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☆ Sex, Signal messages and sabotage: SBF's top execs and Bahamas roommates tell all in court
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

"Sam Bankman-Fried," he said. Wang said that in response to the reporting an emergency meeting was called between Bankman-Fried, Wang and Singh, to discuss shutting down Alameda. On Nov. 12, after FTX declared bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried asked Wang to drive with him to the Bahamas Securities Commission for a meeting. Yedidia said Bankman-Fried had told him, before he began working in the Bahamas in 2019, that he and Ellison had sex. Bankman-Fried asked Yedidia if it was a good idea for them to date, to which Yedidia said no.

Persons: Adam Yedidia, Sam Bankman, Jane Rosenberg, —, Gary Wang, Nicolas Roos, Wang, FTX, Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison, Mr, Roos, Ellison, Fried, Reuters Wang, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Singh, Yedidia, Bankman, Sam, Christian Everdell, he's, I'm, Matt Huang, Yuki Iwamura, Huang, Dawn Giel Organizations: Federal Court, Reuters, MIT, U.S, Alameda Research, District, Prosecutors, Bahamas Securities Commission, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Google, Alameda, United, Paradigm, FTX, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: FTX, New York City, Bahamas, Manhattan, U.S, Alameda, Bahamian, New York, China, Minnesota, FTX's Hong Kong, Nassau, Bankman

☆ FTX co-founder admits he and Sam Bankman-Fried committed fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —A key witness for prosecutors in the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried testified that both he and Bankman-Fried committed multiple financial crimes related to their oversight of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Gary Wang, who co-founded FTX with Bankman-Fried, told jurors — in compliance with an earlier plea deal — that he was guilty of wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud, and that he committed those crimes under the direction of Bankman-Fried. Alameda’s ‘unlimited’ slush fundUnlike regular customers of FTX — a platform for individual investors and institutions to trade crypto — Alameda was allowed to run a negative balance and make “unlimited withdrawals” from FTX customers, Wang said. In response, “Sam said something like, ‘We were bulletproof last year; we’re not bulletproof this year,’” Yedidia told the jury. The $8 billion represented the money that FTX customers would be owed if they decided to withdraw their deposits, Yedidia said.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Gary Wang, Wang, FTX, haven’t, Mark Cohen, Nicolas Roos, ” Wang, empaneled, ‘, Adam Yedidia, Yedidia, SBF, “ Sam, ’ ” Yedidia, “, Sam, ” Yedidia, MIT undergrads, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, Alameda Research, Prosecutors, MIT Locations: New York, Alameda, FTX

☆ Former FTX developer says he confronted an 'anxious' Sam Bankman-Fried on Bahamas paddleball court while trying to fix bug that led to $8 billion hole
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"The numbers seemed large to me," Yedidia testified Thursday in a federal court in downtown Manhattan. In a hut between paddleball courts, Yedidia expressed his concern to Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, who also controlled Alameda Research. AdvertisementAdvertisementA Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of crypto currency exchange FTX in a courtroom last year. AdvertisementAdvertisementFormer FTX developer Adam Yedidia leaves after testifying during the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried at Manhattan Federal Court in New York City. In the Bahamas, top employees and their significant others in both companies shared a $35 million penthouse apartment that Alameda Research paid for.

Persons: Fried, Adam Yedidia, —, Yedidia, FTX, Sam Bankman, Yadidia, Bankman, Jane Rosenberg, Reuters Yedidia, Caroline Ellison, Michael M, Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Singh, Sam, Caroline, I'm Organizations: Alameda Research, Alameda, Service, MIT, rockstar, Reuters, Bankman, Manhattan Federal, FTX, United Arab Locations: Bahamas, Alameda, Manhattan, FTX, Alameda FTX, Bankman, New York City, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

☆ Opinion | The U.S. Is Pulling Back From China. How Far Is Too Far?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Many Americans, even once-ardent proponents of globalization, have soured on trade with China. But there is a growing danger that as the United States tries to address its difficulties with China, it will pull back too far, severing economic ties that benefit American families and contribute to global peace and prosperity. Soybean farmers in the Upper Midwest sold a record $16.4 billion of their beans to China, mostly for pig feed. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have come out of poverty thanks to global trade, and have become consumers of U.S. goods and services. Amid the harsh talk, the dollar value of American trade with China — Americans buying Chinese products and the Chinese buying American products — rose to a record in 2022.

Persons: flagrantly, Ukraine —, Mike Gallagher, ”, Jon Mills, Alexandra Stevenson Organizations: United States, Wisconsin Republican, Strategic, Chinese Communist Party, The Washington Post, Intel, Cummins, China — Locations: China, United, United States, Ukraine, Washington, The, Upper Midwest, America, U.S, Indiana

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter files data-scraping lawsuit against unknown defendants
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's X Corp., the parent company of Twitter, filed a lawsuit against four unknown entities last week over data scraping on Twitter. Data scraping is when automated programs scour publicly accessible websites to collect data, which can later be used for a wide range of purposes, including training artificial intelligence large language models, targeting online advertisements and much more. The ruling reaffirmed the appeals court's decision, finding that scraping public data does not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. "Corp. has also limited access to Tweets for users who are not signed in to registered Twitter account." "By unlawfully scaping data, Defendants flagrantly ignore not only Corp.'s Terms of Service, but also the privacy preferences of Twitter users," the filing stated.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, Elon, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny Organizations: Twitter, Viva Technology, Porte de, Elon Musk's X Corp, X Corp, U.S, Ninth Circuit, LinkedIn, Corp, " Corp Locations: Paris, Texas, Dallas County , Texas, U.S

☆ Live updates: Russia aims to regulate Wagner as Ukraine claims battlefield gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin speaks in this screengrab from a video released on June 24. The Western stakes in the Ukraine war rose significantly as a result. A mutinous weekend that saw mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin flagrantly mock the Kremlin before aborting his march on Moscow evoked Russia’s blood-soaked history of revolutions and coups. The Kremlin strongman seemed to blink at a military confrontation with Prigozhin’s Wagner Group fighters — in an act that might preserve his grip on power. There’s now no doubt that the war Putin unleashed to wipe Ukraine off the map poses an existential threat to his political survival.

Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin flagrantly, Prigozhin’s Wagner, —, Putin, There’s, Oz, Ukraine John Herbst, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, “ Putin, Prigozhin’s, Moscow’s, Read Organizations: Concord, Reuters, White, Kremlin, NATO Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, Belarus, Russian

☆ Analysis: Vladimir Putin's humiliation will require the West to reexamine its balancing act to save Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —The world just got a hint of a tantalizing but possibly even more dangerous future without Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Western stakes in the Ukraine war rose significantly as a result. There’s now no doubt that the war Putin unleashed to wipe Ukraine off the map poses an existential threat to his political survival. This would be good news for the West, which has bankrolled and armed the country’s fight for its life. After this weekend, this new reality will require the West to once again examine its balancing act to save Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin flagrantly, Prigozhin’s Wagner, –, Putin, There’s, Oz, Ukraine John Herbst, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, “ Putin, Prigozhin’s, Moscow’s, Prigozhin –, Africa –, Prigozhin, he’s, CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Biden, ”, David Petraeus, Petraeus, “, Ramzan Kadyrov, Wagner, Robert English, Alexei Navalny, Alexander Lukashenko, “ It’s, Antony Blinken, placated –, Blinken, Will Hurd, ” Hurd, Hurd –, Donald Trump –, Trump Organizations: CNN, White, Kremlin, NATO, Western, Russian Federation, Union, CIA, Internet Research Agency, School of International Relations, University of Southern, Belarusian, ”, Republican, GOP, Moscow Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, Belarus, Russian, Russia, Syria, Africa, France, Britain, Germany, Washington, “ State, University of Southern California, NATO, Crimea, Texas

☆ Opinion | I Won’t Let Donald Trump Invade My Brain
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( David Brooks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the decades, I’ve built up certain expectations about how the world works and how people behave. And yet I’ve found that Donald Trump has confounded me at every turn. I was shocked at how thuggishly Trump behaved in that first debate with Joe Biden in 2020. As the Jan. 6 committee hearings progressed, I was stunned to find out just how aggressively Trump had worked to overthrow the election. And yet I can’t quite feel ashamed of my perpetual naïveté toward Donald Trump.

Persons: I’ve, Donald Trump, thuggishly Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, flagrantly

☆ Paramount fires back at Warner Bros. Discovery in 'South Park' streaming lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Discovery in a lawsuit over the streaming rights for the comedic cartoon, and is seeking more than $50 million in unpaid fees. Warner alleged Paramount withheld specials and other related "South Park" content as its own fledgling streaming service, Paramount+, was lifting off. Discovery's argument that Paramount Global was required to deliver additional South Park content is baseless and wholly unsupported by the parties' agreement. Warner said in the earlier filing that during the bidding process for the streaming rights Paramount had allegedly asked if they could share the rights for Paramount+. The company added that Warner's HBO Max – which is being relaunched as Max – continues to feature the entire "South Park" library.

☆ U.S. CFPB's bid to curb late credit card fees faces strong opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Niket Nishant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Fitch identified Discover Financial Services (DFS.N), Capital One Financial (COF.N), Synchrony Financial (SYF.N) and Bread Financial Holdings (BFH.N) among those at risk. Credit card companies typically rely on late fees to act as a bulwark against spending volumes tapering off when the economic environment is tough. If the CFPB's rule is implemented in its current form, it could reduce those fees by as much as 75% annually, the agency said. Michael Taiano, senior analyst at Fitch Ratings, said card companies could potentially resort to legal action to delay enforcement of these rules. "They could also respond by introducing other fees, like statement charges, which would charge a customer every time they request a statement," Taiano said.

☆ DeSantis accuses congressional Republicans of 'flagrantly' ignoring voters on immigration, leading to Trump election: Book
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DeSantis criticized congressional Republicans over the issue of immigration in his new book. Ron DeSantis reserves some of his most scathing criticism of congressional Republicans for how the party has handled the issue of immigration. The election was largely decided on the issue of immigration, with Brat accusing his opponent of being too soft on the issue. DeSantis has publicly criticized his own party on illegal immigration before, saying they were too much talk and not enough action. Hispanic voters in Florida went overwhelmingly for DeSantis during his reelection in November — by 14% — over Democratic challenger former Rep. Charlie Crist.

☆ ‘South Park’ lawsuit: Warner Bros. Discovery sues Paramount for $500 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Discovery filed a lawsuit against Paramount Friday, claiming the rival media company breached its half-billion-dollar exclusivity contract with HBO Max by airing “South Park” on its own streaming platform, Paramount+. Nearly all “South Park” episodes air first on Paramount-owned Comedy Central. Then came the pandemic, and WarnerMedia was told that the new production of “South Park” would be halted, according to the complaint. In March 2021, Paramount launched Paramount+, and Warner Bros. Warner Bros.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery sues Paramount over 'South Park' streaming rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Warner Bros. Discovery sued Paramount Global looking to enforce the streaming rights of "South Park," setting the stage for a legal battle between two media behemoths as the streaming wars intensify. Discovery filed a lawsuit against Paramount, South Park Digital Studios and MTV Entertainment seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for what it believes was a breach of contract. During the bidding process for the "South Park" rights, the filing said, Paramount allegedly asked whether Warner Bros. Discovery plans to launch a combined HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service this spring.

☆ A transgender pharmacist says she felt 'dehumanized' after an Arkansas GOP lawmaker asked her about her genitalia during a public hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An Arkansas GOP lawmaker asked a transgender pharmacist about her genitalia during a bill hearing. "That's horrible," Gwendolyn Herzig replied when McKee asked her, "Do you have a penis?" McKee asked Herzig, who was testifying against the bill at the time, prompting her to respond, "A trans female, yes sir." "You're the one that brought that into the discussion," McKee told Herzig, who shot back: "I never said anything about genitalia." Herzig told Insider on Wednesday that she felt "shock" and "disgust" when McKee asked about her genitalia.

☆ Alec Baldwin attorneys seek to reduce possible penalty in Rust movie set manslaughter case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Actor Alec Baldwin departs his home, as he will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie "Rust", in New York, January 31, 2023. Alec Baldwin's attorneys filed a motion Friday arguing New Mexico prosecutors have wrongly charged the actor under a statue that doesn't apply to his case — and which carries a mandatory five-year jail sentence. If the case ends up going to trial, jurors would have to decide which involuntary manslaughter charge Baldwin is guilty of, if either. "The prosecutors in this case have committed an unconstitutional and elementary legal error by charging Mr. Baldwin under a statute that did not exist on the date of the accident," Baldwin's attorneys wrote in the motion. Baldwin's attorneys argue the new version of the statute cannot apply to conduct that occurred before it was enacted and called retroactively applying the enhancement "flagrantly unconstitutional."

The Justice Department wrote in its brief that a failed background check would not have kept Kelley, from conducting the shooting, and the government could not have known he intended to pursue the attack. But under Texas law, the United States is not legally responsible for the damages caused by that shooting." Critics said a successful appeal will ultimately undercut the background check system, damage the Biden administration’s gun safety law efforts and bolster the gun lobby. “The 26 dead and 22 injured at the Sutherland Springs mass shooting disagree.”Twenty-six crosses stand in a field to honor the victims killed during the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs in 2017. Now the survivors and victims must relive the traumatic shooting through an appeal that Alsaffar said could take as long as two years.

☆ George Santos hit with 3 new ethics complaints over his campaign spending, fundraising, and financial disclosure
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Santos was sworn into office on Friday despite a record of alleged fraud and lies about his background. Now, End Citizens United is filing complaints against Santos with the FEC, OCE, and DOJ. Santos faces a slew of other campaign finance-related complaints and is under investigation in 2 countries. The trio of complaints add to a barrage of other complaints the congressman is already facing. Santos' history and finances are also under investigation by prosecutors at the federal level, in New York state, and in Brazil.

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[1/3] Eliza Luna, a ballot designer with the Maricopa County Elections Department, counts ballots for the Arizona Presidential Preference Election at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., March 17, 2020. Between July 11 and Aug. 22, the county election office documented at least 140 threats and other hostile communications, the records show. Maricopa officials appeared at times overwhelmed by threatening posts on social media and right-wing message boards calling for workers to be executed or hung. Eight people face federal charges for threats, including two who targeted Maricopa County officials. The county election director had instructed him to shut down the server for delivery to the Arizona State Senate in response to a subpoena.

☆ U.S. Education Department sued over Biden's student loan cancellation plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Conservative group Pacific Legal Foundation filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Education with the intent of stopping President Joe Biden's student loan cancellation plan. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the South District of Indiana, comes a day after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said that Biden's plan to cancel some student loan debt will cost $400 billion. "Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt," said Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. As of June 30, 43 million borrowers held $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. "It (Biden's plan) will only lead to more calls for government intervention in education at taxpayers’ expense," said Steve Simpson, another attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation.

☆ A subreddit post is trolling Texas' controversial content-moderation law by requiring every comment to include Gov. 'Greg Abbott is a little piss baby'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A subreddit post is trolling the law by only allowing "Greg Abbott is a little piss baby" comments. "Greg Abbott is a little piss baby" to raise awareness of the state's social media content-moderation law. 20, which they called "a ridiculous attempt to control social media." 20 allows private citizens in Texas and the Texas attorney general to sue social media companies for censoring specific points of view. The law affects social media platforms that have more than 50 million active users a month in the US.

☆ A conservative group is suing to block Biden's student debt forgiveness, but it faces legal hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Pacific Legal Foundation announced Tuesday it was filing suit against student loan relief. "Congress did not authorize the executive branch to unilaterally cancel student debt," Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a press release. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, according to projections spanning the next 30 years, student loan relief will cost $400 billion. "The claim is baseless for a simple reason: No one will be forced to get debt relief. Because opponents of the debt relief plan are trying anything they can to stop this program that will provide needed relief to working families."

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