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☆ Bill and Melinda Gates: Here's a look inside their 27-year marriage, from meeting at work, to spending $45 billion on philanthropy, to their 2021 divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Áine Cain | Allana Akhtar | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, announced he and his wife, Melinda, divorced in 2021. The two ran the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which had an endowment of $49.8 billion in 2019. "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," Bill Gates said in a tweet. Bill and Melinda Gates had been married since 1994, raised three kids, were worth $130.5 billion, and ran a namesake philanthropic enterprise boasting a $49.8 billion endowment. Here's a look at the marriage between Bill and Melinda:

☆ George Santos once lied that he was a producer on 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,' one of the biggest Broadway debacles of all time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. George Santos told campaign donors he produced the most expensive Broadway play of all time. But it turns out Santos was never a producer for "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," per Bloomberg. The play cost $75 million to produce and at the time, Santos was a customer service rep in Queens. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Santos told donors on the campaign trail that he was a producer on "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," a Broadway adaptation of the superhero saga. Michael Cohl, who produced the play, told Bloomberg that Santos was not a producer and that his name was nowhere on the playbill.

☆ Tyre Nichols video released: Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre NicholsPresident Joe Biden speaks at the White House on January 12, 2023. AP Photo/Andrew HarnikPresident Joe Biden spoke out on Friday moments after the release of several videos showing police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols, who died from his injuries days later. On Friday, The City of Memphis released four separate videos related to events surrounding the arrest and beating of Nichols, who died three days after being beaten during a traffic stop on January 7. Biden said in a statement that he was "outraged" by what he saw. "Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols' death," Biden said.

☆ Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

President Biden released a statement on the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols on Friday. The City of Memphis released four different graphic videos related to the incident. One video shows officers beating Nichols for minutes on end. "Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols' death," Biden said. "My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols' family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss."

☆ Feds seized a party boat, a Rolls Royce, and a motorcycle from a man accused of using COVID loans to buy his way into a Texas yacht club
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A deceased Texas man had his party boat, Rolls Royce, and yacht club membership seized by the feds. He secured the goods through a COVID PPP loan fraud scheme, seeking $23 million, feds alleged. Between April 2020 and May 2020, he received almost $1 million in PPP loans and started spending. McQuarn agreed to hand over the items he bought with some of the $23 million in COVID PPP loans he tried to secure, which included a Rolls Royce and a sizable boat. By June 2020, federal investigators had caught up to McQuarn and his associates, seizing all of the money and luxury items that they had amassed in their scheme.

☆ Biden confirms that White House cat Willow has 'no limits' and sleeps on top of his head at night
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

At a Lunar New Year reception, Biden said that Willow sleeps on top of his head at night. The Biden family adopted the cat after she jumped on stage at a 2020 campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Willow is a wild child with "no limits," and often ends up dozing off on top of his head at night, Biden told the crowd. The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's request for more information about Willow. The Bidens brought 3-year-old Willow, a gray tabby, to the White House a year ago, after the cat jumped on stage during a presidential campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

☆ This timeline shows everything we know — and what we don't — about the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and 8 other people
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alexandra Ma | Ashley Collman | Rosie Perper | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Thursday marks the three-year anniversary of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant. The eight others in the helicopter, including Bryant's daughter Gianna, also died in the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. The retired NBA star Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration investigated the crash.

☆ Fans want a popular TikToker to replace 'Rick and Morty' co-founder Justin Roiland in 'Adult Swim' series
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Mara Leighton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fans are lobbying for TikTok creator Sean Dorrough to replace Justin Roiland in 'Rick and Morty.' Fans have flooded Dorrough's accounts, tagging Adult Swim and leaving comments like "Replace Justin for Rick and Morty," and "Any calls from Adult Swim yet?" Dorrough told Insider he'd reached out to Roiland about a year ago after noticing an interview in which Roiland mentioned Dorrough's impressions. And, Dorrough told Insider, it's why he doesn't "dub a lot of cartoons." As a spokesperson previously told Insider, "Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland."

☆ Meta is letting Trump back onto Facebook and Instagram
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Donald Trump will regain access to his Facebook account in the coming weeks, Meta announced. Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, defended the decision ahead of the 2024 election. Clegg added that he hoped Trump wouldn't want to "delegitimize" the 2024 election as he did the 2020 election, should he decide to return to the platform. "Like any other Facebook or Instagram user, Mr. Trump is subject to our Community Standards," Clegg said in a statement on Meta's website. Trump lashed out at the company's decision, calling Zuckerberg and other tech leaders "sick" in an interview with Fox News that year.

☆ McCarthy kicks 2 top Democrats who spearheaded Trump impeachment efforts off of the intelligence committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy rejected two democrats' bids to be on the intelligence committee. McCarthy said that Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell were not fit to serve on the committee. The two democrats served on it from 2015 to 2019 and headed up impeachment efforts against Trump. Previously, McCarthy had argued that because of Swalwell's past association with a Chinese spy, he should not serve on the committee. He claimed that Schiff "lied to the American public" about his knowledge of the whistleblower at the center of the first impeachment proceedings.

☆ Indian police are looking into the death of a Russian sausage magnate critical of Putin's war in Ukraine, who died after an alcohol-fueled trip in the jungle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian sausage magnate Pavel Antov died in India in late December and was a longtime Putin ally. According to The Wall Street Journal, Indian police have discovered new details about the pair of deaths in late December. Russian lawmaker Pavel Antov died in Rayagada, India, two days after his friend, Vladimir Bydanov. Bydanov, who shared a room with Antov, died of a heart attack on Antov's birthday. Antov is at least the 19th Russian executive who has mysteriously perished throughout the course of the war, according to The Journal.

☆ At meetings, Proud Boys sing 'Proud of Your Boy,' a weepy ode to mom from Broadway's 'Aladdin,' documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Proud Boys are urged to sing a Broadway show tune at meetings, a new court document reveals. The song is "Proud of Your Boy," a weepy ode to making mom proud by the title character in "Aladdin." The anthem is 'Proud of Your Boy," an emotional ode to winning mom's approval from the hit musical, "Aladdin." "Do the 'Proud Boys' know their anthem was written by a gay Jew?" The Southern Poverty Law Center, which calls the Proud Boys a violent, right-wing hate group, has also noted that the song "Proud of Your Boy" inspired the group's name.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes booked a 1-way ticket to Mexico for a friend's wedding while out on bail, prosecutors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes bought a one-way ticket to Mexico last year, per prosecutors. In response, Holmes' attorney, Lance Wade, said the trip was planned prior to Holmes' conviction on January 3, 2022. "The hope was that the verdict would be different and Ms. Holmes would be able to make this trip to attend the wedding of close friends in Mexico," he wrote. The Theranos founder has sought to stay out of custody as her appeal is pending. "There are not two systems of justice — one for the wealthy and one for the poor — there is one criminal justice system in this country," government lawyers wrote in the document.

☆ Twitter auctioned off a $16,000 piece of kitchen equipment known as the 'Lamborghini of meat slicers' from its San Francisco office
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter auctioned off a number of office items from its San Francisco office this week. The auction included luxury kitchen equipment that was being sold at cut-rate prices. During the auction, Twitter's blue bird logo was sold for $100,000, and a high-end machine known as the "Lamborghini of meat slicers," was also sold. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Berkel 330M-STD Manual Fly Wheel Slicer, a top-of-the-line meat slicer used in top restaurants, was one of the items listed during the auction. The meat slicer, which sells for $16,000 at retail price, was originally listed at $7,500 at the start of the auction, and much of the luxury kitchen equipment was highly discounted, per The Chronicle.

☆ New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigns, saying the job has 'taken a lot out of me'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Charles R. Davis | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation on Thursday. Ardern governed over tumultuous times in New ZealandArdern was elected to her role in October 2017 as New Zealand's youngest prime minister, and as the third woman to serve in the position. By early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had gripped the world, positioning Ardern as a sensible leader in the face of varied policy reactions. "It's one thing to make a big decision a week, but with Covid, it was constant," Ardern told New Zealand broadcaster 1 News in April 2022. Absolutely," Ardern told 1 News.

☆ Satellite images showing thousands of craters at a battle site in eastern Ukraine capture just how intense the 'savage' artillery fight there actually is
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

New satellite imagery illustrates the Russian campaign to capture the eastern Ukrainian towns of Bakhmut and Soledar. Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies"You're talking about thousands upon thousands of artillery rounds that have been delivered between both sides," the official said. Satellite imagery showing the ongoing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces over the eastern Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. Satellite imagery showing the ongoing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces over the eastern Ukrainian towns of Soledar and Bakhmut. Satellite image ©2023 Maxar TechnologiesThe above image shows rows of crushed apartments in Soledar.

☆ The far-right wore Brazil's national soccer team jersey during anti-democratic riots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Brazilian national team's soccer jersey has been appropriated by Bolsonaro for years. When Brazil's national team won the 2019 Copa America, Bolsonaro sat squarely with the players and trophy, smiling ear to ear as he parroted the win. "The Brazilian national team shirt is a symbol of the joy of our people," the CBF tweeted on Monday. "Brazil's yellow shirts shimmered and sparkled in the blistering white sunlight of the Mexican noon — the appointed time of kick-offs to support European TV schedules." "We can't be ashamed of wearing our green and yellow shirt," da Silva said in late November, per The Guardian.

☆ Members of congress say they are unable to receive classified information as Kevin McCarthy loses 6th vote to become House speaker in 2 days
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Members of Congress are speaking out about the myriad issues caused by the House speaker vote. Following Rep. McCarthy's sixth failed bid on Wednesday, there are zero sworn members of Congress. There are currently no members of the Congress, as swearing-in ceremonies have been delayed while the quest to elect a House speaker has dragged on. And on Wednesday, several members of Congress said that the procedural hold-up and GOP infighting have restricted their access to classified information and key national security intel. By Wednesday evening, McCarthy had failed in six consecutive bids to become House speaker.

☆ AOC says she was telling Matt Gaetz the Democratic Party would 'absolutely not' rescue Kevin McCarthy's speakership bid when they were spotted chatting on the House floor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Cheryl Teh | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was spotted chatting with Matt Gaetz on the House floor on Tuesday. "McCarthy was suggesting he could get Dems to walk away to lower his threshold," Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept. Ocasio-Cortez added to Semafor that she told Gosar the same thing she told Gaetz: that her party would not be helping McCarthy out. Rebuking both Gosar and Gaetz, Greene tweeted on Tuesday that "making plans with Democrats is not what any Republican should be doing." Representatives for Gaetz, Gosar, Greene, and Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ Trump appears to be on the fence about Kevin McCarthy endorsement, says 'we'll see what happens' after 3 failed rounds of votes for House speaker
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed to gain the votes to become House majority speaker on Tuesday. McCarthy failed to gain the necessary 218 votes three times at the outset of the 118th Congress. Later, key ally Donald Trump declined to say whether he stood by his endorsement of McCarthy. McCarthy did not amass enough votes from his Republican colleagues at the outset of the 118th Congress, with 19 GOP members voting against his effort to become speaker of the GOP-led House. In December, Trump encouraged GOP holdouts to rally around McCarthy, accusing them of playing a "very dangerous game."

☆ Zelenskyy made a secret phone call to Mitch McConnell urging him to pass a provision that would give Ukraine the seized fortunes of Russian oligarchs: report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the US last week to shore up support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy called McConnell one day before the visit, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Zelenskyy urged McConnell to support a measure that ultimately passed Congress, the outlet reported. The approval of the measure may have had something to do with a secret phone call between Zelenskyy and Sen. Mitch McConnell, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Representatives for McConnell and Zelenskyy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ A Florida crypto entrepreneur bragged in the middle of his January 6 testimony about his 'legs day' personal record at the gym
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Crypto advocate Samuel Armes had an eventful interview with the January 6 committee in July 2022. In the middle of being grilled about who authored the document, Armes ended up on the floor with a leg cramp and then bragged about how much weight he had just lifted. "Sorry, I'm cramping," Armes told Rep. Zoe Lofgren during the virtual interview, per the transcript released on December 23. He acknowledged in the interview with the committee that elements of his plan were used in the lengthier "1776 returns" document he was shown. "I ended up sharing it with her on a Google Drive," he told the committee, referring to Flores.

☆ Ukraine is offering residents cash and free train rides to evacuate Kherson as Russian shelling intensifies in the city
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kherson, Ukraine, has been under a barrage of missile and rocket fire by Russian troops. Ukrainian officials are sounding the alarm, offering cash and rides for residents to leave. Six weeks ago, Ukrainian forces regained control of the southern region. In one of the most intense periods of shelling since Ukraine regained control of Kherson last month, Russian forces hit Kherson over the Christmas weekend, killing at least 10 people, and struck a maternity ward this week. Ukrainian authorities are now offering money and transportation for the remaining locals to leave, according to The New York Times.

☆ GA Sec of State Brad Raffensperger said his office ghosted Lindsey Graham after the senator questioned the state's recount during the 2020 election
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ghosted Sen. Lindsey Graham in November 2020. In a newly-released transcript, Raffensperger said Graham made an odd request during Georgia's recount. During the call with Graham, Raffensperger said that there hadn't been an outright ask to find additional votes like Trump requested in January 2021 but maintained the conversation was ominous. In January 2021, Raffensperger was asked by former President Donald Trump to "find" 11,780 votes to overturn the state's 2020 election results, a move which Raffensperger said led to months of death threats to him and his family. In an interview with Insider, Raffensperger maintained that election misinformation was the biggest threat to democracy in the US.

☆ Former WH aide says Trump allies helped deliver a ‘dolly of boxes’ full of what may have been classified intelligence documents to the Situation Room in the final days of Trump’s presidency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former WH aide detailed the flow of intelligence documents to the Situation Room during Trump's last days. In a new transcript, she described how Trump allies including Meadows sought boxes of documents from congress. "On December 31st — or December 30th — we got all the documents, Hutchinson told the committee in a May 17, 2022 interview. "And why would they need to bring them to the White House to look into them?" "I don't know," she answered, maintaining that she never took part in the meetings between the White House officials and Republican allies, despite her top security clearance.

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