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☆ George Santos — who claimed he was Jewish — wrote a Facebook comment in 2011 joking about Hitler, 'the Jews' and Black people
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Chris Panella | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

George Santos reportedly wrote Facebook comments over a decade ago joking about Hitler. Santos, who would later claim to be Jewish, has been the subject of a variety of scandals related to his past. Santos' office declined to comment on the Patch report. According to Patch, Santos commented on a friend's photo of an apparent military salute in March 2011: "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! Dum"George Santos' office declined to comment.

☆ The sister of a Russian prisoner who fought and died in Ukraine didn't even know her brother was in the war until a reporter told her
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Svitlana Holyk didn't know her brother had fought and died in Ukraine until reporters contacted her. Holyk also didn't know her brother had been imprisoned and joined the Wagner prisoner army. Svitlana Holyk told Reuters that she believed her brother, Yury Danilyuk, was working somewhere near Russia's Arctic north and had last heard from him in 2016. "I suspected then that something had happened, that he might have some troubles that he did not want to or could not talk about for some reason," Holyk told Reuters. Reuters reported that in the last six months, many Russian prisoners had been offered a pardon if they fought in the Ukraine war.

☆ Florida wants its strict race and gender law to influence how an AP class on Black history is taught nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The College Board announced Tuesday that it would be reworking its AP African American Studies course. Florida's education department said it "expects" the College Board to change the course nationwide to reflect Florida's law. Queer theory. Now, who would say that an important part of black history is queer theory? The AP African American Studies course will be offered nationwide and was previously piloted at 60 high schools.

☆ Rural China is running out of coffins because COVID-19 is rampant — and the cost of funerals is skyrocketing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rural areas in China are running out of coffins amid a COVID-19 outbreak, the BBC reported. There's no official COVID-19 death count or estimate in some rural areas in China. One villager told BBC that funeral industry workers were "earning a small fortune." One doctor who operates a small clinic in rural china told BBC that he is hopeful the worst is over and that most of the residents in his town had already caught COVID-19. But there is a concern that more COVID-19 deaths are still to come, the BBC reported.

☆ U.S. securities regulator awards whistleblowers more than $28 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday said it has awarded a whistleblower payout of more than $28 million to joint tipsters who shared "critical information" for one of the agency's enforcement actions. The whistleblowers, who were not identified, provided information that prompted the opening of an SEC investigation and ultimately to a successful action, the agency said. The SEC did not disclose which enforcement action was involved. The SEC has paid more than $1.3 billion in over 300 awards to individuals for their information through fiscal 2022, the agency said in November. Its largest-ever payout of $114 million went to a single tipster in October 2020.

☆ The mysterious iron ball at the center of the Earth may have stopped spinning and reversed direction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The Earth's inner core may have recently stopped rotating and reversed direction, a new study found. Published in "Nature Geoscience" this week, the peer-reviewed research suggests that the solid inner core of the Earth could experience changes in its rotation every several decades. The inner core, which is mostly composed of pure, solid iron, is long thought to have rotated, differing from the liquid outer core and the other layers of the Earth. The study may help shed further light on the mysterious nature of the inner core and how it interacts with Earth's other layers. Please check back for updates.

☆ Tucker Carlson does a victory lap after M&M's cancels its 'spokescandies' following conservative backlash over the green one's shoes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Loading Something is loading. In the segment, Carlson recapped his show's coverage of the ongoing rebrand of the M&M's mascots and criticized coverage from other news outlets. "There is a lot of outrage over the end of frumpy, plus-sized, and lesbian M&Ms," Carlson also tweeted. M&M's announced a pause on the brand's spokescandies in a statement on Twitter Monday, writing: "In the last year, we've made some changes to our beloved spokescandies. Carlson previously criticized the brand's redesigned mascots, calling the brown M&M "less sexy" without her stilettos and slamming the rebranding of the green M&M from her go-go boots to sneakers.

☆ Influential evangelical Franklin Graham said he wouldn't be endorsing Trump in the primaries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Evangelical pastor Franklin Graham said he will not endorse Trump in the 2024 GOP primaries. Graham told CBS News he won't support Trump or any candidate in "until after the primaries." Other evangelical pastors, like Robert Jeffress, also declined to endorse Trump in primaries. Graham told CBS News at the March for Life rally in Washington, DC, on Friday that he would not support any candidate until after the primaries. "I'm just not going to get involved in supporting this one over that one," he told CBS News.

☆ Bloomberg to pay $5 mln to settle SEC charges related to fixed-income valuations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Bloomberg failed to disclose to customers of its BVAL service that its daily price valuations for fixed-income securities could be based on a single data input from at least 2016 to October 2022, the SEC said in a statement. Bloomberg did not admit or deny the SEC's charges and a spokesperson for the company declined to comment. While it found no evidence Bloomberg listed any erroneous prices, the agency said there were instances when its valuations were not derived in accordance with its stated methodologies. For a "very small fraction of total reported valuations", Bloomberg determined prices of certain fixed income securities based on "uncorroborated single broker quotes", the SEC's order said. The SEC "will hold service providers, such as Bloomberg, accountable for misrepresentations that impact investors," said Osman Nawaz, chief of the SEC enforcement division's complex financial products unit.

☆ M&M's says its killing its 'spokescandies' after conservatives were outraged that the green one didn't wear go-go boots anymore
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An M&Ms spokesperson said that Maya Rudolph's first appearance as the brand's spokesperson and "Chief of Fun" will be in the upcoming Super Bowl LVII M&M advertising campaign. "Maya will serve as the brand's new spokesperson, allowing the colorful cast of M&Ms spokescandies to step away and embrace a new path to pursue other passions," the spokesperson said. The brand began making changes to its walking, talking M&M's characters early last year, replacing the shoes of both the brown and green female M&M's. Most notably, Mars Wrigley, the maker of the popular chocolate candy, replaced the green M&M's high-heeled go-go boots with sneakers. By December 2020, the new mascot was deemed a fully grown peanut by December 2020, Esquire reported at the time.

☆ NBA roundup: Thunder win on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's late shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Nnaji was fouled on an offensive rebound and hit two free throws to tie it at 99-all with 30.2 seconds left before Gilgeous-Alexander's late heroics. Clippers 112, Mavericks 98Kawhi Leonard had 30 points and nine rebounds, and visiting Los Angeles dominated the fourth quarter in a win over Dallas. Paul George scored 21 points and Norman Powell added 19 for Los Angeles, which outscored the Mavericks 33-19 in the final period. New Orleans' CJ McCollum took a 3-pointer with 7.6 seconds left that would've given the Pelicans a 99-98 lead, but the shot missed off the front of the rim. Dennis Schroder added 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds as Los Angeles won its second straight game.

☆ Videos show a green meteor lighting up the sky and waking people up with a sonic boom over Oklahoma
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Multiple videos show a large green meteor in Oklahoma skies early Friday morning. Some residents also reported a loud sonic boom shortly after seeing the meteor. According to 2 News Oklahoma, dozens of residents called in after seeing the meteor. Fox 23 also shared multiple videos of the meteor, reporting that some residents felt their house shake. KJRH Chief Meteorologist Mike Collier posted more videos on Twitter of the meteor, which includes a rumbling sonic boom from one home security camera.

☆ Crypto firm Nexo Capital agrees to pay $45 mln to settle U.S. SEC, state charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Nexo Capital Inc has agreed to pay $45 million in penalties to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulators that the crypto firm failed to register its crypto asset lending product, the SEC said on Thursday. Nexo has agreed to pay a $22.5 million penalty to the SEC and another $22.5 million in fines to state regulators in relation to its Earn Interest Product to U.S. investors, the SEC said in a statement. Nexo began to offer its lending product around June 2020, allowing U.S. investors to give their crypto assets to the company in exchange for a promise of interest, the SEC said. The company ceased offering the product to new investors after the SEC announced similar charges against another company in February 2022. Last week, the SEC sued Genesis Global Capital LLC and Gemini Trust Company LLC for their lending product.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities said on Wednesday they have arrested the majority shareholder and cofounder of Hong Kong-registered virtual currency exchange Bitzlato Ltd for allegedly processing $700 million in illicit funds. It also broke rules requiring significant vetting of customers and failed to meet requirements aimed at preventing money laundering, authorities said. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration 1 2Prosecutors said Bitzlato knowingly serviced U.S. customers and conducted transactions with U.S.-based exchanges using U.S. online infrastructure. "Identifying Bitzlato as a primary money laundering concern effectively renders the exchange an international pariah," Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said at the news conference. "None of the mainstream financial institutions will deal with an entity identified as a primary money laundering concern," she said.

The CFTC already allows self-certification for exchanges to list contracts for other products, such as commodities. Lawmakers were considering a similar process as part of proposed crypto legislation being hammered out last year. But CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero said the process would open the door to "regulatory arbitrage" as some crypto assets are likely securities that need to be overseen by a different agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Federal prosecutors have brought charges against three of FTX's former top executives, accusing them defrauding investors and misappropriating customer funds. "Gatekeepers should have seriously questioned the operational environment at FTX in the lead-up to its meltdown,” she said.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities said on Wednesday they have arrested the majority shareholder and cofounder of Hong Kong-registered virtual currency exchange Bitzlato Ltd for allegedly processing hundreds of million of dollars in illicit funds. The action, done in conjunction with the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and foreign authorities, marked the first major action by the Justice Department's National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Network. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it has prohibited certain transmittals of funds involving Bitzlato by any covered financial institution after labeling Bitzlato Ltd a "money laundering concern" related to Russian illicit finance. By midday Wednesday, Bitzlato's website was replaced by a notice saying that the service had been seized by French authorities "as part of a coordinated international law enforcement action." Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Raphael Satter, Kanishka Singh, Chris Prentice Writing by Chris Prentice; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ George Santos says his mom was at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Records show she wasn't even in the country, the Forward reports.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Warren Rojas | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A new batch of government records contradict another part of Rep. George Santos' life story. The embattled New York Republican claims his mother was in a World Trade Center tower on 9/11. Embattled GOP Rep. George Santos says his mother was in her office in the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but according to The Forward, immigration records show she wasn't even in the country at the time. A screenshot of George Santos' campaign website showing his claim that his mother was at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. According to the Forward-reviewed immigration records tracking Fatima Devolder's travels from 1988 through 2012, Santos' mother was actually in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro on 9/11.

☆ Trump's campaign plans to push Facebook to let him back on the site — and use House Republicans' power as leverage: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Chris Panella | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump's campaign plans to leverage House Republicans' power to get his Facebook account reinstated early, according to NBC News. A Trump campaign adviser told NBC News that "keeping Trump off Facebook just looks political." Trump was suspended after the Capitol riot two years ago, with Facebook planning to review his suspension this year. A Trump adviser told NBC News that they plan to use House Republicans to pressure Meta into letting him access his account if Meta doesn't reinstate him. "If Facebook wants to have this fight, fine, but the House is leverage, and keeping Trump off Facebook just looks political," the adviser told NBC News.

☆ Hasbro delays new Dungeons & Dragons licensing rules following fan backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

CNBC obtained copies of Hasbro's reformed licensing agreements — open game license 1.1 and an FAQ section for OGL 2.0. Leaders in the Dungeons & Dragons community greeted the news of the delay with cautious optimism. The attempt to create a new game license comes as Wizards of the Coast looks capitalize on a surge in popularity of Dungeons & Dragons. Chaotic neutralThe reworking of Hasbro's open game license is not an unexpected move for the business, MKM's Handler said. There were growing concerns that the community would fracture if publishers were forced to move away from the Dungeons & Dragons game mechanics to develop their own gaming systems.

Genesis, a part of Digital Currency Group, entered into a deal with Gemini in December 2020 to offer Gemini customers the chance to loan their crypto assets to Genesis in exchange for earning interest, the SEC said. Beginning in February 2021, they raised billions of dollars' worth of crypto assets from investors, the SEC said. The firms violated securities laws through the offer and sale of crypto assets through their Gemini Earn product, the SEC said. In November 2022, Genesis told investors they could not withdraw their crypto assets as volatility in the crypto markets prompted a liquidity crunch. Gemini and other Genesis creditors have been agitating for a solution to avoid a situation similar to FTX's rapid descent into bankruptcy.

☆ Biden suggested the classified documents found in his garage were safe because it was locked with his Corvette in there
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden downplayed security concerns after classified documents were found at his Delaware home. Biden told reporters the documents were in his locked garage, not "sitting out on the street." This is the second batch of documents discovered in Biden's possession, with the first group found at his former office. When a Fox News reporter asked what Biden was thinking by keeping documents in his garage, Biden pushed back. The Justice Department is already investigating Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, for keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and allegedly obstructing investigators.

☆ NBA roundup: Bucks survive scare, finally solve Hawks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Jaren Jackson Jr. (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Steven Adams (11 points, 18 rebounds) recorded double-doubles. Jakob Poeltl (17 points, 12 rebounds) added his ninth double-double of the season. Bojan Bogdanovic supplied 27 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Killian Hayes had 18 points and nine assists. Jaden Ivey contributed 18 points and eight assists and Hamidou Diallo also scored 18 points. Immanuel Quickley scored 11 points off the bench for the Knicks, who have won five of their last six games overall.

☆ Farmers in Brazil are risking their lives to harvest açaí — but they've been left out of the profits from the trendy berry's popularity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Barbara Corbellini Duarte | Amanda Choy | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Climbing açaí trees requires this rope tool, which used to be made of plants. Kadeh FerreiraThe trunks are so thin that climbers like Lucas and his son Luis Fernando Souza de Deus have to be lightweight. The only tool they use to climb the trees is a single piece of rope called a peconha. The tool used to be made of leaves. At the top, climbers swing from the tree to grab multiple bunches of berries.

☆ U.S. SEC charges McDonald's ex-CEO for misrepresentations to investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Steve Easterbrook, CEO of McDonald's Corp., attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday charged former McDonald's Corp Chief Executive Stephen Easterbrook with making false and misleading statements to investors about the circumstances of his 2019 termination. The SEC hit Easterbrook with a five-year officer and director bar and a $400,000 civil penalty. McDonald's fired Easterbrook in November 2019 for exercising "poor judgment" by engaging in a relationship with a McDonald's employee, the SEC said. McDonald's said in a statement that the settlement reinforced the fact it held Easterbrook "accountable for his misconduct."

Senator Richard Burr said on Friday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission informed him this week it has concluded investigation concerning him with no action. U.S. authorities investigated Burr, a North Carolina lawmaker who did not seek reelection last year, for his stock trades before the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Burr denied any wrongdoing and said he relied solely on news reports to make decisions on his stock transactions. He said in January 2021 the Justice Department had closed a related probe. Reporting by Nate Raymond Additional reporting and writing by Chris Prentice, Editing by Franklin Paul and Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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