Venezuela Court Bars Opposition Leader From Running for President
28Jan Avatar photoBy Peter JonesNo Comments
World

Venezuela Court Bars Opposition Leader From Running for President

Venezuela’s highest court ruled on Friday that a top opposition leader cannot run for president, dealing a crippling blow to prospects for credible elections that the government had agreed to hold this year in exchange for the lifting of crippling U.S. economic sanctions.The court’s decision bars the opposition figure, María Corina Machado, from taking part in an election for 15 years, upholding the Venezuelan government’s decision to exclude Ms. Machado over what it claimed were financial irregularities that occurred when she was a national legislator.The move comes after Ms. Machado overwhelmingly won an opposition primary election for president that was held in October without official government support and in which more than 2.4 million Venezuelans voted. Analysts say Ms. Machado pose...
Read More
Jon Franklin, Pioneering Apostle of Literary Journalism, Dies at 82
28Jan Avatar photoBy Peter JonesNo Comments
Health

Jon Franklin, Pioneering Apostle of Literary Journalism, Dies at 82

Jon Franklin, an apostle of narrative short-story-style journalism whose own work won the first Pulitzer Prizes awarded for feature writing and explanatory journalism, died on Sunday in Annapolis, Md. He was 82.His death, at a hospice, came less than two weeks after he fell at his home, his wife, Lynn Franklin, said. He had also been treated for esophageal cancer for two years.An author, teacher, reporter and editor, Mr. Franklin championed the nonfiction style that was celebrated as New Journalism but that was actually vintage narrative storytelling — an approach that he insisted still adhere to the old-journalism standards of accuracy and objectivity.He imparted his thinking about the subject in “Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction” (1986), which became a go-to how-to...
Read More
Why Kevin Durant’s game-winning shot sparked memories of Jordan for members of the ’89 Bulls
27Jan Avatar photoBy Peter JonesNo Comments
Sports

Why Kevin Durant’s game-winning shot sparked memories of Jordan for members of the ’89 Bulls

PHOENIX — The comparison surfaced not long after Kevin Durant finished off the Chicago Bulls on Monday. In the final seconds, the Phoenix Suns forward buried a double-pump, did-he-just-do-that jumper to give the Suns a 115-113 win. WATCHING ON REPLAY ALL NIGHT LONG! pic.twitter.com/EEw60HC8Uf — Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 23, 2024If you thought Durant’s incredible shot resembled Michael Jordan’s iconic double-pump jumper to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the first round of the 1989 playoffs, you’re not alone. A couple of the Bulls from that very team agree.An analyst for NBC Sports Chicago, Will Perdue watched Monday night’s game from a studio in Chicago. As soon as he saw Durant’s shot drop, he immediately recognized the significance.“That was a double-pump!” said Perdue,...
Read More
23andMe Breach Targeted Jewish and Chinese Customers, Lawsuit Says
27Jan Avatar photoBy Peter JonesNo Comments
Technology

23andMe Breach Targeted Jewish and Chinese Customers, Lawsuit Says

The genetic testing company 23andMe is being accused in a class-action lawsuit of failing to protect the privacy of customers whose personal information was exposed last year in a data breach that affected nearly seven million profiles.The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in federal court in San Francisco, also accused the company of failing to notify customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage that they appeared to have been specifically targeted, or that their personal genetic information had been compiled into “specially curated lists” that were shared and sold on the dark web.The suit was filed after 23andMe submitted a notification to the California Attorney General’s Office that showed the company was hacked over the course of five months, from late April 2023 through Sept...
Read More
The Key Issues for Business in a Likely Trump-Biden Rematch
27Jan Avatar photoBy Peter JonesNo Comments
Business

The Key Issues for Business in a Likely Trump-Biden Rematch

After beating Nikki Haley in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Donald Trump reaffirmed his position as the leading candidate to win the Republican nomination. That has business leaders facing the possibility of another Trump presidency, and their investors trying to figure out what it could mean for their bottom lines.The questions are, perhaps not surprisingly, coming from seemingly every corner of the economy.During Blackstone’s quarterly earnings call on Thursday, an analyst wanted to know if uncertainty over who would win a likely Biden-Trump matchup could freeze deal flow. (“I’d say transaction activity is going to be more tied to the Fed’s activities,” said Jonathan Gray, the company’s president and chief operating officer.)Elsewhere, on a call with the financial services company Bread, an ...
Read More
U.N. Court Orders Israel to Prevent Genocide in Gaza: Live Updates
26Jan Avatar photoBy Peter JonesNo Comments
World

U.N. Court Orders Israel to Prevent Genocide in Gaza: Live Updates

The International Court of Justice is set to rule on Friday on South Africa’s demand that Israel immediately suspend its military offensive in Gaza. The ruling is an initial step in a wider case about whether Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the enclave.Decisions by the court, the United Nations’ top judicial body, are binding, but the court has few means of enforcement. Still, a ruling against Israel would add to international pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the war.Here’s what you should know about the ruling.What is the case?This month, the South African government accused Israel at the court in The Hague of “acts and omissions” that are “genocidal in character” against Palestinians in Gaza. Arguing before a panel of 17 judges, South ...
Read More