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☆ China funds look to Mideast cash as US investments wane
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Seven China equity funds, including hedge funds and mutual funds, running more than $500 billion in combined assets, told Reuters they visited the Middle East this year to raise money, three of them for the first time. The search for new capital could affect Asia's hedge fund scene, where China firms account for more than half the market. "In the past perhaps the holy grail of capital raising was the U.S.," said Effie Vasilopoulos, co-Leader of law firm Sidley Austin's Asia-Pacific investment funds group. So that dynamic is leading many of our clients to the Middle East." However, sovereign funds in the Middle East have been large buyers.

Persons: Aly, Effie Vasilopoulos, Sidley, Steven Luk, Erin Wu, Wong Kok Hoi, Wong, Summer Zhen, Tom Westbrook, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: REUTERS, Seven, Reuters, FountainCap Research & Investment, OP Investment Management, POLITICO, Big U.S, ' Pension, California State Teachers, APS, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, Shenzhen, China, HONG KONG, Seven China, U.S, Asia, Pacific, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Texas, Singapore, Middle Eastern

☆ Opinion: Trump and the upside-down world
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. CNN —The title on the cover of Cass R. Sunstein’s 2021 book, “This is not normal,” is printed upside down. The beginning of a Trump-backed House Republican inquiry into impeaching President Joe Biden with no clear evidence of his wrongdoing. A last-ditch move Saturday kept federal agencies funded for 45 days while putting more aid to Ukraine in jeopardy. Bill Bramhall/Tribune Content AgencyOn Monday, a New York judge found Trump and his adult sons liable for insurance and bank fraud and canceled the Trump Organization’s business certification.

Persons: Cass R, ” Sunstein, Ronald Reagan, “ Donald Duck, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, “, ”, Kevin McCarthy’s, Clay Jones, Mike Lawler, Rosa Cruz, Rob Rosenthal, Brian Riedl, Walt Handelsman, Biden, MAGA, John Avlon, ’, Bill Bramhall, Frida Ghitis, —, Ghitis, Phil Hands, Julian Zelizer, Steven Lubet, Judge Chutkan, Dean Obeidallah, Menendez, Hal Boyd, Sen, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, Scott, ” Scott, Lyndon, “ you’ve, ” Jeff Yang, Chris Christie’s, ‘, Donald Duck ’, Mike Pence’s, Walter Mondale, Nikki Haley’s, South Carolina Sen, Vivek Ramaswamy, TikTok, whittling, Haley, ” Sophia Nelson, ” Lisa Benson, GoComics.com, James Antle III, Todd Graham, David Axelrod, Musa al, Republicans –, –, Nick Anderson, Agency Cassidy, Evelyn Hockstein, Cassidy Hutchinson, Nicole Hemmer, Hutchinson, …, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Liz Cheney, Alexander Butterfield, Melissa S, Jason L, Riley, Jill Filipovic’s, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Peter Bergen, Kennedy, Vladimir Putin, Brian Bowen Smith, ABC Gerry Turner, Deborah Carr, Gerry Turner, Turner, ” Don’t, Jill Filipovic, Dianne Feinstein, Matthew F, West Point Vincent, David A, Adam Larson, Michael D, Smith, Travis, Taylor Dana Summers, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, ” Rick Reilly, Colgate, Tay, Frankie de la, it’s Organizations: CNN, Republican, Ronald Reagan Presidential, Trump, Chiefs, Department of Labor, Wesleyan University, Agency, MAGA Republican, Pew Research Center, NBC, Republicans, GOP, “, Florida Gov, New, New Jersey Gov, Democratic, UAW, Tribune, White House, Legislative Affairs, White, Street, ” RFK, ABC, Chicago, Corps, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Washington Post, NFL Locations: Milwaukee, Simi Valley , California, Ukraine, New York, Washington, Tempe , Arizona, New Jersey, Cupp, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Michigan , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Gharbi, West Point

☆ E.U. Law Sets the Stage for a Clash Over Disinformation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Steven Lee Myers | More About Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A far-right leader posted on Facebook a photograph of refugees in Slovakia doctored to include an African man brandishing a machete. As Slovakia heads toward an election on Saturday, the country has been inundated with disinformation and other harmful content on social media sites. What is different now is a new European Union law that could force the world’s social media platforms to do more to fight it — or else face fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s revenue. The law, the Digital Services Act, is intended to force social media giants to adopt new policies and practices to address accusations that they routinely host — and, through their algorithms, popularize — corrosive content. If the measure is successful, as officials and experts hope, its effects could extend far beyond Europe, changing company policies in the United States and elsewhere.

Organizations: Facebook, European Union, Digital Services Locations: Slovakia, Egypt, Europe, United States

☆ Evergrande's debt revamp roadblock hits China property investors' sentiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China Evergrande Group's logo is seen on its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, Sept. 26, 2021. "Its debt restructuring plan is now stuck and can't go any further," said Steven Leung, sales director at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong. Evergrande's offshore debt restructuring involves a total of $31.7 billion, which includes bonds, collateral and repurchase obligations, potentially making it one of the world's biggest such exercises. "Concern over the financial health (of developers) still clouds the property sector, especially those smaller property developers with high gearing but very few property projects on hand," Leung said. The latest roadblock in Evergrande's debt restructuring plan opens a new front for the developer just a week after police detained some staff at its wealth management unit, sending its shares slumping.

Persons: Aly, Group's, Hengda, Hong, Steven Leung, UOB Kay Hian, Leung, Evergrande, Donny Kwok, Anne Marie Roantree, Sumeet Chatterjee, Lincoln, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, HK, Hengda, Estate Group Co, China Oceanwide Holdings, National Bureau of Statistics, Thomson Locations: China, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, HONG KONG, firming, Seng, Hong Kong, Bermuda

☆ Exclusive: U.S. FDA found lapses at Novo's main U.S. factory in May 2022 -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Signage is seen outside of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, U.S., August 29, 2020. A Form 483 is a type of agency report containing "observations" that FDA inspectors "deem to be objectionable". The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, but usually does not comment on inspections. The report from the May 2022 inspection shows that FDA officials found the factory had failed to include one type of bacteria, abbreviated as B. cepacia, on its list of "objectionable organisms". Analysts at Barclays and Jefferies said in notes this week that, although investors may be concerned by news of potential manufacturing issues, they saw minimal impact on Novo's production of semaglutide.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Clayton, Jefferies, Steven Lynn, Maggie Fick, Josephine Mason, Mark Potter Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, FDA, REUTERS, Novo Nordisk, Reuters, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Barclays, Manufacturing, Thomson Locations: White Oak , Maryland, U.S, North America, Clayton , North Carolina

☆ Supply chains moving out of China could create new winners in the Southeast Asian middle-class, says an official
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Global supply chains moving away from China is an opportunity for Southeast Asia, said one Malaysian minister. Southeast Asia countries could take the chance to attract manufacturing investments, he said. Liew Chin Tong, the deputy minister of investment, trade, and industry in Malaysia, thinks supply chains moving to other parts of Asia isn't exactly a bad thing. Liew's comments came amid intense global discussions on the future of supply chains following disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Manufacturers are now allowing processes to have some breathing room in what's known as the "just-in-case" supply chain model because "they want resiliency" in the supply chains, Long added.

Persons: Liew Chin Tong, Liew, Liew's, Steven Long, Long, Donald Trump, Biden Organizations: Service, Milken Institute, Asia, Intel, Manufacturers, China Locations: China, Southeast Asia, Malaysian, Wall, Silicon, Malaysia, Asia, Milken Institute Asia, Singapore, Asia Pacific, Japan, Washington, Beijing

☆ Samoa name former Australia star Leali'ifano to start against Chile
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Lawrence White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Rules change means former Wallabies flyhalf eligibleSamoa target Chile clash as most winnable Pool D gameFormer All Blacks Luatua and Sopoaga also featureTOULOUSE, France, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Samoa have selected 35-year-old Christian Leali'ifano, who scored the most points for Australia at the 2019 World Cup, as flyhalf in their opening Pool D clash against Chile in Bordeaux on Saturday. Samoa are taking advantage of a relaxation in World Rugby's eligibility rules, which means players who stand down for three years from appearing for one country can then play for another for which they qualify. That means they can also field former All Blacks Steven Luatua, who starts at number eight, and the versatile Lima Sopoaga as a replacement back. Former Highlanders and Wasps player Sopoaga can play at flyhalf or fullback and, while New Zealand-born, qualifies for Samoa through his family background. Samoa will target Chile, the lowest ranked team at the tournament, as their most winnable game in a pool also containing England, Argentina and Japan as they look to progress from the pool stage for the first time since 1999.

Persons: Sopoaga, Leali'ifano, Blacks Steven Luatua, Theo McFarland, James Lay, Seilala Lam, Michael Alaalatoa, Chris Vui, Agaese Seu, Fritz Lee, Steven Luatua, Jonathan Taumateine, Nigel Ah, Danny Toala, Duncan Paia'aua, Jordan, Paul Alo, Emile, Sam Slade, Sa Jordan, Ed Fidow, Lawrence White, Ken Ferris Organizations: Wallabies, Blacks, Australia, Chile, Saturday, Samoa, Lima, Former Highlanders, Wasps, flyhalf, The Pacific Islanders, English, Saracens, Manu, Junior, Jordan Lay, Lima Sopoaga, Thomson Locations: Samoa, Chile, TOULOUSE, France, Bordeaux, New Zealand, England, Argentina, Japan, Fiji, Lima

When wildfires swept across Maui last month with destructive fury, China’s increasingly resourceful information warriors pounced. The disaster was not natural, they said in a flurry of false posts that spread across the internet, but was the result of a secret “weather weapon” being tested by the United States. For China — which largely stood on the sidelines of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections while Russia ran hacking operations and disinformation campaigns — the effort to cast the wildfires as a deliberate act by American intelligence agencies and the military was a rapid change of tactics. Until now, China’s influence campaigns have been focused on amplifying propaganda defending its policies on Taiwan and other subjects. The most recent effort, revealed by researchers from Microsoft and a range of other organizations, suggests that Beijing is making more direct attempts to sow discord in the United States.

Persons: China’s Organizations: China, Microsoft Locations: Maui, United States, Russia, Taiwan, Beijing

☆ Opinion | The Straitjacket of Minority Rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One of the most influential books of the Trump years was “How Democracies Die” by the Harvard government professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Because that volume was prescient about how Donald Trump would try to rule, I was surprised to learn, in Levitsky and Ziblatt’s new book, “Tyranny of the Minority,” that they were shocked by Jan. 6. But at the time, he said, “we didn’t consider or call the Republican Party an authoritarian party. “Societal diversity, cultural backlash and extreme-right parties are ubiquitous across established Western democracies,” they write. And only in America is the coup leader likely to once again be the nominee of a major party.

Persons: Trump, Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt, ”, Donald Trump, Jan, they’ve, Levitsky, “, Ziblatt Organizations: Harvard, Republican Party Locations: United States, Levitsky, America

☆ Uber CEO says his time moonlighting as a driver showed him the company didn't pay enough attention to its drivers. It sparked an all-hands called 'Why we suck.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says driving for the company showed him a "lack of quality" with the product. "We didn't take pride in the driver product because very few of us drove," he said Wednesday. Khosrowshahi made an all-hands presentation titled "Why we suck" based on what he found as a driver. Dara Khosrowshahi had an Undercover Boss-type stint driving for Uber and delivering for Uber Eats for a period last year. "But we didn't take pride in the driver product because very few of us drove."

Persons: Dara Khosrowshahi, Khosrowshahi, Uber, frickin, COVID —, he'd, Steven Levy Organizations: Service, Uber Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York City

☆ China's Country Garden says $100 billion Malaysia project on track
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( A. Ananthalakshmi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsKUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Embattled Chinese developer Country Garden (2007.HK) said on Monday its $100-billion project in Malaysia was proceeding as planned and it had sufficient assets, despite concerns over its financial strength. Country Garden is building its largest overseas development, the massive Forest City project, across four reclaimed islands in the southern Malaysian state of Johor bordering the wealthy city state of Singapore. Malaysia's incentives should be "very positive" for Country Garden, said Steven Leung, Hong Kong-based director of UOB Kay Hian. Shares of Country Garden were up more than 8% on Monday.

Persons: Aly, Anwar Ibrahim, Anwar, Loong Kok Wen, Steven Leung, UOB Kay Hian, Clare Jim, Martin Petty, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, HK, Malaysian, . Forest, Esplanade, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Singapore, Forest, Malaysian, Johor, Forest City, Hong Kong

☆ Evergrande loses $2 bln in value as trade resumes; extends creditor voting
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Its Hong Kong listed shares plunged 79% to HK0.35 in the afternoon session, narrowing losses from 87% at the opening. Market capitalisation shrank to HK$4.6 billion ($586.38 million from HK$21.8 billion ($2.78 billion) from when it last traded. Its units, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (0708.HK) and Evergrande Property Services Group (6666.HK), have both resumed trading in the past month after a 16 month halt. The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. ($1 = 7.8442 Hong Kong dollars)($1 = 7.2834 Chinese yuan renminbi)($1 = 7.8447 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Clare Jim; Additional reporting by Donny Kwok Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Evergrande, Steven Leung, UOB Kay Hian, Aly, homebuyers, Clare Jim, Donny Kwok, Kim Coghill, Christopher Cushing Organizations: China Evergrande, HK, Hong, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Energy Vehicle Group, Evergrande Property Services, China Evergrande Group, REUTERS, Prism Hong, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, China's, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Prism Hong Kong, Shanghai

☆ China Evergrande loses $2.4 bln in value as trade resumes after 17 months
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company logo is seen on the headquarters of China Evergrande Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China September 26, 2021. Next month, courts will decide on Evergrande's plan to restructure almost $32 billion worth of offshore debt obligations. Its Hong Kong-listed units, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group (0708.HK) and Evergrande Property Services Group (6666.HK) have both resumed trading in the past month after a 16 month halt. The resumption of trading in all three companies is crucial for Evergrande Group because its offshore debt restructuring plan includes swapping part of the debt into equity-linked instruments backed by them. ($1 = 7.8435 Hong Kong dollars)($1 = 7.8442 Hong Kong dollars)($1 = 7.2834 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Clare Jim; Additional reporting by Donny Kwok Editing by Kim Coghill and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aly, HONG KONG, Steven Leung, UOB Kay Hian, homebuyers, Evergrande, Clare Jim, Donny Kwok, Kim Coghill, Christopher Cushing Organizations: China Evergrande Group, REUTERS, China Evergrande, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Evergrande, HK, Energy Vehicle Group, Evergrande Property Services, Evergrande Group, Prism Hong, Thomson Locations: China, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, HONG, HK, China's, Hong Kong, Prism Hong Kong, Shanghai, Cayman

☆ Opinion: Why Trump’s January 6 defense is even worse than it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Anna Lee | Opinion Steven Lubet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Given that, Trump’s lawyers may well advise him to stay off the witness stand and avoid the risks of cross examination — but demure silence is hardly in his nature. In Trump’s cross examination, however, the prosecutors would be able to confront him with his false statements one after another, seamlessly telling their entire story of Trump’s duplicity in his own words. The lawyers, some of whom have been identified as unindicted co-conspirators, could assert the Fifth Amendment for themselves, but that would just undermine Trump’s defense. Even assuming there are still employees willing to stand by him, however, Trump’s cronies would not exactly be the most convincing witnesses. Although there would be a hearsay exception for statements showing Trump’s “state of mind,” that would only allow the witnesses to testify to Trump’s actual words.

Persons: Steven Lubet, Williams, Donald Trump, Trump, ” Steven Lubet Randy Belice, John Lauro, “, ”, general’s, Mike Pence’s, Jean Carroll’s, Lauro, —, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Pence, confidentially, Trump’s Organizations: Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, CNN, NBC, New, NPR, Twitter, Facebook, White House, Trump Locations: Washington, United States, Northwestern, New York, Georgia, Trump’s “

☆ Tech's broken promises: Streaming is now just as expensive and confusing as cable. Ubers cost as much as taxis. And the cloud is no longer cheap.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The various bundles are now as annoyingly confusing as cable, and cost basically the same. The Financial Times recently reported that a basket of the top US streaming services will cost $87 this fall, compared with $73 a year ago. Cloud promises are being brokenFinally, there's the cloud, which promised cheaper and more secure computing for companies. In the roughly five years since going public, the company has spent about $3 billion on cloud services from Google and AWS. So, cloud services connected to the internet are great for everyone, except Google?

Persons: we're, Uber, Lyft, Steven Levy, Dara Khosrowshahi, Khosrowshahi, Slack, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Morning, Netflix, Disney, Wall Street, Paramount, Showtime, Financial Times, Tacoma International, Microsoft, Google, CNBC Locations: New York City, Seattle

☆ This story of when Steve Jobs 'blew up' over a photographer is a classic example of what his biographer called 'Bad Steve'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Steve Jobs apparently "blew up" because he was unhappy with a photographer ahead of iMac's release. Levy writes that Jobs also was also unsure of a different photographer, but eventually was won over. A quarter of a century ago, in 1998, Steve Jobs announced the iMac — a piece of technology that reverberated across the personal computer industry and aided Apple's comeback. Jobs didn't calm down until Clow showed Jobs that the colors were in fact, correct, the biographer wrote in his book. Andy Cunningham, for example, told Insider that Jobs fired her "about five times."

Persons: Steve Jobs, Steven Levy, Levy, Jobs, Apple's, Moshe Brakha, Madonna, Brakha, Walter Isaacson, Apple, Lee Clow, Isaacson, Clow, Andy Cunningham, Cunningham Organizations: Morning, NeXT, PR, Apple, Beastie, Grammy Museum, Jobs, Pixar Locations: Los Angeles

☆ CBS News names Wendy McMahon as new chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CBS News on Monday named Wendy McMahon as its CEO and president. The role expands McMahon's prior role as co-president to having solo oversight over CBS News and its stations. McMahon will be in charge of all of CBS News' broadcast and streaming operations, as well as its 27 local TV stations, 14 local streaming channels and syndication programming. She'll also oversee content licensing to TV stations and the division's national ad sales business. McMahon will was also named president of CBS Media Ventures.

Persons: Wendy McMahon, McMahon, Neeraj Khemlani, Khemlani, Simon, Simon & Schuster, She'll, Drew Barrymore, CBS Newspath, Steven LoCascio, LoCascio Organizations: CBS, CBS News, Sunday, Simon &, Paramount, KKR, CBS Radio, CBS Media Ventures

A small town in Kansas has become a battleground over the First Amendment, after the local police force and county sheriff’s deputies raided the office of the Marion County Record. Raids of news organizations are exceedingly rare in the United States, with its long history of legal protections for journalists. At the Record, a family-owned paper with a circulation of about 4,000, the police seized computers, servers and cellphones of reporters and editors. They also searched the home of the publication’s owner and semiretired editor as well as the home of a city councilwoman. The searches, conducted on Friday, appeared to be linked to an investigation into how a document containing information about a local restaurateur found its way to the local newspaper — and whether the restaurant owner’s privacy was violated in the process.

Persons: Bryan Carmody, Jeff Adachi Organizations: Marion County Locations: Kansas, Marion, United States, Wichita, San Francisco

In this article TSLA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTThe Tesla Motors Inc. Model X sport utility vehicle (SUV). The car or its computer was suddenly online in a Southern region of war-torn Ukraine, he found by opening up his Tesla app and using a geolocation feature. CNBC found that after the car was totaled, online auction site Copart listed it for sale, according to website listings. "Virtually all of the vehicles that are totaled will end up at a salvage auction," he said. One online auction website that specializes in such sales estimated the winning bid for the vehicle would be between $27,400 and $29,400.

Persons: David Paul Morris, Jay Yarow, Yarow, Ken Tindell, —, Tindell, Copart, Mike Dunne, Steven Lang, Lang Organizations: Tesla Motors Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Drake, Twitter, Canis Labs, Overseas, General Motors Locations: U.S, Southern, Ukraine, New Jersey, Norway

☆ Sweden Is Not Staying Neutral in Russia’s Information War
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Steven Lee Myers | More About Steven Lee Myers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Facing a tsunami of disinformation about the treatment of Muslims that has in recent months fueled protests from Stockholm to Baghdad, Sweden decided it needed to fight back. It turned to the Psychological Defense Agency, a part of the Ministry of Defense that its government created last year. The agency has become the first line of defense for a country facing a sustained information attack from abroad. The country’s leaders are borrowing from an old Cold War strategy to steel the country’s 10 million people for the possibility of “total war” with the Soviet Union. The outrage has already had an impact: delaying Sweden’s accession to NATO because of objections by another member, Turkey.

Organizations: Psychological Defense Agency, Ministry of Defense, Kremlin, NATO Locations: Stockholm, Baghdad, Sweden, Soviet Union, Soviet, Russia, Turkey

☆ Grimes says her 3-year-old son with Elon Musk no longer plays with toy rockets because he gets upset if they're not 'anatomically correct'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Grimes told Wired that her son with Elon Musk is a "little engineer" who is obsessed with space. X Æ A-Xii, who is three, gets upset when his toy rockets are not "anatomically correct," she said. Grimes said she's stopped giving toy rockets to her 3-year-old son X Æ A-Xii, who she shares with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, because he gets upset if they're not "anatomically correct." Grimes previously tweeted that their son gets frustrated when playing with toy rockets. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images"She's a little engineer too," Grimes told Wired about her daughter.

Persons: Grimes, Elon Musk, she's, they're, Wired's Steven Levy, he's, Claire Boucher, X, —, Musks, Robyn Beck, Musk, Insider's Julia Black, Shivon Zilis Organizations: Wired, SpaceX, Getty, Neuralink Locations: Hawthorne , California

☆ The stablecoin market has shrunk this year while bitcoin has rallied — What investors should know
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Bitcoin is up more than 75% this year, but the market capitalization for stablecoins has dwindled during the same period. "This is unusual as often the market capitalization of stablecoin increases during rallies and decreases during downturns, matching the trend of the overall crypto market," JPMorgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos said in a note Thursday. "An explanation for the decline of the stablecoin market may be due to investors preferring the higher returns of bitcoin and Ethereum or even traditional assets (benefiting from a rise in interest rates)." In July, it hit an all-time high of $83.8 billion and now accounts for 68.5% of the overall stablecoin market. Tether's prominence Instead of focusing on declines in USDC, investors could point to Tether's growth as evidence of stablecoin inflows, for example.

Persons: Bitcoin, Steven Alexopoulos, bitcoin, USDC, Steven Lubka, Swan, David Wells, Coinbase, Lubka, Michael Bloom Organizations: U.S ., JPMorgan, Drivers, Bank, U.S, Services, Enclave Markets, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission Locations: New York, Silicon, SVB, U.S, USDC

☆ Uber CEO balks after a reporter tells him the cost of his 2.9-mile Uber ride: 'Oh my God. Wow.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The price of an Uber ride can catch you off guard — even if you're the company's CEO. Uber prices have surged in recent years due to inflation and a pandemic-era driver shortage. Wired editor-at-large Steven Levy took a 2.95-mile Uber ride from downtown New York City to the West Side to meet Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. When asked to estimate the cost of the ride, Khosrowshahi put it at "twenty bucks." When Levy first tried to book an Uber ride for the interview, the price was $20 higher, he said.

Persons: —, Dara Khosrowshahi, Steven Levy, Uber, Khosrowshahi, Levy, it's, Lyft, Uber's Organizations: CNBC, Rakuten Intelligence, UCLA Labor Center Locations: New York City

Russian propaganda is spreading into the world’s video games. In Minecraft, the immersive game owned by Microsoft, Russian players re-enacted the battle for Soledar, a city in Ukraine that Russian forces captured in January, posting a video of the game on their country’s most popular social media network, VKontakte. A channel on World of Tanks, a multiplayer warfare game, commemorated the 78th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in May with a recreation of the Soviet Union’s parade of tanks in Moscow in 1945. On Roblox, the popular gaming platform, a user created an array of Interior Ministry forces in June to celebrate the national holiday, Russia Day. These games and adjacent discussion sites like Discord and Steam are becoming online platforms for Russian agitprop, circulating to new, mostly younger audiences a torrent of propaganda that the Kremlin has used to try to justify the war in Ukraine.

Persons: Vladimir V Organizations: Microsoft, Soviet, Interior Ministry Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Nazi Germany, Moscow, Russia, Crimea

☆ Insight: Wegovy weight-loss injection factory plagued by sterile-safety failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Microbial contamination of drugs injected into the body, rather than swallowed, can be deadly, the people said - although the FDA inspectors didn't report any signs of this sort of contamination at the Brussels factory. In both visits, the FDA inspectors found Catalent staff had repeatedly failed to investigate why equipment was malfunctioning. BLINDSIDED BY BOOMING DEMANDWithin months of launching Wegovy, Novo Nordisk was overwhelmed by demand in America, and told shareholders that its initial supply would not keep pace. From December that year and throughout 2022, Novo repeatedly pushed out the timeline for when the supply constraints would end. In late December 2022, Novo announced all five dose strengths were available again in the United States.

Persons: Wegovy, Catalent, Eli Lilly, LLY.N, Susan Bain, Karsten Munk Knudsen, Ambre James, Brown, James, Knudsen didn't, Steven Lynn, Lynn, David Talmage, didn't, Novo, Maggie Fick, Vincent Flasseur, Michele Gershberg Organizations: U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Reuters, FDA, Novo Nordisk, University of Southern, Novo executives, Novo, U.S, Manufacturing, Parenteral Drug Association, Thomson Locations: U.S, Brussels, Danish, University of Southern California, Wegovy, Novo, America, United States

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