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☆ Freed 'Hotel Rwanda' hero departs Doha for Houston for family reunion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Imad Creidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DOHA, March 29 (Reuters) - The man who inspired the film "Hotel Rwanda", Paul Rusesabagina, has boarded a plane in Qatar bound for Houston after being released from prison in Rwanda last week, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. He was released last Friday after Kagame commuted his sentence, following months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali, and arrived in Doha on Monday. Rusesabagina was feted around the world after being played by actor Don Cheadle in the 2004 film "Hotel Rwanda" which portrayed him as a hero who risked his life to shelter hundreds of people as manager of a luxury hotel during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Washington's historically close ties with Rwanda had been strained by Rusesabagina's detention and by U.S. allegations, denied by Kigali, that Rwanda has sent troops into neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and supports rebels there. Rwanda has said that Rusesabagina's release is the result of a shared desire to reset the U.S.-Rwanda relationship.

☆ Florida lawmakers are working at breakneck speed to pass DeSantis' agenda before a presidential run: 'Our colleagues are tripping over themselves'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

DeSantis is quickly signing bills into law in Florida this legislative session, which ends May 5. After the legislation session, DeSantis is expected to mount a presidential run, challenging Trump. Ron DeSantis that will give him a list of accomplishments to brag about during a widely anticipated 2024 presidential run. Lawmakers began meeting for their 60-day session just three weeks ago, and already the governor has signed bills into law amid much fanfare at public events. Last week DeSantis signed a bill to curb lawsuits in the state.

Fox News, however, did suggest it wants to put Scott, Wallace, Hannity, Carlson, Bartiromo, and Baier on the stand as witnesses. But in past court filings, Fox News has highlighted the fact that Baier said on-air shortly after the 2020 election that there weren’t indications of widespread fraud. Both Fox News and Dominion asked Davis in court this week to declare them the outright winner without a trial. Fox News has argued that it can’t be held liable for airing inherently newsworthy allegations from public figures that Dominion rigged the 2020 election, even if those claims were false. Fox Corporation has argued that Dominion overstated its role in Fox News’ editorial coverage of the 2020 election and asked to be dropped from the lawsuit – but the judge let the case move forward.

☆ Freed 'Hotel Rwanda' hero Rusesabagina leaves Rwanda, reaches Qatar - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Imad Creidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DOHA, March 28 (Reuters) - Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the film "Hotel Rwanda" about the 1994 genocide, has arrived in Qatar after being released from prison in Rwanda last week, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Rwanda has said that Rusesabagina's release is the result of a shared desire to reset the U.S.-Rwanda relationship. The 68-year-old former hotelier landed in Doha on Monday, a source with knowledge of the matter said. "Hotel Rwanda" portrays Rusesabagina's success in saving more than 1,000 refugees, including his family, during the genocide in 1994 by sheltering them in the besieged hotel that he managed in Kigali. Reporting by Imad Creidi; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump tried to mock Ron DeSantis at his Texas rally. He was met with mostly silence from the audience.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ron DeSantis during his rally speech in Waco, Texas. Ron DeSantis during a rally in Waco, Texas, on Saturday were met with a muted response from his usually adoring audience. During his speech, Trump said DeSantis begged him for an endorsement with "tears in his eyes" when running for Florida governor in 2018. In contrast, Trump's rally crowd jeered loudly when he trash-talked other people. Representatives for Trump and DeSantis did not immediately reply to Insider's requests for comment made outside regular business hours.

☆ Trump tried to mock Ron DeSantis at his Texas rally and acted out how the governor supposedly cried in front of him. He was met with mostly silence.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ron DeSantis during his rally speech in Waco, Texas. Ron DeSantis during a Saturday rally in Waco, Texas, were met with a muted response from his usually-adoring audience. At his rally on Saturday, Trump said DeSantis had "tears in his eyes," when asking for support in the gubernatorial race. In contrast, Trump's rally crowd jeered loudly when he trash-talked other people. Representatives of Trump and DeSantis did not immediately reply to Insider's requests for comment made outside regular business hours.

☆ Trump kicks off 2024 with a lifeless stump speech, folding indictment hysteria into a growing list of grievances
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trump's first stump speech of 2024 saw the ex-president lashing out at a growing list of enemies. 'Final battle' rhetoricThe former president is seeking another term in the White House while multiple criminal and civil cases against him keep building. Trump categorized every investigation poking around his personal life, single-term presidency, and post-presidential life as bogus "witch hunts." "Put me back in the White House and their reign will be over," Trump told the thousands in the crowd, their cheers rising up to greet him. Earlier in the day, one of the local officials who helped warm up the crowd told attendees he had a foolproof plan for overcoming just about any issue.

The U.S. has said Rusesabagina was unlawfully detained, while Rwanda has bristled at the criticism, saying it would not be intimidated. The U.S. allocated more than $147 million in foreign assistance to Rwanda in 2021, making it Rwanda's largest bilateral donor. Blinken met Kagame during a visit to Rwanda in August, where U.S. officials said the case was discussed extensively. Yet Kigali continued to take a hard line, with Kagame suggesting on the sidelines of the December summit that only an invasion of Rwanda could force Rusesabagina's release. He will remain in Rwanda for a couple of days before travelling to Doha and then to the United States, U.S. officials said.

Paul Rusesabagina’s detention had been condemned by the U.S. State Department. Rwanda’s justice minister on Friday commuted the 25-year prison sentence of Paul Rusesabagina, who inspired the movie “Hotel Rwanda” about the 1994 genocide and later used his Hollywood fame to criticize President Paul Kagame . A Belgian citizen and U.S. green-card holder, Mr. Rusesabagina was convicted by a Rwandan court in 2021 on a string of charges including terrorism, the financing and founding of armed groups, murder, arson and conspiracy to involve children in militancy. Rwandan authorities say Mr. Rusesabagina for years funded the National Liberation Front, the alleged armed wing of his opposition group, the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change.

☆ Rwanda is releasing dissident Paul Rusesabagina from prison, the government says. The hero whose story inspired 'Hotel Rwanda' saved over 1,000 people from being massacred in the 1990s.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rwanda announced Friday that it is commuting the 25-year sentence of dissident Paul Rusesabagina. Rusesabagina, whose story inspired the Hollywood movie "Hotel Rwanda," saved over 1,000 people from being killed during the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana at an event in West Hollywood in 2005. The Hotel des Mille Collines, known as "Hotel Rwanda," where Rusesabagina sheltered Tutsis. Paul Rusesabagina (left) and actor Don Cheadle (right) at a 2005 press conference for "Hotel Rwanda."

☆ 'Hotel Rwanda' figure Rusesabagina to be released from prison -government source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary * 'Hotel Rwanda' figure to be released on Saturday* Rusesabagina to be flown to Doha, and on to the U.S.* His release follows letter to president seeking clemency* Rebel spokesman Sankara to also be releasedKIGALI, March 24 (Reuters) - Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the Hollywood film "Hotel Rwanda" and is serving a 25-year sentence in Rwanda on terrorism charges, will be released on Saturday, a Rwanda government source said on Friday. His release follows intense diplomacy by the United States, where Rusesabagina has permanent residency rights. Rusesabagina will initially be flown to Doha, and then on to the United States, the source said. "If I am granted a pardon and released, I understand fully that I will spend the remainder of my days in the United States in quiet reflection," he wrote. Earlier this month, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said there were discussions about "resolving" the fate of Rusesabagina.

☆ 'Hotel Rwanda' figure Rusesabagina to be freed from prison -Rwanda government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Philbert Girinema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The announcement of his release follows intense diplomacy by the United States, where Rusesabagina has permanent residency rights. "This is the result of a shared desire to reset US-Rwanda relationship," Stephanie Nyombayire, spokesperson of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, wrote on Twitter. Rusesabagina was sentenced in Sept. 2021 over his ties to an organization opposed to Kagame's rule. "If any individual benefiting from early release repeats offences of a similar nature, the commutation can be revoked and the remainder of the prison sentence will be served," Rwanda's justice ministry said. In a handwritten letter to Kagame released by the justice ministry, Nsabimana said he had apologised to all Rwandans and especially those affected by attacks by FLN fighters.

☆ My Family and the Measles Vaccine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( James V. Grimaldi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Surgeon General granted licenses to two drug companies to produce the first measles vaccines. It had taken nine years of research before a vaccine was ready for release to the public. That was too late for my sister, Mary Maura Grimaldi, who died at age 6 of encephalitis caused by measles, on the same day the licenses were announced. By contrast, it took only about a year for scientists to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. The difference was largely due to advances in research technology and $18 billion in taxpayer funds, said Dr. Paul Rota, chief of Viral Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

☆ Fox bosses ‘shut down’ fact checking with 2020 conspiracies, Dominion lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Dominion is suing Fox News over the right-wing channel’s airing of false claims of election fraud around the 2020 presidential election. Fox News argued that Dominion should instead rely on the “lengthy depositions” that these witnesses already gave. It claims Dominion hasn’t shown anything strong enough to overcome the high bar that the First Amendment provides, protecting good-faith journalists from speech-chilling defamation lawsuits. Dominion lawyer Rodney Smolla said its high-stakes defamation case against Fox News will protect the public discourse and hold accountable people who deliberately lied about the 2020 election. “They endorsed,” Murdoch said, referring to Fox hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and former host Lou Dobbs.

☆ Why Goldman Sachs alumni are being hoovered up by elite hedge funds like Citadel and Millennium
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

In November, one of the world's most consequential hedge funds announced a shake-up at the top of its power structure. In an internal memo, the founder of Millennium Management, Izzy Englander, said that Bobby Jain would be vacating the co-CIO role. "You can't readily find that managerial experience at other hedge funds and Goldman is a perfect place to look for those people." 8 former Goldman Sachs leaders are now Millennium execsEnglander isn't alone — firms rarely are in the copycat world of multistrats. In a statement to Insider, Abbey Collins, a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, said, "Goldman Sachs has always been and remains a talent magnet.

☆ A lot of money is on the line for women's pro soccer in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Restore faith in women's soccer and grow the business. The league averaged 37 sponsorship deals per team, which is more than any other women's sport, according to sports data and intelligence platform Sponsor United. Women's pro soccer valuations are also soaring. NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman speaks during the 2023 NWSL Draft at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on January 12, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Culture changeOL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe (15) scores on a penalty kick during the second half of the National Womens Soccer League game between NJ/NY Gotham FC and OL Reign on September 21, 2022 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.

☆ Disney executives are being directed to identify thousands of layoff candidates and propose other budget cuts by April
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bob Iger is on a push for profitability at Disney and announced plans to cut 7,000 positions. Managers must identify candidates for layoffs by April, according to a source close to Disney. Disney bean counters have been looking carefully across the company in an attempt to find redundancies and eliminate executives where they can. Earlier this month, Disney announced that top human resources executive Paul Richardson would exit. In February Iger announced a restructure of Disney into three divisions: Entertainment, ESPN, and Parks, Experiences and Products.

☆ Credit Suisse's $3.2 billion cut-price sale signals an ongoing crisis that could expose unicorn fintechs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The firesale of Credit Suisse to UBS is putting the banking world on high alert. A $54 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank wasn't enough to keep Credit Suisse afloat, and UBS stepped in. Credit Suisse suffered idiosyncratic problems, such as a spying scandal involving former CEO Tidjane Thiam, as well as crises relating to its relationships with hedge fund Archegos Capital and financial group Greensill Capital. "There's already a lot of soul searching about what fintech business models are," says Paul Rolles, an ex-Morgan Stanley managing director and cofounder of money-management service HyperJar. Rolles believes the banking issues of the past couple of weeks are as much about confidence as intrinsic issues.

☆ The $900 million Storylines MV Narrative cruise ship will have an anti-aging clinic, 2 farms, and a hospital – everything residents need to live permanently at sea.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Paul Read, a project manager, is heading the design process for the $900 million MV Narrative ship. About three years ago, I was appointed as project manager of Storylines' MV Narrative, a cruise ship with apartments costing up to $8 million each, that will allow residents to live permanently at sea. How the MV Narrative ship will look. The MV Narrative will have an anti-aging clinic. The ones on the MV Narrative are expected to grow lettuce, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries.

☆ I'm designing the $900 million Storylines MV Narrative cruise ship for residents to live permanently at sea. It has an anti-aging clinic, 2 farms, and a hospital.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

EAGLE PASS, Texas—Local officials keep a refrigerated truck to hold the bodies of migrants who drown in the currents of the Rio Grande while trying to cross the border into the U.S.Across the river, families having picnics or walking along the waterfront promenade of Piedras Negras, Mexico, say they sometimes see bodies floating by or bobbing among the reeds under a bridge. “We had times when we received four or five bodies a week,” said Hugo González , owner of Funerarias González in Piedras Negras. “At one point, there were a lot of corpses and there was nowhere to put them. We just didn’t have enough refrigerators at the funeral home.”

☆ Disney executives are being directed to identify thousands of layoff candidates by April as CEO Bob Iger targets $5.5 billion in spending cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bob Iger is on a push for profitability at Disney and announced plans to cut 7,000 positions. Layoffs will impact about 4,000 employees, with the rest of the cuts coming from open roles. Disney bean counters have been looking carefully across the company in an attempt to find redundancies and eliminate executives where they can. Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy told investors on the earnings call that the company has targeted cost savings of $5.5 billion. In February Iger announced a restructure of Disney into three divisions: Entertainment, ESPN, and Parks, Experiences and Products.

☆ Analysis: Trump, DeSantis offer stark contrast in first Iowa forays
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on education as he holds a campaign rally with supporters, in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstDAVENPORT, Iowa, March 14 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis descended upon the same Iowa town in recent days, putting the differences between the potential Republican presidential rivals in stark relief. "I don't think you're going to do so well here," Trump said of DeSantis, "but we're going to find out." Leaving Trump's event, Iowa City voter John Schneider, 69, said he has supported Trump in the past but now will be eyeing DeSantis and other potential contenders as they barnstorm the state in the coming months. Reporting by James Oliphant in Davenport, Iowa Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Why Trump is being called out in the Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Democrats have been blaming Trump-era regulations for Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. In 2018, Trump signed into law a bill that rolled back provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act and loosened oversight over banks. On Friday, regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank following a tumultuous few days of failing to raise capital and a flood of customers withdrawing their funds from the bank. "Greg Becker, the chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank, was one of the ‌many high-powered executives who lobbied Congress to weaken the law," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote in a Monday opinion piece. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a statement that the "failure of Silicon Valley Bank is a direct result of an absurd 2018 bank deregulation bill signed by Donald Trump that I strongly opposed."

☆ All President Biden’s New Spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When President Biden releases his fiscal 2024 budget this week, one of his more fantastic claims will be that he has cut federal deficits and is now a deficit hawk. This is as accurate as Donald Trump’s claim that he can end the war in Ukraine in “one day.”Allow us to provide a reality check by reporting Mr. Biden’s contributions to record debt and deficits. As Mr. Biden took office, the Congressional Budget Office budget “baseline” released in February 2021 showed 10-year outlays of $61.23 trillion and cumulative deficits of $12.27 trillion from 2022-2031. That included the spending that Donald Trump agreed to during the pandemic and the impact of the 2017 Paul Ryan -Trump tax reform.

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