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LONDON — Iran’s government has spent months violently cracking down on protests gripping the country. The first known executions of people arrested over the monthslong protests prompted an outcry from Western governments and human rights activists, but they came as little surprise to those involved in the demonstrations or carefully watching them from afar. Human rights groups and Western governments say Iran’s judicial system is based on sham trials behind closed doors. A week earlier, Iran executed another man, Mohsen Shekari, for allegedly blocking a road in Tehran and stabbing a pro-government militia member who required stitches. Around a dozen others have been sentenced to death, according to human rights groups.

☆ German Terrorism-Plot Suspect Met Russian Diplomats, Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Bojan Pancevski | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN—The alleged leader of a suspected far-right terrorist cell that German authorities dismantled last week met with Russian diplomats in what investigators believe was a failed bid to obtain support for his plot to overthrow the government, German officials said. Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss, who was arrested alongside 24 other people following a monthslong investigation into an alleged conspiracy to commit armed attacks on parliament, had contacted the Russian general consulate in the city of Leipzig and met diplomats there during a reception for a Russian national holiday, officials said.

☆ The real revelation from the ‘Twitter Files’: Content moderation is messy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The releases so far have focused on some of the social media company’s most high-profile, and controversial, content moderation decisions. The Twitter Files reports appear aimed at calling into question the integrity of Twitter’s former leadership and riling up the right-leaning user base that new owner Elon Musk has increasingly courted. But outside of Musk’s core base, reaction to the Twitter Files, which provide little new insight into the company’s policy and decision-making, has been largely muted. The “Twitter Files” threads appear to have been written “with a very clear agenda,” the former executive said. Still, the Twitter Files reports show just how many of the company’s employees and teams were involved in the deliberations over difficult content decisions.

☆ Oath Keepers: Second seditious conspiracy trial against Oath Keepers begins with opening statements
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Justice Department prosecuted the first Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy case earlier this fall with mixed success – two leaders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, were convicted of the charge while three others were acquitted. That adjustment was on full display Monday, as prosecutor Troy Edwards delivered his opening argument to the jury. Prosecutors struggled at times during the first trial to explain whether Rhodes directly ordered his militia to enter the Capitol building. Rhodes told them it was now time to take their place in history,” Edwards said. When the Oath Keepers heard that the Capitol had been breached, Edwards said they hustled toward the chaos.

☆ Judge dismisses Trump's case challenging Mar-a-Lago document seizure after appeals court ends special master review
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, August 15, 2022. Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, signed a one-page order dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction. That includes Trump's effort to obtain an unredacted version of the search warrant affidavit that was used to sanction the raid. Cannon in September had appointed retired Judge Raymond Dearie as special master, while she blocked the Justice Department from reviewing the seized materials as part of a criminal investigation. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled Dec. 1 that Cannon should not have appointed the special master, writing that she "improperly exercised" an expansion of her jurisdiction.

☆ Iran’s Islamic Leaders Face a Crisis of Faith as Protests Swell
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For decades, Iran’s clerical leaders have striven to make sure their country stays on a conservative, Islamic path. They have expanded religious education. The faithful have been urged to have more children. Those deemed to be exhibiting what the government regards as anti-Islamic behavior risk the full force of the law. Monthslong protests in Iran against the core values underpinning the Islamic system suggest the country might be heading the other way.

☆ How Brittney Griner’s Release From Russia Was Secured by U.S. Negotiators
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Vivian Salama | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The exchange of detainees went down like a classic Cold War spy scene: Russia and the U.S. facing off from a short distance, ready to whisk their person away. Only instead of a bridge in Germany in 1962, the location was a bright United Arab Emirates air base in 2022, and the trade was women’s basketball star Brittney Griner for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout . The monthslong events that led up to that moment reflect the deep-rooted tensions and contradictions in the U.S.-Russia relationship since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. For U.S. officials, the 294 days that spanned Brittney Griner’s detention to her release demonstrated both how far Russia was willing to go to punish the U.S. for its support of Ukraine, but also the willingness of Moscow to negotiate, for a price.

"Grateful for the long-overdue release of Brittney Griner today from Russian custody. "Thank you to every single person that kept Brittney Griner’s name alive #WEAREBG," tweeted one of her Phoenix Mercury teammates, Brianna Turner. The Biden administration wasn't able to secure Whelan's release because the Russian government is treating his case differently than Griner's, Biden said. “While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said. Share this -Link copiedWho is Viktor Bout, Russian arms dealer that the U.S. exchanged for Brittney Griner?

☆ WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian custody in a high-profile prisoner swap between the U.S. and Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | Andrea Mitchell | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

WASHINGTON — WNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return. The entrance to the Russian penal colony IK-2 on Nov. 19, 2022, where Griner began serving her sentence. The Biden administration has faced tremendous pressure to help bring home the 6-foot-9 Houston native. Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP fileGriner’s release is the second publicly known U.S. prisoner swap with Russia since the war in Ukraine started.

☆ Brittney Griner live updates: WNBA star released from Russia in a prisoner swap for Viktor Bout
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Tom_Winter_Nbc_News.Jpg | Zoë Richards | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Biden criticized Russia for “treating Paul’s case differently” than Griner’s and said that negotiations are ongoing. Biden’s administration had sought the release of both Griner and Paul Whelan. Griner’s release also marks a stunning turn of events from last month, when she began serving a nine-year sentence at a Russian penal colony more than 200 miles east of Moscow. The Whalen family has publicly criticized the Biden administration for not doing more to secure his release. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return.

Iran said Thursday it had executed a person arrested over the monthslong protests gripping the country, the first known death penalty carried out related to the unrest. At least 475 people have been killed and 18,000 others arrested, according to the watchdog Human Rights Activists in Iran, which is based just outside Washington. It "must be met with STRONG reactions otherwise we will be facing daily executions of protesters," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Oslo-based activist group Iran Human Rights, said in a tweet. The news agency alleged that Shekari was offered money to wield the machete and take part in the protests. Iran executed 314 people last year, the most in the world after China, according to data compiled by Amnesty.

US WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow on June 27, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev | AFP | Getty ImagesWNBA star Brittney Griner is free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official. Maxim Shemetov | ReutersGriner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner, will meet her there, according to a senior administration official. People familiar with the negotiations for his release say the Russians refused to release Whelan without getting a Russian spy in return.

☆ Sunny Balwani, Elizabeth Holmes' right-hand man at Theranos, has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, former president and COO of now-defunct blood-testing startup Theranos, has been sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison and 3 years of probation. His sentencing comes weeks after his former business partner and ex-girlfriend, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. The 58-year-old former Theranos president and COO was Holmes' right-hand man at the company for years. Before joining the company, Balwani had a stint at Microsoft and was president of a software development company that was ultimately acquired for $225 million. Elizabeth Holmes, Balwani.

☆ South Carolina Democrats stunned by Biden’s plan to put them first in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Seitz-Wald-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alex Seitz-Wald | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Not even Rep. Jim Clyburn, the longtime dean of South Carolina Democrats and a key Biden ally, received an early heads-up. He found out Thursday night in a phone call from the president, according to a South Carolina Democratic official. Gerald Herbert / AP fileFor a red state, South Carolina plays an outsize role in Democratic politics. The South Carolina plan has plenty of detractors, especially from states that were passed over for the prime spot. Instead, South Carolina would go first, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on the same day, trailed by Georgia and then Michigan.

Formal organizations like the Oath Keepers no longer define the American right-wing landscape. If Biden’s election was illegitimate, the Oath Keepers were ready to defend Trump’s legitimate one. And indeed, the trial has revealed the brazenness of the Oath Keepers, as well as some profound shifts happening in the American right. The evidence of a seditious conspiracy introduced in the Oath Keepers’ trial was damning, yet obvious. While certainly more polished, some of Masters’ talking points would not be out of place at an Oath Keepers meeting.

☆ Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says cost-cutting review revealed the economy is 'more uncertain' than previously thought
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Andrew Ross Sorkin speaks with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy during the New York Times DealBook Summit in the Appel Room at the Jazz At Lincoln Center on November 30, 2022 in New York City. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has been entrenched in a sweeping review of the company's expenses, marked with the largest job cuts in its history, shuttered programs and a pause on warehouse expansion. Speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Jassy said a monthslong cost-cutting review revealed the economy was "more uncertain" than previously thought, which prompted the company to escalate its efforts to rein in expenses. Business Insider also reported on the future of Amazon's Alexa unit being in jeopardy. WATCH: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on shifting consumer spending habits

☆ U.S., Iran Face Off in World Cup Amid Growing Political Hostility
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As the U.S. and Iran prepare to face off in a must-win match at the soccer World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday, tensions off the field have raised the stakes in what is turning out to be one of the most politically charged games in the tournament’s recent history. Iran has already called foul after the U.S. Soccer Federation posted a small graphic of the World Cup standings on its Instagram account in which the emblem in the center of the Islamic Republic’s flag had been removed. The federation said the move was to show solidarity with a monthslong human-rights movement sweeping across Iran, but it later deleted the post. A State Department spokesperson said that the agency wasn’t involved in either decision.

☆ DeSantis praises Chinese protesters for 'finally speaking out' against 'draconian' COVID-19 lockdowns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DeSantis praised the protestors and said COVID lockdowns belong in the "ash heap of history." Chinese protestors held up blank, white pieces of paper above their heads to protest against the zero COVID policies. "Zero COVID is just a pretext for them to do what they want to do anyways. He called China's COVID policies "draconian" and said lockdowns belong in the "ash heap of history." The White House has also weighed in on the protests in China, predicting that zero COVID policy would be ineffective.

Image Residents of a village near Kherson on Monday help exhume the bodies of six people that showed signs of execution. Credit... Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York TimesImage The remains of six people, including ropes that indicated they had been tied up. Credit... Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times Image Police mark a body bag as war crimes investigators exhume several bodies on Monday. Every day the whomp of artillery fired from Russian forces now positioned miles away across the Dnipro River shakes the city. Image Workers exhume bodies from a communal grave in the southern Ukrainian village of Pravdyne.

☆ U.S. Soccer briefly scrubs emblem from Iran flag at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying the move supported protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations' World Cup match Tuesday. The Twitter account of the U.S. men's team displayed a banner with the squad's matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The USSF displayed the official Iranian flag in a graphic showing Group B standings on its website. As comments raged online, Iranian state television described the U.S. federation as "removing the symbol of Allah" from the Iranian flag. In the capital Tehran, anti-riot police — the same ones cracking down on protests — waved the Iranian flag after the Wales win, angering demonstrators.

☆ Xinjiang Protests of Monthslong Covid Lockdown Erupt After a Deadly Fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Wenxin Fan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Firefighters sprayed water on a fire at a residential building in Urumqi on Thursday, in this image taken from a video. China’s Covid-19 restrictions on Friday became the focus of protests in Urumqi, the capital of the remote region of Xinjiang, after a deadly fire enraged city residents who have struggled with lockdowns of more than 100 days. Urumqi officials said 10 people were killed in the fire in a high-rise apartment building Thursday that it took firefighters 150 minutes to contain. Residents flooded social media with comments suggesting Covid-19 restrictions contributed to the delay. Video footage posted online by state-run media showed firetrucks waiting as Covid-related road barriers were removed.

☆ Southern California’s Container Ship Backup Ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

It is “time to move into a different phase of operations and declare that the backup has ended,“ Mr. Louttit said. The backup rippled through supply chains, causing monthslong delays in deliveries of furniture, electronics and clothing, and helped push ocean shipping prices to record levels. Many importers have also diverted goods away from West Coast ports. Disputes between dockworkers and their employers during previous labor talks on the West Coast have led to significant shipping delays. The diversions triggered backups at Gulf Coast and East Coast ports.

☆ Iran Soccer Players Remain Silent During Their National Anthem at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran’s soccer team chose not to sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem before their opening World Cup match against England on Monday, in an apparent show of solidarity with a monthslong rights movement sweeping across the country. The defiant act came after the team’s captain Ehsan Hajsafi on Sunday expressed support for those who had lost loved ones during the recent unrest, which began in mid-September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police. More than 300 people have died since then as the government used force to break the protest movement that has now morphed into broader calls to overthrow the Islamic leadership.

☆ How Elon Musk’s Twitter Faces Mountain of Debt, Falling Revenue and Surging Costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

Elon Musk says his $44 billion Twitter takeover might result in a bankruptcy filing. To make the deal work, Mr. Musk has been trying to add subscription revenue and reassure advertisers about the platform’s future. What’s more, the company’s debt stack now includes floating-rate debt, meaning that interest costs are set to rise as the Federal Reserve continues to increase interest rates. Twitter’s credit ratings, which were below investment grade before the transaction with Mr. Musk, have deteriorated further. For that, Mr. Musk would need to persuade potential investors that he has a viable long-term business plan, he said.

☆ Tesla Board’s View That Elon Musk Is Irreplaceable Emerged in Pay Trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Rebecca Elliott | Meghan Bobrowsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A weeklong trial in Delaware focused on Elon Musk’s compensation package and the deal that led to it. WILMINGTON, Del.—The scale of concern among Tesla Inc. board members about how to keep Elon Musk‘s attention trained on the electric-vehicle maker loomed large during a weeklong trial over the chief executive’s pay package. A desire to motivate Mr. Musk to focus on Tesla triggered a monthslong pay negotiation that culminated in the shareholders’ approval of a 2018 CEO equity grant valued at roughly $48 billion at recent stock prices.

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