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Your Daily BriefAugust 24th, 2022 |
Good morning, and welcome to your Wednesday! Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night from his perspective of looking through his window at a French mental asylum? Wild stuff. Anyway, before you pick up a paintbrush and plop down by the nearest windowsill, here’s what we have for you:
In Today’s Brief
- Afghanistan: Floods claim lives of at least eight children
- Louisville: Former detective pleads guilty to falsifying warrant that led to Breonna Taylor’s murder
- Meghan Markle: Debuts podcast on Spotify
- Prime Video: Lands deal to stream Thursday Night Football
- Hamilton: Texas church agrees to pay damages for copyright infringement
- Top Tips: Former head of cybersecurity at Twitter files complaints against the company with SEC, FTC, and DOJ; U.S. plans to send Ukraine an additional $3B in military aid; two men found guilty of conspiring to kidnap the governor of Michigan
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Twitter’s former head of cybersecurity accuses the company of negligence
Peter Zatko, former head of cybersecurity at Twitter, has filed complaints against the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Department of Justice.
According to the complaint filed with the SEC, Zatko–who was fired from Twitter earlier this year–accused the company, CEO Parag Agrawal, and other executives and directors of “extensive legal violations,” alleging that he “witnessed senior executives engaging in deceitful and/or misleading communications affecting Board members, users, and shareholders.” Zatko’s complaint also alleges that the company acted with “negligence and even complicity” toward efforts by foreign governments to infiltrate the platform.
The complaints come amid a legal dispute between the company and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is attempting to withdraw from a deal he entered into to purchase Twitter for $44B (or $54.20 per share) in April of this year.
The United States plans to send another $3B in military aid to Ukraine
As the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine reaches its six-month mark, the United States plans to send an additional $3B in military aid to Ukraine.
According to U.S. officials, United States security assistance is shifting to a longer-term strategy that will keep more American troops in Europe, and the $3B aid package is part of those plans. The package is expected to be announced today, and will be provided for the purpose of training and equipping Ukrainian forces to fight for potential years to come. It will also fund contracts for drones, weapons, and other equipment that may not be deployed in battle for another year or two.
The package would be the single-largest tranche provided to Kyiv since Russia invaded the country in February. In the subsequent six months, the United States has given $10.6B in military assistance to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's government.
Jury finds two men guilty of conspiring to kidnap the governor of Michigan
Two men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 have been found guilty on conspiracy charges.
According to prosecutors, 49-year-old Barry Croft, Jr, and 39-year-old Adam Fox targeted Whitmer in 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions she imposed early in the pandemic, and hoped to start "a second American revolution" by kidnapping her. In addition to being found guilty of conspiracy, Croft and Fox were also found guilty of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction–an explosive device that, per prosecutors, was intended to hinder law enforcement's response to the planned kidnapping.
The conviction wraps the second trial of the case after a previous jury failed to reach a verdict against the two men and acquitted two others. Attorneys for Croft and Fox said they planned to appeal the conviction, and both men now face the possibility of life in prison.
Around the Globe
- A $75M superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyansky has been auctioned off in Gibraltar
- At least eight children have died in floods in central and eastern Afghanistan this week, according to the United Nations’ children’s agency; the UN added that thousands have lost their homes and that more children are missing
- Latest report from the Global Drought Observatory shows that two-thirds of Europe is under a drought warning, with soil dried up in about 47% of the continent; see the report
On the Homefront
- Primary elections took place in New York and Florida yesterday; see the results here
- Former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty to helping falsify a search warrant that led to the killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020
- The National Archives found that former President Trump kept over 700 pages of classified material at his private residence in Florida when he left the White House in January 2021, according to a letter sent by the National Archivist to his lawyers
Glitz & Games
- Paul Rudd has been cast in season 3 of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building following a cameo appearance in the season 2 finale
- After asking to be traded on June 30th, Kevin Durant has agreed to remain with the Brooklyn Nets, per a statement from the team’s general manager Sean Marks
- HBO renews sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm starring Seinfeld co-creator Larry David for its 12th season
Business & Finance
- Major indexes in the stock market settled and closed relatively flat after Monday’s selloff (Dow -0.47%, Nasdaq -0.00%, S&P 500 -0.22%)
- Zoom Video Communications Inc stock (NASDAQ: ZM) fell by 14% during yesterday’s trading session one day after reporting second-quarter results that missed revenue expectations and lowering its projections for the 2023 fiscal year
- Amazon and DirecTV have entered into a deal for Prime Video to stream Thursday Night Football; the deal will bring Amazon’s NFL broadcast to over 300,000 venues and marks the first time a streaming service will have exclusive rights to an NFL football package
Tip & Tricks
- Listen Up: Meghan Markle’s podcast Archetypes has debuted on Spotify featuring Serena Williams as the first guest; check out the inaugural episode here
- Bump This: Play some air guitar along to the seventh Panic! At The Disco album Viva Las Vengeance - listen on Apple Music and Spotify
- Chow Down: Make the middle of your week delectable with this recipe for no-bake Nutella cheesecake (no oven required, as the name suggests)
- Nerd Out: Read how scientists from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh have used bacteria-eating viruses to treat antibiotic-resistant lung infections
- Say What: “He’s a brilliant character because you never quite know what he’s thinking. I liked the ambiguity of that. There’s a ruthlessness in his personality that I thought was really interesting to see characters who behave that badly. But in many ways, he comes from what he thinks is quite a genuine place,” actor Matt Smith said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter regarding his role as Daemon Targaryen in the new HBO series House of the Dragon
- Hot Goss: A Texas church that staged two performances of an altered version of the musical Hamilton has agreed to delete all recordings of the performances, cease staging it, and pay damages for copyright infringement (note to self: Lin-Manuel Miranda takes no prisoners)
- Life Hack: Putting your eggs in four inches of water can help determine whether they’re fresh or not; if an egg floats to the top, it has gone bad
Looking Back…
On August 24th: Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, destroying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum (79); Pluto is demoted from planet to dwarf planet after the International Astronomical Union approves the reclassification of the solar system (2006); Steve Jobs resigns from Apple amid health issues (2011); Brazilian author Paulo Coehlo is born (1947).
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