Category: Celebrities

Hungary Plans to Crackdown on All Soros-Funded NGOs

Hungary plans to crack down on non-governmental organizations linked to billionaire George Soros now that Donald Trump will occupy the White House, according to the deputy head of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party. The European Union member will use “all the tools at its disposal” to “sweep out” NGOs funded by the Hungarian-born financier, which “serve global capitalists and back political correctness over national governments,” Szilard Nemeth, a vice president of the ruling Fidesz party, told reporters on Tuesday.

How to Deal With Trump’s Cabinet

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees “need a thorough vetting.” He’s right, but exactly what he and his colleagues mean by that won’t be clear until the Senate’s confirmation process begins this week.

Trump Says He’s – Exploring’ Forming Commission to Study Autism

President-elect Donald Trump’s team said Tuesday that he’s considering establishing a special autism commission after vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Trump had invited him to head up a panel on immunization safety and science. After meeting with the incoming president in New York at Trump Tower, Kennedy told reporters he had accepted an offer to lead a panel on “vaccine safety and scientific integrity.”

VW Closes in on $4.3 Billion U.S. Accord in Diesel Scandal

Volkswagen AG is closing in on a deal to pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties to settle a U.S. probe into the rigging of diesel-powered cars to cheat emissions tests. The agreement, which VW said Tuesday will include a guilty plea, raises the cost of the scandal to more than $23 billion in the U.S. and Canada, blowing by the 18.2 billion euros the carmaker had set aside to resolve the disputes.

Obama Alum David Plouffe Joins Zuckerberg’s Philanthropic Group

David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s former campaign manager, will lead policy and advocacy for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization created by Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. Plouffe, who has been a full-time adviser for Uber Technologies Inc., will step away from his day-to-day duties, but he’ll remain a non-voting Uber board member, the ride-hailing company said.

Trump Asks Vaccine Skeptic Kennedy to Lead U.S. Safety Panel

President-elect Donald Trump has asked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead a committee on the safety of vaccines, selecting an environmentalist who has linked the shots to autism in defiance of broad scientific consensus. Kennedy met with the incoming president at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday and afterward told reporters that he had accepted an offer to lead a panel on “vaccine safety and scientific integrity.”

Nasdaq Hits Another Record

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 32 points, or 0.2%, to 19856, after rising within 50 points of the never-before-reached 20000 level earlier in the session. The S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%, a fresh record.

Here’s How Trump’s Tax Cuts Could Affect U.S., Global Economic Growth

Donald Trump’s vowed tax cuts could goose global economic growth this year and next, the World Bank said Tuesday, fresh fuel for a world struggling with stagnant trade, weak investment and rising policy uncertainty. In its semiannual flagship economic report, the development institution said the global economy should expand by 2.7% this year, down a bit from the 2.8% predicted last June.

Just How Far-fetched Is Alibaba’s Goal to Create One Million Jobs in the U.S.?

U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that trade with China already supports over 40 million jobs in the United States. Can Alibaba tack on another million? During a 40-minute meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Monday, Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma pledged to create one million jobs in the U.S. by helping small businesses sell products and services to China.

Top U.S. trade official sounds alarm over protectionist policies

Outgoing U.S. trade ambassador Michael Froman warned Tuesday that America risks ceding its dominance of the global economy if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on promises to slap punitive tariffs on imports and abandon a sweeping trade deal with Asia. In prepared remarks for his final speech as the nation’s top trade negotiator, Froman did not mention Trump by name.

Detroit Wants Something From Trump in Exchange for Those Tweets

The way Bill Ford tells it, you’d think he and Donald Trump are like two old buddies chitchatting all the time about cars, economics and taxes. “When needed, I can always get to him or he calls me,” Ford, the chairman of Ford Motor Co., said in an interview Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Futures, Asia Down on Calm Before Earnings Storm

Investors are looking for concrete signs of Trump’s economic policy while waiting for companies to divulge how the fourth quarter went. Futures for U.S. markets were lower late Monday as investors await the latest earnings season and wonder if the Trump rally hasn’t pushed markets too high.

Alibaba’s Ma Meets With Trump to Talk About Creating Jobs

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma met with Donald Trump on Monday to discuss how the online retailer could help create 1 million new U.S. jobs, keying in on one of the president-elect’s chief concerns amid fraught relations between China and the incoming administration. The Chinese e-commerce giant said the positions would be generated through Alibaba adding 1 million small and medium-sized U.S. businesses to its platforms, estimating that each one will hire a new person as a result of the added commerce.

Trump camp faces a complex scramble in avoiding potential conflicts

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump walks from an elevator with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma after their meeting at Trump Tower in New York on Monday. While promoting a Trump Tower condo development in South America last week, Eric Trump assured an Argentine newspaper that his family’s business was “in the first phase” of a building project in Buenos Aires.

Trump, Ryan Set the Stage for Tax Reform Overhaul

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan will meet on Monday with top members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team to discuss their 2017 tax reform agenda, a senior Republican aide said. Ryan and his policy staff are expected to walk the Trump team members through the “Better Way” tax reform blueprint that the speaker and other House Republican leaders unveiled last June, the aide said.

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President-elect Donald Trump has not been shy about taking on major corporations on Twitter — and it’s forced companies to take action. (

Tillerson Ethics Plan Foreshadows Knotty Trump Confirmations

Rex Tillerson’s disclosure that he stands to receive a $180 million cash payout from Exxon Mobil Corp. if he becomes the next U.S. secretary of state offers a preview of the thorny ethical questions that may be raised this week over a presidential cabinet stacked with tycoons. And with confirmation hearings scheduled for Tillerson and eight other appointees of President-elect Donald Trump, the head of the federal office that helps ensure compliance with conflict-of-interest rules told lawmakers his agency is hard-pressed by too much work and too little time.

Why the China Manipulator Label Looks Increasingly Appealing to Trump

A man buys a Chinese newspaper, with the headline that reads “Outsider strikes back”, featuring Donald Trump on the front page in Beijing on Nov. 10. Donald Trump wasn’t the first U.S. presidential candidate to blast China for manipulating its currency for trade advantage since the century began, but it’s increasingly likely he’ll be the first to follow through on the threat once in office. That’s the perspective of economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch led by Helen Qiao, chief Greater China economist at the bank in Hong Kong, whose views have evolved in recent weeks given the sustained protectionist rhetoric coming from the incoming president.

GOP Should – Show Their Cards’ on Obamacare Redo, Obama Says

Republicans should “show their cards” with a better Obamacare replacement before taking steps to repeal the law, President Barack Obama said in an interview on his signature health program. “Republicans have to go ahead and show their cards, if in fact they have a program that would genuinely work better,” he said Friday in a webcast interview with the online news outlet Vox in Washington.

Twitter Suspends – Pharma Bro’ Shkreli After Harassment

Twitter Inc. suspended the account of Martin Shkreli after the brash former pharmaceutical executive harassed a female reporter online, the latest high-profile case of abuse on the social media service. Over the past few days, freelance reporter Lauren Duca posted about several unwanted digital advances by Shkreli, the former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, including a message in which Shkreli invited her to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Twitter Suspends – Pharma Bro’ Shkreli After Reporter Harassed

Twitter Inc. suspended the account of Martin Shkreli after the brash former pharmaceutical executive harassed a female reporter online, the latest high-profile case of abuse on the social media service. Over the past few days, freelance reporter Lauren Duca posted about several unwanted digital advances by Shkreli, the former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, including a message in which Shkreli invited her to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Investors All Ears as Trump Set to Break Silence

U.S. and Chinese data and an expected news conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the coming week may shed some light on the state of the world’s two biggest economies – and the outlook for relations between them. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said he will hold a news conference on Wednesday.

Trump Interviews Brexit Supporter as U.S. Envoy to EU, Mail Says

A professor who backed the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union was interviewed for the job to become President-elect Donald Trump’s ambassador to the bloc, according to the Mail on Sunday. Ted Malloch was recommended for the position by Nigel Farage, a political rival to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, and discussed the job with Trump’s team, according to the newspaper, citing an interview with the professor.

Goldman’s Donovan Said to Be Top Contender for Key Treasury Post

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Jim Donovan is the front-runner to be Donald Trump’s pick for undersecretary of domestic finance, a key position in the Treasury department, according to a person familiar with the decision. If chosen and confirmed Donovan would be the fourth appointee with ties to the investment bank tapped to serve in the president-elect administration, and would be responsible for coordinating policies on banking, capital markets and regulation, and managing the issuance of the country’s debt.

REPORT: Jared Kushner is taking steps to explore a White House…

President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may be headed for a job in the White House. Kushner is in the process of filing financial disclosure documents in preparation for taking a formal role as an adviser to the president, sources close to the process o wns the New York Observer , along with other media properties.

Is Marijuana Dangerous? These New Stats Suggest So

You could certainly argue that 1996, the first year that California approved medical cannabis, or 2012, the first year that Colorado and Washington approved recreational weed, were marijuana’s breakout years. But 2016 saw five states approve medical cannabis , while four additional states legalized recreational pot, doubling the number of adult-use states to eight.

Rock and Roll God Gene Simmons Thinks the Dow Will Blow Past 20,000

Kiss legend Gene Simmons isn’t just a god of rock and roll, he is also keen on investing in the stock market. “My belief is that as soon as Donald Trump takes power, and as soon as he lowers the amount of taxes that people on the street are going to have to pay, watch the 20,000 ceiling on the Dow break,” Simmons told TheStreet in an interview.

Trump Said to Tell Confidant He Remains Opposed to AT&T Deal

Donald Trump remains opposed to the megamerger between AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. because he believes it would concentrate too much power in the media industry, according to people close to the president-elect, who has been publicly silent about the transaction for months. Trump told a friend in the last few weeks that he still considers the merger to be a bad deal, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversation was private.

Distress Moving to Retail, Health Care as Energy Woes Fade

The combination of rising rates and a new political regime in the U.S. will bring about an uptick in corporate restructurings outside the energy space, creating new opportunities for investors in the riskiest parts of the debt market. That’s one of the conclusions from interviews with bond traders, bankruptcy lawyers, financial advisers and fixed-income analysts about the outlook for 2017.

AT&T sees faster path for deal

AT&T Inc. and Time Warner Inc. said they can avoid having the Federal Communications Commission scrutinize their proposed merger, eliminating a significant hurdle in the path of the $85.4 billion deal, which has attracted criticism from President-elect Donald Trump. “While subject to change, it is currently anticipated that Time Warner will not need to transfer any of its FCC licenses to AT&T in order to continue to conduct its business operations after the closing of the transaction,” the companies said in a regulatory filing dated Thursday.