*By Chloe Aiello*
It's been quite the week for Facebook, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it seems, still has a fun streak.
The high-profile CEO stepped out with rapper Kanye West to kick back, relax, and sing a little karaoke. The star on Monday tweeted a blurry photo of the pair in a group, grasping microphones and apparently singing a throw-back hit from the Backstreet Boys.
"We sang Backstreet Boys I want it that way," [West wrote on Twitter](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1062892813975674881).
The tweet has since earned more than 72,000 likes, 9,000 retweets and 1,000 comments ー most of which were remarks on the unlikely pairing. And while there was no way of knowing what the two were up to, or even when they met, the photo provided some much needed comedic relief in a week of bad news for Facebook ($FB).
On Wednesday, a [New York Times investigation](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html) raised questions about the leadership's response to recent scandals. In a press conference on Thursday, Zuckerberg pushed back against the report, bolstered by a rare statement Facebook's board issued in support of the CEO and his COO, Sheryl Sandberg.
The report comes as the company juggles slowing growth and backlash after a spate of controversies in the past year, including the Cambridge Analytica data breach and the company's response to Russian meddling on the platform.
Facebook's stock is down 18.5 percent year-to-date and 19.1 percent year-over-year.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
Mortgage rates have dropped below 7% for the first time since the middle of August.
Taylor Swift grossed nearly $2 billion this year, according to Billboard.
A study from US News and World Report has found the most affordable place to retire is in Ohio.
Millions of households could see higher internet costs next year as the affordable connectivity program could end.
Viveca Chow, NYC lifestyle expert, spoke with Cheddar News to provide tips on how to have some festive fun in the city on a budget.
Apple announced that it's releasing an iPhone security update to prevent attackers from acquiring users' private passcodes.
As the new year approaches, many people are looking to find a job with a higher salary or are planning to ask their current boss for a raise. Taliya Bashani, real estate attorney and negotiation expert, joined Cheddar News to provide tips on how to properly and better negotiate better financial terms.
