U.S. man charged for extortion of Facebook seeks asylum in Ecuador: lawyer

QUITO (Reuters) - A New York man charged with trying to defraud Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg is seeking asylum in Ecuador, where he was arrested in 2018 after fleeing the United States more than three years ago to avoid facing trial. An Ecuadorean court in November had authorized the extradition of wood pellet salesman Paul Ceglia, who faced U.S. charges of mail fraud and wire fraud over allegations he forged documents to extort Facebook and Zuckerberg. Paul Ceglia expressed his “desire to receive territorial asylum from the Ecuadorean state, and there is a formal request to the Ecuadorean government,” Ceglia’s lawyer, Roberto Calderon, said in a telephone interview. Ceglia believes that he would be in danger if he was returned to the United States, the lawyer said. The Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ceglia had sued Zuckerberg in 2010 saying he had signed a contract in 2003 while studying at Harvard University that gave him half of the planned social network site that would become Facebook. Calderon said the Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry asked the Interior Ministry to suspend his extradition to the United States until the asylum request is resolved. Ecuador on Thursday ended the asylum of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the country’s embassy in London, leading to his arrest.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ceglia/u-s-man-charged-for-extortion-of-facebook-seeks-asylum-in-ecuador-lawyer-idUSKCN1RO07K?il=0

Dem Retreat Begins With ‘Who Are The People?’ Lesson from Ivy League Profs

Read the full agenda for the House Dems' ongoing retreat at Va. resort

The theme of the House Democrats' annual retreat this year is "fighting for the people," but they needed a pair of Ivy League professors and a Hollywood power couple to explain to them just who those people are, according to an agenda for the event. The opening event of the House Democrats' three-day retreat at Virginia's Lansdowne Resort was headlined by Harvard's Raj Chetty and Yale's Jennifer Richeson and titled, "Who Are The People?" The introductory event was followed by a dinner headlined by celebrity couple John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, who advised women to say "f**k you" more often to President Trump.

The agenda was obtained in full by the Washington Free Beacon and can be viewed below. Nearly the entire conference is closed to the press, though there was an off-the-record reception for reporters held on Wednesday night.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wants to use the retreat as an opportunity for Democrats to reset after their first hundred days in the majority. She is reportedly hopeful members will be able to refocus on policy issues they rode to sweeping victories in 2018, rather than continue the infighting responsible for derailed attempts to come together on a budget. The members chosen to lead sessions on policies indicate infighting may be hard to avoid.

Representatives Kathy Castor (D., Fla.) and Paul Tonko (D., N.Y.), neither of whom signed on to the Green New Deal, were selected to lead a Thursday session on "Climate Change in the 116th Congress." Both Castor and Tonko have backed climate legislation they say has a chance to win bipartisan support, unlike the Green New Deal. Tonko called his plan "doable." Though many freshman members of the Democratic caucus are featured at the retreat, it's not the ones with "a large number of Twitter followers" who've drawn the ire of Pelosi. Joining Pelosi to give opening remarks for the retreat, for example, was freshman Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D., Va.). Other sessions include one on "staying on message during the Trump presidency" and one on "fiscal responsibility."

Beyond the appearance by Legend and Teigen, other entertainment at the retreat includes a professional chef demonstration by Washington, D.C.-based chef Cable Smith and a trivia event hosted by failed anti-Trump comedian Jordan Klepper. Members will also be educated on "effective advertising under franking rules," which allow members to send direct mail to constituents without paying for postage on matters of public concern, but forbids any political mailers. There will be a closing press conference held on Friday morning. All members are invited and "encouraged to stand in solidarity." A spokesperson for leadership did not respond to a request for comment on the agenda.

https://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-retreat-begins-with-who-are-the-people-lesson-from-ivy-league-profs/

House Democrats Annual Retreat Agenda

https://www.scribd.com/document/405906128/House-Democrats-Annual-Retreat-Agenda#from_embed

Google loses diversity chief amid unrest over workplace issues

Danielle Brown will be replaced by Melonie Parker, who's been serving as the company’s head of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Google diversity chief Danielle Brown on Thursday said she's leaving the search giant, as the company has dealt with several uprisings from employees over the last year related to workplace culture. She will be replaced by Melonie Parker, who's been serving as the company's head of diversity, equity and inclusion. Brown, who spent almost two years at the company, said in a LinkedIn post that she's headed to Gusto, a payroll and benefits startup based in Denver and San Francisco.

In her announcement, Brown doesn't mention Google by name, but said she wanted to explore working on diversity issues at places other than the "biggest tech companies in the world." "What if, in addition to trying to solve for employee engagement and inclusion within the biggest tech companies in the world, we tried to solve those critical needs for every local storefront, every new startup just getting off the ground, or every doctor's office across our communities?" she wrote. Brown didn't respond to a request for additional comment.

Google confirmed her departure. "We're grateful to Danielle for her excellent work over the past two years to improve representation in Google's workforce and ensure an inclusive culture for everyone," Eileen Naughton, Google's head of people operations, said in a statement. "We wish her all the best in her new role at Gusto." Brown's leaving comes a little more than a week after she and Parker released Google's annual diversity numbers. They acknowledged they'd only made "incremental progress." In 2018, women constituted 32.2% of new hires, up a bit from 31.3% the year before. The company also hired more black and Latino workers, though the gains were less dramatic. Black hires were up to 4.8% from 4.1%, and Latino hires were up to 6.8% from 6.3%.

Google has also faced intense scrutiny from its employees over its workplace conditions. In November, roughly 20,000 Googlers walked out of the company's offices worldwide to protest its handling of sexual assault allegations directed at key executives. One of the demands of the protest was to elevate Brown to report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai, rather than Naughton, to demonstrate Google's commitment to diversity. Google didn't capitulate to that demand.

More recently, more than 2,000 Googlers earlier this month signed a petition to remove a member of the company's newly formed council on artificial intelligence ethics for alleged anti-trans and anti-immigrant views. The board was disbanded after only a week, in response to the outcry. A day after the AI ethics board petition, 900 workers also reportedly signed a different letter demanding better treatment of Google's extended workforce, commonly known at the company as TVCs – temps, vendors and contractors. In response, Google said it'd require temp companies to provide its workers with full benefits, including health care, a $15 minimum wage and paid parental leave.

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-loses-diversity-chief-amid-unrest-over-workplace-issues/

Google and Huawei to pay Nexus 6P owners for bootloop issues in class-action lawsuit

After Google partnered with Huawei to launch the Nexus 6P in 2015, many users of the phone experienced bootloop issues. Now, the two companies have preliminary agreed to pay Nexus 6P users who suffered from this issue in a class-action lawsuit, according to The Verge. The suit first began on April 2017 and the companies could pay up to $9.75 million in total pay outs. When a phone has a bootloop issue, it unexpectedly crashes and reboots itself continuously, rendering it unworkable. Users who bought a Nexus 6P on Sept. 25, 2015, and after are eligible for up to $400 in repayment if they have proper documentation. Other users who received a Pixel XL as part of a previous warranty exchange program are eligible for only $10. You can read more details about the case, including info on how to submit your own claim here.

This isn't the first time a major phone maker faced a class action lawsuit over bootloop problems. In March 2017, customers sued LG for defective LG G4 and LG V10. Acknowledging the issue, LG told Android Authority in 2016 that it was a result of "loose contact between components." Google and Huawei did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-and-huawei-to-pay-nexus-6p-owners-suffering-bootloop-issues-in-class-action-lawsuit/

As-Filed Long Form Notice in Google/Huawei class action lawsuit re: Nexus 6P bootloop issue

https://www.scribd.com/document/405929329/As-Filed-Long-Form-Notice-in-Google-Huawei-class-action-lawsuit-re-Nexus-6P-bootloop-issue?campaign=SkimbitLtd&ad_group=66960X1514734Xdcc89a8fa9d84f4466ca870160d83a75&keyword=660149026&source=hp_affiliate&medium=affiliate