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☆ Opinion: Is Tucker Carlson the reason Texas Gov. Abbott says he’ll pardon a convicted killer?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Abbott’s pardon announcement came after he was goaded to do so by figures on the right – from Fox News host Tucker Carlson to the chairman of the Texas Republican Party to Kyle Rittenhouse. There are conflicting accounts as to whether Foster pointed his weapon at Perry or Perry made the first move. They are rioting outside my apartment complex.” Defense attorneys said that Foster had threatened Perry by pointing his gun at Perry. Then Carlson and others on the right began to pressure Abbott to issue a pardon, because they didn’t agree with the verdict. On his Fox News show on Friday night, Carlson called on Abbott to pardon Perry, arguing that the defendant had acted in self-defense – despite the jury rejecting that argument.

☆ Amazon's return-to-office mandate, supposed to happen in May, was so rushed, many offices won't be ready until September, including New York and Austin, leaked memo shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some Amazon offices won't be ready to fully accommodate employees until September, an internal note said. The delayed office readiness dates for some locations show Amazon may have rushed its return-to-office announcement. Most offices around the Seattle headquarters area and those near the second headquarters in Arlington, VA, have readiness dates in May. The delayed office readiness of some locations shows how unprepared Amazon may have been for the RTO mandate announced in February. In an email to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson said the different readiness dates are needed to "make the necessary accommodations for everyone."

☆ Student who shot 2 high school administrators was on probation for weapons charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DENVER, March 23 (Reuters) - The student who shot and wounded two Denver high school administrators and later took his own life was on probation at the time for a previous firearms offense, Reuters confirmed through a source with knowledge of the case on Thursday. As new details emerged about the youth's troubled past, education officials confirmed earlier media reports that Lyle had been expelled from Overland High School in Aurora before he was enrolled this year in Denver's East High School. In November of 2022, according to the source, Lyle was sentenced to 12 months of probation for the large-magazine possession charge, while the dangerous weapon charge was dismissed. The Denver school board had voted in 2020 to eliminate its program of assigning armed city police officers to its campuses, relying instead on the school district's own security team. Amid a public furor over Wednesday's shooting, the school board voted in emergency session on Thursday to allow armed police officers back on the grounds of East High School.

☆ Denver police search for student accused of shooting two faculty members
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DENVER, March 22 (Reuters) - Police were searching on Wednesday for a Denver high school student who shot and wounded two faculty members as they were patting him down for weapons as part of a "safety plan" devised for the youth based on previous behavioral issues, officials said. The East High School student, identified by police as 17-year-old Austin Lyle, fled the shooting scene on foot immediately after Wednesday's violence, which unfolded just before 10 a.m. local time (1600 GMT). Neither police nor education authorities disclosed the specific conduct that led the school to adopt an individualized security protocol for the student. A wanted bulletin issued after the shooting included a photo of the student and of a car similar to one he might be driving. In light of Wednesday's shooting, two armed police officers will be returned to East High School, located in Denver's City Park neighborhood, for the rest of the current academic year, said Alex Marrero, the district superintendent.

☆ Student accused of shooting two faculty members in Denver found dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DENVER, March 23 (Reuters) - The student who was accused of shooting and wounding two faculty members at his Denver high school has been found dead near his vehicle in Park County. The East High School student fled the shooting scene on foot immediately after Wednesday's violence, which unfolded just before 10 a.m. local time (1600 GMT). Neither police nor education authorities disclosed the specific conduct that led the school to adopt an individualized security protocol for the student. A wanted bulletin issued after the shooting included a photo of the student and of a car similar to one he might be driving. The dean of the school and other staff members were conducting the search when several shots were fired, and the student fled, apparently still armed with the handgun used in the attack.

☆ Ukraine to receive Abrams tanks from US as soon as this fall -officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In January, the U.S. pledged to supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks after months of shunning the idea of deploying the difficult-to-maintain tanks to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022. The new plan would give Ukraine the M1A1 SA Abrams tank variant, which can run on diesel fuel like the majority of the Ukrainian fleet, one of the officials said. US soldiers stand with Polish and US flags near M1/A2 Abrams tank outside a hall of 30th International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland September 5, 2022. The General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) production line is currently completing about 12 Abrams tanks a month. The M1A2 tanks would be sourced from government owned "hulls" and refurbished specifically for Ukraine, Ryder said.

Several businesses specializing in selling lingerie through livestreaming have had their sessions cut short after they featured a female model and their brush with internet censorship came to light in January. A man poses in a white dress and robe set posted on Chinese video-sharing platform Douyin on December 17, 2022. The emergence of male lingerie models has caused mixed views online in China, from merriment and annoyance to reluctant acceptance. Male models are not the only workaround. Even outside of China, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have faced criticism for restricting the sharing of images involving partial nudity, especially of women.

☆ A Young Couple Wants to Know: Should We Invest in More Real Estate?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Demetria Gallegos | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Austin Laue and Megan Laue bought their first home last year in Northbrook, Ill., near Chicago. Now they’re considering whether buying more real estate is a good way to build wealth. Mr. Laue, 29, works in tech, and Mrs. Laue, 28, is an educator. In addition to contributing more than 10% of their combined income to workplace retirement-savings plans, they’ve been able to save about $45,000 in cash and build an investment portfolio worth $222,000. They estimate their total assets to be about $683,000, which includes a $32,000 emergency fund, more than $200,000 in retirement savings and $145,000 in equity on their home, for which they paid $705,000 in 2022.

☆ The Paradox of Prosecuting Domestic Terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( James Verini | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +52 min

The preventive approach to domestic terrorism goes back even further than the 1990s and it begins with the basic police work and surveillance of the joint terrorism task forces. In fact, there is no section of the U.S. Criminal Code that criminalizes domestic terrorism as such. The absence of clear law around domestic terrorism, and the imperatives of prevention, mean that investigators and prosecutors who work domestic terrorism cases must focus on more common charges: weapons violations, illegal drug possession, burglary, aiding and abetting and so forth. But this was not enough to overrule the fear of domestic terrorism that was gripping the nation and that hung in the courtroom. It reflected the legal paradoxes of the case and domestic terrorism law in general or, maybe more accurately, the absence of it.

☆ Inside the Biden administration's decision to reverse course and give tanks to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Courtney-Kube-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Courtney Kube | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

When he announced his decision to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine, President Joe Biden made a point to say Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had recommended the move. Biden wasn’t initially sold on sending the tanks, despite pressure to do so to give cover to Germany to send Ukraine some Leopard 2 tanks, the officials said. But because Germany had said it would send Leopards to Ukraine if the U.S. agreed to commit tanks, too, the U.S. promise of a future delivery opened the door for Germany to send tanks to Ukraine now. In the case of the tanks, U.S. military leaders argued the Leopards and the U.K.’s Challengers were much better options. Military leaders, namely Milley, also have been more publicly vocal about the importance of potential talks to end the war.

The U.S. Pentagon presented its best arguments, publicly and privately, against sending Abrams - its most advanced battle tanks - to Ukraine. The reversal ended a rare public division in the alliance that Washington officials feared Moscow could exploit. TANK DELIVERIES LIKELY MONTHS AWAYIn Washington, senior U.S. officials had privately expressed consternation at Germany's attempts to tie the Abrams tanks to delivery of the Leopards. He also discussed the issue in multiple phone conversations with Biden this month, senior Biden administration officials said. But at one point during Austin's trip, Washington asked Berlin to stop publicly tying Germany's approval of the Leopard tanks to the Biden administration sending Abrams tanks.

☆ New German defence minister says he will strengthen army, help Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Germany's new defence minister said on Thursday it was his task to strengthen the armed forces so that they could do their job at a time of conflict in Europe with Russia waging war against Ukraine. Boris Pistorius was officially made minister on Thursday at a time when Germany is under pressure from Western allies to allow German-made battle tanks to be used in Ukraine to strengthen its defence against the Russian invasion. Russia is waging a brutal war of annihilation on a sovereign country, on Ukraine," Pistorius said after a ceremony with military honours at the defence ministry. "Our task is to make the Bundeswehr (armed forces) strong now, it is about deterrence, effectiveness and readiness. Earlier, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier promised further military support to Ukraine and told the incoming defence minister that Germany's armed forces must once again become capable of protecting the nation.

☆ Michael Dell's nepo babies: How the family of the billionaire computer mogul is making moves in the tech industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Britney Nguyen | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Michael DellMichael Dell is the CEO of Dell. DellMichael Dell is one of the most notable tech entrepreneurs from the Lone Star State. Forbes estimates that Michael Dell has a net worth of more than $50 billion, making him among the 25 richest people on the planet. None of Dell's family members, nor Dell's investment firm, MSD Capital, immediately responded to Insider's request for comment. Meet Dell's four children and his brother, Adam Dell, and see how their connections gave them a leg up.

Proptech customers, employees, and investors said they went from delighted to disillusioned. Proptech investors eager to capture these trends pumped $32 billion into the industry in 2021. As markets deteriorated, disillusionment set in among proptech customers, investors, and employees. Some customers say they were disappointed buying homes via proptech startupsReal-estate startups like Divvy Homes and Better launched under the auspices of helping customers afford quality homes. Investors in proptech firms are taking financial hitsYou don't need to ask proptech investors whether they're disappointed in the sector's performance — just look at share prices.

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Private U.S. oil and gas companies are increasingly turning to a niche financing structure that securitizes their production, providing a funding avenue for producers and owners as traditional sources become more expensive or simply dry up. With banks pressured by stakeholders to restrict loans to the oil and gas sector over its environmental impact, private energy producers - more reliant on bank lines than listed peers - are able to maintain access to outside finance through this niche product. While the first rated PDP securitization was completed in September 2019 by Raisa Energy, volatile commodity prices and a wave of producer bankruptcies in 2020 stymied its initial application. The investment bank helped arrange, among others, a $750 million ABS sold by Jonah Energy in October - currently the largest PDP securitization completed. GROWING APPEALAs well as financing day-to-day operations, private equity firms that own energy producers are exploring using PDP securitizations as an investor pay-day.

☆ Tesla hits 3,000 cars a week in Berlin, Austin later than planned
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Tesla's (TSLA.O) German plant produced 3,000 cars last week for the first time, the carmaker tweeted late on Sunday - but the milestone was reached over two months later than planned in both Berlin and Austin, Texas, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The memo, which Reuters reported on in September, projected 3,000 units in weekly output from the Gruenheide plant near Berlin in the first week of October and from Tesla's plant in Austin, Texas, in the first week of November. Yet it took until last week for Tesla to post celebratory pictures on Twitter stating it had reached that target in both locations - last Thursday for Austin, and Sunday for Berlin. Tesla did not respond to requests for comment on the memo or the delay in hitting the 3,000-car output target in Berlin and Austin. Musk and Tesla often set ambitious targets, and the company is often late meeting them.

☆ Ex-trooper bought home, blacked out windows, weeks before allegedly killing family of teen he catfished, seller says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Tim Stelloh | Tim Stelloh Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Property records from Smyth County, Virginia, list Austin Lee Edwards as the owner of the home on Allison Gap Road. “It still doesn’t feel real," Gordon told NBC affiliate WCYB of Bristol, Virginia. A fire that authorities believe was intentionally set broke out at their home and Edwards allegedly drove off with the teen. Gordon said Edwards told him that he moved to the area because he'd grown up in the region and wanted to return. The last time Gordon said he saw Edwards was Tuesday, Nov. 22, three days before the Wineks were killed.

☆ Ex-Virginia trooper posed as teen for ‘sextortion’ in catfishing of girl whose family he killed, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

"Sextortion" drove an ex-Virginia trooper’s catfishing of a teen girl and killing of her mother and grandparents in Southern California last week, police said at a news conference Wednesday. “This is yet another horrific reminder of the predators existing online who prey on our children,” Gonzalez said. A spokesperson for the Riverside Police Department did not immediately respond to follow-up inquiries from NBC News. Police are also are investigating what Edwards' intention was with the girl following the fire and murders, officials said. When deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department caught up to Edwards, the suspect fired gunshots at them, before being fatally shot by at least one deputy, police said.

☆ Virginia law enforcement worker killed in shootout with deputies after murdering family of teen he catfished, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

A Virginia law enforcement worker has been killed in a shootout with deputies in California after he allegedly murdered the mother and grandparents of a teenage girl he catfished online, before trying to escape with the teen, police said on Sunday. The Riverside Fire Department arrived at the residence to find a fire on the first floor. The teen was unharmed and was placed into protective custody of the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, police said. Police said it was believed Edwards had developed an online relationship with the teen and was able to obtain her personal information. It was not immediately clear what roles Edwards held with either the Virginia State Police or the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

☆ China says open to meeting with U.S. defence secretary
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] China's State Councilor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe speaks at a plenary session during the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 12, 2022. REUTERS/Caroline ChiaBEIJING, Nov 20 (Reuters) - China said on Sunday it is open to a meeting with the U.S. defence secretary on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Cambodia this week, in a sign of thawing relations after the countries' top leaders met earlier this month. China Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd previously confirmed separately that they would attend the forum with Southeast Asian countries, the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus. On Sunday, China's defence ministry issued a statement featuring a question about whether the two would meet, with spokesman Tan Kefei quoted as saying, "China holds a proactive and open attitude for exchange with the United States." A meeting would represent the first high-level military exchange between the countries since China halted regular dialogue between military commanders in August in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

☆ How to start a million-dollar laundry business
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Folde's original concept was to pick up and deliver customers' laundry to local laundromats. Here's how Vlaskamp built his laundry business and his advice for other entrepreneurs interested in starting one. Search-engine optimization is the best way to drum up business, as many customers find The Folde via Google and Yelp. "I've never stopped scrolling Instagram to look at a plumbing company," Vlaskamp said. If other entrepreneurs want to start laundry businesses, Vlaskamp encourages them to focus on providing a quality service and atmosphere.

☆ How Mark Vlaskamp built his Texas laundry-delivery business and made $2.4 million in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mark Vlaskamp started a laundry-delivery business in 2017 in hopes of cashing in on a model that was gaining popularity. The Folde's original concept was to pick up and deliver customers' laundry to local laundromats. But Vlaskamp and his cofounders, Jordan Suydam, Myles Bragman, and Aaron Bowen, soon realized their business model had limitations. Here's how Vlaskamp built his laundry business and his advice for other entrepreneurs interested in starting one. "I've never stopped scrolling Instagram to look at a plumbing company," Vlaskamp said.

Austin later condemned North Korea’s “irresponsible and reckless activities” during a joint press conference with Lee. The South Korean government source said officials suspect it was a Hwasong-17, North Korea’s most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that was first successfully tested on March 24. That launch set a new standard for Pyongyang, recording the highest altitude and longest duration of any North Korean missile ever tested. North Korea followed the presumed ICBM test Thursday with two short-range ballistic missile launches, according to South Korea and Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to the media in Tokyo following North Korea's weapons tests.

☆ Alonso and Alpine condemn abuse of F1 steward
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso and his Alpine Formula One team have condemned online abuse of race steward Silvia Bellot after Spain's double world champion was penalised at the U.S. Grand Prix and then reinstated. Bellot, also Spanish and the only female steward at the race in Austin, is carrying out the role again in Mexico City this weekend. Alonso, who finished seventh in Austin last Sunday but was demoted to 15th after a Haas protest and then restored to the position after a further review in Mexico on Thursday, posted on Instagram. "I strongly condemn the recent online abuse which has been directed at FIA race steward Silvia Bellot," he wrote. Alonso had his U.S. Grand Prix points reinstated after stewards found race control gave rivals Haas the wrong advice about a deadline for making a protest.

☆ China’s ‘Lipstick King’ returns to live-streaming show after mysterious three-month disappearance
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On Tuesday night, Li Jiaqi reappeared on Alibaba’s Taobao Live, a live-streaming platform for the e-commerce giant. By the end of the two-hour show, 63 million viewers had watched his live-stream, higher than most of his previous shows. The 30-year-old livestreamer, also called Austin Li, was one of China’s biggest internet celebrities, with 64 million followers on Alibaba’s Taobao. Just before the abrupt ending, Li had shown his audience a multi-layered ice cream treat decorated with Oreos and wafers. In June, just two weeks after Li disappeared, Beijing intensified its crackdown on the the country’s booming livestreaming industry.

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