IF iDir.com

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:39:41 -0500

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor is denying accusations that he misled the school about two $50,000 gifts he facilitated from Jeffrey Epstein in 2012, arguing that institute officials had “full knowledge” Epstein was the donor. In an online statement published Thursday, Professor Seth Lloyd called the accusations “completely false” and said he followed the school's policies “to the letter” when he accepted Epstein's offer to support his scientific research. It was Lloyd's first public comment since MIT placed him on paid administrative Jan. 10.

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:33:58 -0500

The number of available jobs fell sharply in November, dropping to 6.8 million, a decline of 7.6% from the October level. The Labor Department reported Friday that the job openings number for November was down by 561,000 from the October level of 7.36 million. Some economists took the big decline as a sign that the labor market may be slowing after strong job growth over the past few years has pushed the unemployment rate down to the lowest level in a half-century.

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:31:42 -0500

Protests against the social and economic policies of Colombian President Ivan Duque will restart with more intensity this year, a top union leader said. Marchers in the Andean country held mass demonstrations in November and December last year to demand a varied laundry list of concessions from Duque's right-wing government. New protests will open on Tuesday with cacerolazos, Central Union of Workers (CUT) chief Diogenes Orjuela told Reuters late on Thursday, referring to a traditional Latin American form of dissent.

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:30:48 -0500

"In every scene, you are my star," Obama wrote to his wife on Twitter. Along with the message, Barack Obama shared a series of four photos of the happy couple -- married for nearly 30 years -- posing with each other. Michelle Obama is celebrating her 56th birthday one month after being named the "most admired woman" in the world for the second year in a row in a Gallup poll.

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:25:33 -0500