New York Times columnist Blake Hounshell dead at 44

New York Times political columnist Blake Hounshell died after a “battle with depression,” the paper revealed Tuesday. He was 44. New York Times editor-in-chief Joe Kahn and managing editor Carolyn Ryan informed staff via email that Hounshell, who joined the newspaper in 2021, “tragically passed away” from an apparent suicide. “Blake was a dedicated journalist…

Philip Esformes’ conviction in $1.3B fraud case, $44M in penalties, upheld by appeals court

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the criminal conviction of assisted living community and skilled nursing facility owner Philip Esformes in a healthcare fraud case that the federal government valued at $1.3 billion and described as “the largest healthcare fraud scheme charged by the US Justice Department.” Esformes’ 20-year prison sentence…

Ex-Celsius CEO is sued by NY for duping crypto investors

Former Celsius Network Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Alex Mashinsky, whose once high-flying crypto lender went bankrupt last year, was sued for fraud by the New York attorney general — the latest fallout from turmoil in the industry. Mashinsky, who co-founded Celsius, duped hundreds of thousands of investors out of billions of dollars of cryptocurrency by…

Moldova Wants Israel to Extradite Ilan Shor

The government of Moldova has asked Israel several times in recent years to extradite a Moldovan-Israeli politician whom the United States has accused of corrupting Moldova’s political and economic institutions on behalf of Russia. Moldova wants Jerusalem to extradite Ilan Shor (aka Șor), the 35-year-old oligarch-turned-politician who fled to Israel in 2019 after being convicted…

Amazon slashes more than 18,000 jobs

Layoffs are never easy regardless of the circumstance, but they are particularly bad when they come in waves. That’s exactly what’s happening at Amazon. On Wednesday, less than two months after the U.S.’ second largest employer reportedly moved to cut around 10,000 employees in its devices and books divisions, CEO Andy Jassy says it will…