newsnation

Tim Copeland / The Block : Crypto exchange BitMart says it suffered a hack resulting in the loss of $150M in crypto, after its Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain hot wallets were breached   —  Crypto exchange BitMart said late Saturday that it has suffered a hack, resulting in the loss of $150 million worth of crypto.

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch : Life House, which offers hotel management software, raises a $60M Series C co-led by Kayak and Inovia Capital, bringing its total funding to over $100M   —  Inovia Capital, Tiger Global also backed the startup, which has developed software aimed at hotel operators

Martha Stewart has confirmed she is dating, however the celebrity chef did not reveal who the mystery man is.

Bloomberg : Profile of Group-IB CEO Ilya Sachkov, who is charged with treason in Russia, sources say for allegedly giving the US info about Fancy Bear's 2016 operation   —  Ilya Sachkov, who's been charged with treason in Russia, is alleged to have given the U.S. information about the “Fancy Bear” …

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday that China's increased military activity near Taiwan seemingly indicates a “rehearsal” of the country's future intentions.

Gisele Bundchen emphasized the need to protect animals as she shared a video of herself saving a sea turtle trapped in a fishing net.

Mark Hoppus revealed his cancer diagnosis announcement was actually an accident. The singer had meant to share a photo of himself preparing for a chemotherapy treatment to his "close friends" story on Instagram, but accidentally made it a public post.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin targeted China in his address Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, telling Fox News’ Bret Baier, "China is not 10 feet tall."

Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will speak in a video call Tuesday, as tensions between the United States and Russia escalate over a Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was silent for several seconds before telling Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Saturday what his regrets are about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Top experts warned Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum that the standing of the U.S. as the "partner of choice" amongst global allies has waned following the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Max Read / Read Max : As Web3 takes proliferate, it's worth noting there are two distinct “is Web3 bullshit?” questions: an open-ended technical question, and whether it will “win”   —  And is that even the right question? … Is web3 bullshit?  The hazy vision of new decentralized internet …

Four years after his death, Tom Petty was awarded an honorary Ph.D from the University of Florida. Petty passed away in October 2017 after suffering an accidental overdose.

Fox News’ Bret Baier is hosting a keynote discussion with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Saturday.

Reports of a toxic work environment have plagued Vice President Kamala Harris since she took up the post less than a year ago and the recently announced exodus of her chief spokesperson has only prompted more questions.

The growing push by some Democrats to reshape the Supreme Court reignited this week as the court heard oral arguments in the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban case that has the potential to limit abortion access across the U.S.

A former Illinois State University (ISU) assistant football coach has sued the team's head coach and the school's former athletic director, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated after he removed a Black Lives Matter poster from his door and replaced it with a different one.

Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal : Spotify removed the work of hundreds of comedians, including John Mulaney and Kevin Hart, amid a fight with royalty administration agency Spoken Giants   —  A push for royalty payments on comedic material sidelines work of Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and hundreds of others

Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel said he was "confident" that President Biden is in good health, despite recent concerns about the president’s raspy voice.

A memo sent out by a Democratic pollster following Glenn Youngkin’s victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race warns Democrats that the party “has a problem” heading into the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential election.

Left-leaning politicians and pundits expressed alarm Friday after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed the creation of a “State Guard,” a civilian military force that he would control to assist with what his office described as “state-specific emergencies.”

Berber Jin / The Information : Sources: Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software, is finalizing $700M+ in new funding at an $11.7B valuation   —  Airtable, a developer of cloud-based collaboration software, is finalizing a new round of funding that would value the San Francisco startup at $11.7 billion including …

The comedian appeared on The Pat McAfee show and said he doesn't lose sleep worrying about being "canceled" online.

On Thursday, Alec Baldwin spoke in depth for the first time about the Oct. 21 shooting on the set of his Western film “Rust” that resulted in cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death.

The Democratic governor of Wisconsin struck down a suite of pro-life bills passed by the GOP-controlled state legislature, promising to do the same for any anti-abortion bills in the future.

Jen Psaki said Friday that she did not have "any updates" as to whether China is helping American intelligence agencies track down the origins of COVID-19.

The New York Democrat posted the tweet amid the controversy between Boebert and Ocasio-Cortez’s fellow “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch : Meta says it is testing a Split Payments feature for Facebook Messenger in the US that lets users share the cost of bills and expenses   —  Facebook Messenger announced today that it's starting to test out a new “Split Payments” feature that introduces a way for users to share the cost of bills and expenses through the app.

A United States Army Sergeant facing a murder charge after shooting a Black Lives Matter protester who approached his vehicle with an AK-47 had his GoFundMe page removed from the site by the company.

Milwaukee County, where Darrell Brooks allegedly plowed his car through a Christmas parade after posting low bail, downplays severe crimes, according to an expert.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas stops in New Hampshire on Friday to help support fellow Republicans running in the 2022 midterms. But the trip sparks more 2024 speculation.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln appears to have removed portions of its anti-racism plan referring to Ibram Kendi and structural racism.

President Biden’s top pick to lead the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus, has deleted his Twitter account following repeated department-related controversies.

The father of a 4-year-old autistic boy is asking the Supreme Court for emergency action to block the Biden administration’s federal transportation mask mandate.

Washington Post : Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces a major reorganization in a staff email; head of engineering Michael Montano and design lead Dantley Davis will step down   —  Engineering, design leads out as Parag Agrawal announces big changes.  —  Twitter's new CEO, Parag Agrawal …

Phillips appeared on Season 4 of the NBC talent competition series and was eliminated.

Alec Baldwin said during his first TV interview that any outside comments made about the shooting on the set of "Rust" "didn't help the situation."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said controversies involving Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar cause "problems."

Catalin Cimpanu / The Record : FBI says the “Cuba Ransomware” gang earned about $43.9M from ransom payments and breached at least 49 US critical infrastructure organizations this year   —  The US Federal Bureau of Investigations said today that the operators of the Cuba ransomware have earned at least $43.9 million …

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg : Sources: Sony plans to launch a subscription service, codenamed Spartacus, next spring that merges PlayStation Plus and PS Now, to compete with Xbox Game Pass   —  - Subscription offering would blend PlayStation Now and PS Plus  — Code-named Spartacus, launch is targeted for next spring

The claim was made by bestselling author Christopher Andersen in his new book titled “Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan.”

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal : Marketers are reacting to privacy laws and Big Tech policy changes with quizzes and other events to collect their own customer info and build detailed profiles   —  Marketers are staging sweepstakes, quizzes and events to gather people's personal information and build detailed profiles

Mehnaz Yasmin / Reuters : Panther Labs, which helps companies detect and respond to security threats in real time, raises a $120M Series B led by Coatue at a $1.4B valuation   —  Panther Labs raised $120 million in fresh capital as part of an early-stage financing round led by investment manager Coatue …

South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman on Thursday introduced legislation that could force the Food and Drug Administration to release all documents relating to the coronavirus vaccine within the next 100 days.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Thursday that a case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus has been documented in his state.

President Joe Biden announced that he hoped America would continue spearheading international COVID-19 relief projects, saying that it was a "moral obligation" to "vaccinate the rest of the world."

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal : The FTC sues to block Nvidia's $40B acquisition of Arm, arguing the chip deal is anticompetitive   —  The regulator alleges the semiconductor deal is anticompetitive  —  WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday challenged Nvidia Corp.'s proposed $40 billion takeover of Arm Holdings …

Hristina Yordanova / DappRadar : The four leading virtual worlds recorded over $100M in NFT land sales in the past week, with The Sandbox alone seeing trading volumes of over $86M   —  The Sandbox alone attracted more than $86 million in land sales  —  Metaverse land is the new big hit in the crypto community …

Cruz made the comment during a Thursday interview with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on their radio show while talking about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) disappearing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department is facing a fresh lawsuit after its recent decision to revoke waivers from faith-based organizations that seek to provide services in accordance with their beliefs.

President Biden joked on Thursday that Dr. Anthony Fauci is so involved in White House affairs that sometimes it feels like he is the real president.

The White House on Thursday said a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for domestic travel is still on the table as the United States heads into the winter months and battles the new omicron variant.

The New York City Council is set to vote next week on a measure that would allow non-citizens to register to vote in municipal elections, but Republicans are readying themselves to challenge it in court if they have to.

Ian Allison / CoinDesk : Sources: Goldman Sachs is among a handful of tier-one US banks working on ways to use bitcoin as collateral for cash loans to institutions   —  Goldman Sachs is among a handful of tier-one U.S. banks figuring out how to use bitcoin as collateral for cash loans to institutions, according to three people familiar with the plans.

The Verge : Report: Google's Pixel hardware group is working on the company's first smartwatch, internally codenamed “Rohan”, which it plans to launch next year   —  A Pixel Watch is finally in the works  —  Google is finally making its own in-house smartwatch that's set to launch in 2022 …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Meta's NPE team recently set up an office in Lagos and plans another in Asia as it changes strategy to include making seed investments in small teams   —  Meta's (formerly, Facebook's) experimental app division, the NPE team, is shifting gears.  The group, which first launched in mid-2019 …

The GOP Senate primary in Ohio turns more contentious as the leading contenders showcase their loyalty to Trump in hopes of winning his endorsement

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday defended the departures of high-profile advisers from Vice President Kamala Harris’ team amid reports of turmoil in the East Wing.

The speaker chastised the highest court in the land during her Thursday press conference, saying the justices on the bench need to go back to biology class over statements made regarding the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health.

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch : AWS announces Amplify Studio, a Figma-connected low-code service to help developers build cloud apps, as an extension of its AWS Amplify service   —  At its re:Invent conference, AWS today announced Amplify Studio, a new Figma-connected no-code/low-code service that is meant to help developers quickly build cloud-connected apps.

Cristina Criddle / Financial Times : London-based Glorify, a Christian app that offers audio prayers and more, raises a $40M Series A led by a16z at a $250M valuation   —  Glorify attracts investment from VC firms as well as Kris Jenner and Michael Bublé  —  An app that helps Christians connect to God has attracted investment …

Rita Moreno and Marlon Brando first met when she was 22 on the set of the 1954 biopic “Désirée.”

Some Hollywood stars are using their faces as a new canvas for tattoos

Christina Oxenberg has written a book titled "Trash: Encounters with Ghislaine Maxwell" to help set the record straight about her relationship with the fallen British socialite.

Yinka Adegoke / Rest of World : A look at China's extensive tech investments in Africa, including undersea cables, data centers, and fintech apps, as part of its “Digital Silk Road” initiative   —  As the Chinese “tech stack” leads from undersea cables to smartphones and fintech apps, concerns grow for the digital future of ordinary Africans.

Jen Psaki refused to acknowledge previous remarks from President Biden about Trump which claimed “anyone who is responsible” for thousands of COVID-19 deaths should “not remain” in the White House.

President Biden repeated a debunked claim that he "used to drive a tractor trailer" during a trip Tuesday to Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota.

Democrat Stacey Abrams on Wednesday launched a 2022 bid for governor in Georgia, setting up a potential rematch with GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.

A staffer for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was slammed on Twitter for attacking Republicans over mask mandates despite Pelosi being spotted multiple times in public without a mask since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

A new book about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop reveals that Hunter and his therapist exchanged text messages in 2019 joking about President Biden having dementia.

Alec Baldwin alleged that he did not pull the trigger on the gun that fired resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in a preview for his upcoming televised interview on Thursday night.

President Biden on Wednesday said he supports and “will continue to support” Roe v. Wade, as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging the 1973 landmark abortion ruling.

White House Coronavirus Response Team Member Dr. Anthony Fauci dodged a question from Fox News Reporter Peter Doocy regarding illegal immigrants being screened for the omicron coronavirus variant at the border.

An asteroid a little smaller than the Willis Tower in Chicago will skirt past Earth on Dec. 11. If only Congress' flirtation with a debt ceiling collision weren’t such a close encounter.

Both sides of the abortion debate offered their reactions to oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Stephanie Condon / ZDNet : AWS announces SageMaker Studio Lab, a free version of SageMaker to help customers with little experience build, train, and deploy ML models   —  At re:Invent, the cloud giant also announced a new $10 million AI & ML scholarship program for underrepresented and underserved students.

Kevin McLaughlin / The Information : In an internal Slack message, Marc Benioff says Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor will continue to report to him   —  Bret Taylor is co-CEO of Salesforce in name only, it turns out.  The Information has learned that in his new role Taylor will continue to report to Marc Benioff, who is ostensibly his equal as co-CEO.

Jeffrey Epstein’s former pilot Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr. took the stand Tuesday in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial.

The allegation was made by bestselling author Christopher Andersen in his new book being released on Tuesday titled "Brothers and Wives: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan."

The judge overseeing Josh Duggar's child pornography trial on Wednesday ruled in favor of the government's request to introduce evidence of his past molestation scandal.

Christie Brinkley attended the ceremony at New York City’s Casa Cipriani.

Demonstrators outside the Supreme Court share why they came to protest as Dobbs v. Jackson oral arguments began.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., will retire at the end of this Congress.

Lawmakers on the Hill remain divided after the Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that questions a near 50-year precedent set under Roe v Wade.

The House is scheduled to vote on 100 days next year in the second half of the 117th Congress after only 103 voting days this year, for a total of 203.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a potential landmark abortion rights case Wednesday, as the state of Mississippi defended an abortion restriction law that directly challenges Roe v. Wade.

Josh Duggar's child pornography trial is set to officially begin on Wednesday in Arkansas federal court, two days after his father Jim Bob Duggar took the stand at Monday's evidentiary hearing.

Jordan Novet / CNBC : Salesforce promotes Bret Taylor to Vice Chair of the Board and co-CEO alongside Marc Benioff, effective immediately   —  - Bret Taylor will be co-CEO alongside Marc Benioff, who built Salesforce into one of the world's largest enterprise software companies.  — Taylor was quickly promoted …

Annie Palmer / CNBC : Amazon touts “record-breaking Black Friday through Cyber Monday sales”, in sharp contrast to reports of lackluster sales for the broader e-commerce industry   —  - Amazon said it rang up record-breaking sales between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Jussie Smollett was allegedly seen on video conducting a dry run of his attack the day before it took place, further lending credence to the prosecution’s claims that he orchestrated the whole thing.

The White House on Tuesday responded to concerns voiced by a Moderna executive who suggested the current vaccines slotted to fight the coronavirus will not be enough to counter the new omicron variant.

A nonprofit heavily was set up to combat “disinformation," but new tax documents reveal the group paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2020 to researchers who created the discredited Steele dossier.

Lee Mathews / Liliputing : The Amazon Appstore and apps downloaded from it are broken on Android 12, despite the new OS version launching over a month ago   —  As much as we'd like it to be, Installing a major operating system update isn't always the most trouble-free process.  Even if everything does go well with the update itself …

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat : Amazon announces AWS IoT TwinMaker to help developers create digital twins of real-time systems like buildings, factories, equipment, and product lines   —  Amazon today announced Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT TwinMaker, a new service designed to make it easier for developers to create digital twins …