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☆ Senators push for airline passenger protections after holiday travel meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Two Senate Democrats on Tuesday reintroduced legislation to strengthen airline passenger protections following a year of travel disruptions that was capped by chaos that stranded thousands of people over the December holidays. The Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is planning to hold a hearing on the latest airline disruptions in the coming weeks. The bills also follow a push by the Biden administration for stricter airline passenger rules, including for traveler refunds. Airlines for America, said its members, the largest U.S. carriers, "abide by — and frequently exceed – all DOT regulations regarding consumer protections."

☆ Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes' wife Brittany Mahomes has built her own sports empire as a professional soccer player, part owner of a women's soccer team, and a fitness guru
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Kelly Mclaughlin | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is celebrating his latest win with his wife Brittany. The Kansas City Chiefs selected Patrick in the first round of the NFL Draft in April 2017. She also became a part owner of Kansas City's women's soccer team when the National Women's Soccer League expanded to the city in 2020. I think the people are what we love the most about Kansas City," Mahomes said. On Sunday, Mahomes led the Chiefs to victory against the Bengals to secure a slot in the 2023 Super Bowl.

☆ 7 movie and TV trailers that dropped this week, from 'Succession' to 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Several new trailers were released this week, including a trailer for HBO's hit series "Succession." Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure." Premiere date: March 31, 2023Where to watch: In theaters"Daisy Jones and the Six"YouTube synopsis: "It's time to hear the real story. Premiere date: March 3, 2023Where to watch: Amazon Prime"Shazam Fury of the Gods"YouTube synopsis: "From New Line Cinema comes 'Shazam! Premiere date: February 9, 2023Where to watch: HBO Max

The U.S. government’s system for labeling and tracking classified documents appears to be broken, with potentially serious consequences for the country’s national security, lawmakers, former officials and scholars said Tuesday. Democratic and Republican lawmakers said there was a “systemic failure” if both the Obama and Trump administrations could not keep track of classified documents after their tenures ended. I don’t know how anybody ends up with classified documents. “We clearly don’t have an effective management system to oversee where classified documents go and how they’re retrieved,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Goitein and others said the recent discoveries of classified documents present a political opportunity for the White House, and possibly Congress, to at last tackle the problem.

☆ U.S. lawmakers praise Zelenskiy for fighting corruption, back continued aid
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers praised Ukraine's government on Tuesday for taking swift action against corruption and insisted that U.S. military and humanitarian aid to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government should continue. We expect that President Zelenskiy will follow through with a promise he made that Ukraine is going to change on the corruption front," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told a news conference days after returning from Kyiv. "We're confident this is a first step in a long journey to change the way business is done," Graham said. "It demonstrates what President Zelenskiy has told us, that there will be zero tolerance for fraud or waste," he said. Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who was also on the Kyiv trip, praised the Ukrainian military for keeping track of equipment provided by Washington.

☆ Sen. Lindsey Graham said he's 'tired of the s*** show' and that the US and Germany should send tanks to Ukraine: 'World order is at stake'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Graham urged the West to send tanks. To achieve that goal, the Ukrainian military needs tanks," Graham said during a press conference after the meeting and on Twitter. "I am tired of the shit show surrounding who is going to send tanks and when are they going to send them. "To the Germans: Send tanks to Ukraine because they need them. It is in your own national interest that Putin loses in Ukraine," Graham said Friday.

☆ 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.

Republican state lawmakers and members of Congress are attempting to stifle the growth of sustainable investing and to punish corporate efforts at climate-related financial risk management. This is a closely coordinated political effort driven by a network of dark money organizations fronting for climate denial groups and fossil fuel interests. This is usually anonymous dark money, and it is often traceable back to the fossil fuel industry. They are attempting to bully financial institutions and regulators into ignoring market demand and market risk. Imagine elected officials telling investment firms they cannot offer large-cap or small-cap funds, or emerging market funds, or value funds — or, for that matter, sector funds with exposure to energy companies.

☆ It's still not clear what the Senate Ethics Committee is doing with a 2-year-old January 6 probe into Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Democrats lodged an ethics complaint against Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz nearly two years ago. No one's heard anything since from the Senate Ethics Committee, which one advocate calls a "black hole." Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island led the complaint against Cruz and Hawley. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, the chairman and vice-chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. Little has emerged in the last two years to suggest that Cruz and Hawley were intimately involved in the assault on the Capitol.

☆ Facebook considering whether to allow Trump to return, decision expected in ‘coming weeks’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Facebook’s parent company Meta is considering whether to allow former President Donald Trump back on to its platforms and is due to announce its decision in the coming weeks, a company spokesperson told CNN on Monday. Trump was banned from Meta’s platforms Facebook and Instagram after the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said he is overseeing the decision. In a blog post in June 2021, Clegg explained how the company would consider allowing Trump back on its platforms. “Based on Meta’s own statement on standards for allowing Trump back on the platform, his account should continue to be restricted.”

☆ Map shows the ice sheets and glaciers melting that scientists most fear will be the source of catastrophic rising sea levels
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Annie Fu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Melting ice that could tip sea level rise into catastrophic levelsSource: NASA Ice ViewerChart: Annie Fu/InsiderWhile it's easier to plan for a steady sea level rise, scientists are very concerned about what would happen if huge chunks of ice collapse and abruptly change sea levels. The Antarctic ice sheet is much bigger than the ice sheet on Greenland. If they were to melt totally, the Greenland ice sheet would contribute about 23 ft to the sea levels, while the Antarctic ice sheet holds enough ice to raise sea levels by 58 feet. Local sea level variationGlobal mean sea level rise is only a snapshot of the whole picture. Because sea levels are influenced by the local environment, the sea level rise can be much higher locally than it is on a global scale.

☆ Pressure builds to keep Donald Trump off Facebook ahead of his possible reinstatement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Left-leaning groups point to his Truth Social posts pushing false election fraud claims and QAnon content. Another study by Accountable Tech found more than 350 of Trump's Truth Social posts would violate Facebook's safety guidelines. He has said prefers Truth Social. "His activity on Truth Social speaks to his potential activity if he's allowed back on some of these more mainstream platforms, like Facebook," Gogarty said. Democratic members of Congress, meanwhile, are urging Meta to uphold Trump's suspension beyond January, arguing that the risk of violence persists.

☆ Junior bankers sound off: From how much sleep they get to what kind of company they want to work for next, first-year investment banking analysts spill the beans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Junior bankers hold an interesting position on Wall Street. While these young investment bankers are often the butt of the joke — something something Murray Hill something something Patagonia vests — they also represent a key piece of the dealmaking machine. That's why I always find surveys of junior bankers so fascinating. Emmalyse examined 10 different slides from the poll, which was conducted by recruiting firm Odyssey Search Partners, that show what junior bankers like, and don't like, about their jobs. Click here to learn more about what junior bankers love, and hate, about their jobs.

☆ A market downturn hasn't made activist investing any easier. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But even with a market downturn, activist investors' campaigns haven't been the cakewalk some might expect. Insider's Daniel Geiger, Rebecca Ungarino, and Casey Sullivan spoke to industry insiders — including famed activist investor Carl Icahn — about why the current landscape isn't as accepting as some might think to activist campaigns. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and a difficult market environment doesn't mean we'll see the number of campaigns decrease. Click here to read more about why top activist investors like Carl Icahn say this line of work is riskier than ever. Here's a five-step plan to help you decide when that side gig you have should be the only gig you have.

☆ Democratic lawmakers urge Meta not to restore Trump's Facebook account in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The letter from California Rep. Adam Schiff and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse cites numerous news reports about Trump’s postings on Truth Social, the former president’s Twitter alternative. On Truth Social, Trump has also reportedly amplified adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory that Meta banned from its platforms in 2020, the lawmakers wrote. “For Meta to credibly maintain a legitimate election integrity policy, it is essential that your company maintain its platform ban on former president Trump,” the letter said. The company suspended Trump for two years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, over concerns he had fomented violence. A key metric in determining whether Trump’s account will be restored will be whether there is a continued risk of real-world violence, Meta has said.

☆ Democratic senators won't say whether the party should support Kyrsten Sinema's re-election in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"It doesn't change my life one bit," said Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. "I don't think anybody's announcing anything," Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona told reporters, saying he didn't want to get into "hypotheticals." Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the head of the DSCC for 2022, also declined to say whether the party should back Sinema. But she too declined to say whether the party should back Sinema in 2024, waving as the elevator closed. Asked by reporters on Monday what he made of Sinema's announcement, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware dramatically shrugged as he boarded an elevator.

Come next year, Democrats will have unilateral subpoena power in many committees to compel investigative targets to provide documents and testimony — without needing GOP support. “Our committees will have greater oversight ability, subpoena power. Subpoena power can deal with corporate corruption and inequities, and other problems throughout the country,” he said. “And if using subpoena power becomes necessary, then that’s something we can do.”Other Democrats floated industries that could be the targets of the party's subpoena powers. “But having subpoena power for CEOs and billionaires who think they don’t have to come to Congress to explain themselves will be very valuable.”

The answer is simple, according to more than a dozen Washington insiders, FTX employees, and crypto industry observers who spoke with Insider. I don't think anyone believed that he was going to fund candidates who were, quote unquote, committed to ending pandemics who were also hostile to the crypto industry." Alex Wong/Getty ImagesRebuffed by the SEC, Bankman-Fried turned his attention to Congress. "It's not that he was welcoming regulation," says the senior figure in the crypto industry who attended meetings with Bankman-Fried. But while Bankman-Fried was busy wooing Washington, FTX was about to become Exhibit A in the case for more effective oversight of the crypto industry.

☆ How an arcane 96-year-old law stopped the rail strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The Railway Labor Act was passed in 1926 as one of the very first labor laws in the nation. Because of the law, the House was able to vote Wednesday to impose unpopular contracts on four rail unions whose members have already rejected the terms, followed by a vote by the Senate vote late Thursday that did the same. The Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926, is the reason Congress could intervene this week to block a strike by freight railroad unions. But under the Railway Labor Act, management can fall back on hopes that Congress will give them the deal it wants. When he served in the Senate, Biden voted against an earlier effort to impose a contract on the rail unions to keep them on the job.

☆ Supreme Court’s Lawyer Dismisses Ethics Allegations Against Justice Samuel Alito
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which found that some firms could deny coverage of contraceptives to female employees. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court’s staff lawyer rejected allegations that Justice Samuel Alito may have disclosed to conservative activists the outcome of a 2014 case on contraceptive access before it was published. “There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito’s actions violated ethics standards,” Ethan Torrey , the Supreme Court’s legal counsel, wrote in a letter responding to queries from two Democratic critics of the court’s ethical practices, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia.

The 2014 decision in the case called Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, like the June abortion decision, represented a victory for religious conservatives. The Hobby Lobby decision exempted family-owned businesses that objected on religious grounds from a federal requirement that any health insurance they provide to employees must cover birth control for women. Durbin urged passage of legislation that would create a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Schenck, according to the Times, wrote to Roberts about his claim. Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would favor the company, the newspaper reported.

☆ Carlyle just promoted 71 people to leadership positions, including 32 to partner status. See who made the list.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Kaja Whitehouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Private equity giant Carlyle just promoted 32 people to partner and 39 to managing director. The list includes 8 real estate execs, 8 US buyout execs, and one focused on DEI. The Washington, DC-based buyout firm, which boasts $369 billions in assets, promoted 32 of its 2,100-person workforce to partner, the highest status one can achieve at the firm. All three of its main business segments were represented, including global private equity, global credit and global investment solutions, according to a spokesperson. The list includes three European buyout executives and eight US buyout executives, including Tanaka Maswoswe, who leads buyouts in the industrial and transportation sectors, and was included in a 2021 Insider list highlighting some of the firm's top investors.

☆ The Senate Judiciary Committee will review reports that Alito's Hobby Lobby decision was leaked to an anti-abortion leader: 'another black mark on the Supreme Court's increasingly marred ethical recor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Anti-abortion leaders knew about a 2014 Supreme Court decision before it was official, NYT reported. Alito's Hobby Lobby decision on contraception would be the second of two known leaks from the court. The Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate the allegations, AP reported. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision held that corporations can refuse on religious grounds to pay for contraception as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Representatives for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Durbin, and the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A New York Times report of a former anti-abortion leader's claim that he was told in advance about the outcome of a major 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case involving contraceptives triggered calls on Saturday for an investigation of a court still reeling from the leak of a landmark abortion rights ruling. Rob Schenck was quoted by The Times as saying he was informed weeks before the public announcement of the 2014 ruling shortly after two conservative allies had dinner at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Alito said in a statement that any allegation that he or his wife leaked the 2014 decision was "completely false." Alito had called the Roe leak, which was confirmed when the ruling was announced in June, a "grave betrayal." Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would be in its favor, The Times said.

☆ Mr Kipling maker Premier Foods posts higher half-year adjusted profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Premier Foods (PFD.L) reported a rise in half-yearly adjusted profit on Wednesday on strong demand for its cakes and grocery products, while flagging further price pressures amid surging inflation. Surging prices have caused the biggest squeeze on UK household income since at least the 1950s. Premier Foods said adjusted profit before tax rose nearly 12% to 47 million pounds ($55.83 million) in the six months ended Oct. 1. The maker of Mr Kipling cakes and OXO cubes reported a 6.2% rise in half-year revenue and said it was on track to deliver full-year expectations. ($1 = 0.8419 pounds)Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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