The FBI publicizes NBA arrests in reference to a Mafia-related playing and sports activities fixing investigation

More than 30 people, including NBA head coach Chauncey Billups and player Terry Rozier, have been arrested as part of a federal investigation into gambling and “sports fixing” linked to several major crime families, law enforcement officials said Thursday.

“We are here in New York to announce a historic arrest in connection with a wide-ranging criminal enterprise spanning both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at a news conference in Brooklyn.

Portland Trailblazers head coach Billups, Miami Heat’s Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were “taken into custody today,” Patel said.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said the arrests stemmed from two major fraud-related cases: one involving sports betting and the other related to “rigged poker games.”

The latter indictment includes 31 defendants who allegedly “engaged in a nationwide scheme” to rig the games by “using high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims of underground poker games that were secretly rigged,” Nocella said.

The games, which took place in the New York area, were supported by the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families, he said.

“This suspected illegal gambling operation took tens of millions of dollars from unwitting victims and created a financial pipeline for La Cosa Nostra to finance and facilitate its organized criminal activities,” said FBI New York Assistant Director Christopher Raia.

Head coach Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers reacts during the first quarter of the preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at the Moda Center on October 14, 2025 in Portland, Oregon.

Alika Jenner | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

Billups, a former Detroit Pistons player who spent 17 years in the NBA, was arrested in Portland. Billups, a five-time All-Star, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Rozier was arrested in Orlando, Florida.

Read more about CNBC’s politics coverage

Trump wants to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House for a ballroom: “Plans changed”

The government shutdown is the second longest in U.S. history

  • Trump special counsel nominee Paul Ingrassia withdraws after racist texts emerge
  • Trump says U.S. ranchers “don’t understand” tariffs and need to cut prices
  • Oil prices rise 3% after the Trump administration sanctioned major Russian oil companies
  • Russia expressed complacency about the talks between Trump and Putin. Now they are on hold, Moscow is worried
  • Trump dined with Murdoch at the White House amid a $10 billion Epstein letter lawsuit
  • Trump wants DOJ to pay $230 million to investigate him: NYT
  • White House calls Trump’s furor over ballroom demolition ‘contrived outrage’
  • Trump was pardoned on January 6 and accused of threatening to assassinate Democratic leader Jeffries
  • Trump’s idea to buy beef from Argentina will hurt US farmers, Republican senator warns
  • Trump can station National Guard in Portland, appeals court says
  • US, Australia sign critical minerals agreement with project pipeline worth $8.5 billion
  • Comey seeks dismissal of case, saying Trump’s chosen prosecutor was unlawfully appointed
  • White House economic adviser Hassett says the shutdown could end this week
  • X Lawsuit Against Apple and OpenAI Remains in Fort Worth, Texas; The judge suggests moving there
  • “No Kings” protests against Trump are bringing a street party atmosphere to cities across the country
  • Trump commutes former GOP Rep. George Santos’ prison sentence
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the Trump administration over $100,000 in H-1B visa fees
  • Bill to fund military during government shutdown fails procedural vote in Senate
  • Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton indicted by grand jury
  • Government shutdown: Senate bill fails for tenth time, Kelly calls on Trump to intervene
  • Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker won $1.4 million from gambling last year, tax returns show
  • Trump said he and Putin would meet in Hungary to discuss the war in Ukraine
  • Feds to file charges against former Trump adviser John Bolton on Thursday: reports
  • Trump says he may attend the Supreme Court hearing of the tariff case next month
  • The judge is temporarily blocking Trump from firing federal employees during the government shutdown
  • The US Department of Justice seizes $15 billion worth of Bitcoin from a Cambodia-based “pig slaughter” scam
  • Bessent says market weakness will not stop the US from taking strong action against China
  • Trump threatens China with a cooking oil embargo because of its rejection of soybeans
  • Trump’s job cuts impact bipartisan priorities
  • Trump’s trade representative says 100% tariffs on China depend on Beijing’s next move
  • According to Defense Secretary Hegseth, a Qatar Air Force facility will be built at the USAF base in Idaho
  • Trump candidate Paul Ingrassia is reportedly accused of sexual harassment

Rozier, a 10-year NBA veteran, has reportedly been under surveillance for months for suspicious sports betting activity related to his gaming.

Terry Rozier #2 of the Miami Heat dribbles the ball during the second half of a preseason game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Kaseya Center on October 17, 2025 in Miami, Florida.

Tomas Diniz Santos | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

Billups was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 2004 when the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the league finals.

Jones, 49, played for 10 teams in his decade-plus NBA career, including three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.

New Jersey accuses Amazon of discriminating in opposition to pregnant staff

Peter Endig | AFP | Getty Images

The New Jersey attorney general sued Amazon On Wednesday, he alleged the company violated the rights of thousands of pregnant employees and employees with disabilities who work at several of its facilities in the state.

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office in Essex County Superior Court, accuses Amazon of violating state anti-discrimination law by treating pregnant workers and workers with disabilities when they request work accommodations.

The state said the lawsuit was the result of a years-long investigation by its civil rights division into Amazon’s treatment of workers at warehouses across New Jersey.

According to the lawsuit, the government investigation found that since October 2015, Amazon allegedly violated the rights of pregnant and disabled workers by placing them on unpaid leave when they requested accommodations, denying them reasonable accommodations, and “unreasonably” delaying its responses to the workers’ requests.

It also alleged that Amazon “unlawfully” retaliated against these workers when they sought compensation, including by firing them. After granting workers an accommodation, Amazon reportedly fired some employees because they “failed to meet the company’s rigorous productivity requirements.”

“There is no excuse for Amazon’s shameful treatment of pregnant workers and workers with disabilities,” Platkin said in a statement. “Amazon’s egregious behavior has caused enormous harm to pregnant workers and workers with disabilities in our state, and it must stop now.”

Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said in a statement that allegations that the company does not comply with federal and state laws, such as New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law, are “simply not true.”

“Ensuring the health and well-being of our employees is our top priority and we are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for everyone,” Nantel said.

The company said it approves more than 99% of pregnancy accommodation requests submitted by workers. Amazon also denied automatically furloughing pregnant workers and claimed it unfairly rejected accommodation requests.

The lawsuit seeks to require Amazon to pay unspecified damages and civil penalties, as well as to issue court orders requiring the company to adjust its policies and submit to five years of monitoring and reporting requirements, among other requirements.

In one incident described in the complaint, an unnamed pregnant employee was granted an arrangement that allowed her to take additional breaks and prohibited her from lifting anything heavier than 15 pounds.

Less than a month after the accommodation was approved, she was allegedly terminated for “failure to comply with packing requirements,” the lawsuit says, even though her accommodation required her to pack fewer items per shift.

In another case, a pregnant worker’s accommodation request was closed due to a lack of medical documentation, even though the requested documents were not required. While the worker attempted to resubmit her claim, she allegedly received three warnings for “poor productivity” and was ultimately fired for “failing to pay her wages,” the complaint states.

Amazon’s internal investigation into her case did not confirm that the employee was fired because of her pregnancy, but the company eventually rehired her with back pay, the lawsuit says.

“Amazon’s discriminatory practices and systematic failure to accommodate pregnant workers and workers with disabilities result in these employees being pushed out of Amazon’s workforce – the exact result.” [Law Against Discrimination] “This should be prevented,” the lawsuit says.

Amazon’s treatment of pregnant employees and other employees in its sprawling frontline workforce has come under scrutiny in the past.

The company, which is the country’s second-largest private employer, faced lawsuits from workers at its warehouses who claimed the company failed to accommodate them when they were pregnant and then fired them for failing to meet performance standards, CNET reported.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched an investigation last year into Amazon’s treatment of pregnant workers in its warehouses after six senators called on it to do so, citing a “troubling pattern of mistreatment.”

The New York City Department of Human Rights filed a complaint against Amazon in 2022, alleging that the company discriminated against pregnant workers and workers with disabilities in its facilities.

Amazon said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Anthropic’s Claude Life Sciences offers researchers an AI enhance

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei speaks on CNBC’s Squawk Box before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Anthropic on Monday announced Claude for Life Sciences, a new offering for researchers to use the company’s artificial intelligence to advance scientific discoveries.

Claude for Life Sciences is based on Anthropic’s existing AI models, but also supports new connections with other scientific tools commonly used in laboratory research and development.

It will be able to support researchers at all stages of the discovery process, from conducting literature reviews to developing hypotheses, analyzing data, preparing regulatory submissions and more, Anthropic said.

The launch of Claude for Life Sciences marks Anthropic’s first official entry into the industry and comes just months after the company hired longtime industry executive Eric Kauderer-Abrams as head of biology and life sciences.

“Now is the pivotal moment for us where we decided this is a big area of ​​investment,” Kauderer-Abrams said in an interview with CNBC. “We want a significant percentage of all life science work in the world to run on Claude, just as coding is done today.”

Anthropic, one of the companies at the center of the AI ​​boom, is developing a family of large language models called Claude. It was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI executives and researchers and its value has grown to $183 billion in just four years.

The company launched a new model, Claude Sonnet 4.5, late last month and said it was “significantly better” at life science tasks like understanding lab protocols.

Kauderer-Abrams said researchers have already engaged with Anthropic’s models to support parts of the scientific process. Therefore, the company decided to officially develop Claude for Life Sciences to support them from start to finish.

This meant that Anthropic had to build integrations with key players in the life sciences ecosystem, including Benchling, PubMed, 10x genomics and Synapse.org, among others. Anthropic has also worked with companies that can help life sciences organizations adopt AI, such as Caylent, KPMG, Deloitte and cloud providers AWS and Google Cloud, the company said.

“We are ready and excited about this task to make sure all the pieces fit together,” Kauderer-Abrams said.

In a pre-recorded demo, Anthropic showed how a scientist working on preclinical studies can use Claude for Life Sciences to compare two study designs that test different dosing strategies.

The scientist was able to query her lab’s data directly from Benchling, creating a summary and tables of key differences with links back to the original material. After reviewing the results, the scientist prepared a study report that could be included in an application for approval.

Anthropic said an analysis like this used to take “days” to validate and compile information, but now it can be done in minutes.

Kauderer-Abrams said the company believes AI can bring real efficiencies to the life sciences sector, but is also “under no illusions” that it will magically overcome the physical limitations of conducting scientific research. Clinical trials that take three years won’t suddenly take a month, he said.

Instead, Anthropic focuses on examining the time-consuming and expensive parts of the discovery process “piece by piece” to identify where AI might be most useful.

“We are here to ensure that this change happens and that it happens responsibly,” Kauderer-Abrams said.

REGARD: Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 4.5, its latest AI model

Normal Motors (GM) Q3 2025 outcomes

A General Motors Co. Chevrolet Silverado truck at a dealership in Upland, California, U.S., on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.

Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images

DETROIT – General Motors is expected to report its third-quarter results before the market close on Tuesday, amid a host of challenges facing the automotive industry.

According to LSEG average estimates, Wall Street expects the following:

  • Earnings per share: Adjusted $2.31
  • Revenue: $45.27 billion

These results would represent a 7.2% year-over-year decline in revenue and a 22% decline in adjusted earnings per share. GM’s third-quarter 2024 results included revenue of $48.76 billion, net income attributable to shareholders of $3 billion and adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $4.1 billion.

GM’s results come a week after the company previously reported a $1.6 billion impact from the pullback in all-electric vehicles. The costs, which include a non-cash impact of $1.2 billion and $400 million in cash, will not impact adjusted results but will impact the automaker’s bottom line.

Beyond the changes in electric vehicles, GM and the entire auto industry continue to face challenges from changing regulations, tariffs, inflation and other disruptions.

Several Wall Street analysts cited “investor concerns” that GM could miss estimates for the quarter, as well as additional “downside risk” due to shifts in truck production, equipment mix and other issues such as warranty costs.

GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said in July that the impact of tariffs in the third quarter would likely be “somewhat higher” than in the previous quarter. He said at the time that GM still expects between $4 billion and $5 billion in increased tariff costs in 2025, of which the company plans to offset at least 30%.

GM’s full-year guidance, revised in May due to tariffs, calls for adjusted EBIT of between $10 billion and $12.5 billion, or adjusted earnings per share of $8.25 to $10; net income attributable to shareholders of $7.7 billion to $9.5 billion; and adjusted automotive free cash flow between $7.5 billion and $10 billion.

Shares of GM were up about 9% in 2025 as of Monday’s close.

This is developing news. Please check back for more updates.

Brandy reacts when rumors come up after the walk-off in the midst of the efficiency

Brandy Norwood Fans were left confused and worried after suddenly stalling mid-performance during the Chicago stop of her and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine tour – but now she’s speaking out. The R&B icon took to social media to explain what really went on behind the scenes, and her sister stayed honest.

RELATED: Yikes! Jennifer Lopez’s Ex-Husband Ojani Noa Spills Tea on Alleged Past Cheating After Saying She ‘Never Was Loved’ (VIDEO)

Brandy cleans the air after health problems in Chicago

According to Brandy, the abrupt exit wasn’t about drama, but about health. On Sunday, October 20, she shared on Instagram that after weeks of back-to-back rehearsals on stage, she felt weak and dehydrated and had to leave the venue to be examined by a nearby doctor. Brandy apologized to her fans in Chicago for the show’s sudden end and said she was trying to return and get through it. Furthermore, due to the technical difficulties and their condition, it was simply not possible to give fans the experience they deserved. Still, she showed love to her co-headliner Monica, calling her “my sister“For her dedication when it mattered most. Brandy assured fans that she is taking the necessary precautions and will return to the stage in full force – starting with her next stop in Indianapolis.

“To my dear fans in Chicago: Thank you everyone for your overwhelming love, support and most importantly your prayers,” Brandy said in a statement. “I sincerely apologize for the abrupt end of last night’s performance in Chicago. After weeks of non-stop rehearsals, I felt dehydration and the feeling of fainting last night. Everyone involved agreed that my well-being is of the utmost importance.”

Brandy had the TL check in and crack jokes

When the news broke, fans wasted no time rushing to The Shade Room’s comments section. And luckily the general atmosphere was love. Many were simply relieved that Brandy was doing well and putting her health first, while others couldn’t help but crack a few light-hearted jokes. Some said, “Aunties need to slow down out here!” while another chimed in: “That’s exactly why Beyoncé brought 12 fans on stage – hydration is key!”

An Instagram user @Manevillewis said: “That’s why Beyoncé has 12 fans, a water boy and wears bodysuits. But get well soon.

This Instagram user @katrinatheartist added: “Yes, you need to moisturize and maybe less layers, mom ❤️“

And Instagram user @oneof6iix wrote: “As a UNC, I get it. We have to go to bed at 8:30.

Then Instagram user @ms_hawaianjetsfan shared: “I’m glad she’s doing well 🙏🏾 The 40s are different!

While Instagram users @Fabricconcierge added: “We wish you a successful tour! It is not easy! 🙌🙌🙌”

Most recently Instagram user @red_11.02 wrote: “❤️Give her grace, her health comes first!

What really happened in Chicago?

You already know that fans were thrilled to see Brandy and Monica again at their The Boy Is Mine tour stop in Chicago. But things didn’t go quite as planned. During the performance of her hit song “Baby,” Brandy could be seen pointing out technical issues to the crew, particularly something wrong with her sound. “Give me a second, y’all, I gotta get my…” she said before heading backstage… and never returning.

According to fans in the building, Brandy didn’t take the stage again that night and Monica was left to fend for herself. Monica remained kind and professional, still sharing her love for her tourmate and giving the audience a performance. However, many noticed that the two didn’t perform their classic collaboration “The Boy Is Mine” until the end of the show. At the time, Brandy’s camp had yet to issue a statement, leaving online fans confused and concerned about what was going on behind the scenes.

RELATED: Big spenders! Monica Receives Emotional $200,000 Gift from Anthony Wilson in Alleged Courthouse Wedding (VIDEO)

What do you think, roommates?

No Kings is at the moment the biggest protest towards a president in US historical past

Every president of modern times has been protested against. Sometimes the protests are small, like small groups on the side of the road as the presidential motorcade passes by.

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Sometimes the protests are large, like against George W. Bush when the nation was soured by the Iraq War.

There has never been a president against whom there have been such violent protests as against Donald Trump.

The Hands-Off protest against Trump’s policies and cuts attracted three million people in April 2025.

The first No Kings protest in June 2025 grew to 5 million people, and the growth continued with the October 2025 protest.

MoveOn, one of the No Kings coalition partners, posted on X:

Our estimate of the No Kings coalition responsible for planning today’s event is 7 MILLION nationwide. 7 MILLIONS of you gathered across the country today to peacefully protest. 2 million more than the first No Kings campaign in June.

To put that number into context, No Kings more than doubled the number of protesters in six months.

Read more about why this is the largest protest against a president below.

Trump will finish the conflict in Ukraine now, and Russia is aware of it

Russian President Vladimir Putin uses binoculars to observe the Tsentr-2019 military exercise in the Donguz Mountains near the city of Orenburg on September 20, 2019.

Alexey Nikolsky | Afp | Getty Images

Russia was an indirect beneficiary of the Gaza war as it distracted the United States and other Western countries from their ongoing war in Ukraine.

But now that there is a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a nascent peace process has begun, US President Donald Trump is turning his attention to ending the war in Ukraine.

The president said Thursday that he and other “senior advisers” will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss how to end the war. This came following a phone call with the two leaders in which Trump said Putin had congratulated him on the “great achievement of peace in the Middle East.”

“President Putin and I will then meet at an agreed location, Budapest, Hungary, to see whether we can end this “inglorious” war between Russia and Ukraine. … I believe that great progress was made with today’s call,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The meeting will be the second time the leaders have met in person during Trump’s second term in office and could take place within the next two weeks, according to the US president.

Tomahawk missiles

One way the White House is pressuring Moscow is to consider the possibility of supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, with the leaders expected to discuss the matter.

Earlier this week, Trump told reporters that he could use the Tomahawk missiles as leverage against Russia, saying he could tell Putin: “Look: If this war doesn’t get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks.”

In another sign that the administration may be ready to step up its military support for Kiev, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised Wednesday that “firepower” would be coming for Ukraine, although he did not mention the Tomahawks by name.

Another push for peace

Trump made no secret this week that he and his envoys planned to immediately restart efforts to end the war in Ukraine as it approaches its fourth anniversary.

As Trump celebrated a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel on Monday, he addressed Israeli lawmakers and told the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, “We have to bring Russia to closure.”

“Steve, let’s focus on Russia first, okay? We’ll get there.” [done]” said Trump in an address to US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

After boasting before his second term that he could end the war in Ukraine in just “a day,” he acknowledged that it had proven more difficult than he expected, remarking, “I thought it would be easy to sort out. I thought it would be a lot easier than doing what we just did.” [in Gaza].”

Victoria Coates, vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute, told CNBC this week that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will likely have an impact on the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“The momentum behind resolving the Gaza conflict can help resolve the Ukraine war,” Coates, deputy national security adviser in Trump’s first administration, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.

“All these other countries that the president has met with [this week]and to get them behind the conflict resolution, [can lead to] Maybe put some pressure on Putin to come to the negotiating table. So this can have a positive impact on Ukraine,” she said.

The dynamics of resolving the Gaza conflict can have a positive impact on Ukraine: Victoria Coates

The big question now, of course, is whether Russia is willing to play along with Trump and his team.

Will Moscow play along?

The Kremlin appears keen to show its willingness to work towards ending the conflict, although critics (not least Ukraine) say Russia is adept at using delaying tactics to prolong the war for territorial gains.

On Tuesday, the Kremlin reiterated Russia’s position, vehemently disputed by Kiev and its Western allies, that it was Ukraine’s intransigence that prevented an end to the war Russia started in February 2022.

“Of course, we welcome such intentions, we welcome the confirmation of the political will to support the search for peaceful solutions in every possible way,” Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday in a statement reported by Interfax.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a summit of heads of states that are members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), October 8, 2024 in Moscow, Russia.

Sergei Ilnitsky | Via Reuters

Russia “remains open and ready for a peace dialogue,” Peskov said, adding: “We hope that the influence of the United States and the diplomatic prowess of President Trump’s envoys will certainly help push the Ukrainian side toward greater willingness for a peace process.”

CNBC has asked the Kremlin for further comment on its expectations for renewed talks with the US and is awaiting a response.

Calling Putin’s bluff

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin before a joint news conference following their meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., Aug. 15, 2025.

Gavriil Grigorov | Via Reuters

Aside from touting the prospect of giving tomahawks to Ukraine – something the Kremlin acknowledged last Sunday as “extremely worrying” – Trump is putting pressure on Russia’s allies by imposing tariffs on India for purchases of Russian oil.

Trump, who recently denounced Russia as a “paper tiger,” has also repeatedly threatened to impose further sanctions on Russia itself, but has so far held back, disappointing Kiev and other Western partners.

According to Peter Dickinson, editor of the Atlantic Council think tank’s Ukraine Alert, the Tomahawk talks could be a turning point for Russia. Dickinson said Tuesday that this will be the case if Trump is willing to call Putin’s bluff by promising to deliver tomahawks, regardless of whether he ultimately does so.

“Trump must now decide whether he wants to call Putin’s bluff and arm Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles. There are increasing signs that he may be inclined to do so,” Dickinson said.

“Trump now has an opportunity to convince his Russian counterpart that he is not as easily intimidated as other Western leaders and is more than willing to increase pressure on Moscow until Putin agrees to pursue peace,” he said in an online analysis.

“Many of Trump’s critics will undoubtedly scoff at the idea of ​​the US president taking such a hardline stance against Putin, but few objective observers would question that this approach is the only way to end the war,” he said.

Genentech launches direct gross sales program for flu capsule Xofluza

A sign is posted outside a Genentech office in South San Francisco, California, on June 12, 2025.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

RocheGenentech said Thursday it will sell its flu pill Xofluza directly to certain patients at a discount to expand access, becoming the latest company to move into the direct-to-consumer space.

This follows similar moves by other drugmakers seeking to make it easier for Americans to access their medicines, and comes at a time when companies are facing pressure from the Trump administration to lower U.S. drug prices.

Genentech’s new program also launches ahead of flu season, which typically peaks in the winter months. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2024 to 2025 flu season was the most severe in more than a decade.

According to a press release, Genentech’s new program aims to reach uninsured patients, patients with limited insurance coverage or those whose health insurance does not cover the pill.

The company will provide access to Xofluza through three pharmacies with a $50 cash payment option, which is 70% lower than the pill’s current list price before insurance. This includes Mark Cuban’s direct pharmacy Cost Plus Drug Company, Amazon Fuze Health Pharmacy and Alto Pharmacy.

Genentech said same-day home delivery is available in certain markets through the latter two pharmacies. For people who want to use Xofluza for prevention, home delivery by mail is also available at all three pharmacies nationwide.

The pill is a single-dose antiviral treatment for people ages 5 and older, typically taken within 48 hours of flu symptoms appearing. According to some drug pricing websites, Xofluza costs over $150 for one treatment. In addition to the new promotion, Genentech is also offering a coupon that allows eligible patients to pay as little as $35 for their Xofluza prescription, with up to $70 off at most pharmacies.

In July, Trump sent letters to 17 drugmakers urging them to take concrete steps to reduce costs for patients, including by adopting direct-to-consumer sales models for their drugs. The companies had until September 29th to respond. Since Pfizer And AstraZeneca made deals with Trump to lower drug prices.

It was part of his effort to revive a controversial plan called “most-favored-nation treatment” that aims to tie the prices of some drugs in the U.S. to those significantly lower abroad.

How Trump’s H-1B visa charge is altering the expert labor market

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing executive orders, including a measure establishing the new $100,000 H-1B visa fee, in the Oval Office at the White House on September 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.

almond and | AFP | Getty Images

Nearly a month after the Trump administration’s surprise $100,000 payment for new H-1B visa recipients went into effect, the headline-grabbing change is disrupting the high-tech talent pipeline in two distinct parts of the U.S. economy: small businesses and venture capital-backed startups. In the short term, the restrictions are already slowing hiring and shrinking the talent pool, according to recruiters and business owners.

However, there are also signs that immigration restrictions are having the desired effect, as companies begin to look for ways to upskill their existing workforce and build new talent into American universities and large corporations.

Somak Chattopadhyay, founder of Armory Square Ventures, which manages a $60 million fund investing in software companies and is also a member of New York State’s Emerging Technology Advisory Board, said the fund’s startups have at times gone to international talent markets to find the top thinkers and, at least for now, there is no immediate alternative about where unique talent could be sought. “For the highly specialized talent in the world of AI, there are probably about 500 people in the country who understand from the ground up how to build an LLM model. We don’t have enough talent domestically to fill some of these roles,” he said. But he added that in the future, “we need to find ways to cast a wider net.”

The Trump administration announced changes to the H-1B system via executive order on September 19. The government said it wants to give American workers an advantage and end abuse of the H-1B system by requiring companies to pay $100,000 for each new visa application. Some big users of the H-1B are outsourcing companies; The executive order states that these companies pay below-market salaries to skilled foreign workers eager to come to the United States, harming the opportunities of American workers.

The new high H-1B fee comes on top of new restrictions on foreign students at American universities and other changes that increase the regulatory burden on employers. More than 60% of H-1B workers work in computer-related fields with an average annual salary of $123,600, followed by architecture, engineering and surveying.

The debate over visa reform for foreign workers continues

Some venture capitalists, including billionaire investor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, have begun publicly negotiating for the government to charge real startups a much lower fee than larger tech companies, perhaps in the tens of thousands of dollars, and to lift the visa cap (a congressionally mandated cap on regular ones). H-1B visas of 65,000 and an exemption of 20,000 H-1B visas for advanced US degrees, known as the master’s cap, for the fiscal year). 2026). Hoffman noted in a recent episode of his “Possible” podcast that these are H-1B visa reform ideas that he has supported for years.

High-skilled immigrants are shifting their work focus to large companies, according to entrepreneur Eva Yao, founder of Boulder, Colo.-based Flari Tech, herself a former H-1B recipient and now a citizen. She tells CNBC that she has already advised one woman to seek a job with a large company that might be able to pay the fee.

Yao is now looking for her first employee, likely an optical engineer, for her company, a University of Colorado Boulder spinout that develops quantum sensing-based respiratory diagnostics for healthcare applications. “I do have American candidates, but when I look at postdocs and graduate students, so many are foreign students,” she said. “I work in a very specific field where we look at scientists, researchers and engineers in cutting edge fields. The first thing I will ask is what is your status. This is an unnecessary distraction,” she added.

She’s ready to help the right candidate apply for a green card, but the $100,000 H-1Bs present a much bigger hurdle for her new business.

Cross-industry AI jobs in the crosshairs of new guidelines

The restrictions have a direct impact on hiring for artificial intelligence-related jobs across all sectors of the economy. Among the larger companies still considered “small”—those with 500 employees or fewer—companies that were just looking for workers to fill AI roles have more questions than answers. “I didn’t have that budget of capital spending, IT spending or HR spending,” Amy Dufrane, CEO of HRCI, an HR education and learning company based in Alexandria, Virginia, said of comments she heard during a recent webinar her company hosted for more than 3,000 HR professionals. For many of the companies that tried to adapt to AI in their industries, “it came out of nowhere,” she said.

There are many positions to be filled – there are now more than twice as many H-1B approvals as there were in 2000. But in terms of the total pool of H-1B workers, new applicants are the minority. Nearly 400,000 H-1Bs were approved in fiscal year 2024, most of which were employment renewal applications, the Pew Research Center reported in March. Since 2013, the annual split between new applications and renewals has averaged 35%/65%.

One way for companies to adapt without having to deal with immigration policy is to upskill their workforce. These efforts are likely to intensify if they are unable to attract talent from abroad. OpenAI recently released APIs to link to Coursera to help people educate themselves. Employees working on AI applications can delve deeper and learn how to create prompts or use AI for spreadsheets and database programs. “This can be a long-term talent development,” Dufrane said.

Remote work, university recruiting, talent nearshoring

According to Brad Bernthal, associate professor of law and director of the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law Technology and Entrepreneurship, the need to create a broader talent pool due to immigration restrictions could also lead to another boom in remote work. Changing global labor market dynamics are also leading more companies to explore a human talent pipeline version of the supply chain concept of “near-shoring”: finding workers or subcontracting to companies based in countries that have the same time zone as the United States. According to Dufrane, Poland in particular has successfully positioned itself as a country that can provide an outsourced STEM workforce, in a time zone not too far from the continental United States.

“I think there’s an opportunity to rethink how startups build their talent pipelines in this environment,” said Angela Blevins, director of people and talent at High Alpha, an Indianapolis venture capital firm that creates and finances business-to-business software-as-a-service companies. “One approach we’ve seen work is to hire a smaller number of highly experienced employees who can then nurture strong entry-level employees coming out of college. This not only builds skills quickly, but also helps companies scale sustainably without being overly reliant on international hiring,” Blevins said.

Reaching out to local schools is also becoming increasingly important to recruiting efforts. At the University of Colorado-Boulder, where Yao is based, officials have seen a long-term increase in the number of companies trying to develop relationships with the university. The talent war was already heating up, so talented U.S.-born students or students with very settled immigration status are likely to be in high demand. Peter Petrella, president of New York state-based TalentRise, which provides executive search, coaching and leadership development for companies based in the United States, Canada and India, says he helps clients build stronger local connections by reaching out to economic development officials in New York state and the University at Buffalo Alumni Office to begin building connections with alumni of its computer engineering programs.

Angie Vermillion, associate director of employer relations at Leeds School of Business, advises companies looking to build stronger ties with American universities to build relationships with careers teams, faculty and students over time and through multiple “touch points,” including career walks and fairs. She also said companies should emphasize career growth and the availability of mentors. “Students are attracted to clear pathways to advancement,” she said.

But for a talent pipeline that worries experts most, there is no short-term workaround or long-term solution when skilled immigrant visas take up a much smaller portion of the job market. The H-1B system has created entrepreneurs who tend to spend time working for other companies before taking the plunge into self-employment. Bernthal said he is most concerned about whether the United States can continue to innovate in areas such as climate technology, aerospace, quantum life sciences and national security. Foreign-born founders are leaders in these areas, he said.

“The founders who built Silicon Valley – if you look closely, they were both first and second generation immigrants,” Chattopadhyay said. “(Immigrants) are reaching for the fences; there’s a tough courage there. At the end of the day, if we start restricting that talent, that would be a bad thing for innovation.”

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on H-1B visas: My family couldn't have afforded the $100,000 fee

DOJ Seizes $15 Billion Price of Bitcoin Over “Pig Slaughter Rip-off.”

The Justice Department has seized about $15 billion Bitcoin Prosecutors on Tuesday found cryptocurrency wallets belonging to a man who oversaw a massive “pig slaughter” fraud operation in Cambodia.

The seizure is the DOJ’s largest forfeiture action in history.

An indictment against alleged pig slaughterer Chen Zhi on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering was dismissed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

Zhi, a 38-year-old Chinese-born émigré who is also known as “Vincent,” remains at large, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Zhi faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of these charges.

He was identified in court documents as the founder and chairman of the Prince Holding Group, a multinational business conglomerate based in Cambodia that prosecutors say has “secretly developed … into one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations.” The Prince Group allegedly operates 10 fraud complexes in Cambodia.

In parallel, the Treasury Department on Tuesday designated the Prince Group as a transnational criminal organization and announced sanctions against the Zhi and more than 100 individuals and organizations associated with it over their roles in suspected illegal activities.

Enlarge symbolArrows point outwards

Diagram of the transnational criminal organization The Prince Group

US Treasury Department

U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella of Brooklyn said that Zhi “led one of the largest investment fraud operations in history, fueling an illegal industry that is reaching epidemic proportions.”

“Prince Group’s investment frauds have caused billions of dollars in losses and untold suffering to victims around the world, including here in New York, on the backs of people who were trafficked and forced to work against their will,” Nocella said.

The Prince Group, which operates businesses in more than 30 countries, “operated forced labor fraud centers” throughout Cambodia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

The documents detailed the completion of two special facilities equipped with 1,250 cell phones and controlling 76,000 accounts on a popular social media platform.

Source: US Eastern District of New York

“Individuals held against their will in the facilities are involved in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes known as the ‘hog slaughter scam’ that have stolen billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world,” the press release said.

According to the bureau, the scams tricked people contacted through social media and online messaging applications into transferring cryptocurrencies to accounts controlled by the system with false promises that the cryptocurrencies would be invested and generate profits.

“In reality, the funds were stolen from the victims and laundered for the benefit of the perpetrators,” the press release states. “Scammers often build relationships with their victims over time and gain their trust before stealing their money.”

Prosecutors said hundreds of people fell victim to human trafficking and were forced to work in the scams, “often under threat of violence.”

According to prosecutors, Zhi and a network of top Prince Group executives are accused of using political influence in several countries to protect their criminal enterprise and paying bribes to officials to prevent law enforcement action.