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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two Vatican trials are coming to a head this week and posing uncomfortable questions for the Holy See, given they both underscore Pope Francis’ power as an absolute monarch and the legal, financial and reputational problems that can arise when he wields it. The rationale: The pope hired Milone and then wanted him out, and the court has no right to judge his decisions. For Vatican prosecutors, that amounted to extortion. The Vatican is the lone absolute monarchy left in Europe, with Francis wielding supreme legislative, executive and judicial power. While he delegates that power on a day-to-day basis, he is still pope and what he says goes.

Persons: Pope Francis ’, Libero Milone, Francis, “, ”, Milone, Vatican, Gianluigi, Rene Bruelhart, Tommaso Di Ruzza, didn’t, Monsignor Edgar Pena Parra, Torzi, Pena Parra, Bruelhart, Filippo Dinacci, Di Ruzza, Roberto Borgogno, Di Ruzza's, –, Filippo Di Giacomo, Francis ’ Organizations: VATICAN CITY, Vatican, ” Prosecutors, Prosecutors, Islamic, RAI Locations: London, British, Torzi, Britain, Luxembourg, Vatican, Europe

"The backlash, like a boomerang, can be bigger than what one imagined," he said, referring to potential retaliation by China on European carmakers. While 90% of BMW cars sold in China are produced locally, some materials are shipped from Europe to China, Mertl said. China has condemned the EU investigation, which formally began on Thursday, as out of line with World Trade Organization rules and detrimental to the global growth of EV sales. Asked whether the premium carmaker was seeing dampened demand for EVs reported by Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) in recent weeks, Mertl said EV sales were rising and the company was on track to hit its goal of 15% fully-electric sales for the year. Some supply chain problems in logistics and transport persisted and could carry on for the next six months, he added.

Persons: Angelika Warmuth, Walter Mertl, Mertl, Victoria Waldersee, Christina Amann, Friederike Heine, Mark Potter Organizations: BMW, REUTERS, Rights, World Trade Organization, Volkswagen Locations: Munich, Germany, China, Europe, Beijing, European

☆ Meta and Salesforce are looking to re-hire some workers they just laid off. It's putting those people in an awkward spot.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Companies like Meta, the parent of Facebook, and Salesforce are bringing back some of the workers they let go . In some cases where the layoffs were conducted reasonably well, a return might be something former workers would consider. Whether to return is a question some former Salesforce workers are likely asking. She said workers considering returning to a former employer might ask themselves questions such as: Why was I laid off? Now it's tech workers' turn.

Persons: Sandra Sucher, Harvard Business School who's, Sucher, they'd, Salesforce, Marc Benioff, —, Salesforce execs, What's, who'd, lockdowns, it's, ChatGPT Organizations: Big Tech, Service, Companies, Meta, Facebook, Harvard Business School, Bloomberg, Workers, LinkedIn Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Salesforce gave former employees stuffed toys wearing boomerang shirts as the company seeks to bring back ex-staff amid a hiring drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce held an alumni event last week with 50 former executives who were gifted with stuffed animals. The company is encouraging former executives to "boomerang" amid a hiring drive. Salesforce recently announced plans to hire 3,000 people despite brutal layoffs earlier this year. Kelman, who left the company in 2011 for leadership stints at the likes of Amazon Web Services and Oracle, said it was "good timing," and rejoined as president and chief marketing officer. Salesforce said it is hiring 3,300 employees across sales, engineering, and its data cloud product teams to help grow its artificial intelligence business last week, per Bloomberg.

Persons: Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Kendall Collins, he's, Collins, Ariel Kelman, Kelman, Miguel Milano, Celonis, Brian Milham, Katie Kutzer, David Winslow, Craig Shull, Steve Fisher, Dean Robison Organizations: Service, CNBC, Bloomberg, Amazon Web Services, Oracle Locations: Wall, Silicon, San Francisco, Salesforce, Madrid

☆ Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz steps down from board of directors
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Starbucks announced Wednesday that Howard Schultz is stepping down from its board of directors – but the former chairman’s name will be sticking around. Though Schultz is retiring, Starbucks is giving him the title of “lifelong Chairman Emeritus.”Schultz is stepping down as part of a planned transition, Starbucks said in a statement. He previously stepped down as CEO in March, as employees at stores across the nation moved to unionize. That was Schultz’s third time serving in the CEO role. Then, in April 2022, Johnson stepped down and Schultz took over the coffee giant as interim CEO.

Persons: Howard Schultz, –, Schultz, ” Schultz, Sheri, Wei Zhang, Zhang, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Jack Ma, ”, Laxman Narasimhan, “, Kevin Johnson, Johnson, Narasimhan Organizations: New, New York CNN, Starbucks, Alibaba, Alibaba Pictures, Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, Amblin Partners, Jack Ma Foundation, Starbucks Workers Locations: New York, China, Oleato

☆ Salesforce isn't planning another 'major' round of layoffs and is hiring for critical roles, it says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

CEO Marc Benioff says he's got no plans for another big round of cuts and hopes layoffs are done. So on this week's call, Benioff took time to thank and wax poetic on all the former Salesforce employees who returned to work at the company during its turnaround effort. Former chief business officer Ebony Beckwith, a longtime executive who led the company's philanthropic foundation, quietly exited Salesforce in June. "We're ramping up hiring for critical roles," a spokesperson for Salesforce wrote to Insider via email when asked for clarification on Benioff's comments. At the same time, if former and current Salesforce employees are feeling whiplashed — told to leave and then told to come back — it's because the message coming from the top is mixed.

Persons: Marc Benioff, he's, Salesforce, Benioff, we've, It's, Ariel Kelman, Benioff's, Bret Taylor, Slack, Stewart Butterfield, Mark Nelson, Brent Hyder, Ebony Beckwith, Salespeople, Karl Keirstad, we're, whiplashed —, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Oracle, UBS, ethomas Locations: Salesforce

☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff thanked 'boomerang' employees for the company's turnaround
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CEO Marc Benioff thanked "boomerangs," employees who left and came back, for the fast-tracked growth. Salesforce overachieved its profit margin goals in the second quarter, earlier than planned for — and CEO Marc Benioff says "boomerang" employees played a big part in the results. Three high-profile Salesforce boomerangs have re-joined the company in recent months: president and chief revenue officer Miguel Milano, chief marketing officer Ariel Kelman, and chief business officer and chief of staff to Marc Benioff, Kendall Collins. Collins worked for Salesforce from 2004 to 2012, leaving as executive vice president of Salesforce Cloud. Over the last decade, he has worked in various roles across the tech industry, most recently as chief marketing officer of Okta.

Persons: Marc Benioff, boomerangs, Benioff, Salesforce, It's, Miguel Milano, Ariel Kelman, Kendall Collins, Milano, Celonis, Kelman, Collins, Ellen Thomas Organizations: —, Salesforce International, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, AWS, Salesforce, ethomas Locations: Salesforce

☆ At what age should kids become financially independent?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - At what age should American kids become financially independent? In almost every category, Baby Boomers expect people to become financially independent a year or two earlier compared to what Gen Z has to say. With health insurance, for instance, adult kids can typically stay on parent plans until the age of 26. BE STRATEGIC ABOUT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCEThe reality is the parents do indeed help adult kids out financially: 68% of them have made such a sacrifice, according to Bankrate. For instance, if such help has erased your own emergency fund, or depleted your retirement accounts, that is not going to help anybody – and, in fact, will boomerang on those kids later if you become dependent on them.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, ”, Ted Rossman, Amy McGahan, –, Lauren Young, Diane Craft Organizations: REUTERS, Boomers, Pew Research Center, Thomson Locations: Cleveland

☆ Libyan PM sacks foreign minister as row over Israel meeting grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush attends a joint press conference at the conclusion of the Libya Stabilization Conference, in Tripoli, Libya, October 21, 2021. Mangoush had said her meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Rome was unplanned and informal, but an Israeli official told Reuters it had lasted two hours and was approved "at the highest levels in Libya". The meeting is contentious because Libya does not formally recognise Israel and there is widespread public support across the Libyan political spectrum for the Palestinian cause of creating an independent state in territory Israel occupies. The Libya prime minister sees Israel as a possible bridge to the West and the U.S. administration," the official said. Libya's parliament based in the east, which rejects the GNU, said on Sunday it would hold hearings into the meeting with the Israeli minister.

Persons: Najla, Mangoush, Hazem Ahmed, Najla Mangoush, Eli Cohen, Abdulhamid, Muammar Gaddafi, Cohen, Antonio Tajani, Dbeibah, Libya's, Abraham, Francesco Galietti, Giorgia Meloni, Dan Williams, Francesca Landini, Gavin Jones, Angus McDowall, James Mackenzie, Peter Graff, Mark Heinrich, Conor Humphries Organizations: Libyan Foreign, Libya Stabilization Conference, REUTERS, Rome Israeli, Israeli, Reuters, Protesters, Libya's Foreign, Palestinian, Libyan, U.S, United Arab, Abraham Accords, of National Unity, GNU, UAE, High State Council, Dbeibah, Italian, Thomson Locations: Libya, Tripoli, Rome, TRIPOLI, JERUSALEM, Israel, Benghazi, Italian, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, United States, Dbeibah's, Reuters Libya, Jerusalem

☆ 8 of the world’s best new theme parks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Kate Springer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Peppa Pig Theme Park, FloridaFlorida's Peppa Pig Theme Park opened in 2022. Peppa Pig Theme ParkThe world’s first Peppa Pig Theme Park opened last year in Winter Haven, Florida, and has been delighting children with wholesome fun ever since. Look out for another Peppa Pig Theme Park, opening in Dallas, Texas, next year. Peppa Pig Theme Park. Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park, MalaysiaMalaysia's Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park offers 26 attractions across nine themed areas.

Persons: we’re, Katmandu, Kilgore Goode, Kyle Grillot, Peach’s, Mount Beanpole, Mario, Bowser, Bowser Jr, Tomohiro Ohsumi, Miyazaki’s, There’s, LEGOLAND, gil, Aquaverse, there’s, Chang, Potato’s, Grandad, Wynter, ” Organizations: CNN, Northern, Columbia Pictures, Super Nintendo, California Mario Kart, Universal Studios Hollywood, Bloomberg, Universal Studios Japan, Mushroom Kingdom, Toadstool, Nintendo, Universal City Plaza, Universal, Ghibli, Ghibli Park, South Korea LEGOLAND, LEGOLAND, Thailand Columbia Pictures, Columbia, Lotte, Adventure, South Korea Lotte, Adventure Busan Lotte, Tinker, Potato’s Showtime, Genting, Andromeda Base, Plaza, Genting SkyWorlds Locations: Japan, Thailand, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean, Nepal, Av, Alemania, California, Bowser’s, Mount, Universal City , CA, Nagoya, Nagakute, Aichi, Korea, South Korea, York, Legoland, LEGOLAND Korea, Chuncheon, Seoul, Gangwon, Asia, Pattaya, Bangkok, Transylvania, Chon, Adventure Busan, Tinker Falls, “ Queen, “, Busan, Florida, Winter Haven , Florida, Dallas , Texas, Wynter Haven , Florida, Malaysia, Resorts, Kuala Lumpur, Rio, Liberty Lane, Central Park, Genting, Genting Highlands, Pahang

Hulu + Live TV is among the best live TV streaming services you can sign up for. Hulu + Live TV pricing and plansWhat channels come with Hulu + Live TV? Though the service includes most popular cable stations, there is one notable exception: Hulu + Live TV does not support AMC. You can now access Hulu + Live TV through the Hulu app or website with your account. All Hulu + Live TV memberships include Disney Plus and ESPN Plus as part of a subscription.

Persons: Hulu, Nick Español, Ted Soqui, you'll Organizations: Hulu, Disney Plus, ESPN, Service, ESPN Plus, Disney, ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, FX, CNN, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Bravo, Paramount Network, Food Network, AMC, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, Channel BET, Boomerang, MTV2 MTV, Familia ESPN Deportes Fox Deportes, HGTV NBC, Racing, NFL, Outdoor Channel Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Michael Cohen is relishing Rudy Giuliani being charged with RICO violations: 'Karma boomerang is a bitch'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Michael Cohen is relishing the the fact that Rudy Giuliani has been charged with RICO violations. Giuliani and Trump were among 19 defendants indicted in a sprawling RICO case earlier this week. Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to an array of felonies in 2018 and was sentenced to three years in prison as a result, told Insider in a text message. He was referring to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was charged with RICO violations and a slew of other crimes in connection to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. "I see Michael Cohen is keeping it classy as always," Ted Goodman, a political advisor to Giuliani, said in response to Cohen's comments.

Persons: Michael Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani, Trump, Donald Trump's, Fani Willis, Willis, Ted Goodman, Michael, —, Cohen, Rudy, Donald Organizations: Service, Fulton Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York, Georgia, Fulton County

You can post a Facebook Story with simple text and photo using a web browser or create polls, music stories, and more using the mobile app. Dave Johnson/Business Insider2. Dave Johnson/Business Insider3. Dave Johnson/Business Insider4. To do that, tap "Share" under a post in your news feed and then choose "Share to Your Story."

Persons: Dave Johnson, ” Dave Johnson Organizations: Service, Facebook, Tech Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ The Future of Rap Is Female
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Niela Orr | Photographs Adrienne Raquel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +22 min

The Future of Rap Is Female As their male counterparts turn depressive and paranoid, it’s the women who are having all the fun. In the mid-’80s, the dynamics shifted slightly, when UTFO released “Roxanne, Roxanne,” a comical torch song dissing a woman who rejected the men’s advances. Like good sex, raunchy rap is only fun if all parties are completely enthusiastic, and this music provides necessary female perspectives to match what the men make. In Miami one weekend in late July, Rolling Loud, one of the biggest annual hip-hop festivals, made itself into a microcosm of the rap world. There’s a relentless gender pessimism in the air, too — on the street, on dating apps, in the Supreme Court and, of course, in rap music.

Persons: Sackler, Drake, Foley, Yung Miami, Wu, Da, Tupac Shakur, Nicki Minaj, Cardi, Megan Thee, there’s, ”, There’s Latto, Jung Kook, “, Diana ”, Boy’s, Red’s, Munch, Rodney Dangerfield, munch, ” MAIYA, “ We’re, Lil Baby, Flo Milli, —, ” Flo Milli, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire —, Debbie D, Lisa Lee, Mercedes Ladies, UTFO, Roxanne, Lolita Shanté Gooden, Gooden, ” FLO MILLI, Roxanne Shanté, Clover Hope, M.C, Brian Coleman, Lyte, Ruff Ryders, it’s, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Kash Doll, SKODI LOLA BROOKE, Lil ’ Kim, “ I’m, I’m, ” That’s, Lolita Gooden, Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie ”, James Harden, P.J, Tucker, KENTHEMAN “, I’ve, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Grace Jones, Benzino, blowin, ignorin ’, Berry hairdo, Grandmaster Flash, It’s, ” —, ” Leray, VETTE, CHANEL, ” Flo, Cartier, “ Lyte, Flo Organizations: YouTube, Girls, City Girls, Public, Down Productions, Wu -, Digital, City, Memphis, Brooklyn Locations: Miami, Wu - Tang, “, Bronx, Mobile , Ala, y’all

☆ Invasive hammerhead worms are longtime New Yorkers, and they may be here to stay
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Mindy Weisberger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Invasive hammerhead flatworms have distinctive curved heads, striped bodies ranging in color from light yellow to dark brown, and they can secrete tetrodotoxin — a neurotoxin found in puffer fish and blue-ringed octopuses. Five species of invasive hammerhead worms — four in the genus Bipalium and one in Diversibipalium — are established in North America, said Bruce Snyder, an associate professor of biology at Georgia College and State University. Today, most hammerhead worms (also known as broadhead planarians) are concentrated in the Southeast, where they favor warm, damp habitats. Bazzano Photography/Alamy Stock PhotoTo date, more than 3,000 sightings in southeastern states of just one invasive hammerhead species — Bipalium kewense — have been shared to the citizen scientist database iNaturalist. Hammerhead tetrodotoxin, which disrupts neurons’ signaling to muscles, can sicken pets if they eat the worms, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Persons: CNN —, they’ve, Peter Ducey, ” Ducey, “, Bruce Snyder, they’re, ” Snyder, ”, Hammerhead tetrodotoxin, Ducey, adventitium, Libbie Hyman, Hyman, Snyder, it’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, State University of New, Georgia College, State University, US Department of, Species Information, “, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Forestry, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, ”, hammerheads, Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Scientific Locations: Washington , DC, Yorkers, New York, State University of New York, Cortland, “, North America, Southeast Asia, California, Oregon, Maine, New Jersey, Long, Westchester County, New York City, Europe, Asia, Pennsylvania

☆ Mattel's Barbie is a hit. Retailers and restaurants want in
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Around that time, it started planning Barbie parties: Celebrations with themed cocktails, pink food and plenty of opportunities to show off Barbiecore outfits in the Instagram-friendly venue, including life-size hot pink Barbie and Ken boxes. By marketing Barbie products to adults, large retailers may be able to get them to buy similar products for kids. With Barbie products that appeal to grown-ups, marketers are “getting that interactivity between adults and children, that bonding,” which can also be used as a selling point. The clothing retailer offers a Barbie line that includes Gap and Barbie branded t-shirts, jackets and more, for both kids and adults. Nordhielm pointed to Cold Stone Creamery’s Barbie pink cotton candy ice cream as a standout.

Persons: Barbie ”, “ Barbie ”, Moshe Isaacian, Isaacian, Richard Drew, “, ”, Tim Calkins, Barbie, Ken, Leana Chavez, cabana, Lauren McCord, Christie Nordhielm, Richard Dickson, Richard B, Levine, Levine Roberts, “ Barbie, Oppenheimer, David Canales, David Reibstein, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton, we’re, Mike Blake, ” Reibstein, “ it’s, Northwestern’s Calkins, Mattel, Chrissy Teigen Organizations: New, New York CNN, Twitter, Mattel, Warner Bros, CNN, Warner Bros ., Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Wunder, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Press, University of Pennsylvania’s, Reuters, Creamery Locations: New York, Wunder Garten, Washington , DC, Zara, Gran Via, Madrid, Malibu, Malibu , California

☆ Opinion | The Case for Tourism
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Agnes Callard, a University of Chicago philosopher, infuriated various portions of the internet in June with an essay making the case against travel. Though really it was the case against tourism, since Callard exempted many forms of travel — for work or study, for personal or political reasons or charitable service — from her critique. The traveler departs confident that she will come back with the same basic interests, political beliefs and living arrangements. So I refrained from any comment on her thesis, assuming — like every other self-deluded tourist — that I would return more enlightened than before. But casting my mind back to that distant prior self, I dimly remember having two reactions to Callard’s essay.

Persons: Agnes Callard, Walker Percy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Chesterton, Callard, Mona Lisa, ’, Percy Organizations: University of Chicago, Scottish Locations: G.K, France, Britain, Netherlands

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine has apparently come home again, this time with drones striking skyscrapers in the capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The attack was reportedly carried out by Kyiv and came after unrelenting Russian attacks on southern Ukraine with drones and missiles increasingly targeting the country's grain infrastructure. Russia's Ministry of Defense said it "foiled" the early Monday morning attack on Moscow, which it blamed it on Ukraine. Photographs of the scene show damage to the roof of an unidentified building, which is located just a few hundred meters from the Russian defense ministry's headquarters in the capital. A view of a building after two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attack in Moscow, Russia on July 24, 2023. Ukraine's defense ministry said on Monday that Russian drones attacked grain infrastructure along the Danube River, injuring several people and destroying food storage facilities.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, Sefa Karacan, Mykhailo Podolyak, Putin, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Biden, Vedant Patel, Patel, EKATERINA ANISIMOVA, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Organizations: Service, Russia's Ministry of Defense, TASS, Windows, CNN, Kyiv, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Presidential, Twitter, Police, Wagner, White, US State Department Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Kyiv, Russian, Ukrainian, Russia's, Ukraine isn't, AFP, Crimean, Odesa

☆ Google's top AI researchers, including all the authors behind a landmark paper, have left for competitors. Here's where they are now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Top AI researchers have been leaving for startups where their work can have more impact. That frustration over Google's slow movement has been corroborated by other former Google researchers who spoke to Insider. Niki Parmar left Google Brain after five years to serve as a cofounder and CTO of Adept, though in November, she left to found a stealth startup. Lukasz Kaiser left Google Brain after working there for more than seven years to join OpenAI in 2021. Sharan Narang, another contributor to the T5 paper, left Google Brain in 2022 after four years there.

Persons: it's, Llion Jones, OpenAI's, ChatGPT, Sundar Pichai, Bard, Daniel De Freitas, Noam Shazeer, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, OpenAI, Ashish Vaswani, Niki Parmar, Jakob Uszkoreit, Aidan Gomez, Nick Frosst, Lukasz Kaiser, Kaiser, Illia Polosukhin, Meena, De Freitas, Romal Thoppilan, Character.AI, LaMDA, Elon Musk, Character.ai, Winni Wintermeyer, Thoppilan, Alicia Jin, BERT BERT, BERT, Jacob Devlin, Colin Raffel, Raffel, Sharan Narang, He's, Azalia Mirhoseini, Anna Goldie, Mirhoseini, Goldie, Claude, DeepMind Mustafa Suleyman, Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind, Suleyman, Reid Hoffman Organizations: Google, Bloomberg, New York Times, Microsoft, Street Journal, Neural Networks, OpenAI, YouTube, Elon, UNC Chapel Hill, Meta, Anthropic, Society Locations: ChatGPT, Character.AI, DeepMind

☆ A former Instagram product manager explains why he's 'skeptical' the company can successfully launch a new standalone app, as it preps its Twitter rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider spoke with a former Instagram product manager to better understand the platform's decisions. IGTV, which launched in 2018 with its own separate app, was sunset in 2022 and its app is now defunct. But Instagram's ethos was its own downfall when it came to rolling out the IGTV product and separate app. The only other alternative, then, is adding a Twitter-like feed to the main Instagram app. "It's almost this predetermined life cycle of a social consumer app," Wei said, adding that Facebook has already gone though this phase.

Persons: Instagram, Eric Wei —, —, Wei, didn't, Oprah, Kevin Systrom, IGTV, We've, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's, Mary Organizations: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Meta Locations: Instagram

☆ Weaker China offers opportunities to US and allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It is also a setback for his most important ally, Chinese President Xi Jinping. So the United States and its allies can’t let their guard down. In 2021 the United States chaotically pulled out of Afghanistan and its alliance of rich democracies was in disarray. It seemed only a matter of time before China would overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy. At some point, the Chinese president may conclude that the Russian president is such a loser that he should do just that.

Persons: Vladimir Putin hasn’t, Xi Jinping, can’t, United States chaotically, Xi’s, Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, George Magnus, Antony Blinken, Biden can’t, Peter Thal Larsen, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, PUTIN, Russia, U.S, Shanghai Stock, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Russian, China, Taiwan, United States, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Pacific, India, America, U.S, Kyiv

☆ A former Instagram product manager breaks down the company's 2 key characteristics and how they could help or hurt its Twitter competitor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider spoke with a former Instagram product manager to better understand the platform's decisions. But Eric Wei — a former Instagram product manager from 2017 to 2019, and cofounder of creator fintech startup Karat — has spent years decoding it. But Instagram's ethos was its own downfall when it came to rolling out the IGTV product and separate app. The only other alternative, then, is adding a Twitter-like feed to the main Instagram app. "It's almost this predetermined life cycle of a social consumer app," Wei said, adding that Facebook has already gone though this phase.

Persons: Instagram, Eric Wei —, —, Wei, didn't, Oprah, Kevin Systrom, IGTV, We've, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's, Mary Organizations: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Meta Locations: Instagram

☆ North Korea criticises Blinken's China visit as 'begging trip'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with China's Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi (not pictured) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/PoolSEOUL, June 21 (Reuters) - North Korea on Wednesday criticised U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's recent visit to Beijing as a "begging trip" to ease tensions in what it called a policy failure to pressure China. Blinken said after the meeting on Monday that he urged China to encourage North Korea to stop launching missiles as Beijing holds a "unique position" to press Pyongyang to engage in dialogue. "In a word, the U.S. state secretary's recent junket can never be judged otherwise than a disgraceful begging trip of the provoker admitting the failure of the policy of putting pressure on China," the commentary said. Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Leah Millis, State Anthony Blinken's, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Blinken, Jong Yong Hak, Daniel Kritenbrink, Soo, hyang Choi, Sonali Paul Organizations: China's, Central Foreign Affairs Commission, REUTERS, Wednesday, U.S, State, East Asian, Pacific Affairs, Thomson Locations: Diaoyutai, Beijing, China, Pool SEOUL, North Korea, U.S, Pyongyang, U.S ., United States, Japan, India, Australia, Britain, South Korea, Seoul, South

☆ Salesforce insiders say that by wooing back former execs, Marc Benioff may finally feel comfortable enough to loosen his grip
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been wooing back former executives for years. Insiders say that those that know Benioff best may get him to loosen his grip. Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff has spent years wooing former executives back to the company. Benioff has surrounded himself with people "that know how Salesforce works and know how Benioff works" one former exec explained. With all of that new blood from aquisitions washed away, Benioff seems to think Salesforce can move forward by going back.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Brian Millham, Millham, Salesforce, Benioff, he's, Miguel Milano, Ariel Kelman, Kendall Collins, Steve Fisher, Dave Moellenhoff, Jim Steele, Clara Shih, Marc, —, Larry Ellison, Benioff's, Keith Block, Bret Taylor, Slack, Stewart Butterfield, Mark Nelson, Julie Bort Organizations: Oracle, Twitter Locations: Salesforce

☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his fast-rising COO Brian Millham tell us where the software giant is headed after 'a difficult time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Julie Bort | Nicholas Carlson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The changes shifted more responsibility to President and COO Brian Millham. The changes shift more responsibility to president and COO Brian Millham, and go some way toward addressing investor concerns about succession -- should Benioff decide to pass the CEO reins in the future. Brian Millham: Closer to 70%. We're seeing many of our ex-employees want to come back to Salesforce, incredible boomerangs back to the company. Benioff: Well, I think Brian and my marriage is quite proven.

Persons: Benioff, Brian Millham, Millham, Nich Carlson, Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Brian, he's, it's, I'm, Marc, Carlson, Ariel Kelman, Miguel Milano, Kendall Collins, you've, I've Organizations: Morning, Insider's Locations: Salesforce's, Salesforce

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