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☆ AOC says her Twitter account stopped working properly after she criticized Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AOC said she was having issues with her Twitter account following a spat with Elon Musk. The pair had been discussing Musk's decision to charge Twitter users for blue ticks. The lawmaker began by slamming Musk's controversial plans to charge users for verification on the platform. Public figures, including Stephen King, have criticized plans to charge verified Twitter users for blue ticks. Representatives for Musk and Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.

☆ America's longest-serving congresswoman argues her district needs to 'hold on to the seniority we have' amid broader calls for generational change in politics
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, 76, is the longest-serving woman in the history of the House of Representatives. She faces a tough re-election against a controversial GOP opponent amid broader calls for new leaders. In an interview with Insider in Toledo, Kaptur touted the benefits that her seniority brings to her district. the 76-year-old lawmaker told Insider during an interview in a staffer's black Jeep following a press conference. Bryan Metzger/InsiderOwing to her seniority, Kaptur sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where she chairs the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

SummarySummary Companies Barrick now expects to exceed 2022 cost guidanceQ3 profit down 30% as gold production falls by 9%All-in sustaining costs up 22.7% from last yearNov 3 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), shares hit their lowest level since March 2020 on Thursday after the world's second-biggest gold miner reported a 30.1% drop in third-quarter profit due to weak production and higher costs. Toronto-listed shares were down 6.9% to 18.26 Canadian dollars, on track for their biggest one-day drop in two years. The cost increase was largely down to a 9% fall in gold production from 1.09 million ounces to 988,000 ounces, CEO Mark Bristow told Reuters in an interview. Barrick remains on track to achieve its 2022 production guidance, Bristow said in a statement. Gold prices declined 8% during the third quarter as global central banks raised interest rates to battle surging inflation.

☆ Turkey's president says he wants to discuss Twitter's $8 blue tick fee with Elon Musk to see if he can avoid paying it, a report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, may talk to Elon Musk about Twitter's verification fee, per ATV. Erdogan told ATV he could "carry out some diplomacy" with Musk, too. Musk has doubled down on verified users paying $8 a month for a blue tick and other features. The charge for Twitter verification "might be different for us," Erdogan told ATV, Reuters reported. Other politicians, celebrities, journalists, and high-profile figures have also been verified on the site, but some may lose their blue tick if they refuse to pay the $8 fee when it's implemented.

☆ Twitter will let government accounts keep their blue ticks for free under Elon Musk's new paid verification plans, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Government accounts will not have to pay Twitter's new $8 verification fee, Bloomberg reports. One of Elon Musk's first moves as Twitter's owner has been to draw up plans for paid verification. Many governments around the world have hundreds of verified Twitter accounts across numerous departments, and paying for all those accounts to stay verified could prove expensive, possibly placing an additional — admittedly small — burden on taxpayers. Elon Musk's plan to let anybody have the verification symbol for payment is expected to come into action next week. The verification fee is one of Musk's many plans to change things up at the company.

☆ Twitter could start charging for blue ticks next week, and Elon Musk doesn't want to hear what you think about it: Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter could start charging for blue verification badges as early as next week, per Bloomberg. Twitter users who are already verified will have months to start paying for the status or lose it, the news outlet added. Other than charging for verification, Twitter also plans to open up its edit function to all Twitter users for free, Bloomberg reported. It's now available to Twitter Blue users who pay $4.99 a month. Twitter Blue is only available in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand right now.

☆ Nevada Question 3: Voters will decide on ranked choice general elections and top-five primaries
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Nevada's Question 3 would put ranked-choice voting and top-five primaries. The second part of the initiative would establish ranked-choice voting general election. Support and oppositionYes on 3 is sponsored by Nevada Voters First. Organizations in support of the measure include the Institute for Political Innovation and Vote Nevada, according to Ballotpedia. Protect Your Vote Nevada said that Question 3 would "make our elections unnecessarily confusing, complicated, and riddled with errors-- and enshrine that system in the Nevada Constitution."

☆ Obama warns 'more people are going to get hurt' if political climate persists
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 1 (Reuters) - Democratic former President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned that "more people are going to get hurt" unless the U.S. political climate changes, after the husband of the Speaker of the House was attacked by a man wielding a hammer. "If that's the environment that we create, more people are going to get hurt." The Obama tour will continue on Wednesday in Arizona and Saturday in Pennsylvania, two more states with tight races for governor and senator. The Nevada race could determine which party controls the Senate, which is split 50-50 and in Democratic hands only because Vice Present Kamala Harris can break any ties. In the race for governor, Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak is locked in a close race with Republican challenger Joe Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff.

But none of that explains why political campaigns have been turning away from Facebook. Political ads have always been a small part of Facebook's overall business. The pandemic accelerated that trend since so many consumers turned to streaming platforms while stuck at home, and content for cord-cutters proliferated. Ad tracking firm AdImpact projected that of the $9.7 billion spent on political ads this cycle, $1.4 billion would go to connected TVs. Apple's crackdown has indeed diminished Facebook's position in political advertising.

☆ At least 7 Republicans vying for a spot in Congress this November were at the Capitol on January 6
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Several Republican candidates for Congress have ties to the January 6 Capitol attack. Van Orden at the time wrote that he had been in Washington, DC, for "meetings and to stand for the integrity of our electoral system as a citizen." A representative for Van Orden did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Smith won a crowded primary against seven other Republican candidates in May and secured Trump's endorsement in September. Jeff Zink is up against Democratic incumbent Rep. Ruben Gallego in Arizona's 3rd Congressional District.

Fontes, a Marine and former Maricopa County elections administrator, is running for the job that oversees elections in Arizona. His opponent is Republican state legislator Mark Finchem, a 2020 election denier and self-identified member of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers. There are several Latino Republican candidates who are election deniers, too, such as Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican running for election to the U.S. House to represent Florida’s 13th District. 'Our community is demonized'Election denialism is still “overwhelmingly concentrated among non-Hispanic whites," said Francisco Pedraza, an associate director at Arizona State University's Center for Latinas/os and American Politics Research. In 2020, Latino voters helped Joe Biden win the state.

☆ Democrats hold slim leads over GOP rivals in key Senate races in Pa., Ga. and Ariz., new poll shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The survey shows Democrats hold slim leads over their Republican opponents in Senate races in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia, while the two competitors in Nevada are locked in a dead heat. A Republican-controlled Senate could sink President Joe Biden's hopes for passing major legislation in the final two years of his first term. That result, taken from 604 likely voters between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26, fell outside the poll's margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. The pollsters surveyed 885 likely voters in Nevada between Oct. 19 and Oct. 24; the results carry a 4.2-percentage-point margin of error. They also have pinned high inflation, a global phenomenon in the last two years, on Biden's and the Democrats' policies.

☆ Democrats criticize Republicans after attack on Pelosi's husband: ‘Many people have stayed silent’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Summer Concepcion | Summer Concepcion Is A Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Some Democrats criticized Republicans following the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, accusing their colleagues across the aisle of failing to issue sufficient condemnations of violent rhetoric targeting lawmakers. Although a motive for the attack remains under investigation, several Democrats swiftly condemned Republicans after the assault, saying they have not done enough to address the issue of violence and threats against lawmakers. But some Democrats expressed worries about the rise of violent rhetoric that preceded the attack and accused Republicans of failing to take action to combat it. “Yesterday, a man sharing that member’s rhetoric tried to assassinate the Speaker and her spouse,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday. The memo also acknowledged an uptick in threats against lawmakers and the attack on Pelosi’s husband.

☆ Far-right figures gained thousands of new Twitter followers in the 24 hours before Elon Musk's takeover, research company finds
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Far-right figures gained thousands of new Twitter followers in the 24 hours before Musk took over. Among these new followers, thousands were new to the platform, researchers told The New York Times. Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert gained almost 18,700 new followers in the 24 hours leading up to Musk's takeover, with nearly half from new accounts. Memetica CEO Ben Decker told Insider the findings were alarming because those who gained followers "are really well-known purveyors of disinformation, harassment, and hate." "The more followers and wider reach these accounts have, the more distribution these ideas have," Decker told The New York Times.

☆ A timeline of threats against Nancy Pelosi — from the January 6 death threats to a claim about beheading her 'jihadist style' — that preceded the attack on her husband
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A man who violently attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, may have been looking for her. Nancy Pelosi has faced several threats, including some that resulted in charges or conviction. "Nancy Pelosi is apart [sic] of a satanic cult and so are the people who work closely with her. A relative had informed her of a text Meredith sent in which he threatened Pelosi, prosecutors said. "The attacker who injured Paul Pelosi was looking for Nancy Pelosi, likely wanting to finish the job."

☆ NFL Week 8 Preview: Seahawks, Giants face off behind strong quarterback leadership
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Hannah Brewitt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

The Seahawks have won three of their last four while the Giants are on a four-game win streak. The Colts beat their division rivals 34-27 thanks to a last-gasp touchdown from quarterback Matt Ryan to rookie Alec Pierce. Just last week, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones earned NFC Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Jaguars. The Jaguars played in London just last year, when quarterback Trevor Lawrence became the first rookie quarterback to win a regular season game in London. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is coming off a turnover-free Week 7 against the Giants.

☆ AOC says the US is 'truly facing an environment of fascism' where voter intimidation 'brings us to Jim Crow'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AOC said the US is experiencing fascism and voter intimidation that mimics the Jim Crow era. Federal officials warned that threats of violence may rise due to "perceptions of election-related fraud." "We are really truly facing an environment of fascism in the United States of America. This type of intimidation at the polls brings us to Jim Crow," Ocasio-Cortez said on MSNBC's "All in with Chris Hayes" on Friday in a conversation with Hayes and Rep. Jamie Raskin. "Those wounds threaten to rip right back open if we do not strongly defend democracy in the United States of America."

☆ Schumer says Warnock's Senate race against Walker is 'going downhill' in remarks to president
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed concern Thursday about Sen. Raphael Warnock's re-election race against Republican Herschel Walker during a conversation with President Joe Biden. The private discussion was picked up on a microphone and camera while they stood on an airport tarmac in Syracuse, N.Y., with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Democratic Gov. During the conversation, Schumer brought up the Pennsylvania Senate race and the debate Tuesday between Democratic Lt. Gov. The Democratic leader could also be heard mentioning the Senate race in Nevada, where Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is running for re-election against Republican Adam Laxalt. Asked about Schumer’s remarks to Biden, Justin Goodman, a spokesman for the majority leader, told NBC News, "Schumer believes the Democratic candidates will win."

☆ The sleeper county that could decide the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

All of those factors make Washoe County the ultimate battleground for Cortez Masto and Laxalt. Both campaigns say that in the final 11 days, they’re swamping Washoe County with TV ads, canvassers and events. “Without a significant win in Washoe County, she has very few paths of winning Nevada.”Washoe County eluded Cortez Masto and Laxalt in their most recent statewide races. “The Democrats keep harping on that item here,” Bruce Parks, the Washoe County Republican chair, said of the abortion issue. “As I talk to Nevadans, including in Washoe County, it’s a combination of things — it’s not just the kitchen table issues,” she said.

☆ Pelosi likely has the largest security detail of any lawmaker in Congress. Here's what we know about her and her husband Paul's protection.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Details about congressional security practices remain closely guarded after the January 6 attack. Keeping information about congressional security practices under wraps is apparently part of the Capitol Police's job, as critical details remain closely guarded. Similar media reports say that full-time congressional security details are limited to the speaker, House and Senate majority and minority leaders, and House and Senate whips. Last month she told The New York Times that she'd spent more than $120,000 on private security over the past year. Financial records filed by the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund PAC show that the fundraising committee paid nearly $4,000 to private security firm Safehouse Security Solutions this spring.

ATLANTA — Democratic strategists are agonizing about headwinds in the closing stretch of the 2022 campaign, with some fearing the election will be worse for the party than polls indicate. Now comes the moment of truth: Can they pull off one final act of levitation in the sprint to Election Day? “I definitely think that the political gravity is starting to reinforce itself,” said Sean McElwee, executive director of the Democratic-affiliated polling firm Data For Progress. “Maybe they can stretch it to 6 or 7 [points], but I think somewhere gravity kicks in.”“There’s a tightening happening,” Taylor added. The recent NBC News poll found that Democrats led Republicans by 1 point on which party voters prefer to control Congress.

The New York Post's verified Twitter account was hacked Thursday morning, resulting in a series of vulgar tweets designed to look like real headlines. In tweets that have since been removed, hackers posted fake headlines that referred in offensive terms to New York Gov. In an email, a spokeswoman for the Post confirmed the publication’s Twitter account was hacked and said the company was “investigating the cause.”The Post is one of New York City's quintessential daily tabloids, known for eye-catching headlines and conservative-leaning editorials. The employee added that the person who compromised the Post's feed seemed very familiar with the publication's editorial style. The newspaper's website appeared to be functioning normally after the profane tweets were deleted.

☆ Democrats turn to Obama for midterm miracle, or at least to stem the bleeding
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( James Oliphant | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Obama will hit a fifth state, Michigan, which has a competitive governor's race, along the way. "President Obama remains able to unite base Democrats, persuadable voters, and to motivate demographics less likely to turn out in midterm elections like young people," said Ben LaBolt, who served as spokesman for the first Black president's successful 2012 re-election campaign. "Bringing in President Obama helps to underscore the importance of African-American vote, while also exciting other voters." But Democrats will have to wonder if that will be enough, as recent polling has shown Republican candidates gaining strength across the board. The Senate race is Georgia is essentially tied, even as Walker has been hamstrung by a series of controversies.

☆ New York Post website hacked, with racist and sexist headlines targeting politicians
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The New York Post's website and Twitter account were hacked Thursday, as racist and sexually explicit headlines about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden were published. A New York Post spokesperson confirmed in an email to CNBC that the posts resulted from a hack. Representatives for the president, Ocasio-Cortez and Adams didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Content management system Wordpress, which enables publishing to the New York Post site, didn't immediately respond to comment, either. The company, which also uses WordPress, suspended its website immediately.

☆ Hot mic catches Schumer warning Biden that Democrats are 'going downhill' in Georgia as Herschel Walker climbs in polls
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Warren Rojas | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Chuck Schumer was caught on a hot mic dishing about Democrats' chances of holding the Senate. Schumer was overheard telling Biden that Georgia looks increasingly bad for the party. "The state where we're going downhill is Georgia," Schumer said of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock's highly charged reelection bid. The top Senate Democrat was also overheard telling Biden that Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. "Schumer believes the Democratic candidates will win," Justin Goodmnan, a Schumer spokesperson, said in a statement.

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