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☆ Tony Awards 2023: Highlights and winners
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/25] The cast of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" perform onstage at the 76th Annual Tony Awards in New York City, U.S., June 11, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid - HP1EJ6C05QLC2See pictures and a running list of winners at the 76th Tony Awards, the highest honors in American theater. BEST MUSICALKimberly AkimboBEST PLAYLeopoldstadtBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAYPrima Facie: Jodie ComerBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAYGood Night, Oscar: Sean HayesBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICALKimberly Akimbo: Victoria ClarkBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICALSome Like it Hot: J. Harrison GheeBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICALKimberly Akimbo: Bonnie MilliganBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICALShucked: Alex NewellBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAYThe Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window: Miriam SilvermanBEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAYLeopoldstadt: Brandon UranowitzBEST BOOK OF A MUSICALKimberly Akimbo: David Lindsay-AbaireBEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICALParadeBEST REVIVAL OF A PLAYSuzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/UnderdogBEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICALParade: Michael ArdenBEST DIRECTION OF A PLAYLeopoldstadt: Patrick MarberBEST CHOREOGRAPHYSome Like it Hot: Casey NicholawBEST ORIGINAL SCOREKimberly Akimbo: Jeanine Tesori for music and David Lindsay-Abaire for lyrics. BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAYLeopoldstadt: Brigitte ReiffenstuelBEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICALSome Like it Hot: Gregg BarnesBEST ORCHESTRATIONSSome Like it Hot: Charlie Rosen and Bryan CarterSee picotures and a running list of winners at the 76th Tony Awards, the highest honors in American theater.cNew York, New York: Beowulf BorittBEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAYLife of Pi: Tim Hatley and Andrzej GouldingBEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICALSweeney Todd: Natasha KatzBEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAYLife of Pi: Tim LutkinBEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAYLife of Pi: Carolyn DowningBEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICALSweeney Todd: Nevin SteinbergOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sweeney Todd, Barber, Tony, Brendan Mcdermid, Tony Awards, Kimberly Akimbo, Jodie Comer, Sean Hayes, Victoria Clark, Bonnie Milligan, Alex Newell, Miriam Silverman, Brandon, David Lindsay, Lori Parks, Michael Arden, Patrick Marber, Casey Nicholaw, SCORE Kimberly Akimbo, Jeanine Tesori, Abaire, Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Gregg Barnes, Charlie Rosen, Bryan Carter, Tim Hatley, Andrzej Goulding, Natasha Katz, Tim Lutkin, Pi, Carolyn Downing, Nevin Steinberg Organizations: REUTERS, Prima, Victoria Clark BEST, Michael Arden BEST, SCORE, theater.c, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, York , New York

☆ The US military is so worried about generic pills that it reportedly wants to do its own testing to make sure they're safe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer | Zachary Tracer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US military is planning to independently test the quality of generic drugs, Bloomberg reported. The quality of the US drug supply has come into question amid recalls of medications like metformin. The US military is reportedly planning to take extra steps to test the quality of the generic drugs it buys for servicemembers and their families. Bloomberg reported in May that the White House has assembled a team to tackle shortages and quality issues with generic medications. "I have family who take generic drugs, I take generic drugs," he said, adding, "I don't get concerned and I don't tell them to be concerned."

Persons: Anna Edney, Riley Griffin, Valisure, David Light, Jeremy Kahn, Mike Ganio, ASHP Organizations: Bloomberg, FDA, Morning, servicemembers, Department of Defense, White, DOD, Food and Drug Administration, American Society of Health, System

☆ Women’s Champions League final: Pain of defeat ‘motivating’ Barcelona ahead of clash with Wolfsburg
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The pain of defeat from last season’s Women’s Champions League final has lingered at Barcelona. Even faced with a resurgent Lyon, Barcelona was expected to come out on top. Ingrid Engen has now lost two Champions League finals, one with Wolfsburg and one with Barcelona. Barcelona won the first Women's Champions League title in the club's history in 2021. Playing in a Champions League final will be a great moment in our careers.

Persons: Ingrid Engen, Lyon, Alejandro Rios, don’t, ” Engen, “ It’s, ”, Barça, Lucy Bronze, Clive Brunskill, FIFA’s, Jonatan Giráldez, “, Engen, you’ve, Lena Oberdorf, I’ve, Oberdorf, –, Tommy Stroot, ” Stroot, David Lidstrom Organizations: CNN, League, Champions League, Lyon, Wolfsburg, Engen, Barcelona, CNN Sport, Bayern Munich –, Chelsea, Women's Champions League, Barcelona ’, Norway, Young, Ballon, “, UEFA Locations: Barcelona, Turin, Lyon, Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wolfsburg

☆ Justine Triet: French film director attacks Macron during Palme d'Or acceptance speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —French film director Justine Triet condemned what she called French President Emmanuel Macron’s “shocking” repression of the pension reform protests during her Palme d’Or acceptance speech at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. “The commodification of culture that the neoliberal government defends is in the process of breaking the French cultural exception,” Triet continued. Triet is just the third woman to win the Palme d’Or, one of cinema’s tpp prizes, after New Zealand’s Jane Campion and France’s Julia Ducournau. “Happy to see the Palme d’Or awarded to Justine Triet, the 10th for France! France’s social unrest has cast a shadow over this year’s instalment of the film festival.

☆ American jailed for spying by China rubbed shoulders with senior Chinese officials, CNN reporting shows, CNN reporting shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“He’s a very famous person, known by many overseas Chinese in the southern US,” Tang said. Reports published by Chinese-language media in Texas and China’s state media show Leung’s long-running access to senior Chinese officials. In 2014, he met with the director of Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office during a visit to Nanjing, the provincial capital. This photo shows John Leung with Wang Hua, the former director of Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. It also comes as American and Chinese officials are resuming high-level engagements since a dispute over a suspected Chinese spy balloon shattered efforts to mend ties earlier this year.

☆ A CEO is spending more than $2,000 a month on ChatGPT Plus accounts for all of his employees, and he says it's saving 'hours' of time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Akash Nigam, the founder of Genies, purchased ChatGPT Plus accounts for all of his 120 employees. A CEO is spending thousands each month buying ChatGPT Plus accounts for every single employee at his company — and he says he's already seeing gains. While it has only been a month since Genies' employees have had their accounts, Nigam said he has "already seen many tasks get accelerated." The employees that are "using AI effectively" will be up for a promotion and raise, he said. Even Microsoft is letting employees use ChatGPT — as long as they don't share confidential information with the tool.

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - Chinese-American citizen Kai Li, jailed in China on spying charges he denies, received a rare in-person visit last week from the U.S. Burns met Li on March 16 in a Shanghai prison, Li's son Harrison said. Li, a businessman, has been held in China since 2016 and was handed a 10-year jail sentence in 2018 for espionage. Burns wanted to shake Li's hand but Chinese authorities did not allow that, Harrison Li said. Burns has accompanied consular officers on prison visits to U.S. citizens held in China, a State Department spokesperson said.

HONG KONG, March 17 (Reuters) - Chinese private equity firm DCP Capital aims to sell its Singaporean portfolio firm MFS Technology, which makes flexible printed circuit boards, for at least $550 million, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The sale is targeting primarily financial sponsors, but also strategic buyers, according to the two sources and a separate person with knowledge of the transaction. BDA Partners and Jefferies are advising DCP on the sale, the sources said. The Chinese firm bought a controlling stake in MFS in 2018 from Navis Capital Partners and Novo Tellus Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Additional reporting by Julie Zhu in Hong Kong; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the 12-slide pitch deck three siblings used to raise $17 million in funding from Coatue for their mobile app performance startup
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The four Liberman siblings have been building companies together for nearly two decades. Their latest venture, Product Science, just raised $17 million in Series A funding. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that scored the startup millions from Coatue and others. Although app delays aren't noticeable to most users, there's a long tail of consumers on older devices whose experiences can be significantly hindered by poor app performance, Liberman said. Here's an exclusive look at the 12-slide pitch deck Product Science used to raise $17 million of Series A funding from Coatue, K5 Global, and Peter Fenton from Benchmark:

☆ Rep. George Santos' press secretary said she fields endless angry calls, gets dirty looks on the Hill, but still thinks her boss is a 'borderline genius'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider interviewed Rep. George Santos' 24-year-old press secretary, Gabrielle Lipsky. The scandal-ridden lawmaker is facing calls to resign, but Lipsky still thinks he's a "borderline genius." Compared to Gabrielle Lipsky, the 24-year-old press secretary for embattled congressman George Santos, we probably have it easy. Being the press secretary for a member of Congress was always likely to involve long hours, challenging work, and lots of stress. Despite all this, Lipsky says that working for Santos, who she claims is a "borderline genius," is an invaluable learning experience.

☆ Amazon CEO says ChatGPT is 'exciting,' but that Amazon has been working on similar tech for a long time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI like ChatGPT presents "exciting" possibilities. He told the Financial Times that Amazon has been working on generative AI for a long time. Amazon company supporters are worried the company is falling behind in this area, per the FT.Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. "I think it's exciting, what's possible with generative AI," Jassy told the FT. "And it's part of what you're seeing with models like ChatGPT. But most large, deeply technical companies like ours, have been working on these very large, generative AI models themselves for a long time."

☆ How 6 workers are using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Madison Hoff | Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"It's absolutely true that AI applications like ChatGPT can very much improve workers' lives," Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution previously told Insider. But if used correctly, ChatGPT can help some workers with tasks and save them time while doing so. Insider spoke with six workers in sectors that include education and real estate who are using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier. A realtor with eXp Realty also used ChatGPT for a listing in Iowa that was highlighted in a CNN post. Now two months later, LaRue told Insider she uses ChatGPT "everyday" to help write proposals, video scripts, and press releases.

Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November with that goal in mind and both leaders pledged more frequent communications. He has also sidelined some of his "wolf warrior" diplomats whose strident rhetoric alienated many of China's trade partners. Despite such pragmatic rhetoric, China's actions - especially its military activity around Taiwan and in the South China Sea - have not moderated, analysts said. Washington hopes for incremental progress on more specific but vital matters such as securing China's cooperation on fentanyl, global health, climate change and the cases of U.S. citizens detained there. That ... is more than deeply frustrating," said another source familiar with the administration's thinking, adding that China has rebuffed Washington's "very specific" proposals.

☆ NatWest CEO to face UK lawmakers on savings rates after U-turn
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - NatWest (NWG.L) CEO Alison Rose will face a grilling by British lawmakers next Tuesday over whether lenders are passing on enough of central bank interest rate rises to consumers, after initially saying she was too busy to attend. "Following further discussions with the Treasury Committee on the vital issues at hand, Alison Rose will be attending next week's Committee hearing," a spokesperson for NatWest said. Lloyds boss Charlie Nunn and executives from Barclays and HSBC are also set to attend the hearing held by the powerful Treasury Select Committee next week. NatWest had initially said its retail bank boss David Lindberg was an appropriate boss to represent the bank at the hearing. Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Chicago prosecutors alleged that Girardi misappropriated more than $3 million in client funds owed to families of the victims of the 2018 Boeing (BA.N) 737 MAX Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia. Christopher Kamon, the former chief financial officer of Girardi's now-defunct law firm Girardi Keese, was also charged in the Chicago and Los Angeles cases. Girardi's son-in-law, David Lira, who worked at the firm, was charged with wire fraud and criminal contempt of court by the Chicago prosecutors. The California Supreme Court disbarred Girardi in June in connection with his alleged conduct in the Lion Air case. Kamon was separately charged with wire fraud in November for allegedly embezzling $10 million from the defunct Girardi Keese firm.

☆ NHL roundup: Connor McDavid lifts Oilers over Lightning
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The Lightning received a goal and an assist from Brayden Point, and Brandon Hagel and Steven Stamkos scored. Victor Hedman posted two assists while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots but lost for the first time in five games. Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who lost for the third time in their past 11 games. Matthew Tkachuk, who leads Florida with 24 goals, scored twice with the man advantage. Colton Sissons and Mattias Ekholm scored for the Predators, whose two-game win streak came to an end.

"My message for Blinken is: say their names," said Katherine Swidan in a phone interview from her home in Luling, Texas. They've been wrongfully detained. And, unlike Griner, the U.S. citizens held in China are not well known to the American public. Families of detained Americans say the freedom of their relatives should not be bundled up with challenging policy issues and should instead be addressed in a separate track focused on humanitarian matters. There have been talks in recent months, Li said, between Washington and Beijing over the Americans detained in China but they did not go anywhere.

☆ Inside Amazon, there's chatter, and jokes, about Jeff Bezos coming back as CEO in the midst of massive layoffs and a plummeting stock price
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Eugene Kim | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some Amazon employees are calling for Jeff Bezos to return as CEO. Some Amazon employees are calling for the return of founder Jeff Bezos as CEO in the midst of massive layoffs and a plunging stock price. "Apparently not even Andy is safe," one employee wrote, referring to Jassy who took over from Bezos as CEO in July 2021. "He should come…he is the best," another employee wrote, referring to Bezos. In the turkey-themed email, viewed by Insider, the CEO acknowledged challenges, thanked Amazon employees, and called for resilience and optimism.

☆ Amazon still 'fully committed' to Alexa despite job cuts, hardware chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The company's devices and services organization, which oversees the development of products such as Alexa, Echo smart speakers and Kindle e-readers, was among the groups affected. Still, Amazon remains "fully committed" to the Alexa unit despite the company taking steps to be more disciplined with costs in "a very uncertain economy," Limp said. At one point, Amazon had 5,000 people working on Alexa and Echo. Amazon has sold devices such as the Echo at or near cost because its goal isn't to make money from them. The prices of some commodities used in Amazon devices, such as memory and displays, has increased, and those could get passed along to consumers, he said.

☆ How a gene-editing breakthrough from a Harvard lab saved the life of a girl with leukemia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A 13-year-old girl was the world's first patient to get a cell therapy called base editing in May. Base editing is a new gene-editing technology that could lead to cures for many diseases. Alyssa, 13, was the first-ever patient to receive a base-edited cell therapy after enrolling in a clinical trial in May. Base editing allows scientists to make ultraprecise changes to single letters of DNA in cells. Alyssa, a teenager in Leicester, England, received a base-edited cell therapy to treat her leukemia.

☆ Amazon is on pace to lose $10 billion this year from Alexa and other devices
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Britney Nguyen | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon is on pace to lose $10 billion this year on some devices, include its voice assistant Alexa. The team working on Alexa was one of the most supported by Jeff Bezos because it was his brainchild. Most of the loss was due to Alexa and other Amazon devices, a person familiar with Worldwide Digital previously told Insider. When Alexa launched in 2014, Amazon wanted to make sales through people using Alexa, not necessarily through people buying the Echo devices that have the Alexa voice assistant. Last week, reports of layoffs at Amazon showed they could primarily affect the team working on Alexa.

☆ Which to Choose: Medicare or Medicare Advantage?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Paula Span | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

Which to Choose: Medicare or Medicare Advantage? Medicare Advantage plans, like traditional Medicare, are funded by the federal government, but they are offered though private insurance companies, which receive a set payment for each enrollee. The proportion of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans has hit 48 percent. Which is better: Medicare or Medicare Advantage? Credit... Kenny Holston for The New York Times Unlike most Medicare Advantage plans, traditional Medicare does not include drug coverage.

☆ Their IVF journeys did not end with children. Here's what they want you to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

"I stopped to protect my physical, emotional and mental health," says Katy Seppi, 40, of her decision to end her infertility journey. Seppi says she believes Aniston’s openness about her own IVF journey helps validate the experiences of many people who are involuntarily childless. "For someone like myself with ADHD, the decision fatigue was at times overwhelming," Sherrae Lachhu, 45, says about the IVF process. It can help others not feel so alone.”She felt like a failure when her IVF didn’t workApril Barsby, 32, had one cycle of IVF in September of last year. The couple put their IVF journey on pause for now and Barsby says she’s not sure what to do next.

☆ Amazon is gutting its voice-assistant Alexa. Once founder Jeff Bezos's pet project it's now the primary target of historic layoffs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Amazon's Alexa and the devices team at large is now the prime target of the biggest layoffs in the company's history, according to press reports and an internal email seen by Insider. Instead, Amazon wanted shoppers to buy more things through Echo devices by placing orders through the voice-assistant. Reports of Alexa mistakenly sending voice recordings to the wrong person or Amazon employees secretly listening to private conversations stoked fear of privacy concerns. But even so, its financial contribution often fell short of expectations, more than half a dozen employees told Insider. Employees told Insider the product is Bezos's latest pet project.

☆ Amazon lays off some devices employees: Read the memo from hardware chief Dave Limp
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is laying off some employees in its devices and services unit, hardware chief Dave Limp wrote in a memo to workers on Wednesday. The e-retailer is consolidating some teams and programs in its devices and services unit after "a deep set of reviews" of the business, Limp wrote. "It pains me to have to deliver this news as we know we will lose talented Amazonians from the Devices & Services org as a result." The job cuts are part of broader layoffs hitting Amazon as it stares down a worsening economic outlook. While the cuts may total 10,000 people, there is no specific target for total job cuts, the person said.

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