Author: Editor-In-Chief
Africa’s growing coup belt gained a new front on December 7 when soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television to assert power. Eight uniformed men, led by Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri and calling themselves the Military Commission for Reconstruction, declared President Patrice Talon “removed”, suspended the constitution, dissolved state institutions and ordered the closure of borders.Observers were bracing for a now-familiar scenario of forced resignations, detention or house arrest of leaders, and routine condemnation from the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).But by noon, those hopes were dashed.Within hours of the broadcast, Interior Minister Alassane Seydoux…
Naveen Rao, former head of AI at Databricks, has raised $475 million in seed capital for his new startup, Unconventional AI, at a valuation of $4.5 billion. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Ventures, with participation from Lux Capital and DCVC. The funding is the first installment toward the round’s goal of up to $1 billion, Rao told Bloomberg. TechCrunch first reported in October that Unconventional AI was seeking this huge funding for Rao’s new startup, but the final valuation was slightly lower than the $5 billion that sources said he was seeking. If he ends up…
Eli Lilly CEO David A. Ricks speaks during a press conference at Generation Park in Houston, Monday, September 23, 2025. The company announced plans to build a $6.5 billion biomanufacturing plant north of Houston. (Raquel Natalichio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)Raquel Natalichio | Houston Chronicle | Getty ImagesEli Lilly The company announced Tuesday it will spend $6 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, to help expand production of its high-profile experimental obesity drug and other drugs. This is the third facility in a series of new U.S. investment plans by the pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly announced in February…
Park Dae-joon, CEO of South Korean online retail giant Coupang, has resigned three weeks after the company became aware of a massive data breach that affected approximately 34 million customers.CoupangCEO of South Korean online retail giant Coupang The company’s resignation comes three weeks after the company became aware of a massive data breach that affected approximately 34 million customers.Coupang announced on Wednesday that CEO Park Dae-joon has resigned due to the data breach incident, which was disclosed on November 18, according to a Google translation of a statement in Korean.President Park said, “I deeply apologize for disappointing the people due…
Former employees claim the Trump administration rolled back enforcement of civil rights laws in favor of the president’s priorities.Published December 9, 2025December 9, 2025Click here to share on social mediaShare 2shareA group of more than 200 former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) employees has signed an open letter condemning the “destruction” of the Justice Department’s civil rights division under President Donald Trump.The letter, published online Tuesday, says the Trump administration has “upended” the department’s core mission of defending civil rights, leading to an exodus of staff.Recommended stories list of 3 itemsend of list”While each election brought changes, the fundamental mission…
The devastating violence in Gaza unfolded within an international system never designed to curb the geopolitical ambitions of great powers. To understand why the United Nations was able to mount such a limited response to what many see as a genocidal attack, we need to go back to the foundations of the post-World War II order and consider how its structures have long enabled impunity.After World War II, the structure of a new international order based on respect for the United Nations Charter and international law was agreed upon as the normative basis for a peaceful future. Above all, the…
This year has been a very good year for CoreWeave. In March, the AI cloud infrastructure provider went public in one of the year’s biggest and most anticipated IPOs, but it failed to live up to the hype. A further setback occurred in October when a plan to acquire the cloud provider’s business partner Core Scientific fell through due to skepticism from the target company’s shareholders. During that time, the company has acquired various companies, its stock price has gone up and down, and its role in the burgeoning AI data center market has been both criticized and praised. In…
Nelson Chai witnessed the rise of the gig economy firsthand while serving as Uber’s CFO.Chai, now CEO of on-demand payroll company Daily Pay, also sees how gig workers struggle with the benefits system, which he says is “very much at the white-collar management level.””In most companies, salaries are paid biweekly,” Chai told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan at the CNBC CEO Council Forum in November. “But what’s happening now is that about two-thirds of households in this country are actually living paycheck to paycheck.”This has had a major impact on gig workers in the United States, which Chai said is on pace…
Democratic candidate Eileen Higgins is expected to win in the highly anticipated Miami mayoral runoff election, which will test the sentiments of voters in Florida, President Trump’s home state.Democrat Eileen Higgins has won the Miami mayoral race, defeating a Republican backed by President Donald Trump, ending the party’s nearly 30-year losing streak and giving Democrats a boost in one of the final campaigns before the 2026 midterm elections.”Tonight, the people of Miami made history,” Higgins said in a statement after the results were announced Tuesday night.Recommended stories list of 4 itemsend of list“Together, we have turned the page on years…
The Trump administration has stepped up a crackdown on gangs bringing illegal drugs into the United States, with a focus on deadly military strikes at sea and increased border security. But as the United States ramps up its overt intervention, experts warn that policymakers may be overlooking a key battleground: prisons across the region. Some of Latin America’s most powerful criminal organizations were formed not in borderlands, streets or jungle hideouts, but inside the region’s prisons. Overcrowded, under-resourced and often effectively autonomous, these facilities have long served as incubators for armed groups to recruit, reorganize and expand their influence. Across…