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☆ Cate Blanchett dons habit in Australian director's conversion tale
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Alicia Powell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Newcomer Aswan Reid plays the titular 9-year-old New Boy in the film by Warwick Thornton based on his own experience of walking into a church for the first time at the age of 11. "That's a genesis for a great movie," Thornton told Reuters on Saturday, before joking: "You know, written by child and directed by a grumpy old man is probably how it worked." Blanchett's nun sets about trying to convert the boy, who can seemingly heal wounds with his touch and starts bleeding from his palms, in a magical-realist conflict of spirituality. Deborah Mailman, who plays another nun, told Reuters that the film helps viewers understand the emotional gravitas of colonization: "It actually emotionally pushes you to that point of going, 'This is what it is, this is what happened.'" Reporting by Alicia Powell Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ When Jamie Dimon speaks, Wall Street listens - and he just warned of catastrophe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But on Thursday, the man with the most gravitas on Wall Street shared his take on the potentially catastrophic scenario that's just weeks away. Everyone pays attention when Jamie Dimon speaks. In an interview with Bloomberg, Dimon said he's put together a "war room" at JPMorgan to plan for contingencies around a potential US default. While Dimon doesn't anticipate the country will actually see its first-ever default, he acknowledged the clock is running down. "Markets will get volatile, maybe the stock market will go down, the Treasury markets will have their own problems."

☆ Autonomous agents are Silicon Valley's latest AI obsession. Here's why pizza-ordering bots may be coming to a computer near you soon.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"Autonomous AI agents" are AI bots that can plan and prioritize to achieve user-provided goals. However, the rise of AI agents has sparked concerns around safety and the potential for AGI. From assistants to digital friendsHowever, AI doomsdayers don't have to be too worried yet — the performance of these AI agents have often been less than stellar. Without the proper guardrails, AI agents with unrestricted access to the Internet may similarly take unanticipated steps to complete its goals, like transferring money from a bank account. And sometimes, the misuse of AI agents is intentional, rather than accidental.

☆ China's Xi appeared more relaxed than Putin in first Moscow meeting, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony before Russia - China talks in narrow format at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 21, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Byrkin/Kremlin via REUTERSMarch 21 (Reuters) - Body language experts say Chinese President Xi Jinping came across as more relaxed and commanding than his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at Monday's televised first meeting of Xi's state visit to Moscow. "If you juxtapose it with Xi, Xi is the composed statesman," she said. Putin, 70, is in fact a few months older than Xi, and has been in power more than twice as long. Leong said Xi had offered a sign that he too had been feeling some pressure, blinking unusually frequently during the sit-down.

☆ 'Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania' reviews: The villain is good, but the movie is bad
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

DisneyAre the pint-sized heroes of Disney's "Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania" enough to take on the newest — and baddest — villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Marvel Studios' "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." "Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania" held a 53% "rotten" rating from 148 reviews, as of Wednesday afternoon. "Sometimes the weight of all this responsibility causes 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' ... to buckle at the knees," O'Sullivan wrote. Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in "Ant-Man and The Wasp in Quantumania."

☆ Ex-academic forges a new career denying Trump's 2020 election loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

“The war is just getting started,” Clements told his 100,000 Telegram followers on Nov. 16. His rise in the movement began in January 2021, when a dispute with his employer, New Mexico State University, over the U.S. Capitol riot went public. ‘I will not take the jab’Clements’ swift rise in election-denier circles caused a stir at New Mexico State, where he continued to teach. Flynn co-founded the America Project, a well-capitalized right-wing group that has financed lawsuits and campaigns challenging the 2020 election results and the integrity of U.S. voting systems. One of their roles is to certify election results, which until the Trump era was typically a rubber-stamp formality.

☆ Disney succession plan is a top priority for returning CEO Bob Iger: 'People would struggle to write down three names' at the company who could step up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is back in his old job, in a move that shocked the media world. From cost cuts to streaming to a solid future succession plan, here's what they hope the CEO will tackle. Following the stunning November 20 announcement that former Disney CEO Bob Iger would be returning to his old job, the happiest place on earth might actually be Wall Street. "What I like about Bob Iger is Bob Iger has always been direct, he's been honest, he's been willing to make tough choices," Michael Nathanson, a senior research analyst and co-founder of the firm, said in a CNBC interview. Are you a Disney insider with insight to share about Bob Iger's return?

☆ The inside story of Trump’s explosive dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +15 min

“We saw everybody in the dining room get up and start applauding, and then the president entered,” Fuentes told NBC News. “He greeted us, and he invited Ye into dinner and Ye said that he wanted to bring us with him to the table. “Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes,” Ye said in the video. Giorno said she had been caught in the blast radius of the dinner with Ye and Fuentes but was an unwitting participant. About halfway to Mar-a-Lago, Giorno said in an interview, she realized that Ye, Fuentes and the other man weren’t properly attired.

☆ Bob Iger's return to Disney is fueling concern over future CEO succession plan: 'People would struggle to write down three names inside Disney' who could step up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Lucia Moses | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is back in his old job, in a move that shocked the media world. From cost cuts to streaming to a solid future succession plan, here's what they hope the CEO will tackle. Following the stunning announcement late Sunday night that former Disney CEO Bob Iger would be returning to his old job, the happiest place on earth might actually be Wall Street. "What I like about Bob Iger is Bob Iger has always been direct, he's been honest, he's been willing to make tough choices," Michael Nathanson, a senior research analyst and co-founder of the firm, said in a CNBC interview on Monday. Are you a Disney insider with insight to share about Bob Iger's return?

☆ Wall Street titan Apollo has a new class of dealmakers. Here's how 3 rose to partner while in their 30s.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Casey Sullivan | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

He persevered through the brutal all-nighters, the perplexing spreadsheets, and the temperamental bosses who walked the halls of the midtown Manhattan investment firm. At Apollo, executives tend to grow up quickly. Some of their former colleagues have tried to make more money elsewhere, such as the hedge funds run by billionaire personalities that Apollo's executives quietly root against. Associates sometimes dealt with burnout from heavy workloads and demanding bosses by escaping for a walk through Central Park to let off steam, according to the former firm associates. We're Rayman Apollo!'"

☆ Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

"We are the Underground Railroad of 'Gattaca' babies and people who want to do genetic stuff with their kids," Malcolm told me. Ellison, meanwhile, who has two children in their 30s, has reportedly resumed having kids — with his 31-year-old girlfriend. "The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children," Simone said. The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children. Before she met Malcolm, Simone was convinced she wanted to live her life single and child-free.

Nov 15 (Reuters) - FTX Trading's new CEO John J. Ray III, a lawyer tapped to lead the collapsed crypto exchange's restructuring, previously oversaw the $23 billion bankruptcy of energy firm Enron Corp and has a reputation for boosting creditor recoveries. Ray, 63, on Monday declined to comment on his initial priorities as FTX's CEO. Serving as Enron's CEO throughout its years-long bankruptcy, Ray's work resulted in major settlements with banks accused of helping Enron deceive investors, including a $1.66 billion settlement with Citigroup in 2008. Mark Lichtenstein, an attorney who worked on Enron's bankruptcy, saw many parallels between FTX and that case. "You’ve got such a meltdown, similar to Enron, sort of a run on the bank," Lichtenstein said.

☆ Namor: Marvel's watertight efforts to make him different from Aquaman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Editor’s Note: The following contains minor spoilers about “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”CNN —In “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the aquatic adversary known as Namor wastes no time establishing himself as one of those beguiling but strange characters that can polarize an audience: the ocean-dwelling deity uses conch shells like smartphones and has feathered wings on his ankles. (CNN, DC Films and Warner Bros, which produced “Aquaman,” are part of the same parent company, Warner Bros. Also known as the Sub-Mariner, Namor first appeared in comics in 1939, while DC’s Aquaman debuted in 1941. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” also had the daunting task of presenting Namor’s origins in a way that swam clear of those seen in “Aquaman,” and of doing it a movie not meant to operate solely as an origin story. But before that happens, and thanks to Mejía’s nuanced performance in “Wakanda Forever,” Namor should be able to avoid many more comparisons to other oceanic demigods, and ride his own wave into the future.

☆ ArtGee and SuperRare collaboration presents inspiring new opportunities for digital art investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Artgee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ArtGee have partnered with the crypto art marketplace SuperRare to launch their own virtual gallery. One such player operating in this growing NFT art space is ArtGee, which was founded jointly by people with expertise in blockchain currency, crypto art, and conventional fine art. One of SuperRare's main contributions to the crypto art market's development is through this quality control and its encouragement of art curation. It will examine the randomness found in blockchain technology, crypto art, and everyday life. The crypto art market is faced with many challenges, leaving many buyers to opt for a "wait and see" mentality, said Che; but NFT art also boasts an abundance of opportunities.

☆ 'Bullet Train' Repeats No. 1, 'Top Gun' Returns to Second Place as Box Office Nearly Grinds to Halt
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-14 | by ( Rebecca Rubin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

That would be one plausible explanation behind the great box office slowdown. Although three new movies opened nationwide, none were able to crack the top five on domestic charts and only two -- A24's satirical slasher "Bodies Bodies Bodies" and Lionsgate's vertigo-inducing thriller "Fall" -- managed to infiltrate the top 10. After two weeks on the big screen, the Brad Pitt-led "Bullet Train" has generated $54.4 million at the domestic box office. In eighth place, "Bodies Bodies Bodies" beat expectations with $3.2 million from 1,290 locations. That means "Maverick" is roughly $5 million away from dethroning Marvel's "Avengers: Infinity War" as the sixth-highest grossing movie in domestic box office history.

☆ The Tucker Carlson origin story
▼ + stars: | 1998-01-28 | by ( Aaron Short | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +57 min

Tucker Carlson is remembered as a provocateur and gleeful contrarian by those who knew him in his early days. It was Tucker Carlson. (Note on style: Tucker Carlson and the members of his family are referred to here by their first names to avoid confusion.) In 1979, Richard Carlson married Patricia Swanson, heiress to the Swanson frozen foods empire that perfected the frozen Salisbury steak for hassle-free dinners. Tucker Carlson attended St. George’s School, a boarding school starting at age 14.

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