Amazon has paid $1.9 million in reimbursements to more than 700 overseas workers.

But 33 of 44 Amazon contract workers interviewed by The Guardian say they have not been reimbursed.

Amazon says it's working to identify and pay workers who qualify for compensation.

The company says it is “deeply concerned” that some contract workers in Saudi Arabia were not treated with “the dignity and respect they deserve”.

Mansur , now back home in Nepal , said he had already suffered when moneylenders pressured his family to repay his loans.

He said that Amazon should “give the money back to all other workers” Mansur was fired without warning, leaving him to languish in a bunkhouse.

Haliey Welch went viral on TikTok and was dubbed the "Hawk Tuah " girl.

Her cryptocurrency, Hawk Tuah memecoin, was live on December 4 .

The market cap of $490 million skyrocketed in value, but then dropped 90% in minutes .

Buyers were quick to blame Welch and others involved with the launch.

This week , President Biden wrote an essay about his economic record.

On our live show, David Dayen brought on Bharat Ramamurti , who was deputy director of the National Economic Council from 2021 to 2023 .

They talk about the initial stimulus package, the problems with long-term policies in a short-term political environment.

Tax experts say they have never heard of CTBA as a credential in the tax profession.

The designation is offered by a small Florida firm, Excel Empire , which only requires attendance at a three-day seminar.

In most tax cases, only lawyers, CPAs and enrolled agents can represent taxpayers at the IRS .

There is no evidence that either Excel Empire , Long or the firms that he worked for engaged in wrongdoing.

Long said he and his colleagues had helped only taxpayers who were entitled to the benefit.

Long pursued legislation to abolish the IRS and establish a national sales tax.

The IRS and the Trump transition team did not respond to requests for comment.

Capital Brutalism is an exhibit on view through February 17 at the National Building Museum in Washington , D.C. The FBI Building was declared the ugliest building in the U.S. and the second uglier in the world in a Buildworld survey.

The exhibit asks, "Might we find a way to love these places and to live with them into the future?".

Good fruit tastes brighter and less cloying than anything humans could concoct on our own.

Comice pears are grown in the Pacific Northwest , where orchards supply such pears to a few fruit gift box operations.

The secret to these holiday-season treats, which isn’t exclusive to Harry & David pears, is that they are Comice .

The right amount, in my experience, is more like three pears per capita.

There are options that include cheese, crackers, and Moose Munch (popcorn with caramel and chocolate) Apparently, there is something even better than a simple box of perfect fruit.

Members of Congress are slated to receive a pay raise for the first time in 15 years if the spending bill passes both chambers and is signed into law.

Lawmakers currently earn a base salary of $ 174,000 annually with members in leadership receiving a higher salary.

If Biden signs the CR into law, members of Congress will receive a maximum salary increase of $ 6,600 due to a 2025 COLA of 3.8% ..

The CR will temporarily extend current government funding levels through March 14, 2025 , by approving hundreds of billions in spending to avert a government shutdown.

Conservative lawmakers immediately slammed House GOP leadership for allowing “reckless and unpaid spending” and an array of unrelated policy riders into the spending bill.

Inflation under Biden has increased over 20% , with a sizeable share of that increase attributed to cost of living expenses including shelter and food.

Elon Musk is, more or less, a rogue state. His intentions are self-serving and nefarious, and his nation-state level resources allow him to flout the law with impunity.

The most charitable interpretation is that Musk exists at various points along the Dunning Kruger scale.

Plutocracy is not enough, because nothing is ever enough for the handful of men who have everything.

The EU owes its citizens not to play nice or mete out a meek slap on the wrist over the alleged legal violations by Musk and X that are under investigation.

It's to firmly and intently show that even interplanetary amounts of wealth don't mean impunity, and that some things like democracy are not for sale.

The Asian Giant Hornet was first detected in British Columbia , Canada , in August 2019 .

They were later discovered and confirmed in Washington state a few months later .

Officials said that there was one alleged sighting of one of the hornets in October , but they were not able to locate it.

They set traps in the surrounding area that did not turn up any specimens.

Christmas with your family is an auditory assault, but what we lack in numbers we make up for sociopolitical mutation and strong yellin' lungs.

Each year , each year , we manage to set aside our differences via apolitical gift giving.

What follows is a brief guide to holiday gifting for your most chaotic relatives.

Wintry citrus is my go-to “just because” gift.

Citrus is surprising, delicious, and enough of a luxury item that most won’t buy it for themselves.

It’s less inflammatory than, say, a pear.