CNN president Jeff Zucker has resigned
CNN president Jeff Zucker has resigned from the network after failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a senior executive.
The 56-year-old Mr Zucker said in a memo to colleagues that he was "wrong" to not report the relationship as required.
The relationship was discovered during an investigation into the conduct of fired CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.
Mr Zucker is considered one of the most powerful media executives in the US.
In the message sent on Wednesday to the network's staff and shared online by CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter, Mr Zucker said that he was asked about his consensual relationship with a colleague during an investigation into Mr Cuomo's time at CNN.
Mr Cuomo was being investigated over efforts to help his politician brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, fight allegations of sexual harassment.
Mr Zucker said that he had worked with the colleague for two decades and that the relationship had "evolved in recent years".
"I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn't," he said. "I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today."
Mr Zucker's memo did not identify the colleague with whom he had a relationship but CNN named her as Allison Gollust, the network's executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
"Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years," she said in a statement quoted by Mr Stelter on air. "Recently, our relationship changed during Covid. I regret that we didn't disclose it at the right time."
Ms Gollust was an executive at NBC Universal during Mr Zucker's time at that network as CEO.
In 2012, Ms Gollust was named as communicators director for Andrew Cuomo. She joined CNN the following year after only four months in that role.
In her statement, Ms Gollust added that she intends to stay at the network. Both she and Mr Zucker are divorced, the New York Times reported.
Mr Zucker joined CNN in 2013. Under his leadership, it broke viewership records in 2020 and saw the most viewers in its history during January 2021 - partly as a result of the US Capitol riot on 6 January.
Since then viewership has gone down, falling nearly 90% this January compared to the same time last year, according to Nielsen ratings.
At CNN, Mr Zucker faced criticism from those who believed the network gave too much coverage to the former president, especially during the Republican presidential primary. Mr Trump has also criticised what he saw as unfair coverage.
During his time at NBC, he approved Donald Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice".
Source - BBC
Australian billionaire launches criminal case against Facebook
An Australian billionaire has launched a criminal case against Facebook, alleging the company failed to prevent scam ads that used his image.
Andrew Forrest argues Facebook breached Australian anti-money laundering laws over the spread of cryptocurrency cons.
He said it was the first time Facebook was facing a criminal case globally.
Facebook's owner, Meta, did not comment on Dr Forrest's case but said it was "committed to keeping those people [scammers] off our platform".
Dr Forrest, who is chairman of miner Fortescue Metals, alleged Facebook had been "criminally reckless" in not doing more to halt the ads, which first appeared in early 2019.
The scams use his image - and those of other celebrities - to promote bogus investments that promise riches. Although Facebook bans such ads, many still appear on the platform.
Dr Forrest said he had also written an open letter to Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg in November 2019, urging him to take more action.
"I'm concerned about innocent Australians being scammed through clickbait advertising on social media," the mining magnate said in a statement on Thursday.
"I'm acting here for Australians, but this is happening all over the world."
The case will be heard in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia from 28 March. If it is successful, Facebook could face fines or be forced to change its advertising.
Dr Forrest has also filed a civil lawsuit in the US state of California, where Facebook is headquartered.
In that lawsuit he alleges that Facebook "knowingly profits from this cycle of illegal ads", The Australian newspaper reported.
One victim in Australia had lost $670,000 (£495,000; A$940,000) because of a fake endorsement featuring Dr Forrest, the newspaper said, citing court documents.
In a statement to media, the social media company said that scam ads violated its policies.
"We take a multifaceted approach to stop these ads, we work not just to detect and reject the ads themselves but also block advertisers from our services and, in some cases, take court action to enforce our policies," a Meta representative said.
Source - BBC
West Indies captain dismisses reports of fighting
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has dismissed rumours of disunity in the squad, after the team won the Betway Twenty20 International Series against England here on Sunday.
“Empty vessels make the most noise,” he said in a post-match interview when asked about media reports of fighting within the squad and also amid claims of victimization of some players.
“Every time we won a game there was something negative against us, but we came out and the guys really won it.”
West Indies trounced the visitors by 17 runs in the series decider of the five-match series at Kensington Oval, on the heels of their shocking 2-1 defeat in the three-match One-Day International series against Ireland in Jamaica two weeks prior.
Pollard said the Caribbean men had worked hard to prove themselves after that disappointing series loss.
“The guys have worked tirelessly. After coming from Jamaica, our heads were down and we had conversations in the dressing room about how we wanted to play the cricket and I think the guys bounced back pretty well. We have to focus on what we need to focus on, which is the cricket, and I think the guys are putting their heads down, they’re understanding what we want to do, what we want to achieve as a team and you saw the results tonight,” he said.
“Yes, it’s one series but we have been on the losing end of a lot of series and a lot of games and you have to take this one.”
West Indies are now preparing for their India tour which begins with a three-match ODI series in Ahmedabad followed by a T20I series in Kolkata.
The team arrived in Ahmedabad on Tuesday ahead of the first match on February 6.
Source - CMC
Police chase ends up in fatal vehicular accident
Two people were killed, including the 21 year-old driver of a vehicle that was being pursued by police, on Wednesday.
Christopher Bhagwandat of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and his 16-year-old girlfriend, horrific accident at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) has been identified as 16-year-old Sheereda Persaud of Bath, West Coast Berbice (WCB) died instantly in the accident that involved a police vehicle, two motorcars and a truck.
Police in a brief statement, hours after the accident, said that three police officers were injured and were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
One of Bhagwandat’s relatives who spoke with reporters at the scene said he had travelled to Berbice to pick up his girlfriend to celebrate his mother’s birthday.
Media reports said that he had been stopped at a roadblock and sped off when asked to produce his driver’s licence.
They said the police vehicle was chasing the motorcar when, in the vicinity of the Mahaica Bridge, the police vehicle collided with another vehicle and as a result, the car crashed into another causing the driver to lose control and slam into a truck.
Source - CMC
Missy Elliott makes hip hop history with 6th RIAA Platinum album
Missy Elliott is celebrating another milestone in her trailblazing career as she just became the first female rapper in history with six RIAA-Certified platinum solo albums.
"This is a HUGE MILESTONE! No matter how long it took to get here I am here & I AM HUMBLY GRATEFUL," the four-time Grammy winner tweeted. "To all my SISTERS in HIP HOP yall keep doing yall thang & SHINING."
To commemorate the RIAA Platinum certification of her sixth and most recent album, The Cookbook from 2005, Missy had a special announcement.
"AS A THANK YOU TO MY FANS I AM RELEASING A LIMITED NUMBER OF THE COOKBOOK AS ORIGINAL VINYL DOUBLE LPs TODAY VIA THE ATLANTIC RECORDS WEB STORE."
The Cookbook debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top Rap Albums and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts in July 2005. It included the RIAA double-Platinum hit "Lose Control," featuring Ciara and Fatman Scoop, which won a Grammy for Best Short-Form Music Video.
In 2019, the iconic rapper made history as the first female rapper ever to receive the MTV VMA Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. That same year, Missy also became the first female hip hop artist and third-ever rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In November 2021, the 50-year-old artist/composer/producer was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Source-ABC
All US federal prisons in lockdown after deadly gang fight
All federal prisons in the US have been placed on lockdown after a gang fight left two inmates dead at a facility in Texas. Two other prisoners were seriously hurt in the violence at the high security Beaumont facility on Monday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said.
The bureau said it was responding with "an abundance of caution", adding that the lockdown was a temporary measure. It is rare for such a measure to apply to the entire federal prison system. Most of America's prisoners are held in facilities run by the individual state as opposed to the federal government.
The BOP has 134 facilities housing more than 150,000 inmates around the US, according to the latest information on its website. When prisons are placed on lockdown, it typically involves inmates being confined to their cells with restrictions placed on visitor access. In a statement, the bureau said that for "safety and security reasons" it would not provide further details on its decision, adding only that it believed the measure would be "short-lived".
The violence at the Beaumont facility in Texas, which has a prison population of 1,372, reportedly involved members of the MS-13 street gang - a brutal group established in Los Angeles which has roots in El Salvador. The fight raised concerns of retaliatory violence that threatened to spread to other prisons, the Associated Press reports, citing sources briefed on the bureau's decision. The two inmates who died were named as Guillermo Riojas, a 54-year-old who had been sentenced for violent crimes using a firearm, and Andrew Pineda, 34, who was said to be a member of a gang known as the Mexican Mafia.
No staff members at Beaumont were injured during Monday's fight, the BOP said. The Mexican Mafia is believed to have up to 300 members in the prison system. According to the FBI, the gang comprises of current and former convicts who hold positions of power within facilities and offer protection and deal in drugs. The gang MS-13, which was formed by immigrants who had fled El Salvador's long and brutal civil war, has a reputation for extreme violence. The FBI estimates that the group has up to 10,000 members in the US, making it one of the largest criminal enterprises in the country.
Source - BBC
Trudeau calls trucker protest an 'insult to truth
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has slammed protests in the capital city against Covid-19 vaccine mandates as "an insult to memory and truth". Protestors are demonstrating for a third consecutive day over a cross-border vaccine mandate for truckers imposed by the Liberal government. Ottawa police asked the public to avoid the downtown area on Monday, citing "traffic, noise and safety issues". Some downtown stores, including a shopping mall, will also be closed.
Demonstrators at the so-called Freedom Convoy have been mostly peaceful but the behaviour of some members of the crowd has been strongly criticised. Police have opened investigations into several reported incidents, including footage of a woman dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial.
Nazi symbolism was seen on protest signs, some likening Covid-19 health measures to Jews under Nazi persecution. Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies criticised the use of those symbols as "a heinous form of Holocaust distortion". Mr Trudeau said: "Freedom of expression, assembly and association are cornerstones of democracy, but Nazi symbolism, racist imagery and desecration of war memorials are not." The prime minister refused to meet protestors. "This is not the story of our pandemic, our country, our people," he said. "My focus is standing with Canadians and getting through this pandemic." But Candice Bergen, deputy leader of the Conservative Party, said the protesters represented millions who "have had enough of lockdowns and broken promises". "They deserve to be heard and they deserve respect," she wrote on Twitter.
On Monday, Mr Trudeau also announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19 but is "feeling fine". He said he would continue to work remotely this week while following public health guidelines. The convoy began as a call to end a vaccine mandate imposed by the federal government on 15 January that would require unvaccinated Canadian truckers returning from across the US border to quarantine once they return home. But it has since grown into a push to end all vaccine mandates nationwide and what supporters see as government overreach of Covid-19 restrictions.
A GoFundMe page to support the convoy has now raised over C$9m ($7m; £5.2m). At an invite-only weekend news conference, Benjamin Dichter and Tamara Lich - the two organisers behind the page - said they aimed to create a "logistics nightmare" to put pressure on the Canadian government.
The crowd of demonstrators - the truckers and their supporters - were estimated to be in the thousands on Saturday as they gathered around parliament. The crowd has since thinned but many protesters have indicated they plan to stay on until their demands are met. Around 90% of Canada's 120,000 cross-border truckers are vaccinated, in line with the country's adult population.
Members of parliament are returning to the House of Commons on Monday after nearly two months on recess. though existing permissions for MPs to work remotely allowed some legislators to avoid the protesters that have converged nearby. In an update from city officials on Monday afternoon, Mayor Jim Watson said protesters had "worn out their welcome" and that the events had been "disruptive" and extremely noisy for local residents. The city's police chief, Peter Sloly, said it had been "four dangerous, difficult, dynamic days" for his forces dealing with "thousands of potential flash points" but that there had been "no riots, no injuries, no deaths". He said that protests had "scaled down" in the past 12 hours and that he wanted "that trend to continue until this demonstration comes to a complete end". Police have been in contact with the protest's core organisers, he noted.
Reports on social media indicate that truckers in the US may be planning a similar demonstration that would see them drive from California in the West to the country's capital in Washington DC.
Source - BBC
After 40 years, Bobby Brown is grateful to continue his music career
After over 40 years in music, Bobby Brown is grateful to continue his career as he prepares for the New Edition Culture tour later this month.
The self-proclaimed "King of Stage" has endured many family tragedies, including the loss of his son, Bobby Brown Jr., in 2021, the death of his daughter, Bobbi Christina, in 2015, and the passing of his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, in 2012.
"I've been through a lot in the past and, you know, just getting through it and being able to love what I love, which is entertainment again, is just something special, and makes us all proud," Bobby tells Entertainment Tonight.
The tour, which also features Charlie Wilson and Jodeci, begins February 16, in Columbus, Georgia, and runs through an April 10 concert in Miami. Johnny Gill, who joined New Edition in 1987 when Brown left for a solo career, says he admires the "My Prerogative" singer.
"Just seeing in the rehearsal watching him. How much he's grown," Gill says. Johnny adds that the tour will be magical.
"It's going to be a moving experience," he comments. "I think the fans are really going to enjoy it."
Brown will also be featured in two A&E projects: the two-night Biography: Bobby Brown special airing May 30 and 31, and the docuseries Bobby Brown: Every Little Step, which premieres May 31.
Source - ABC
Sony says it will buy video game developer Bungie for $3.6bn
Sony says Bungie, best known for the Destiny and Halo games, will help it "reach billions of players".
Halo is one of the games that contributed to the popularity of Microsoft's Xbox.
Earlier this month, Microsoft revealed plans to buy video games giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7bn, which is the industry's largest ever deal.
"This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience," said Jim Ryan, president and chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE).
"We understand how vital Bungie's community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow."
Sony did not provide a timeline for when it expects the deal to be finalised.
In 2000, Microsoft bought Bungie and its game Halo: Combat Evolved became a launch title for the Xbox.
Halo sold millions of copies, helping to popularise the Xbox with gamers.
In 2007, Bungie split from Microsoft to become an independent business.
Under the terms of the separation Microsoft kept the intellectual property of the Halo franchise.
Bungie, which is based in Washington state, has more than 900 employees.
Under the Sony deal, Bungie will operate independently and continue to publish its own games after the takeover is completed.
Bungie is working on expanding its Destiny 2 universe, the first-person shooter video game which was released in 2017.
"Both Bungie and SIE believe that game worlds are only the beginning of what our IP [intellectual property] will become," said Bungie's chief executive and chairman Pete Parsons.
"Our original universes have immense potential and, with SIE's support, we will propel Bungie into becoming a global multi-media entertainment company dedicated to delivering on our creative vision," he said.
Source - BBC
Global chip shortage: Jaguar Land Rover loses £9m
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) lost £9m ($12m) in the last three months of 2021 amid the global computer chip shortage. The UK car maker saw its retail sales fall 37.6% compared to a year earlier, as it sold 80,126 vehicles in the quarter to the end of December. Despite that fall in production the company saw revenue of £4.7bn, up 22% on the previous quarter.
Manufacturers around the world have been hit hard as they struggle to secure supplies of semiconductors. "Whilst semiconductor supplies have continued to constrain sales this quarter, we continue to see very strong demand for our products underlining the desirability of our vehicles," JLR's chief executive Thierry Bolloré said in a statement However, the company also warned that it expects the chip shortage to continue throughout this year but expect supplies to gradually improve.
That helped push JLR's Indian parent company Tata Motors to a 15.16bn rupees (£150m; $203.2m) loss for the period. JLR also said that its order book has hit a new record high of around 155,000 vehicles, due to strong demand for the new Range Rover. Chips are vital to modern cars, with a number of features including touchscreen controls, automatic emergency brakes, reversing cameras, fuel efficiency equipment and airbag deployment systems all relying on them.
On Friday, industry figures showed that UK car production last year fell to its lowest level since 1965. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that just under 860,000 new cars left UK factories in 2021. Production last year was 6.7% lower than in 2020 - and a full 34% below its pre-pandemic level.
The SMMT said the figures were dismal, largely thanks to a global microchip shortage and disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Car makers around the world have also been impacted by the chip shortage, along with supply chain disruptions, Covid-19 restrictions and rising prices of raw materials.
Motor industry giants including Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Nissan, Daimler, BMW and Renault, have all been forced to scale back production in recent months as they struggled to secure enough semiconductors.
Source - BBC