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☆ Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's ties to billionaire George Soros are not as close as Republicans claim
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

As Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg moves to bring an expected indictment against Donald Trump, Republicans lawmakers leaping to the former president's defense have fixated on what they call Bragg's ties to billionaire George Soros. There is also no indication the Open Society Policy Center's donation was directed toward an eventual Color of Change campaign to influence Bragg. The funding from Soros' nonprofit was not targeted toward the campaign to support McCarter, the Color of Change official told CNBC. Open Society's website says the group's donation was intended "to support [Color of Change]'s social welfare activities" over the course of five years. Months before Bragg won a 2021 Democratic primary on his way to becoming Manhattan DA, George Soros' son, Jonathan, and his wife, combined to donate $20,000 to Bragg's campaign, state records show.

☆ Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to test Starlink and T-Mobile's cell phone service this year in an attempt to eliminate dead zones worldwide, exec says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Starlink and T-Mobile will test their service in 2023, SpaceX exec Jonathan Hofeller said, per CNBC. This could soon bring cellular connectivity to Americans in areas with no cell service. Hofeller didn't give a specific date for testing the cell service in 2023, according to the report. SpaceX and T-Mobile announced in August they were teaming up to provide mobile users phone service via Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit. He also confirmed Tesla vehicles would have this feature in the future so they could connect directly to Starlink satellites for emergency calls and texts.

☆ Dutch warn against internet toll as EU looks to Big Tech to fund networks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other operators have long lobbied for a Big Tech contribution and have found an ally in Breton, a former chief executive at Orange. These companies account for more than half of data internet traffic, according to telecom operators. Adriaansens said the Dutch government had commissioned a study by economic consultancy Oxera which showed the drawbacks of such a tax. "I think that there is this concern that our infrastructure is not able to meet our expectations and our ambitions. According to Oxera's study, Europe's telecoms providers have not been burdened with higher network costs despite the strong growth in internet data traffic.

☆ George Santos's elaborate lies has seen the Congressman compared with a 19th-century huckster. History bears that out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Allegra Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

My obsession is summed up pretty well by a tweet from @blagojevism: "George Santos is essentially a 19th-century character. Media depicting these characters found inspiration from real life: in a time before digital records and facial recognition, opportunity was everywhere. George Santos's brand of full-throated scammery is particularly American, something that belongs to this country as much as Abraham Lincoln and apple pie. The phrase "and if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you" comes from his legendary real-life method. But Santos, so far, has avoided jail time, giving him at least one leg up over the Yellow Kid.

This is their third trip to the NFL title game in four years and Kansas City fans can be heard throughout Phoenix singing the "tomahawk chop" chant. It is a jarring contrast to the displays of Native American culture and pride that Super Bowl hosts have invited to participate in the days leading up to the game. Chiefs fans are all but assured to perform the "tomahawk chop" cheer loudly in the minutes before kickoff, as they did prior to the game in their previous two Super Bowl appearances. And it's tone deaf," said Rhonda LeValdo, an Acoma Pueblo journalist who founded the Not in our Honor coalition in 2005, to advocate against the use of Native American imagery in sports. "I don't even understand what you guys are saying and you have the Chiefs logo and you guys are doing the chop."

CTIL is attracting interest from pension funds including Britain's largest, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which has started preliminary work on a potential offer, two of the sources said. Telefonica, Liberty Global and USS declined to comment. A number of telecom towers deals in Europe have seen infrastructure investors compete for a slice of the continent’s largest towers networks partly because of their stable cash yield and long-term contracts. Vodafone (VOD.L) owns 50% of CTIL through its Frankfurt-based subsidiary Vantage Towers (VTWRn.DE), and is not planning to cut its holding, the people said. Telefonica and Liberty Global do not plan to ask Vantage Towers to bid for the holding for competitive reasons, according to the sources.

The stores that Kroger and Albertsons may sell could be worth more than $1 billion, the sources said. Kroger and Albertsons will choose to proceed with the spin-off if they are unable to strike a deal with a potential buyer. Kroger, Albertsons and the FTC declined to comment. Haggen filed for bankruptcy months later and blamed the deal with Albertsons for its demise. Albertsons then agreed to buy many of the Haggen stores back for $300 million.

With a majority of S & P 500 companies having posted their quarterly results, investors' focus will turn toward inflation and the consumer price index reading in the upcoming week. The three major indexes are on pace to end the week down, with the S & P 500 poised to post its worst performance since December. Sharp declines for Alphabet , which is off by more than 9% this week, dragged the tech-heavy index. January's consumer price index With the latest Powell speech in the books, investors are now looking ahead to the consumer price index for insight into the pace of inflation. "Retail sales and CPI is really driven by the consumer, and a lot of eyes are on how the consumer doing," Bruno said.

☆ Worker shortage gives U.S. reason to robotize
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The U.S. labor shortage isn’t going anywhere, at least according to U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Worker productivity, measured as output per hour, fell last year and still sits below the late-2021 peak. If the shortage is, in fact, structural, robots offer businesses an alternative to increasingly expensive labor. A burrito-rolling bot might not replace workers quite yet, but planning for it could be prudent amid the hiring rat race. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ The Paradox of Prosecuting Domestic Terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( James Verini | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +52 min

The preventive approach to domestic terrorism goes back even further than the 1990s and it begins with the basic police work and surveillance of the joint terrorism task forces. In fact, there is no section of the U.S. Criminal Code that criminalizes domestic terrorism as such. The absence of clear law around domestic terrorism, and the imperatives of prevention, mean that investigators and prosecutors who work domestic terrorism cases must focus on more common charges: weapons violations, illegal drug possession, burglary, aiding and abetting and so forth. But this was not enough to overrule the fear of domestic terrorism that was gripping the nation and that hung in the courtroom. It reflected the legal paradoxes of the case and domestic terrorism law in general or, maybe more accurately, the absence of it.

☆ SpaceX prepares for a massive test this week: Firing all 33 Starship engines at once
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Starship prototype 24 stacked on top of Super Heavy booster prototype 7 at the company's facility near Brownsville, Texas on January 9, 2023. "Tomorrow is a big day for SpaceX," Shotwell said, speaking at the FAA's annual Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The company conducted a test firing of 14 of those engines in November, as it pushes to make an orbital launch attempt with a Starship prototype. Last month the company completed a "wet dress rehearsal," with Starship prototype 24 stacked on Super Heavy booster prototype 7, in the most recent crucial test. While SpaceX had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, delays in progress and regulatory approval have pushed back that timeline.

☆ FedEx is laying off 10% of its officers and directors amid cooling demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Raj Subramaniam, FedEx Corporation, speaks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Aviation Summit in Washington, D.C. on March 5, 2020. FedEx is cutting more than 10% of its officers and directors, CEO Raj Subramaniam announced Wednesday, as the company slashes corporate jobs to cut costs amid cooling consumer demand. During its second-quarter earnings call with analysts, Subramaniam outlined what he called an "aggressive and decisive plan to cut costs in fiscal 2023." The shipping company on Tuesday posted a revenue decline in its fourth quarter, as shipping volumes continue to dip. To counteract slowing consumer demand, UPS also raised its shipping prices by 6.9% at the end of last year.

Snap said its direct response business geared towards driving product sales or website visits rose 4% in October-December. That could "be viewed as a healthy sign for Meta and Google," whose businesses are tuned to direct response advertisers, said Mark Shmulik, senior analyst at research firm Bernstein. Similarly, Meta has said in previous quarters that the bulk of its revenue comes from direct response advertising. Headwinds for Meta and Google could be notably less severe, he added. The weak outlook pulled down the shares of rivals Meta, Google, and Pinterest (PINS.N), which also earns revenue by selling digital advertising, on Tuesday.

Haley also tapped Betsy Ankney, a former political director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to run the PAC, according to Axios. Longtime Haley advisor Jon Lerner, will likely have leadership roles within a Haley presidential campaign, two of the people said. Haley has publicly hinted in two recent interviews with Fox News that she could be ready to run for president. Kevin Lemarque | ReutersTrump, who lost his reelection bid to Biden in 2020, is the only candidate so far to jump into the 2024 presidential race. She even said in 2021 that she wouldn't run for president in 2024 if Trump was on the ballot.

☆ Additional classified items found in Biden's Delaware home during Justice Department search, attorney says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dennis-Romero-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Dennis Romero | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Six additional items, including documents with classified markings, were found in President Joe Biden's Delaware home after Department of Justice officials searched the residence Friday, the president's personal attorney said Saturday. Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said FBI agents conducted the search of Biden's personal property. In June, Trump’s lawyers turned over 38 classified documents, including 17 marked top secret, as well as other material. Special counsel Jack Smith is heading the FBI’s criminal investigation into the handling of the Trump documents. There’s no indication a criminal investigation has been launched into Biden's handling of sensitive documents.

☆ Factbox: Key dates to watch out for on BOJ policy, leadership change
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) also awaits a leadership transition as Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's second five-year term ends in April. Below are key dates to watch:BOJ LEADERSHIP RACEPrime Minister Fumio Kishida will hand-pick nominees for the governor and deputy governor posts from a list crafted by his close aides and finance ministry officials. People seen as top candidates for the BOJ governor post include incumbent deputy governor Amamiya, as well as former deputy governors Hiroshi Nakaso and Hirohide Yamaguchi. The subsequent meeting will be held on April 27-28 under a new BOJ leadership. The new BOJ governor will also be busy with international meetings.

“He’s got to say, ‘I messed up, I apologize,’” said Lanny Davis, who handled various investigations as a lawyer in the Clinton White House. The White House didn’t publicly confirm that documents had been found until Monday, when CBS News reported that a review was underway. A statement from a White House lawyer, Richard Sauber, mentioned only classified material found at the center. We respect that process.”Jennifer Palmieri, who served as communications director in the Obama White House, suggested that any White House press secretary in this position would be in a tough spot in terms of what can be disclosed in the briefing room. “The White House should consider appointing a separate spokesperson to handle all questions related to this matter,” said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who also served in the Clinton White House.

Prosecutors began delivering opening arguments Thursday in the seditious conspiracy trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the far-right extremist group involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. After the election, Tarrio posted on social media that the presidency was being stolen and vowed that his group won't "go quietly," prosecutors said. Tarrio, prosecutors say, was aware of discussions around a plan to storm the Capitol and was involved in discussions about occupying buildings, including in the Capitol complex. The group helped rile up the crowd on the day of the rally and successfully led rioters to break past police barricades and into the Capitol, prosecutors said. A protester, who claims to be a member of the Proud Boys, confronts police officers outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

A "small number" of Obama administration documents with classified marking were found in President Joe Biden's Wilmington home, the White House said Thursday. In a statement released on Twitter, Special Counsel to the President Richard Sauber said the documents were found during a search for documents in Biden's two Delaware homes. "All but one of these documents were found in storage space in the president's Wilmington residence garage. The White House says the search was completed Wednesday night. Sauber said the White House "will continue to cooperate" with the DOJ review.

☆ Dow Jones news to lay off employees today–union
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Dow Jones, a division of News Corp that includes the financial news outlets the Wall Street Journal, Barron's and MarketWatch, plans to lay off a number of employees on Wednesday, according to IAPE, the union representing unionized Dow Jones employees. In a statement to Reuters, a Dow Jones spokesperson said that "several teams have partially reorganized to align with our priorities and position us for further growth" and "certain positions have been eliminated." The news of expected layoffs at Dow Jones comes amid planned cuts at other outlets, including the Washington Post. In December News Corp (NWSA.O) named Sunday Times editor Emma Tucker the new editor of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO), competes with Dow Jones.

This promo will open to all IHG members — but IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, and IHG® Rewards Traveler Credit Card members receive early access. For a limited time, Chase IHG credit card holders get early access to a sale for IHG award bookings lasting three nights or less. Read our review Read Our Review A looong arrow, pointing rightIf you hold an IHG credit card such as the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG® Rewards Traveler Credit Card, IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, or legacy IHG Select Card (not available to new applicants) you will get 20% off award stays at IHG hotels when you complete your booking by January 20, 2023. Conversely, this benefit is great for those holding a free anniversary night offered by the IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card, IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card, and the legacy IHG Select card. IHG is also a Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer partner — but we do not recommend converting Chase points into IHG points.

☆ Fact Check-Image of Ukraine’s Zelenskiy and Klaus Schwab dates to WEF 2020 conference in Davos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

An image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a suit on stage with the Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Klaus Schwab, was taken in January 2020 and pre-dates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Does this even need a comment?” (here)Users shared a screenshot of the above tweet on Facebook, with examples viewable (here), (here). The image pre-dates the Russian invasion, however, and was captured during Zelenskiy’s conversation with Schwab at the WEF annual conference in Davos, Switzerland in January 2020 (here), (bit.ly/3CqApJx). Zelenskiy previously met his U.S. counterpart at the White House in September 2021, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where he wore a suit (here). The image dates to January 2020 and was captured during an address at the WEF annual conference in Davos conference, Switzerland.

☆ Ex-D.C. officer Fanone and veterans urge GOP House leaders to condemn political violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

WASHINGTON — Dozens of military veterans on Wednesday hand-delivered letters to top Republicans in the U.S. House, calling on them to publicly condemn political violence as the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol approaches. Former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone wrote the letter, which was signed by more than 1,000 military veterans, active duty members, law enforcement officers and military families. Fanone, who was beaten and tased during the attack on the Capitol, delivered a copy to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s office. They want top Republicans in the House not only to condemn political violence but to hold accountable those who spread violent and hate-filled messages. A core of conservative House Republicans has rejected McCarthy’s attempts to be named speaker on multiple votes Tuesday and Wednesday.

☆ Here's why these US Air Force A-10 attack aircraft rock fearsome shark teeth war paint
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

An A-10 pilot told Insider about the history of the shark teeth war paint. Those planes are the ones rocking the ferocious shark teeth war paint, he said. US Air Force Senior Airman Brandon Hill, 74th Aircraft Maintenance Unit dedicated crew chief, guides Lt. Col. Matthew Shelly, the 74th Fighter Squadron commander, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, June, 26 2021 US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. The first P-40s to feature the shark mouth war paint were the British Royal Air Force Tomahawks. The 74th and 75th Fighter Squadrons are still part of the 23rd Fighter Group while the 76th is now a Reserve unit with 476th Fighter Group.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

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