a bit different than the base business of Exxon Mobil," vowed Dan Ammann, president of Exxon's two-year-old Low Carbon Business Solutions unit. Exxon is tackling carbon capture, hydrogen, biofuels, which it estimates have a combined potential of $6.5 trillion by 2050, equivalent to the traditional oil and gas business. The business can achieve "robust double-digit returns" off these long-term contracts, Ammann said.

☆ 'I am truly sorry': Credit Suisse chair pleads with angry shareholders at annual meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, Switzerland - Climate activists raise a boat during a protest ahead of the annual general meeting of Credit Suisse, following the bank's hastily brokered takeover by UBS to prevent a financial meltdown. Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann on Tuesday told shareholders he was "truly sorry" for the collapse that led to the bank's controversial takeover by UBS . Neither UBS nor Credit Suisse shareholders were allowed a vote on the deal. "Until the end, we fought hard to find a solution, but ultimately there were only two options: deal or bankruptcy," Lehmann told shareholders. In a statement Sunday, the office of the attorney general confirmed that Switzerland's Federal Prosecutor is investigating potential breaches of Swiss federal law by government officials, regulators and top executives at Credit Suisse and UBS.

☆ Credit Suisse shareholders re-elect chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ZURICH, April 4 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) shareholders voted to re-elect Chairman Axel Lehmann at the company's annual general meeting in Zurich on Tuesday. Of the votes cast, 55.67% were in favour of keeping Lehmann chairman for the remainder of the time until the Swiss bank is officially merged with rival UBS (UBSG.S) as part of a forced takeover orchestrated by Swiss authorities. Lehmann said earlier that five board members would not stand for re-election. The remaining board members were all narrowly re-elected by shareholders. Reporting by Noele Illien Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon lays off more than 100 employees in its video games division: Read the memo here
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is laying off roughly 100 employees across its video games division, an executive overseeing the unit wrote in a memo to staffers on Tuesday. Amazon's video games division has also experienced some turnover among its top ranks. Mike Frazzini, who helped launch Amazon's game studios, stepped down last March. And in January, John Smedley, who headed up Amazon Games' San Diego studio, exited the company. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed the layoffs and the existence of the memo but declined further comment.

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