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2016

10.0

Billionaire hedge fund pioneer Leon Cooperman told CNBC on Tuesday the insider charges against him are "totally unjustified," and the amount of money the government is wasting prosecuting his firm is "shocking." "Information is not a crime. We deal in information. We call on companies," he said. "What I look for is insight, not insider information." in a "Squawk Box" interview, the Omega Advisors chairman and CEO said he has two jobs now: make money for his investors and convince a jury he's not guilty of the charges being brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. "Thankfully, despite this mild distraction, we're doing well. Our Omega credit fund is up 13 [or] 14 percent this year. Our equity-only fund is up about 7 percent this year, which is in line with S&P. And our all-weather, do everything fund is up about 5 percent," Cooperman said. Omega has about $5.4 billion in assets under management, with what it says is a significant amount of personal general partner capital invested. Cooperman said he was encouraged to fight the government by fellow billionaire and Omega investor Ken Langone, co-founder of Home Depot. "[Ken Langone] called me up two [or] two and a half months ago ... and said look: 'I've known you for 40 years. I've been an investor with you for over a decade. I know what you stand for," Cooperman said. Cooperman recalled Langone claiming the best $30 million he ever spent was defending himself against then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Cooperman added that Langone also said: "'You've done nothing wrong. Don't give these guys a dime.'" Fighting the charges is going to cost "substantially more" than agreeing to a settlement, Cooperman said. "I could have settled ... for less than half what I give of what I give to charity annually." In statement released to CNBC before his appearance, Cooperman said he acted "appropriately and lawfully" and won't let his legacy be "destroyed unfairly." Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Cooperman of buying into Atlas Pipeline Partners ahead of a deal, allegedly using his status as one of its largest shareholders to acquire nonpublic information about an upcoming transaction. In his "Squawk Box" appearance, Cooperman also made the case for why he believes Donald Trump is not presidential, and argued for why he sees the stock market as fully valued.

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2019

12.0

Shared Destiny. Shared Responsibility. The city and health care provider want to provide resources to teenagers. Story at a glance A groundbreaking partnership between the city of Los Angeles and Planned Parenthood is paving the way for a new model of teen health care. Starting in 2020, L.A. will open 50 wellness centers in city high schools, providing teens with advice and support for mental and physical health, as well as resources for reproductive care.  The partnership is expected to run the city at least $12 million during the first year, modeled after external Planned Parenthood institutions that rely largely on government funding.  Originally reported by the Los Angeles Times, the public health initiative is “designed to bring much-needed health and wellness care to underserved teenagers.” The centers are available for up to 20 hours a week and professionally staffed. Plush decorations will help them feel like relaxing spaces to help teens feel safe.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 55 percent of teenagers, both female and male, engage in sexual intercourse before the age of 18. At the high school Planned Parenthood centers, teens who are sexually active will have access to birth control options and condoms, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infections (STD/I), and various types of testing.  Currently, there are 34 centers open and operating, with Planned Parenthood running five of them. They hope to eventually operate all of the clinics.  High rates of teen vaping and e-cigarette use and rising depression statistics point to issues with teen health. Los Angeles and Planned Parenthood are specifically working to combat STIs within school walls, but they are open to providing resources for other needs if there is a demand for it.  Teen accessibility to Planned Parenthood has long been contested, however, and some critics oppose the city’s partnership. Speaking to The Washington Post, Sister Paula Vandegaer of Volunteers for Life, a pro-life group, is opposed to the Planned Parenthood partnership because “it ‘pushes sexuality beyond where they should without reference to families,’” adding that regular in-school nurses are sufficient. A Stanford-led study discovered that youths see higher rates of antidepressant prescriptions in the wake of a shooting. A Stanford-led study discovered that youths see higher rates of antidepressant prescriptions in the wake of a shooting. The Prairie state joins a growing list of states suing JUUL for its marketing practices. The Prairie state joins a growing list of states suing JUUL for its marketing practices. At least two products are being tested — and the results appear positive. At least two products are being tested — and the results appear positive. America is changing fast! Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed and engaged.

abortion

Roe v. Wade

(abortion , abortions , planned parenthood , parenthood , reproductive , antiabortion , clinics , roe , planned , pregnancy)

2016

9.0

The White House on Friday afternoon issued a correction removing "Israel" from a transcript describing the location of a speech President Obama delivered in Jerusalem.  The initial transcript of Obama's speech at former Israeli President Shimon Peres's memorial service said the speech was delivered at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Israel. The White House released its initial transcript just before 8 a.m. on Friday. Then shortly after 4:30 p.m., the White House released a "corrected" transcript that struck out "Israel." Israel declared Jerusalem its capital in 1950, but the U.S. and other countries do not recognize it as such and maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. Obama led a U.S. delegation to Peres's service on Friday that included Secretary of State John KerryJohn Forbes KerryA lesson of the Trump, Tlaib, Omar, Netanyahu affair Trump's winning weapon: Time The Memo: O'Rourke looks to hit reset button MORE and former President Bill ClintonWilliam (Bill) Jefferson Clinton3 real problems Republicans need to address to win in 2020 Buckingham Palace: Any suggestion Prince Andrew was involved in Epstein scandal 'abhorrent' The magic of majority rule in elections MORE. Obama was one of several speakers to eulogize the former Israeli leader. "The last of the founding generation is now gone," Obama said during his speech, saying the former leader longed for "an Israel that is secure in a just and lasting peace with its neighbors." "And so now this work is in the hand of Israel’s next generation, in the hands of Israel's next generation and its friends," Obama said. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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2017

10.0

A recent poll of adult Americans revealed a stunning lack of knowledge about the basic structure of the United States government under the Constitution. Nearly a third of respondents could not name one of the three single branches. Such widespread ignorance is no small matter. Let me put it in plain terms: People in power want more power. Power without limitations is dangerous. So there must be limits on power and they must be enforced. Think of a 3-year-old. If a parent tells a 3-year-old that he can’t eat in the living room except when the football game is on, the no-eating-in-the-living-room rule is no longer a rule — the living room is going to be a sticky mess.  The same applies with our nation’s rules as outlined in the Constitution. Those in power at any particular time are put there as fiduciaries. The people are the trustees. The trust is self-government. We entrust Donald Trump or Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama3 real problems Republicans need to address to win in 2020 Obama's high school basketball jersey sells for 0,000 at auction Dirty little wars and the law: Did Osama bin Laden win? MORE or Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump faces crucial decisions on economy, guns Are Democrats turning Trump-like? House Democrat calls for gun control: Cities can ban plastic straws but 'we can't ban assault weapons?' MORE with our own power to govern ourselves — we pass the baton to them to make decisions on our behalf. This works to our benefit only if we can take the baton back or if we pass it on with specific rules on how to twirl it, toss it and catch it.   Put another way, the system is set up so the three branches of government can boss each other around. The president can veto a law passed by the legislature or simply refuse to enforce it. Congress can pass laws that override laws made by executive branch agencies — or even decisions by courts. Congress can also vote to impeach the president or federal judges. Judges can declare a statute or a presidential decision unconstitutional. And so on.  Bottom line? There is no king anymore, folks. In England, the monarch’s power derives from God. In America, no one has a divine right to govern. The Constitution lays out the structure for how the people will govern themselves. To the extent that there is a boss, it is the Constitution, which forces all individuals in power to answer ultimately to the people. The constitutional system is only as good as the boss who enforces it. In America, “we the people” are the boss. But today this system of self-governance is under immense strain. Candidate Trump threatened to challenge the election results if Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonTop Sanders adviser: Warren isn't competing for 'same pool of voters' Anti-Trump vets join Steyer group in pressing Democrats to impeach Trump Republicans plot comeback in New Jersey MORE won the 2016 presidential race. As president, he has questioned the integrity and validity of the federal courts, tried to interfere with investigations into Russian intervention in the election, and pushed the limits of the Emoluments Clause, which forbids the president to receive gifts from foreign governments. What are we the people going to do about this? To begin with, we need to understand a few things: First, having a cop on the block matters. A law is meaningful only if it is enforceable. If elected leaders are allowed to violate the Constitution with no consequences, the Constitution will wither and die. We the people must be that cop. Second, there is a big difference between policy and politics. Each branch of government makes decisions based on policy rationales — empirical evidence plus normative goals and values. Politics is a different animal altogether. To politicize an issue is to associate it with an ideological (and often emotional) bias that is fiercely guarded by clusters of people. When an issue is politicized, ideological bias drives policy, regardless of the facts. This is very, very troubling.  Take climate change. The scientific consensus is that the Earth is warming, and that there is a 95 percent or higher probability that the warming is caused primarily by humans. Responsible lawmakers on both sides of the aisle may debate whether trying to halt this trend is, as a policy matter, worth the impacts of environmental regulation on industry, which may be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices. Different policy responses can be reached without ignoring or denying established, empirical facts. Political ideologues, by contrast, ignore facts and science in their single-minded quest to win. Third, once a new tool appears in the government’s “toolbox,” it can be picked up for use at any time. When a president gets something constitutionally wrong or pushes existing boundaries while technically staying within the law, his actions set a precedent. Consider waterboarding — the controversial tactic used during the George W. Bush presidency. President Obama banned it. President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE has contemplated bringing it back. The tool is in the box. Fourth, “strict constructionism” is a myth. The Constitution is relatively short. And it is old. There is no way to apply it in modern times without interpreting it in some way. Therefore, people who purport to interpret it based on the document’s “plain language” perform an act of interpretation just as so-called activist judges do. The difference is that, by claiming to apply a “plain meaning,” certain judges may be able to avoid revealing why they are in fact choosing one reading over another. This theoretical debate matters a great deal when it comes to lifelong appointments to the Supreme Court. Fifth, the Constitution applies only to the government. When the government hands off power to private military contractors or to private prisons, the Constitution does not apply. Facebook faces no First Amendment claims for kicking off offensive users, for example. As the lines between government and corporate America blur, the Constitution’s relevance fades. We must be mindful about privatizing government. Sixth, American values are not laid out in the Constitution. Many of our daily national policy debates assume there is common ground — somewhere — about adherence to “American values.” These values might include honor, transparency, hard work, innovation, opportunity, freedom, justice and tradition. But these values are, for the most part, not written into law — and adherence to values is not enforceable in court. This legal tidbit comes as a surprise to many people who assume the Constitution is always there to protect them. Voters need to know what the Constitution can do and cannot do. Our collective freedoms and rights require accountable leadership, regardless of which party is in power. Otherwise, government as we know it may not survive into the next generation. Kimberly Wehle is a professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, former assistant United States attorney and associate independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation and the author of the forthcoming book “The Outsourced Constitution: How Public Power in Private Hands Erodes Democracy.” View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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2017

7.0

The 10,000 hour rule is the most spoken of rule in the field of learning. It's the idea that you must spend at least 10,000 hours on deliberate practice to become world class at your field. First developed by Anders Ericsson, this idea was later popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers. " But what if you didn't want to be an expert or world class? There are a couple of reasons for that: It's a large time sink and huge commitment to be world class. Fortunately, there's other research that suggests it takes much less than that to be just reasonably good — in fact, as little as 20 hours. In his TED talk, Josh Kaufman, author of "The Personal MBA, " shares how he can learn anything from scratch. In his opinion, there are only four elements for rapid skill acquisition. Let's see how he does it. The first order of business in learning is to establish your goals. For the beginner, the impetus to learn a new skill is often to achieve a specific task: it could be to play a specific song or to learn enough calculus to finish the assigned math homework. Deconstructing a skill into smaller bundles allows you to focus on what helps you arrive at your desired outcome. Take what you need, and leave the others for another day. The learning curve is set up in such a way that beginners can derive gains quickly at the start. To take advantage of this, study and understand the core principles behind that specific skill. Know the 80/20 and exploit it. One of Josh Kaufman's discoveries when he was learning the ukulele was that most of the pop songs involved just four chords: G, D, E-minor and C. By mastering these four chords, he was able to play most of the pop songs in the past five decades. Not too shabby for a few hours of work. It's crazy to know that learning has become a new form of procrastination. The act of acquiring information becomes more important than the actual act of mastery. We believe that we must know all there is before we begin, lest we make mistakes or be inefficient in our learning. Just how much information do we really need to rapidly acquire a skill? Kaufman explains that all we really need is enough information to self-correct. That means we need the ability to recognise our own mistakes, and then make adjustments when this inevitably occurs. Over time, we become mistake free. Rinse and repeat, and we eventually get to our desired level of proficiency. This is the primary reason why people aren't able to learn a skill. Forget 10,000 hours; optimizing for 20 is hard enough. Willpower isn't to be trusted. It ebbs and flows, giving us inspiration at one moment and leaving us at the next. When it comes to getting work done, we give ourselves plenty of excuses. Focusing on mastering our behaviour is a bad idea. Better, instead, to focus on improving our environment and make it conducive for practice. Remove the distractions that prevent us from sitting down and practice. It's a simple idea but difficult to put into practice. For example, you first need to have a ukulele to practice on before you learn how to play it. There are tools that you must first have before beginning. Josh Kaufman's ukulele didn't come with strings attached. He also had to tune it, and get the scores for the songs he wanted to learn. These are all relatively small obstacles, but they add up psychologically when it comes to actual practice. Your mind will come up with all sorts of excuses to remain comfortable. Don't give it that opportunity. 20 hours is very doable. It's 45 minutes of practice everyday, for less than a month. It's far more doable than 10,000 hours anyway, which is about the equivalent of holding a full-time job for 5 years. The problem? Starting is often the hardest part. That's why no matter how simple something can be, there will be resistance. There are all sorts of excuses you can give yourself when you begin learning any skill. Most will quit before they even really begin. The most important takeaway from Josh Kaufman is this — the major barrier to skill acquisition isn't intellectual; it's emotional. There is a frustration period when we first start out because we are grossly incompetent. We feel stupid. Nobody wants to feel stupid. Nobody wants to feel scared. But that's what happens when we begin learning any skill. That's what happens when we actually do something new. The key is to recognize and own that feeling. Then do it anyway.

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2019

9.0

At one point, Chief Keenan put 300 people on the case, and he was the one who took the confession from the killer, David Berkowitz, who had slain six young people. John L. Keenan, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives who oversaw the manhunt leading to the August 1977 arrest of David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” serial killer, died on Thursday in Mineola, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 99. His death, at NYU Winthrop Hospital, resulted from congestive heart failure, his grandson Kevin Brennan said. Mr. Berkowitz had terrified the city in a yearlong string of nighttime shootings. Chief Keenan obtained his confession hours after he was captured without a struggle outside his apartment building in Yonkers. As he told it, Mr. Berkowitz said, “I know you. You’re detective — Chief Keenan.” “And I said, ‘Yeah? Who are you?’ “He said, ‘I’m the Son of Sam.’” So ended a nightmarish time during which Mr. Berkowitz, a chubby, curly-haired, 24-year-old postal worker without a criminal record, had wielded a .44 caliber handgun to kill six young people, all but one of them women, and wound seven others. Mr. Berkowitz came upon his victims, usually a couple sitting in a car, on darkened streets and secluded areas in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. In rambling letters to the Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin, he taunted the police. He signed his notes “Son of Sam,” a reference to his belief that he was commanded to kill by a demon lurking in a dog owned by a Yonkers man named Sam Carr. Chief Keenan assembled a 30-member homicide task force when it first became evident that several murders had followed a similar pattern: nighttime ambushes with the same kind of gun. Shortly before Mr. Berkowitz’s arrest, Chief Keenan had expanded his force to 75 detectives and 225 other members of the department, patrolling in uniform or civilian clothes. Detectives had consulted psychiatrists and psychologists in an effort to develop a portrait of the killer, but their theories varied. Police sketches were circulated based on statements from a small number of witnesses to the shootings, but they proved of little use since the shootings occurred at night. Ultimately, a summons issued to Mr. Berkowitz’s car, which had been parked in Brooklyn’s Bath Beach neighborhood near the scene of what became his last murder, in late July 1977, was instrumental to the police in identifying him. The case capped Chief Keenan’s police career. He retired in January 1978 after more than 30 years on the force. John Lavelle Keenan was born on Dec. 18, 1919, in County Durham, England, a son of John and Sabina (Lavelle) Keenan, who were of Irish descent but had lived in England. They had settled in New York, where his father was a steamfitter, but his mother briefly returned to England for his birth. He graduated from St. Michael’s High School (now Xaverian) in Brooklyn. His parents couldn’t afford to send him to college, so he joined the Police Department in 1941. Drafted a year later into the Army, he took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge while in a Counter Intelligence Corps unit of the Fourth Infantry Division. He fought alongside J.D. Salinger, who was writing what became “The Catcher in the Rye” during lulls in combat and became a lifelong friend. After being discharged from the Army as a lieutenant at the war’s end, he returned to the Police Department and rose in its ranks while obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the New York Institute of Technology. He was chief of inspectional services, a unit mainly devoted to uncovering police corruption, before being named chief of detectives. In November 1977, Chief Keenan announced that he would assign female detectives to the elite homicide unit. He said the move was “more than just a trend of women’s lib” and that women in other detective assignments had shown a high degree of “tenacity and inquisitiveness — qualities that are especially important in homicide work.” After retiring from the police, Mr. Keenan, who lived in Rockville Centre, N.Y., was vice president for operations of the New York Racing Association, which oversees the state’s tracks. He is survived by his wife, Sara Keenan; his daughter Joan Brennan; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Two other daughters, Mary Ellen Keenan Carey and Sara Keenan, died before him. Mr. Berkowitz, who pleaded guilty to six murders, was sentenced to 25 years to life for each of them in June 1978 and remains in prison. When Chief Keenan was honored at a retirement party at Antun’s restaurant in Queens in the summer of 1978, Mr. Salinger came down from his home in rural New Hampshire, where he zealously guarded his privacy, to join in the tribute. Departing from the focus on police work, which had attracted some 300 officers to the party, Mr. Salinger told the crowd that Chief Keenan had been “a great comfort,” especially in a foxhole.

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2019

8.0

ZURICH (Reuters) - Smash-and-grab thieves have stolen jewelry designed by Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger, famous for creating the nightmarish creature in Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi film Alien. Police in the eastern canton of the Grisons, where Giger was born, said pieces worth nearly 18,000 Swiss francs ($18,450) were taken from the shop window of a gallery in the provincial capital of Chur before dawn on Thursday. They posted pictures here showing a wristwatch emblazoned with skulls and rings featuring protruding tongues and goggle-wearing figures. Giger, who died in 2014, was awarded an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects in 1980. Exploring the relationship between the human body and the machine, he created “biomechanical” images of humans fused with industrial parts. Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Hugh Lawson

art

artists

(art , museum , artists , exhibition , paintings , artist , painting , gallery , museums , works)

2016

12.0

Need a break from the hunt for Hatchimals or from eyeball-detonating Christmas displays? Here’s our guide to eight affordable shows for eight holiday theater tastes, from I-can’t-get-enough-tinsel traditionalists to Santa-is-for-suckers holiday haters. WHAT IT IS The Classical Theater of Harlem brings back its Christmas musical, about three generations of a Harlem family healing after a tragedy, to the Apollo, where it had its premiere last year. A visit from Grandma helps cheer things up. Set in Harlem’s pregentrification 1980s, the show features original music and reimagined Christmas carols in the spirit of pop, gospel and jazz. WHAT OUR CRITIC SAID When it had its premiere last year, we called it a “good-looking, high-energy show” that was “packed with vocal talent and propelled by a terrific five-piece band.” TICKETS apollotheater.org/firstnoel WHAT IT IS The New York stint for this holiday musical sketch comedy show, which has run for over 13 years in Los Angeles, features guys in holiday-mom drag and goofball skits about Christmas lights and regifting. (Think of it as a Kids in the Hall holiday special.) There are also nostalgic nods to classic Rankin and Bass animated holiday specials like “Frosty the Snowman.” It’s good for kids 13 and over who can handle salty situations. TICKETS santasia.com WHAT IT IS If your taste is more experimental than established, check out this new movement-theater work from the Mason Holdings theater company and the writer and performer Tracy Weller. Set in an artfully cluttered attic, the piece is about a woman of indeterminate age who revisits Christmases of her past. A preshow party includes Christmas cookies, glasses of glögg and a visit from Santa. TICKETS mason.holdings WHAT IT IS This family-friendly stage version of the beloved animated television special from 1965 features Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang searching for the real meaning of Christmas by dancing and waxing philosophical about the existence of Santa. Expect Vince Guaraldi’s music (“Christmas Time Is Here”) and original choreography. For children 3 and older. TICKETS secrettheatre.com WHAT IT IS This “Home Alone” parody features sock puppets, a four-person choir in ugly Christmas sweaters and cute handmade toys manipulated and projected onto a screen. Although the company Recent Cutbacks built this 55-minute show for adults, it’s about a puppet boy beating back a pair of idiot burglars, so children 8 and older will get a kick out of it too. TICKETS recentcutbacks.com WHAT IT IS The haunted-house designer Timothy Haskell and the company Psycho Clan bring their immersive theater acumen to a bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Over three floors you’ll explore a distorted holiday landscape that looks as if a gaudy Christmas lawn display had exploded. Take photos with the Santa of your choice (hunky, Elvis, Mrs. Claus or the Jewish Santa Hanukklaus); smooch in a mistletoe grotto; and practice figure eights on a faux ice skating rink on the roof. WHAT OUR CRITIC SAID A review of one of Mr. Haskell’s haunted houses praised him for “mini-dramas and sleights of hand with the panache of a seasoned magician.” TICKETS santastical.com WHAT IT IS A new family musical about a sad Christmas tree named Douglas Fir who turns his back on the holiday after being stripped of his ornaments on Dec. 26. The news release finishes the tale: “Determined to remain a decorated Christmas tree, Douglas heads back home to Mistletoe Mountain and Miss Balsam’s Finishing School for Christmas Trees to get the diploma he never received.” The production, by the Narrows Community Theater of Brooklyn, features music by Debra Barsha, who wrote the score for the Keith Haring bio-musical “Radiant Baby,” and book and lyrics by Ms. Barsha and Tim Sulka. TICKETS mostmiserablemusical.com (members of the miliary and their families receive free admission, with military ID) WHAT IT IS This adaptation of Charles Dickens’s holiday ghost tale returns to the parlor of the landmark Merchant’s House Museum. Surrounded by period furnishings and flickering candles, the actor John Kevin Jones plays Dickens, who narrates his story of Tiny Tim and Scrooge. At select performances you can throw back some mulled wine in the kitchen. TICKETS dickens2016.bpt.me An article on Tuesday about eight affordable theater shows with holiday themes misstated the website for “The Most Miserable Christmas Tree” at the Fort Hamilton Army Base Theater in Brooklyn. It is mostmiserablemusical.com.

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2016

1.0

Photo courtesy of World Red Eye Cultural Exchanges. When Jason Odio was 18, South Beach was his playground. His dad was a local club owner and restauranteur, and Jason worked those connections to get in as a young promoter with Opium Group—the reigning nightlife promotion company of the early to mid 2000s. Every week, Odio brought friends and fashionable faces to Mansion, SET, and other megaclubs owned by the Group—and he says it was nothing short of "incredible." "I had access to the best clubs on the beach. It was an amazing time for me," Odio explains. "But I yearned for more substance. I started to enjoy the culinary scene and more music-driven stuff [over bottle service culture], and I think those were signs of my maturing." Odio isn't the only one feeling these growing pangs. Over the last three years, nightlife in Miami has been shifting—moving away from over-the-top VIP blowouts and towards smaller, more intimate hangouts. Just having a megaclub with major EDM DJs, flashy dancers, and high-end lasers is no longer enough to keep a business afloat in this city; in 2014, nightlife kingpin Cy Waits' attempt to bring his Vegas style to South Beach with a club called Adore failed after four months. Mansion—one of South Beach's most iconic VIP playhouses, closed its door for good in September 2015, just two years after it was voted the 47th Best Club in the World by DJ Mag. Mansion's shuttering prompted one anonymous insider to declare to Miami.com that "bottle service [in Miami] is dead." Opium Group, which at its peak owned Mansion, SET, Cameo, Opium Garden, Prive and Mokai nightclubs, doesn't even exist anymore; it was purchased by a new company called Icon Management in August 2015. (Mansion re-opened as Icon Nightclub on January 9, 2016.) This toppling of the old-guard suggests that most locals— and many tourists—are ready for something different. What was once considered the top of the nightlife pyramid is now a fading relic of the city's fist-pumping past. The void left by these fallen giants is quickly being filled by a bevy of smaller hotspots, like dancefloor-equipped finger food joint Coyo Taco and late-night lounge Libertine (both opened in 2015), as well as hip-hop hangout Sidebar and upscale dive the Corner, among others. "I think the big club is seeing the end of its days," says Jake Jefferson, a promoter who's been throwing parties with the Poplife crew for eight years. Until Grand Central was shut down by developers in late September, Poplife made the 2,000-capacity club their home, helping to throw annual Mad Decent, HARD, and Fool's Gold parties during Miami Music Week in late March, as well as numerous live band and DJ events throughout the year. "People are looking for dancefloors now," Jefferson continues, referring to the glitzy clubs' tendency to block off space for VIPs tables. "Bigger clubs are going to have to start creating more GA room, because it's not that cool anymore to buy bottles and get a table. Smaller places give the opportunity for everybody to mingle, and you can have more of an intimate experience with a DJ that you're actually there to see." Ditching traditional nightclubs for more intimate experiences isn't a trend exclusive to Miami. Last year, the Independent noted that the number of nightclubs in the UK shrunk from 3,144 in 2005 to 1,733 in 2015. There is "a fundamental shift in the way a new generation chooses to spend its entertainment budget," wrote the Independent's Ian Burrell, citing streaming services like Spotify and dating apps like Tinder as replacing nightclubs as the go-to places for discovering new music and scoring dates. But the changing face of nightlife in Miami is spurred by a phenomenon specific to the city: the gentrification of mainland neighborhoods like Brickell, Downtown, Wynwood, and Midtown. It used to be only the island of South Beach that raged from dusk to dawn, even during internationally-recognized festivals like Winter Music Conference, Miami Music Week, and Art Basel Miami Beach. But over the last ten years—thanks in large part to younger promotion companies such as Poplife and SAFE who saw potential in downtown's less-visited streets—it's become increasingly trendy to carouse on the mainland side of the bridge. And according to Mic.com and Miami's Ocean Drive magazine, these evolving neighborhoods—which developers are already dropping billions into building luxury high rise condos in—are helping to attract larger numbers of young creatives from all over the country, who are choosing to chase their dreams in Miami over hubs like New York City and Los Angeles. Nightclub owners are fueling Miami's shift in geography too. At a recent panel held at the Perez Art Museum, Opium Group's former owner Eric Milon said the future of Miami's nightlife isn't the beach but across the bridge. "I think it's Wynwood, I think it's midtown, I think it's the design district, I think it's Little River," Milon said during the panel, referring to neighborhoods with rising cultural cache. "I think more people are going to come [from] all over the world and they're going to plant their seeds." Milon is a partner in Coyo Taco, a small restaurant serving beer and tacos with a cozy dancefloor in the back that fits 100 people at the most—a far cry from Mansion's 2,500 capacity and million-dollar setups. Jason Odio left Opium Group a few years ago, and invested in Little Havana's "resurgent" main street Calle Ocho. Now 30, he's found success with Sidebar, a dimly-lit bar with a backyard and no frills that's played host to the A$AP Mob and LA's the Do Over since it opened in 2014. It's only a 25-minute drive from South Beach, but atmospherically, the laidback Sidebar is light-years away, often without cover and full of stylish, weed-smoking sneaker heads instead of buttoned-up professionals. Libertine is another club that shares Sidebar's all-inclusive attitude. The cozy, 180-capacity lounge opened in 2015 and gives patrons a place to dance to everything from indie electro to deep house and 2000s-era hip-hop. Though it serves plenty of bottles and operates under the liquor license of massive neighboring Club Space, Libertine puts local DJs in the spotlight and gives them reign to play to their own tastes instead of the charts. "There is something very genuine and substance-oriented to [our approach]," says Libertine's program director Michelle Leshem. "It's nice to see the passion behind music, mixology, and experiences being valued." Libertine shares a block with fellow late-night favorite the Corner, one of downtown's first attempts at an intimate mixology bar operating since November of 2011. The dimly-lit afterparty favorite has sandwiches on the menu, and is the kind of place that puts fresh fruit and house-made bitters in your glass. Two blocks north, the old owners of Grand Central opened an upscale bar on January 14, 2016 called 1306, its 40-person capacity a drastic change from Grand Central's 2,000 headcount. (1306 has a larger 400-capacity space in the back, but it's only open for special events.) Even back in the classic nightlife district of South Beach, the cocktail has become king. South Beach's latest hang, Craft Social Club , made it very clear it's "not a nightclub" when it announced in October 2014 that it would be opening on New Year's Eve. Their private VIP tables are outfitted not with bottles, but with personal bartenders whipping up table-side craft concoctions. By cracking the mainland code, Miami has discovered what NYC and LA have always had: diversity. "Everyone's like 'Finally, there's a cool small bar or a club that's not the megaclub which was my only option," Jefferson says. "Miami getting a beer garden is like, 'Wow! There's a beer garden.' Some things that may be played out in other places is refreshing here, and I think [these businesses] are well received because of that." While the budding experimentation in Miami's nightlife scene is promising, some locals worry that "intimate resto-lounges" might just become the next tired new trend. "Miami will always beat a dead horse faster than anybody else will," remarks Adam Gersten, the man behind Gramps, a dive bar and beer garden in the Wynwood Art District known for cheap drinks and low-key hangs like Tuesday trivia nights. Gersten opened the bar about four years ago, frustrated by the lack of live music venues and casual watering holes. Even though he admits that anything is better than the practical nonexistence of no-frills bars and gastropubs that came before, Gersten fears that members of the conservative old guard could just be replicating the South Beach mentality on a smaller scale. "The club people are saying 'Well fuck, people hate our old world. How can we lizard into this [trendy cocktail culture] and chameleon [our] vibes?'" he says. For Gersten, community is what gives a business a sense of authenticity, and he remains skeptical that Miami can evolve beyond its shallow reputation with a rash of cocktail joints and smaller music venues. If you walk into an intimate lounge owned by a megaclub tycoon, maybe nothing has changed. But in the same breath, Gersten wonders if that's the right way to measure authenticity in the first place. "What's authentic and what's not is kind of intangible," he says. "I think more people are giving [new venues] a shot, and I think that's cool. I think that's especially cool when it's locals." Above all, that the scene continue being driven by locals and for locals seems tantamount. Miami will always be a tourist destination, but its culture should be defined less by the fantasies of outsiders and more by the needs of the people who call it home. That more people are choosing to call it home is a symptom of the work that's already been done, and that more of the faces behind the institutions big and small are local is key. They may build expensive cocktail lounges or musty dive bars, glowing party mansions or dim-lit dance halls. In the end, it doesn't really matter. It's the people's prerogative, and the people are choosing to have a choice. Follow Kat Bein on Twitter

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2019

7.0

Twitter's big website redesign is here — and there's nothing you can do about it. Almost a year after the company began testing it, "new Twitter" is being turned on for all users. And unlike in earlier versions of the redesign, you no longer have the option to switch back to "legacy Twitter." That alone is probably enough to send some users into a panic. Still, the redesign should be familiar enough to mobile users, as its added features basically make twitter.com much more like the Twitter app. And no, sorry, there's still no way to edit tweets. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed that while it will take a few days for the design to change for everyone on Twitter.com, there will be no going back. If you haven't seen the earlier test versions of the new design, the most jarring change will be getting used to the fact that almost nothing is in the same place as before. The site's main navigation is now on the left side of the page, where you can move between your timeline, notifications, and direct messages. The trending section has moved to the righthand column; the Moments tab is no more.  The redesign also adds Bookmarks to the website  for the first time, alongside Explore, the personalized section where you can browse popular trends and other recommendations.  Twitter's redesigned website has a few different color schemes, including a dark mode. Another big change is to direct messages, which no longer pop up in a tiny window on top of your timeline. Instead, your inbox has its own section of the site — although, bafflingly, you still can't search your messages.  There's also the "sparkle" button, which lets you toggle between the regular reverse chronological timeline and "Home," where the algorithm curates your tweets. If you use multiple Twitter accounts, you can switch between them without logging out and back in each time. Dark mode, 2019's most popular feature, is still around. Whew. Twitter users aren't exactly known for handling change particularly well; they once revolted over the addition of a single blue dot. And reactions to early versions of the redesign have been mixed.  So the fact that the new look will no longer be optional is likely to garner some heated reactions, to say the least.  Better buckle up; the only way to opt out of this ride is to quit Twitter altogether.  

social media

Twitter

(tweets , twitter , twitters , timeline , users , feature , twttr , tweet , replies , algorithmic)

2020

1.0

(Reuters) - Australian electricity and gas retailer Origin Energy (ORG.AX) said on Friday quarterly revenue from its Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project fell 3%, hurt by weaker prices. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices have been under pressure as the market is grappling with oversupply since several large scale projects came online last year. LNG from Origin’s share at the APLNG project was sold at an average price of $9.38 per metric million British thermal unit (mmBtu) in the three months ended Dec. 31, lower than $10.59 a year earlier, the company said. While weaker prices dented revenue from APLNG for the quarter, the biggest LNG producer in eastern Australia posted a record output of 67.6 petajoules (PJ), up 7% from a year earlier. Origin, which owns a 37.5% stake in APLNG, increased its fiscal 2020 production guidance for the project to around 690 PJ to 710 PJ in November, compared to its earlier forecast of 680 PJ to 700 PJ. [nL3N27Z4LE] Meanwhile, in light of the recent bushfires in the country, Origin CEO Frank Calabria said, “Despite the challenges posed by bushfires in recent weeks, our power stations are operating well and supplying the market as needed.” The company’s energy markets business, which has been hit by stiff competition, posted a drop in volumes for the December quarter. The company also said its unit at Mortlake Power Station in Victoria had returned to service in late December. APLNG brought in revenue of A$716.5 million ($490 million) in the quarter, compared with A$740.9 million a year earlier. (reut.rs/3aVphVN) APLNG is a joint venture between Origin, ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and China’s Sinopec (600028.SS). Reporting by Shreya Mariam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shinjini Ganguli

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2016

12.0

Five paragraphs into the Wall Street Journal’s article about how Carl Icahn, a legendary investor worth about $20 billion, will serve as a special advisor to Donald Trump on regulatory matters, things get interesting. “The position isn’t an official government job,” the Journal reports. “Mr. Icahn won’t get paid and won’t have to give up his current business dealings.” Of course, even if Icahn did get paid, the salary would be peanuts compared with his net worth. More to the point, the monetary value of getting to influence federal regulatory policy when you already have $20 billion in outstanding investments is enormous. Back in August, for example, Icahn was complaining to the media about a particular obscure Environmental Protection Agency rule that was hurting a refining company he owns. Complaining to the media about regulatory decisions you don’t like is, of course, as American as apple pie. So is hiring a lobbyist or three to press your case. But to have an active businessman formally in a position to do the regulatory work is a fairly open invitation to corruption. And that’s the kind of thing that past administrations have tried to avoid. But since Donald Trump himself is tied up in unprecedented conflicts of interest, that apparently lowers the bar for the rest of his team too.

business

investment

(icahn , icahns , cvr , mr icahn , cvr energy , rin , carl icahn , biofuels , refiners , carl)

2019

2.0

It’s 2 p.m. on a regular summer Monday afternoon, and every store and shop on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles is packed with young people who don’t seem to mind that they have to put on a pair of pants to go shopping. They’re browsing through racks with coffees in hand, standing in lines for the dressing room, cheerfully chatting with sales staff, and actually making purchases on full-priced items. Outside of Glossier, a long line has formed: “I’m addicted to our face mist,” says a young sales associate dressed in pink. She’s rewarding those who’ve finally made it to the front of the line with a quick spritz from a bottle she wields like an outlaw with a pistol. “I have three of them,” she chirps. “You’ll definitely want at least one!” The employee is enthusiastic and enlightened — evangelical, even. There’s not a speck of the chilly apathy of the stereotypical shopgirl: too good to be there, biding her time until something better comes along. Nor does she seem bogged down with an uninspiring workplace, a shit paycheck, or a lack of meaningful responsibilities. Not here, nor at any of the kinds of stores along Melrose. This woman is a new kind of retail worker. A few miles away in Santa Monica, on another busy shopping street, I meet sales manager Rachel Reyes inside a Sweaty Betty, a London-based luxury sportswear brand. “People love their leggings,” Rachel tells me. Dressed to slay in gray and plum spandex, she rattles off the many types of leggings — the versatile Powers, the bum-sculpting Zero Gravities — and how they fit into the layout of the store, which is strategically laid out to boost sales. “People really like specific leggings, and if they’re organized by type, some customers will come in and just buy all of them at once. That’s typical of this neighborhood, and our customer.” She grabs two legs on opposite racks and hands me one in each hand to feel. She points to the pair in my left hand. “This is a linen blend. You feel how soft that is? We’re a higher price-point than Lululemon, and we’re known for our fabrics and patterns. This one here is an Italian technical fabric. You can’t get this fabric anywhere else. We’re one of the only places that sell it in the States.” The throngs of shoppers belies everything we know about what’s happening in the world of brick-and-mortar retail that’s struggled to stay relevant as online shopping has become more convenient and reliable. Department stores are closing. Big box stores are on shaky legs. Past shopping institutions like Claire’s, The Gap, and Nine West closed thousands of stores nationwide. In cities, once-vibrant shopping areas like Bleecker Street in the West Village or Los Angeles’ Westside Pavilion are getting turned into condos. Empty malls litter the American suburbs like vacated conch shells. This has led to a real human cost. Retail sales workers account for the most popular occupation in America; one in ten people are employed in a retail position. But this year alone, more than 92,000 retail jobs have been cut, with more coming on the horizon. According to Andrew Challenger of outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas, retailers have been the number one job cutter in the past few years. And yet. Amid the rubble of what’s been billed a retail apocalypse, the shops on Melrose are emblematic of a new future: stores that are more intimate, more engaging, and more experiential. It’s a future where shopping is not just about acquiring a good product, but more essentially, about acquiring a good time. That means they need workers that are educated, cultured, and energetic. To work at Sweaty Betty, Rachel was required to take five “product breakfasts” meant to educate her on the what’s, why’s, and how’s of the company. Hosted in different places around the city, these workshops lasted up to an hour and a half (Sweaty Betty confirmed that workers are compensated for their time spent at these breakfasts, and receive extra clothing allowances for doing well in product quizzes.). But Rachel's secret sauce — her most valuable skill, and the reason that she so easily found a home at Sweaty Betty — was years in the making. She went to a competitive humanities magnet high school focused on social justice and activism. Her entire junior year was devoted to studying race, class, and gender. She completed her undergraduate at Mills College in Oakland, and remembers that one of the first workshops offered to the incoming class was a discussion about the differences between race and ethnicity. There, she earned a degree in art history, and went on to intern and work at a handful of international museums, earning minimum wages. But that was then. Today, she is the manager of the store. “There has been a gradual increase in the number of college-educated students who are working retail jobs,” notes research and policy analyst Edgar Ortiz from the Fair Workweek LA campaign of worker-rights advocacy group LAANE, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. While Ortiz clarified that the reasons for the increase could be attributable to increased tuition hikes and student debt, it's a fact that the sensitivities that are demanded of “woke workers” — the thing that makes Rachel so valuable — are oftentimes only proliferated within higher socioeconomic environments like colleges. Ortiz notes that modern companies are placing more importance on soft skills like improved customer-to-retailer interaction, and a nuanced understanding of how to talk about consumerism in 2019...a topic that is loaded with cultural landmines, and opportunities to offend. It takes a special kind of person to navigate it with ease, to make what could be a battlefield feel like a candy shop. “We’re selling leggings, sure, but we’re also teaching our customers how to be feminist,” Rachel explains to me in her store’s break room, as she leans over to toss a stray piece of litter into the garbage. Above a work chart and an explanation of benefits hangs a small sign: ‘We will fit you, you don’t have to fit us.’ I ask her to spell out what that means. “We’re trained to talk to customers and restructure the conversation about bodies,” Rachel elaborates. “A customer might say ‘I don’t like the way I look.’ We’ll respond with ‘Well, how does your body feel in it?’” Even the compression leggings she showed me earlier has been tweaked for this generation. “We tell people that our leggings are sculpting. They're never slimming.” This is peak Millennial-speak, and one of the main differences between next-gen stores and traditional ones. The lifestyle is worth so much more than the lifestyle product. Sweaty Betty’s leggings may be great, but its philosophy that fitness doesn't have to be a super-serious endeavor, but is rather just a fun and chill thing to do, is what compels people to spend $135 on a pair of spandex tubes. This kind of sensitive sensibility comes at a cost. “Customers are also coming in with much higher expectations of what level of service they’re going to receive,” said Roy Samaan, the former senior researcher and policy analyst at LAANE's Fair Workweek LA campaign (Samaan left his position earlier this year). “The amount of knowledge and depth that you’re expected to have to move those types of products is kind of staggering.” That often means hiring workers who already know the deal. Haley Dresser was a concept store lead for sustainable basics retailer Everlane when the brand first began experimenting with opening actual stores. She remembered the one non-negotiable among the new sales floor hires: “They were people that loved the brand. That was the biggest thing. They knew the Everlane mission without having to look at the website or ask any questions about it. They could spit out why they loved the brand right away. That’s what we were really looking for.” Like employees at Sweaty Betty, Everlane’s first sales staff were asked to prove their knowledge: “We required people to do some homework at home and take a test,” remembered Dresser. When contacted, an Everlane representative clarified that while new retail employees are not required to do homework or take a test, they are expected to understand the product and brand, and that information is a key part of training. Other next-gen brands have similar programs. At disruptive eyeglasses company Warby Parker, in-store sales associates not only had to know how to read prescriptions and talk about new collections, but also know how to sell them in woke vernacular. “In training, they give us specific do’s and don’ts about what wording to use to avoid being exclusionary. They didn’t want us using ‘hipster,’ which might alienate some people,” said Gena Basha, a former Warby Parker sales adviser. Warby Parker confirmed that they also do workshops, “homework,” and tests as part of its training. To be hired as a retail worker today, you need to have read the right articles and watched the right YouTube videos, have gone to the right schools with the right sort of campus culture, and have grown up in the right neighborhoods with the right kind of drinking buddies. But despite this jacking up of expectations and experience, retail workers' compensation — characterized by low wages and insufficient hours — are not keeping up. Part-time wages at Rachel’s Sweaty Betty location range from $13 - $15 an hour (minimum wage in California is $11, and the industry standard for hourly retail wage earners in December of 2018 was $19.26/hour). Sweaty Betty confirmed this was standard, and wages in its Los Angeles locations go up to $16/hour. Working 40 hours a week would mean a yearly salary of $27,000 - $31,200. But only full-time employees like Rachel are guaranteed 40 hours a week; part-time workers are allotted much less, and oftentimes have to split a set number of hours among everyone. While reporting this story, three part-time retail workers at Rachel's store only had 38 hours available between them each week, the equivalent of just $530 total. Equally split up between the three, that’s just $9,200 a year per person. Both Gena and Haley said their respective retailers paid sales staff similar wages that they described as competitive. But these wages are unlikely to increase quicker than inflation. According to PayScale, which measure American salaries and compensation, retail wages are growing at a rate of 1.6%, well under the 2% rate of inflation that's been consistent for some time. “There’s a paradox. We’re expecting more of our retail workers but we’re not giving them more,” said Samaan. However, national retail wage increases have recently accelerated, hitting 4.6% this past October. According to Bloomberg, it’s the fastest that paychecks have grown in almost 20 years. The work, too, at these new retailers is undeniably more fulfilling than simple cashier jobs, and it’s optimistic to believe that they’ll make up for legions of workers displaced by traditional store closures (a phenomenon that some financial experts believe will save retail). But it’s not a one-for-one replacement. Not even close. “These new start-up retail brands like Glossier are really boutique fashion brands that have a small number of high-skilled jobs,” says Challenger, who helps transition displaced workers after mass layoffs and firings. “Traditional brick and mortar retail jobs are not coming back. They’re going away permanently. These types of start-up companies aren’t going to make it up.” Even among traditional retailers, these wage increases disproportionately affect higher earners. “Many of these wage increases that people are noting haven’t reached traditional frontline floor staff who are the most likely to still be earning low wages and involuntarily working part-time,” adds Ortiz. “Those workers stand to benefit the most from these gains, but aren’t getting them.” What’s more, many of these new retailers’ business models prioritize rapid short-term growth over longevity. For its sales floor, this can mean higher turnover and less job security. The effect is a self-selecting workforce consisting of already privileged people who consider the job as a gig — not a pathway to a career. “Overall, most [Warby Parker] employees were similar to my profile,” remembers Gena, who worked at Warby Parker while she looked for full-time work in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles after graduating college, and needed supplemental income in addition to what her parents were helping her out with. "[The culture] self-selectively draws in employees." Warby Parker confirmed that their part-time sales staff is predominantly educated, under 30, and are looking for flexible, temporary work. But what if part-time work is what workers want? Rachel disagrees. “My staff absolutely wants more hours,” Rachel tells me. “My workers have children, and go to school. It’s created a lot of problems. I think that [Sweaty Betty] could be making more money if people went full time, because they could take more classes, and be out in the community more,” she says. At the end of the day, she believes that a full-time salary and benefits produce more invested workers. More invested workers means more experience, more expertise, more productivity, and more revenue. To Rachel, that sounds like a better business plan. A sixth-generation Angeleno, Rachel was raised in a working-class, culturally Mexican household. Her father did manual labor and her mother was a county secretary. They raised her and her siblings to get an education to avoid having to work tough service jobs. Petite and pretty, Rachel has got big eyes, a clear voice, and the kind of fiery gumption you’d expect from a modern-day Disney princess. But she’s far less interested in dreaming about her rags-to-riches story than she is in demanding that she shouldn’t need a fairytale miracle to move on up in the world. “Retail is a career,” Rachel tells me, her voice rising with annoyance. “ I’ve had conversations with customers that leave me feeling badly about myself. People view this job as a punch-in, punch-out thing. None of us are dumb, but people think you don’t need to know anything to work here.” In many ways, Rachel is lucky. Her high school and college didn't only enmesh her in a culture of millenial-flavored progressivism that helps her move product, but also give her the tools to understand the function of her job in society at large. Her parents allow her to live with them, which subsidizes her rent, beyond providing her emotional and physical support whenever she needs it. She’s also an active member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and she's learned how to organize, advocate, and lead a team. But she knows that she’s still in a shit situation: “I’m not getting compensated for the amount of work I do. If I did, I wouldn’t be in debt. We work the rest of our lives to pay off that debt. We’re a permanent working class. A permanent poor class.“ Rachel and other young, independent, culturally literate women may be among the few workers who can ride actually experience the retail renaissance, despite their debts, stagnant wages, and an unpredictable economy. But the large majority of those displaced by shrinking retail jobs are not Rachels. And as automation accelerates and displaces more low-skilled jobs, this gap will only increase. “Big box retailers are hiring in distribution centers and warehouses and logistics,” says Challenger, describing a rapidly growing and hugely controversial industry based on treating humans like machines until actual machines can replace them. “But retail jobs seem to be going away permanently. Brick and mortar jobs are not coming back. It’s a difficult problem, and a big one.” In the meantime, Rachel still believes that work, not miracles, is the solution. The skills she learned at Sweaty Betty attracted the attention of a traditional luxury brand looking to reach a younger demographic. Her new job placed her within a traditional department store where she’s noticed that employees are treated as replaceable. But at the end of the day, it’s her bigger paycheck that has Rachel feeling optimistic. “We talk a big game about empowering women,” she tells me. “And the easiest way to empower people? Jobs and money.”

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2016

4.0

Lamar Odom hitting the bottle again is taking such a toll on Khloe Kardashian, she pulled the plug on taping "Kocktails with Khloe" this week ... TMZ has learned. We're told Khloe told production she was too sick to shoot Thursday, but it's not because of the flu. Sources close to production tell us she's stressed out worrying about Lamar Odom's drinking. We're told she's been an emotional wreck. TMZ broke the story ... LO is refusing to get treatment for addiction as Khloe insists he try something, even an outpatient program. We're told they've been fighting about it all week. Our sources say enough was enough and Khloe just needed a break.

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2016

6.0

Monsanto earnings fell short of expectations for its fiscal third quarter as talks with German pharmaceuticals giant Bayer and other unnamed parties continue. Last month, Monsanto rejected a $62 billion bid from Bayer, and during a conference call Wednesday, the company reiterated that the Bayer proposal was "financially inadequate." "Over the past several weeks, with the support of our board and advisors, I have personally been in discussions with Bayer's management regarding this proposal, along with others regarding other strategic alternatives," Hugh Grant, chairman and CEO of Monsanto, said on the call. "We have said we remain open and we believe our efforts and continued constructive dialogue could allow our joint teams to explore potential next steps," he said. Those talks could be complicated by headwinds the industry is facing, which weighed on Monsanto's results in the latest quarter. "While any value discussion is more complex given the fact that the industry is running at a low point in the ag cycle, we recognize the potential value these types of combinations create as they accelerate innovation and increase choice for farmers across a broader set of crops, geographies and production practices," Grant said. For the fiscal third quarter, Monsanto reported diluted earnings per share from ongoing business operations of $2.17 per share, down 14 percent from $2.51 per share a year ago. The Street had looked for adjusted earnings of $2.40 per share. The adjusted results exclude items such as a restructuring charges, environmental and litigation matters and a net charge of $219 million for tax matters related to an Argentine business. Revenue was $4.19 billion, down about 9 percent from $4.58 billion a year ago. Some expect the weak results could help push Monsanto into a deal. "The combination of weak results and a weaker-than-expected outlook suggests a more conciliatory tone will be taken to merger proposals," said Jefferies analyst Laurence Alexander in a note to clients Wednesday. "We expect a modestly better proposal (e.g. break-up fee, antitrust tactics) before Monsanto's annual meeting." The next annual meeting is in January. Hopes for a new proposal for the St. Louis-based company pushed the shares up Wednesday, with the stock rising 2.4 percent or $2.43, to $103.52. For the full-year outlook, Monsanto expects to be at the low end of its ongoing full-year guidance range of $4.40 to $5.10 a share. The company said it remains on track to deliver $165 million to $210 million in savings from its restructuring actions this fiscal year, primarily benefiting operating expenses. Beyond fiscal 2016, the company said it continues "to target a mid-teens compounded annual growth rate in earnings per share from fiscal year 2017, now advancing to fiscal year 2021 from fiscal year 2019." In the latest period, the company faced several challenges, but it does see the business cycle starting to turn. "We encountered several headwinds in the quarter," said Monsanto CFO Pierre Courduroux. "These included the expected absence of last year's Scotts licensing agreements and the anticipated glyphosate pricing declines." Glyphosate is an active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide and among the company's most popular ag productivity products. Other challenges included "Roundup Ready Xtend-related costs and lower soybean volumes — amplified by the delayed EU import approval — as well as lower cotton gross profit in India arising from pricing regulations and declines in planted acres," Courduroux said. Roundup is used for weed control in agriculture, industrial and other applications and the company sells seeds with biotech traits that enable crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton to be tolerant of Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides. Management was more bullish on its outlook in South America, saying it believes corn acres in Argentina could increase greater than 20 percent. "Given our historic share in Argentina corn, this bodes well for the season ahead and beyond. In Brazil, we also see the outlook improving. We expect that acres planted to corn will increase in the mid-single digits," said Brett Begemann, president and chief operating officer. Correction: This version corrects that Monsanto's fiscal third-quarter diluted earnings per share from ongoing business operations were down 14 percent and that revenue was $4.58 billion a year earlier.

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(bayer , monsanto , bayers , seeds , monsantos , basf , bayer said , baumann , seed , syngenta)

2019

3.0

Up and coming Earth-imaging company Planet is trying to secure its first-ever contract with the super-secret National Reconnaissance Office as it seeks to expand its federal business, the company’s head of government affairs tells POLITICO. The NRO, which builds and operates the nation's spy satellites, is looking to rely more on commercial imagery providers and is eager to get an inside track on the future capabilities they are investing in, according to a request for information the agency published in January. "In 2020, the NRO is looking at how to continue its partnership with the remote sensing industry but is asking about what capabilities are new and what's coming down the pipe," explains Rich Leshner, Planet’s vice president of government and regulatory affairs. The company, which was founded in 2010 and has offices in the Bay Area, Washington, D.C., Canada, and Germany, operates a fleet of more than 100 satellites that can image the entire globe daily. The company currently provides services to the agriculture and consumer mapping sectors and NASA also purchases data from Planet to help with the space agency's science missions. Leshner, a veteran of NASA's Office of Program Analysis and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, also said he sees the regulatory environment for commercial remote sensing shifting as the government tries to better balance national security concerns with the need to speed up the review process. "What we’ve also seen past several years is the evolution inside the government, and an increased cognizance on their part that while the reviews they do are important -- no one should in any way undermine importance of national security -- there are ways that they can improve the process so that if there are uncertainties between different agencies, those can get elevated and adjudicated more quickly," he said. Leshner also spoke about Planet’s goals for 2019 and his biggest priorities in Washington. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. What are the biggest issues you’re working on in Washington? The overarching emergence of commercial space and what...new players in our sector can do for different parts of the government...In the small satellite world where we are...it’s being present and engaged in a way that educates people that this is an emerging sector. More specifically, we are in remote sensing, and we image the earth. So we are focused a lot on where there are opportunities for collaboration between us...and different parts of the government and how...new partnerships with emerging providers can help the government focus on what’s next. We’re attentive to and engaged in discussions about space traffic management and what’s happening in that world...and the regulatory environment more generally. What would you like to change about the regulatory environment for commercial remote sensing? The regulatory environment has been changing over time. The underlying statute has always outlined a process of 120 days for review and approval of a license. When Planet was first growing and getting licenses for small numbers of spacecraft, there were very rarely any issues with respect to the timeline. As we’ve grown … we’ve seen the timeline increase. What we’ve also seen past several years is the evolution inside the government, and an increased cognizance on their part that while the reviews they do are important -- no one should in any way undermine importance of national security -- there are ways that they can improve the process so that if there are uncertainties between different agencies, those can get elevated and adjudicated more quickly. NOAA is the point agency inside the Commerce Department for these licenses and they host public meetings of an advisory committee a couple times a year….At the most recent one, they showed their own timelines…[and] across the spectrum, the average time has been coming down as they’ve implemented more agreements among agencies to try to adjudicate these things faster. My responsibility in industry is to always say the regulatory process can be faster, but we’ve seen them take steps to improve without doing harm to their golden objective so i’m not going to be one who paints a black picture of regulatory process at this point. Are there any legislative changes to this process that you’re tracking? There are a couple things that have been on the front of regulatory change in this industry segment. Last year, there were two bills worked up in Congressional committees, one in the House and one in the Senate. They were addressing questions of timelines and approvals and how quickly a response had to come. Then there was [Space Policy Directive-2] from the administration that was broadly looking at different regulatory issues. That was all happening at the same time that a memorandum of understanding was put in place between the Commerce Department and the Defense Department on improving the process flow for the review of licenses...Neither bill became law, so there wasn’t a statutory change…[but] the way the MOU is taking shape...we’ve seen the Commerce Department, NOAA and the interagency process stick to the timelines in way that is making them faster than they were almost a handful of years ago. What's next for Planet? There is a mission 2. The North Star concept of mission 2 is a queryable Earth. You can imagine where it’d be possible to have an interface that allows you to dig in to understand what’s happening on the planet by measuring or imaging or viewing things that are changing. What do you mean by a queryable Earth? Let’s think about agriculture and let’s think about questions you might want to ask about planet health. It’s a platform you could come to where, in addition to being able to visually see imagery in crop areas, you can get another layer of information about what’s happening there....You can use math to tell you something interesting about crop health, if you’re monitoring and tracking every day….That should indicate if you have to do some sort of intervention, like watering or harvesting...You might be able to be predictive in terms of when you should make those interventions...You can think about questions you want to ask, or measurements or predictions you want to make. How long will that take? I think it will be shorter than [a decade.] This year is when we’re going to start some of the nascent capabilities for that. What does Planet have coming up in 2019? We’ve got a couple of launches this year…[to make] improvements in image quality and how quickly we’ll be able to send data to the ground. It’s a lot of iterating and improving on the foundation we’ve already made. What National Reconnaissance Office contract are you bidding on? The last time there was a big contract competition was in 2010...The period of performance with options and all those things considered went for 10 years. So in 2020, the NRO is looking at how to continue its partnership with the remote sensing industry but is asking about what capabilities are new and what's coming down the pipe...I can’t talk about the details of what’s in our response, but suffice to say what we can do on the innovation front and our existing satellite capabilities and what they provide in terms of responsiveness and revisit and latency has been presented. It’s a long process that the government has just started.

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2017

11.0

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Monday gave its initial backing to hearing a lawsuit by a climate activist suing energy utility RWE for its role in causing climate change, in a test case other environmentalists will be watching closely. Peruvian farmer Saúl Lliuya launched an appeal with the higher regional court in Hamm after a lower court last year rejected his call for compensation from RWE. In his appeal he argued that greenhouse gas emissions from RWE’s plants were partly to blame for melting an Andean glacier that is threatening to cause flooding and damage his house. On Monday, the court in Hamm said that at present it considered the plaintiff’s claim to be conclusive and that it would decide on Nov. 30 whether or not to hear evidence on the matter. RWE on Monday dismissed the farmer’s complaint as unfounded, saying a single emitter could not be held responsible for global warming. The court said it has given RWE a chance to respond in writing to its views. Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Hugh Lawson

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2019

5.0

A little over a week after threatening to send more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, Donald and Melania Trump are saying “Feliz Cinco de Mayo!” “I send my greetings and best wishes to all those celebrating Cinco de Mayo. On this day 157 years ago, the Mexican people valiantly defended their freedom and prevailed in the Battle of Puebla,” the president said in a statement, adding, “As we honor the anniversary of this historic victory, we celebrate the courage and patriotism the Mexican soldiers exemplified in defeating the invading army of Napoleon III.” In his Cinco de Mayo message, Trump concluded with praise for Mexican-Americans. “We also acknowledge the remarkable achievements of Mexican Americans and the many contributions they have made, and continue to make, to our Nation,” Trump said. “Melania and I hope those who are celebrating enjoy today’s festivities. Feliz Cinco de Mayo!” This was a stark contrast to Trump’s April 24 remarks about renewed threats and commentary on Mexican troops, following an incident between Mexican soldiers and U.S. personnel at the border. According to the Associated Press, Mexico claimed the incident was one of misunderstanding, while Trump had another, baseless explanation. On Twitter, Trump claimed, without evidence, that Mexico’s soldiers created the incident “as a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers on the Border.” “Better not happen again!” he added. “We are now sending ARMED SOLDIERS to the Border. Mexico is not doing nearly enough in apprehending & returning!” Just hours after this celebratory Cinco de Mayo statement release, Trump announced that Mark Morgan had been selected to lead the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I am pleased to inform all of those that believe in a strong, fair and sound Immigration Policy that Mark Morgan will be joining the Trump Administration as the head of our hard working men and women of ICE,” he wrote on Twitter. “Mark is a true believer and American Patriot. He will do a great job!” Morgan, a former FBI agent and Obama-era director of Customs and Border Protection, has been outspoken about his support for Trump’s wall along U.S.-Mexico border.

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2016

5.0

Fury against Bernie SandersBernie SandersJoe Biden faces an uncertain path Bernie Sanders vows to go to 'war with white nationalism and racism' as president Biden: 'There's an awful lot of really good Republicans out there' MORE is growing in Clinton World. In public, Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonLewandowski on potential NH Senate run: If I run, 'I'm going to win' Fighter pilot vs. astronaut match-up in Arizona could determine control of Senate Progressive Democrats' turnout plans simply don't add up MORE's aides and allies have kept their anger checked, decrying the rowdy outbursts at Nevada’s state convention last weekend but saying they believe Sanders will ultimately do the right thing by helping to unite the Democratic Party. Behind the scenes, however, they are seething that statements by the Vermont senator are just making matters worse by further alienating his supporters from Clinton, the front-runner for the party's presidential nomination.  The continued combat on the left is also complicating Clinton’s efforts to fully turn her attention to presumptive Republican nominee Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpPossible GOP challenger says Trump doesn't doesn't deserve reelection, but would vote for him over Democrat O'Rourke: Trump driving global, U.S. economy into recession Manchin: Trump has 'golden opportunity' on gun reforms MORE, who is reveling in the Democratic feuding.  “This is the worst-case scenario and the one people feared the most,” said one Clinton ally and former Clinton aide.  “Unfortunately, he’s choosing the path of burning down the house,” the ally said. “He continues with character attacks against Hillary. He continues with calling the Democratic Party corrupt, and he not only risks damaging Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party but he's currently doing it."  Clinton allies say Sanders is only piling on by insisting that Clinton join him for a debate ahead of California's primary on June 7. The debate would be aired on Fox News, a network Clinton supporters see as fanning the flames between Sanders supporters and the former secretary of State.  A second ally said Sanders should stop criticizing the party and the front-runner’s supporters even if he continues to fight for delegates through the six state contests on June 7. “It’s inappropriate at this point, and I hate to tell him, it’s not helping him in the long run. It’s only hurting her,” the ally said. “The Republican Party has their nominee, and he’s free and clear of his Republican opponents and is taking shots at Hillary. We need to move closer to that process, and he’s not helping." In an interview on CNN Thursday, Clinton projected extreme confidence that she will be her party’s nominee. The remarks could be read as a signal to Sanders that he should get real with his supporters about his chances of winning the nomination.  “I will be the nominee for my party, Chris,” the former first lady told CNN's Chris Cuomo. “That is already done in effect. There is no way I won't be.”  She added that Sanders “has to do his part to unify the party.” “He said the other day that he'll do everything possible to defeat Donald Trump. He said he'd work seven days a week. I take him at his word,” Clinton said. “I think the threat that Donald Trump poses is so dramatic to our country, to our democracy and our economy that I certainly expect Sen. Sanders to do what he said he would.” Clinton currently leads Sanders by 274 pledged delegates, according to The Associated Press’s totals. Including superdelegates, the party officials who have their own votes in the contest, Clinton is 760 delegates ahead of Sanders and just 90 total delegates away from the 2,383 needed to clinch the party's presidential nomination.  Sanders has argued that he can convince superdelegates to switch their loyalty and that he could cut into Clinton’s lead with pledged delegates by winning California. But Clinton only needs to win 10 percent of the remaining delegates to secure the nomination.  Clinton's comments to CNN triggered a fiery response from the Sanders campaign.  Some Democratic officials have criticized Sanders for feeding those sentiments, which have frustrated Clinton supporters given their candidate's lead in virtually every metric in the race.  “To his supporters who are grousing about the fact that everything is rigged — it’s not rigged,” Sen. Barbara BoxerBarbara Levy BoxerOnly four Dem senators have endorsed 2020 candidates Hispanic civil rights icon endorses Harris for president California AG Becerra included in Bloomberg 50 list MORE (D-Calif.), who was booed off the stage by Sanders supporters at the Nevada convention, said on CNN on Wednesday.  “You know, we’ve had elections. Hillary has more votes,” Boxer continued. “And Hillary has more delegates, not even counting superdelegates. So I think we need to look at … what is at stake here. And let me tell you what’s at stake here: everything. Everything that we believe in.”   Several polls this week have forecast a competitive general election fight between Clinton and Trump, unnerving some Democrats.  “He needs to stop doing this or Donald Trump will win,” one of Clinton allies said. “While his intentions started off in the best of ways, he’s shown he has no loyalty to the Democratic Party. One hopes he understands that his actions could result in giving Donald Trump the nuclear launch codes.” The polls, however, could give more ammunition to Sanders, who says he would be a stronger candidate in the fall against Trump. "With almost every national and state poll showing Sen. Sanders doing much, much better than Secretary Clinton against Donald Trump, it is clear that millions of Americans have growing doubts about the Clinton campaign," Briggs said in Thursday's statement. Democrats continue to point out that the party survived a bitter 2008 primary between Clinton and then-Sen. Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaDick Cheney to attend fundraiser supporting Trump reelection: report Forget conventional wisdom — Bernie Sanders is electable 2020 Democrats fight to claim Obama's mantle on health care MORE.  Seth Bringman, who served as a spokesman for the Ready for Hillary super-PAC, said he believes the party will inevitably come together. “The events in Nevada and some of the posts on social media get a lot of attention, but it doesn't represent the sentiment of the 10 million Americans who have voted for Sen. Sanders,” Bringman said.  “What I hear from Sanders voters in Ohio is, 'I agreed with him more on this issue or that issue, but I'm voting for Hillary in November.'  “Sen. Sanders will decide what he does and when, but the vast majority of both candidates' supporters don't wrap themselves up in every latest statement or headline — and that's reassuring for everyone who wants to stop Donald Trump.” View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

politics

sanders

(sanders , clinton , bernie , superdelegates , delegates , bernie sanders , mr sanders , sanderss , clintons , hillary)

2017

8.0

Aug 22 (Reuters) - Link Mobility Group Asa * Board member Ingjerd Blekeli Spiten has decided to resign as she will be joining Telenor Group Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

business

eikon

(text eikon , eikon company , eikon , company coverage , source text , cfo , text , financial officer , chief financial , coverage)

2019

12.0

Protests and parliamentary bickering reigned as the House Judiciary Committee formally heard arguments for and against President Trump’s impeachment. WASHINGTON — Two minutes into Monday’s historic House Judiciary Committee hearing into the impeachment of President Trump — even before Representative Jerrold Nadler, the chairman, issued the customary call for decorum — a protester, screaming that Mr. Nadler was committing treason, was dragged out of the grand columned hearing room by the Capitol Police. It was the first clue that this was not going to be a somber session befitting the gravity of the occasion. The hearing was intended as an opportunity for Democrats to lay out their case that Mr. Trump had violated the Constitution with a “brazen” scheme to enlist Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election — and for Republicans to respond. But it quickly devolved from a staid courtroom drama into a raucous, gavel-banging, partisan verbal melee. “You will not shout out — not shout out in the middle of testimony,” a frustrated Mr. Nadler exclaimed at one point, bringing the gavel down in a fruitless effort to shut down Republican parliamentary objections. “Bang it harder — it still doesn’t make the point that you’re not doing it right,” Representative Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, shot back. Republicans brought big props, including two giant poster boards assailing Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, who led the fact-finding portion of the impeachment inquiry and has turned down Republican calls to testify about his work. “Where’s Adam?” one placard blared, in simple black and white. Another featured a red and white milk carton with Mr. Schiff’s picture under the word “MISSING.” Democrats brought big-name lawyers from New York: Daniel S. Goldman, a former federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst who is the chief investigator for the Intelligence panel and Barry H. Berke, a white-collar defense lawyer known as a relentless interrogator, currently working for the Judiciary. Mr. Berke wore two hats: After testifying alongside the Republicans’ lawyer, Stephen R. Castor, he questioned Mr. Goldman and Mr. Castor, rattling the Republican with his rat-a-tat style. “Come on, Barry,” Mr. Castor complained at one point, his face scrunching in frustration. From the start, Mr. Castor, a veteran congressional investigator whose off-duty passions include the Grateful Dead and the Philadelphia Phillies, gave off a workaday vibe. He brought his briefing papers in a reusable grocery bag from Fresh Market, prompting the food chain to seize on a marketing opportunity. “We’d like to announce that we are the official briefcase maker of Steve Castor,” the chain wrote on Twitter, with a winking, tongue-wagging emoji and an offer of free bags. It all unfolded on a split-screen day in Washington, with the scene in the hearing room countered by the release of a long-awaited report by the Justice Department’s inspector general that debunked President Trump’s accusations that former leaders of the F.B.I. engaged in a politicized conspiracy to sabotage him. Hovering over the proceedings — unseen but very much heard — was the president, who had refused Democrats’ entreaties to participate in the hearing. He made an appearance of sorts, thanks to Mr. Nadler’s team, which showed him on videotape declaring “I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” a clear indication, Democrats argued that the president thinks he is above the law. And Mr. Trump could not stay away on Twitter. “Witch Hunt!” he wrote in his first missive of the day, followed quickly by “The Do Nothing Democrats are a disgrace!” To those who remember the somber Watergate hearings of 1974, or even the more partisan 1998 hearing featuring Ken Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Monday’s hearing was still striking in its rancor — so much so that Robert Dallek, the presidential historian, thought it might come to fisticuffs. “It’s so unpleasant, nasty, out of sync with traditional American politics,” Mr. Dallek said. “Not because politics is a soft business or an easy business, but there are degrees and degrees. Frankly, as I watched some of this stuff, it seemed to me like it could become almost physically violent.” The session opened shortly after 9 a.m., with the bespectacled Mr. Nadler, who spent the weekend in mock hearings with his Democratic colleagues and staff, presiding. Mr. Nadler was a few sentences into his opening statement when Owen Shroyer, a host on the website Infowars, which traffics in conspiracy theories, jumped out of his seat, hollering about treason and an “impeachment scam.” The Capitol Police rushed in to escort him out. For a couple of hours after that, the session was relatively calm — albeit a recitation of alternate versions of reality. Mr. Berke laid out the case for impeaching Mr. Trump, as Democrats saw it. Mr. Castor said there were no grounds. Mr. Goldman, a former mob prosecutor, repeatedly used the word “scheme” as he unspooled the by now well-known narrative of Mr. Trump’s pressure campaign in Ukraine — including the July 25 call in which Mr. Trump asked President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to “do us a favor” and investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son. Mr. Castor portrayed the call as one of “pleasantries and cordialities,” adding, “Simply put, the call is not the sinister mob shakedown that some Democrats have described.” But things took a turn for the explosive once the questioning began. As Mr. Berke grilled Mr. Castor, Republicans cried foul. “Is this when we just hear staff ask questions of other staff and the members get dealt out of this whole hearing?” Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, and one of Mr. Trump’s most ardent defenders on Capitol Hill. “The gentleman will suspend!” Mr. Nadler declared, with another bang of the gavel, using a slightly politer congressional euphemism for silencing an interruption. When Mr. Berke was done questioning, Mr. Collins stepped in for the Republicans to hammer away at Mr. Goldman. “Answer the question!” he said sharply, as Mr. Goldman paused before responding. “Mr. Berke had so much free rein — let’s go at it.” In a sense, said Mr. Dallek, the historian, the session was a reflection of the president himself: partisan, combative, not willing to give an inch. In his opening statement, Mr. Berke offered insight into the mind-set of Democrats as he recounted an anecdote involving his young son. “He said ‘Dad, does the president have to be a good person?’” the lawyer said, before offering his own answer: “I said, ‘Son, it is not a requirement that the president be a good person, but that is the hope.’ ”

politics

impeachment

(impeachment , witnesses , trial , impeachment trial , articles impeachment , articles , inquiry , impeachment inquiry , ukraine , pelosi)

2017

10.0

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank * Says Q3 net profit up 62.6 percent y/y at 1.19 trillion dong ($52.4 million) Further company coverage: $1 = 22,717 dong Reporting by Nguyen Mi, editing by Louise Heavens

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2020

2.0

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - British government bond yields touched their lowest level in more than four months on Monday, dropping as much as 10 basis points, as investors shifted out of riskier assets following news of the new coronavirus's spread in Italy. Italian officials said on Monday that a fourth person had died from the virus, which originated in the central Chinese province of Hubei in December. More than a dozen towns in Lombardy, southeast of Italy's financial capital Milan, with a combined population of nearly 50,000 have been placed under effective quarantine, the first such measures in Europe. Italy's blue-chip index dropped more than 4%, on track for its biggest daily fall since 2016, and investors flocked into fixed income assets including British government bonds. "Risk assets are extending the anxiety from last week with the number of COVID-19 infections rising quickly outside of China," economists at Citi wrote in a note to clients. Thirty-year British government bond yields touched their lowest level since Sept. 27, when concerns about a disruptive Brexit were near their peak, down 10 basis points on the day at 0.905% at 0844 GMT. Two-year yields touched their lowest since Oct. 10, down as much as 8 basis points at 0.380%. Benchmark 10-year gilt yields were down more than 7 basis points on the day at 0922 GMT - broadly in line with U.S. Treasuries and German Bunds - at 0.52%, having earlier touched their lowest since Jan. 30. Last week British manufacturers reported disruption to supply chains from the effect of the virus in China. "An increase in COVID-19 cases in Italy over the weekend implies increased risks to euro area growth. Extra domestic disruption would be expected if the outbreak were to expand materially," Morgan Stanley economist Jacob Nell wrote. (Reporting by David Milliken and Dhara Ranasinghe; editing by Nick Macfie)

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2017

7.0

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German lender NordLB [NDLG.DE] has abandoned efforts to sell a 1.3 billion euro ($1.5 billion) portfolio of shipping loans to KKR (KKR.N), a spokesman for NordLB said on Monday. NordLB had said in April it hoped to complete a deal by the end of June, following about a year of negotiations. The failure to reach a deal is a blow to German banks trying to offload billions of euros in shipping loans as a sale of NordLB’s portfolio would have been seen as an indicator for interest in such types of debt. Other banks, including fellow state owned HSH Nordbank, have also had limited success in selling shipping loans in recent months. Earlier this year, financial sources told Reuters that KKR had already put the deal on the back burner, partly due to a lack of progress in talks over pricing for the assets. NordLB also said on Monday that a sale of individual ship loans was more profitable than a sale of portfolios. It added that even without the KKR deal it would meet its goal of reducing its shipping loan exposure to 12 to 14 billion euros by year-end, a year ahead of target. KKR declined to comment. NordLB remains in contact with KKR about potential cooperations, the public-sector bank said. Reporting by Arno Schuetze, Alexander Hübner and Jonathan Saul; Editing by Maria Sheahan

banking

deutsche bank

(deutsche , deutsche bank , commerzbank , bank , deutsche banks , sewing , cryan , banks , deutsches , reuters deutsche)

2019

10.0

(Reuters) - Telus Corp (T.TO) said on Tuesday it would buy home security provider ADT Inc’s (ADT.N) Canadian operations for C$700 million ($527.27 million), as the telecommunications provider builds out its security business. The Canadian company last year launched its smarthome security and secure businesses and expects to add more than 12,000 new customer to its security business in the third quarter. ADT Canada provides security and automation solutions to a customer base of about 500,000 and reported revenue of $229 million in 2018. The deal with ADT Canada is expected to close in the fourth quarter, the company said. Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

business

mergers and acquisitions

(arconic , apollo , kleinfeld , apollo global , arconics , elliott , amaya , global management , adt , alcoa)

2017

6.0

MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria, who had been missing since Saturday, died in the weekend attack on London Bridge, the Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. Spain had earlier questioned the time it was taking Britain to identify victims, saying the delay was causing misery to Echeverria’s family. Thirty-nine-year-old Echeverria, who lived in London, had last been seen jumping off his bike to help a woman who was being stabbed in the rampage by fighting off her attacker with a skateboard, according to his family. A third French citizen was also confirmed dead on Wednesday, bringing the overall death toll to eight. Reporting by Sarah White, Editing by Jesus Aguado

terrorism

barcelona attack

(barcelona , cambrils , ramblas , las ramblas , spanish , van , catalan , barcelona attack , attack , spain)

2018

4.0

April 23 (Reuters) - Langold Real Estate Co Ltd: * SAYS IT PLANS TO ISSUE UP TO 700 MILLION YUAN ($111.00 million) BONDS Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2qQKeLZ Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.3065 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

finance

bonds

(yuan , bonds source , text chinese , bonds worth , billion yuan , coupon rate , renminbi reporting , yuan renminbi , renminbi , reporting hong)

2017

10.0

Colorado prosecutors are investigating whether a voodoo ritual was involved in the deaths of two young girls whose bodies were found last month in a car on a vacant property near Norwood, PEOPLE confirms. “It is part of the investigation by the sheriff’s office,” 7th District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Sherry McKenzie tells PEOPLE. “It is a very concerning case whenever you find two young children deceased.” Nashika Bramble, the 36-year-old Florida mother of the two girls, and 37-year-old Madani Ceus, of Haiti, were both charged late last week with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths. Both are also charged with two counts of child abuse resulting in death. Also charged in connection with the case are Ashford Nathaniel Archer, a 50-year-old man from Haiti, Ida Eden, a 53-year-old woman from Jamaica, and 23-year-old Frederick Blair of Norwood, Colorado. The case came to light on September 8 when San Miguel County, Colorado deputies were called to the vacant property owned by Blair about 30 miles west of the ski resort town of Telluride. When officers arrived they found the two girls, who are said to be 7 and 10 years old, decomposing in the backseat of a car on the property, a person familiar with the case tells PEOPLE. How the two girls died has yet to be determined. While on the property, officers also removed two more children from the property; those children are now in the custody of child services. “The allegations are they are the kids of Medani Ceus,” Harvey Palefsky, the attorney for Nashika Bramble tells PEOPLE. Bramble, Ceus, Archer and Eden are purportedly members of a traveling healing group that promotes prophesies about the end of the world. “It was an apocalyptic kind of thing,” the source says. “They are guided by their dreams. They will stay some place until they have a dream and then they go someplace else. They think they can heal people.” The source says Ceus is the leader and the rest of the group “sought permission from her.” The group allegedly lived in Grand Junction before relocating to Norwood where they met Blair. • PEOPLE’s special edition True Crime Stories: 35 Real Cases That Inspired the Show Law & Order is on sale now. The group had been living in cars, makeshift huts and tents on Blair’s property since May, the source says, adding that Blair allegedly believed he should “help these people out.” Ceus, Archer, Eden and Blair were arrested on the property on September 8. Bramble was taken into custody the following day in Grand Junction, Colorado. Speaking about Bramble, Palefsky says, “I feel she is as much of a victim as her children were.” • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. All five suspects have yet to enter a plea. A court appearance for all five defendants is scheduled for October 19. Ceus is being held without bond in San Miguel County Jail. Bramble is in custody on a $125,000 bond. Archer and Blair were charged with two counts of child abuse resulting in death and one count of being an accessory to a crime. Eden is charged with two counts of child abuse resulting in death. Both Eden and Blair are being held on $125,000 bond. Archer remains in custody on a $250,000 bond. “In my 37 years as Sheriff, I have never seen anything as cruel and heartless as this,” San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters told ABC News-13. Blair’s stepfather, Donnie Blair, tells PEOPLE his stepson moved to Colorado around five years ago to grow medical marijuana and met the group in the spring. “They were telling him they were in a jam, and he is so sweet he offered them a place to stay,” he says, adding, “Over time they broke him down. They pretty much brainwashed him.” Donnie says they told him that “no one loved him and his friends and family are the devil. They made him burn his glasses and burn his clothes.” Donnie says while allegedly under their control he allegedly burned his entire crop of marijuana and forced him to stop feeding his dog. “They told him his dog was sick and not to feed it anymore and don’t bring it to the vet because it is not God’s way and the dog could die in peace in a natural way,” he says. Donnie says they also allegedly tried to starve Blair and punished him for trying to feed the two little girls. “When Frederick tried to feed the kids they wouldn’t allow it to happen,” he says. Blair used to call his family five times a week but allegedly stopped calling his family in June and quit emailing in July. “That is when we started getting concerned” he says. Donnie says in late August or early September, they got a call from a friend of Blair’s who had stopped by the property and saw that Blair’s dog was malnourished, which raised a red flag with the friend, who knew he loved the dog. Donnie says Blair’s father drove from Texas to Colorado, and after assessing Blair’s situation, called the police. “He was so malnourished,” he says about Blair. “He is 6 feet 2 inches and weighed under 130 pounds.” “He is a victim and he had nothing to do with starving these kids,” he says.

crime

unsolved cases

(crime , true crime , intriguing unsolved , details intriguing , breaking crime , trial coverage , crime news , unsolved cases , latest crime , coverage details)

2016

12.0

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co Ltd * Says brokerages net profit at 779.6 million yuan ($113.35 million) in Nov Source text in Chinese: bit.ly/2gLeKCP Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.8778 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

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2018

12.0

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German Economy Ministry on Monday welcomed a deal between the United States and China to halt additional tariffs and hold fresh talks to try to reach an agreement within 90 days. A spokesman for the Economy Ministry said any action that did not result in an escalation of tensions was good. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached the truce at the G20 meeting on Saturday. Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Riham Alkousaa

international trade

tariffs

(tariffs , trade , china , chinese , goods , trade war , chinese goods , tariff , beijing , xi)

2017

2.0

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Tens of thousands of nomadic herders in Mongolia face hunger and the loss of their livelihoods, the Red Cross warned on Thursday, as temperatures plummet and heavy snow blankets much of the country for a second straight winter. In December, the Mongolian government asked international agencies to provide aid to the most vulnerable herder households who are suffering extreme winter conditions known as a “dzud”.  The dzud is peculiar to the landlocked Asian nation and has become more frequent in recent years. It occurs when a summer drought is followed by a harsh winter, causing widespread deaths among the livestock which herding families rely on for food, transport and income. More than 157,000 people across 17 of 21 provinces are affected by this year’s dzud, said Nordov Bolormaa, secretary-general of the Mongolian Red Cross. More than 70 percent of the country is currently covered in snow, according to the government. “Now it’s very cold - temperatures are reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius (-40°F) in the northern provinces,” said Bolormaa, adding that snow storms started a month early last year, at the end of October. The Red Cross launched an appeal on Thursday for $654,000 to help 11,300 people with cash, health services and other support. Around 30 percent of Mongolia’s 3 million population lives off animal herding, according to the World Bank, and meat is the primary source of food. Mongolian government figures show more than 42,000 animals had died by early February. The Red Cross warns that number will soar as severe weather is expected to continue through March. As many as 1.1 million livestock died last winter, and the dzud of 2009-2010, one of the most severe in history, saw 9.7 million livestock deaths. Mongolia is already struggling with an economic crisis, as a weak local currency has made household goods more expensive. Bolormaa remembers growing up with a traditional Mongolian saying - that when the year of the monkey comes around once in each 12-year lunar calendar, it invites disasters like the dzud. But in the last 27 years, Mongolia has experienced seven dzuds, she said. “This traditional understanding and preparedness is changing,” she added. Now the dzud has hit Mongolia two years in a row. While some environmental groups point the finger at climate change, Maarten van Aalst, director of the Netherlands-based Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said it was hard to make the link with certainty because the dzud is a complex phenomenon. “What we do know, generally, is that extremes are increasing and the predictability of what we can expect as a normal climate in a particular place is gone now,” he said by telephone. Other factors such as denser population and herding patterns could be compounding the effects of the dzud, he noted. Its growing frequency has resulted in mass migration of out-of-work herders to Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar, putting a strain on the city over the last decade. Migrants end up living in “ger districts”, makeshift neighborhoods named after traditional yurt dwellings, where they burn coal, tires and household waste to keep warm, creating massive pollution problems. To help protect herders from climate-related losses to their livestock, the World Bank in Mongolia launched the world’s first index-based livestock insurance scheme in 2005. Since adopted by the Mongolian government, it is based on an index of livestock mortality rates by species and district, and offered through local insurance companies and banks. But take-up has been slow. In 2016, close to 19,000 herding households were insured, or around 12 percent of the total, according to Ulziibold Yadamsuren, former director of the program at the World Bank. The cost of insurance is high for poor herders, and they cannot meet some of the criteria such as a requirement for all livestock to be vaccinated, said the Red Cross’s Bolormaa. “The implementation of the insurance is yet to be understood by the herders,” she said. Reporting By Thin Lei Win; editing by Megan Rowling; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit news.trust.org/climate

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2016

5.0

May 18 (Reuters) - Wallix Group SA : * Acquisition of MLState's activities Source text: bit.ly/27zPNNE Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom)

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(coverage gdynia , gdynia newsroom , gdynia , newsroom , text eikon , eikon company , eikon , source text , company coverage , text)

2018

8.0

Matt Lauer‘s divorce with Annette Roque is nearing its finalization — and with it comes a multi-million dollar settlement. Lauer, 60, has agreed to pay Roque, 51, up to $20 million in their divorce, which will soon be final, according to Page Six. The outlet also reports that the couple, who wed 20 years ago in 1998, has agreed to share custody of sons Jack, 17, and Thijs, 11, and daughter Romy, 14. Entertainment Tonight also reported the $20 million figure. Lauer, a source told ET, “finally decided it was time to finalize everything and move forward and focus on the kids. He has a lot of guilt about how things went down and he wants to make sure Annette is taken care of.” Now, “there is a noticeable difference in their attitude toward this entire process,” the source said. “They seem happier and their family and friends are thrilled to see they are both moving forward.” Reps for Lauer did not return PEOPLE’s request for comment. Last fall, the longtime Today host, 60, was fired from NBC in November for alleged inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.    Roque once filed for divorce from Lauer in 2006, citing “cruel and inhumane” behavior, though she withdrew the petition three weeks later. And in 2014, Roque was once again “shopping for a divorce lawyer,” a legal source told PEOPLE earlier this year. Following Lauer’s firing from NBC, the pair stopped wearing their wedding bands, were “preparing for divorce” as of April and were “barely speaking to each other.“ In May, a source told PEOPLE that “the damage in this marriage can’t be fixed.” Now that an official split is imminent, it won’t be simple for the duo to divide their considerable assets. In November, Time estimated Lauer’s earnings over his NBC career to be over $100 million; for the last few years of his career there, the New York Daily News reported his salary as $25 million annually. The couple own a Hamptons mansion — where Roque currently lives with their three children and Lauer has been living in the guest house, according to a source — that they bought from Richard Gere in 2016 for $36.5 million. They also own a nearby Sag Harbor home that’s currently on the market for $12.75 million, and a New York City townhouse that’s for sale for $7.35 million. “Certainly if I were [Annette’s] lawyer I would be looking at getting something close to 50 percent” of their fortune, New York-based divorce attorney Bernard Post, who is not involved in the case, told PEOPLE. “This is not going to get played out in the press,” said Judith Poller, who has handled divorces for celebrities like Drew Barrymore. “They’ll do everything quietly. My guess is she will get the Hamptons house and a chunk of cash, but no spousal support. He will pay child support.”

entertainment

television

(lauer , nbc , lauers , farrow , matt lauer , nbc news , farrows , matt , sexual , weinstein)

2019

7.0

July 19 (Reuters) - Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday, buoyed by rising bets of a U.S. interest rate cut this month and gains in energy stocks due to higher crude prices. * New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday policymakers need to add stimulus early and cannot wait for economic disaster to hit, reviving expectations of a deeper rate cut in July. * “There is further confirmation that the Fed will cut interest rates this month and perhaps by half a percent,” Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said * Also helping markets was a rise in crude prices as tensions spiked again in the Middle East after the United States said it had destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, which pushed energy sector higher. * The materials sector rose 1.4%, the most among all the major sectors trading higher, as copper mining companies rallied after prices of the metal hit a two-month high. * At 9:48 a.m. ET (13:48 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 77.74 points, or 0.47%, at 16,571.97. * The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Hudbay Minerals Inc, up 8.1%, and First Quantum Minerals Ltd , up 6.6%. * On the TSX, 185 issues were higher, while 43 issues declined for a 4.30-to-1 ratio favoring gainers, with 20.09 million shares traded. * Data on Friday showed the value of Canadian retail trade unexpectedly dipped by 0.1% in May, the first decline in four months, as bad weather hit sales of food and drink, according to Statistics Canada data. * Among decliners, cannabis company CannTrust Holdings Inc dropped 3.9%, the most on the TSX, followed by Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd, which fell 2.3%. * The most-heavily traded shares by volume were B2gold Corp , Burcon NutraScience Corp and Yamana Gold Inc . * The TSX posted 21 new 52-week highs and one new low. * Across all Canadian issues, there were 51 new 52-week highs and six new lows, with total volume of 37.08 million shares. (Reporting by Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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(tsx , exchanges sptsx , sptsx , sptsx composite , toronto stock , 10 main , canadas main , stock exchanges , reuters canadas , new 52week)

2016

7.0

(CNN)Emmy voters officially joined America's ongoing conversation about racism on Thursday by acknowledging "black-ish" -- an ABC comedy that has sought to tackle hot-button issues with humor and heart, without sacrificing laughs in the process. "I think people respect the authenticity which we have for ourselves and the truthfulness in the way we tell our stories," Anthony Anderson, star of "black-ish," tells CNN. "I think that resonates with them and that's what they respond to. They responded to it by giving us this nomination." The plaudits for "black-ish" come during a breakout year for the sophomore comedy, which has made a cozy home among other family sitcoms on ABC's Wednesday night lineup. Like poster-child-for-progress "Modern Family" before it, "black-ish" rose to success in Season 2, in part, by daring to take on cultural lightning rods rarely seen on broadcast TV comedies since the days of producer Norman Lear and shows like "All in the Family." (Notably, NBC has offered its own topical comedy with an African-American lead, "The Carmichael Show.") One of the season's most compelling episodes, entitled "Hope," saw the Johnson family inside their living room for a night of tough TV and tougher discussions as they waited to see whether a police officer would face charges for the assault of a black man. With their kids around them, Dre (Anderson) and Bow (Ross) had to navigate a conversation with more questions than certainties, especially as the couple themselves seemed to agree on little. ("Why must you always advocate for the devil? He doesn't need help with his legal team," Dre jokes at one point, as his wife attempts to explain her less radical stance.) "Hope," which managed to find many laughs despite its serious subject, stands as an example of the material that got its viewers thinking -- and talking. "It was a show that struck a chord, more so than any other show that we've ever done," Anderson says. "And we look at what's going on in the country now -- with gun violence and police brutality and the senseless deaths that have been happening and the innocent victims that are a part of that and no one being held accountable for it. We're right on time with what we're doing. We're right on point with what we're doing." With showrunner Kenya Barris at the helm, Anderson says the goal is always to "tell the stories of our community and be truthful to ourselves." For its part, ABC has been "supportive" of the stories "black-ish" wants to tell, says Anderson. That included, a not-easy-to-show-on-broadcast-TV episode about Dre's youngest son being suspended from school for using the n-word during a talent show. "It means the world to us to tell (the) stories we're telling on broadcast television so the world can see them," says Anderson. "It's a beautiful time and a beautiful thing to be a part of this rocket ship we're on right now." Writers for "black-ish" are back at work crafting scripts for Season 3, which Anderson says, will build upon the season finale reveal of Bow's pregnancy. "We have some great stories ... hold on to your hats. That's all I can say," he says. Emmy voters, it seems, will be more than ready-ish.

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2016

7.0

[ Our full report on the 2016 Emmy Awards | the list of Emmy winners | red carpet looks | our critic’s review of the show ] The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards will honor television’s best shows and performances from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016. The awards will be presented in a Sept. 18 ceremony on ABC. Here's a look at some of the most memorable moments from the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards. The nominees in the major categories are listed below. “The Americans” (FX) “Better Call Saul” (AMC) “Downton Abbey” (PBS) “Game of Thrones” (HBO) “Homeland” (Showtime) “House of Cards” (Netflix) “Mr. Robot” (USA) “black-ish” (ABC) “Master of None” (Netflix) “Modern Family” (ABC) “Silicon Valley” (HBO) “Transparent” (Amazon) “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix) “Veep” (HBO) 57 Photos View Slide Show › “American Crime” (ABC) “Fargo” (FX) “The Night Manager” (AMC) “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (FX) “Roots” (History) “A Very Murray Christmas” (Netflix) “All The Way” (HBO) “Confirmation” (HBO) “Luther” (BBC America) “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (Masterpiece)” (PBS) Kyle Chandler, “Bloodline” Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot” Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul” Matthew Rhys, “The Americans” Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards” Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan” Claire Danes, “Homeland” Viola Davis, “How to Get Away With Murder” Taraji P. Henson, “Empire” Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black” Keri Russell, “The Americans” Robin Wright, “House of Cards” Anthony Anderson, “black-ish” Aziz Ansari, “Master of None” Will Forte, “The Last Man on Earth” William H. Macy, “Shameless” Thomas Middleditch, “Silicon Valley” Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent” Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep” Laurie Metcalf, “Getting On” Ellie Kemper, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish” Amy Schumer, “Inside Amy Schumer” Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie” Bryan Cranston, “All the Way” Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (Masterpiece)” Idris Elba, “Luther” Cuba Gooding Jr., “The People v. O.J. Simpson” Tom Hiddleston, “The Night Manager” Courtney B. Vance, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” Kirsten Dunst, “Fargo” Felicity Huffman, “American Crime” Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” Lili Taylor, “American Crime” Kerry Washington, “Confirmation” “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” (Crackle) “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC) “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO) “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (CBS) “Real Time With Bill Maher” (HBO) “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC) “Documentary Now!” (IFC) “Drunk History” (Comedy Central) “Inside Amy Schumer” (Comedy Central) “Key & Peele” (Comedy Central) “Portlandia” (IFC) “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul” Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones” Kit Harington, “Game of Thrones” Michael Kelly, “House of Cards” Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline” Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan” Emilia Clarke, “Game of Thrones” Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones” Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey” Maura Tierney, “The Affair” Maisie Williams, “Game of Thrones” Constance Zimmer, “UnREAL” Louie Anderson, “Baskets” Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Ty Burrell, “Modern Family” Tony Hale, “Veep” Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele” Matt Walsh, “Veep” Anna Chlumsky, “Veep” Gaby Hoffman, “Transparent” Allison Janney, “Mom” Judith Light, “Transparent” Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live” Niecy Nash, “Getting On” Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” Hugh Laurie, “The Night Manager” Jesse Plemons, “Fargo” David Schwimmer, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” John Travolta, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” Bokeem Woodbine, “Fargo” Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Hotel” Olivia Colman, “The Night Manager” Regina King, “American Crime” Melissa Leo, “All The Way” Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Hotel” Jean Smart, “Fargo” Bob Newhart, “The Big Bang Theory” Tracy Morgan, “Saturday Night Live” Larry David, “Saturday Night Live” Bradley Whitford, “Transparent” Martin Mull, “Veep” *Peter Scolari, “Girls” Laurie Metcalf, “The Big Bang Theory” Christine Baranski, “The Big Bang Theory” *Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, “Saturday Night Live” Melissa McCarthy, “Saturday Night Live” Amy Schumer, “Saturday Night Live” Melora Hardin, “Transparent” Max von Sydow, “Game of Thrones” Michael J. Fox, “The Good Wife” Reg E. Cathey, “House of Cards” Mahershala Ali, “House of Cards” Paul Sparks, “House of Cards” *Hank Azaria, “Ray Donovan” *Margo Martindale, “The Americans” Carrie Preston, “The Good Wife” Laurie Metcalf, “Horace and Pete” Ellen Burstyn, “House of Cards” Molly Parker, “House of Cards” Allison Janney, “Masters of Sex” *“Archer” (FX) “Bob’s Burgers” (Fox) “Phineas and Ferb” (Disney XD) “The Simpsons” (Fox) “South Park” (Comedy Central) “The Amazing Race” (CBS) “American Ninja Warrior” (NBC) “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC) “Project Runway” (Lifetime) “Top Chef” (Bravo) “The Voice” (NBC) “Antiques Roadshow” (PBS) “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” (Food Network) “Lip Sync Battle” (Spike TV) “Mythbusters” (Discovery Channel) *“Shark Tank” (ABC) “Undercover Boss” (CBS) *“Born This Way” (A&E) “Deadliest Catch” (Discovery Channel) “Gaycation With Ellen Page” (Viceland) “Intervention” (A&E) “Project Greenlight” (HBO) “United Shades of America” (CNN) Ryan Seacrest, “American Idol” (Fox) Tom Bergeron, “Dancing With the Stars” (ABC) Jane Lynch, “Hollywood Game Night” (NBC) Steve Harvey, “Little Big Shots Starring Steven Harvey” (NBC) Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, “Project Runway” (Lifetime) *RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Logo) Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, “Catastrophe” (Episode 1) Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, “Master of None” (“Parents”) Dan O’Keefe, “Silicon Valley” (“Founder Friendly”) Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley” (“The Uptick”) David Mandel, “Veep” (“Morning After”) Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, “Veep” (“Mother”) Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, “The Americans” (“Persona Non Grata”) Julian Fellowes, “Downton Abbey” (Episode 8) David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, “Game of Thrones” (“Battle of the Bastards”) Robert King and Michelle King, “The Good Wife” (“End”) Sam Esmail, “Mr. Robot” (“eps1.0_hellofriend.mov”) Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, “UnREAL” (“Return”) Bob DeLaurentis, “Fargo” (“Loplop”) Noah Hawley, “Fargo” (“Palindrome”) David Farr, “The Night Manager” Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (“From the Ashes of Tragedy”) D.V. DeVincentis, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia”) Joe Robert Cole, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (“The Race Card”) “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” “Inside Amy Schumer” “Key & Peele” *“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” “Portlandia” “Saturday Night Live” Aziz Ansari, “Master of None” (“Parents”) Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley” (“Daily Active Users”) Mike Judge, “Silicon Valley” (“Founder Friendly”) Jill Soloway, “Transparent” (“Man on the Land”) Dave Mandel, “Veep” (“Kissing Your Sister”) Dale Stern, “Veep” (“Mother”) Michael Engler, “Downton Abbey” (Episode 9) Miguel Sapochnik, “Game of Thrones” (“Battle of the Bastards”) Jack Bender, “Game of Thrones” (“The Door”) Lesli Linka Glatter, “Homeland” (“The Tradition of Hospitality”) Steven Soderbergh, “The Knick” (“This Is All We Are”) David Hollander, “Ray Donovan” (“Exsuscito”) Jay Roach, “All the Way” Noah Hawley, “Fargo” (“Before the Law”) Susanne Bier, “The Night Manager” Ryan Murphy, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (“From the Ashes of Tragedy”) Anthony Hemingway, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (“Manna From Heaven”) John Singleton, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (“The Race Card”) *Ryan McFaul, “Inside Amy Schumer” Paul Pennolino, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” Tim Mancinelli, “The Late Late Show With James Corden” Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live” Dave Diomedi, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” * Denotes winners of awards presented during the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony Sept. 10-11.

Television

Emmy Awards

(emmy , emmys , outstanding , nominations , drama series , drama , thrones , limited series , comedy , game thrones)

2017

11.0

The holiday season has officially landed at Starbucks. Early this morning, the company rolled out this year's holiday cup, and as expected, they're adorably festive. In addition to having your coffee served in a festive cup starting today, Starbucks has also made its holiday beverages available. This includes classic faves like the Chestnut Praline Latte, Caramel Brulée Latte, Gingerbread Latte, Eggnog Latte, and of course, the Peppermint Mocha. 2017's holiday cup looks a lot like the the classic Starbucks cup in that it's white and features the iconic green siren logo in the center. Surrounding that round siren, however is a whole lot of holiday fun. Black line drawings of different whimsical wintery symbols are all over the cup. Included among them are sweater-clad arms, doves, Christmas trees, ornaments, wrapped gifts, Christmas cards, snowflakes, and mugs of hot cocoa. A few of the featured line drawings are filled in with red and green, but there's plenty of white space open for your own coloring pleasure. Just like with this year's spring and fall Starbucks cups, the coffee company is encouraging baristas and customers to grab a sharpie and add to the doodle. Earlier this month, when we were still in the single digits for number of PSLs consumed, we discovered that someone had posted what might be a sneak peek of the holiday cups on the /r/Starbucks subreddit. Since at the time we didn't know for sure if this was the cup that would be coming to Starbucks for the 2017 holiday season, we tried not to get our hopes up too high. That proved difficult, though, because the cup posted on Reddit was oh-so cute. Luckily, the Reddit post ended up being the real deal. Those unmistakably wintry flavors combined with the holiday cup design will make it hard for even the biggest Grinch to be grumpy during this time of year. Related Video:

coffee

Starbucks

(coffee , starbucks , espresso , brew , frappuccino , cold brew , latte , drink , pumpkin , cold)

2016

4.0

Many celebrity women have opened up about their journeys with IVF treatments or egg-freezing. Now, you can add Olivia Munn to that growing list, People reports.On Tuesday, the X-Men: Apocalypse star told Anna Faris (on the actress' podcast Anna Faris Is Unqualified) that she froze "a bunch of eggs.” "I did, years ago, freeze a bunch of eggs," Munn, 35, explained. "I went to the doctor and did the whole test, and he said, ‘You know, you actually have a lot of eggs. You’re really lucky. A girlfriend of mine, we’re the same age — she’d gone to the doctor, had a test, and she had the egg count of a 50-year-old," Munn added, highlighting how individual fertility can be. Munn said that she encourages all women to follow suit and freeze their eggs: “It’s no longer on the experimental list, and I think that every girl should do it. For one, you don’t have to race the clock anymore. You don’t have to worry about it — worry about your job or anything. It’s there." Munn is correct that egg-freezing is no longer experimental; The American Society of Reproductive Medicine made that official back in 2012. And since then, the process has become a hot topic as the mean age of first-time mothers continues to rise. But the problem is that freezing your eggs can be prohibitively expensive (it's not usually covered by insurance). Still, according to the latest stats, the number of women freezing their eggs has been rising exponentially: from 475 in 2009 to nearly 4,000 in 2013, according to data collected by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. Some experts estimate that by 2018, 76,000 women will opt for the procedure.

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2017

8.0

Mastodon's Emperor of Sand is a serious, bleak concept album about mortality so it's a delight that the accompanying video for lead single "Show Yourself" was a goofy riff on that subject matter. The band is continuing that comedic tone in the new video for album track "Steambreather," which takes the title and theme of knowing yourself into realms you could never imagine. The clip follows two metalhead/slacker dudes as they're sucked into the increasingly horrific machinations of a "nasal enlightenment" cult. It goes from new age breathing meditations to nostrils being gruesomely stretched to people melting into putty from psychedelic vision quests. Also, we get this @dasharez0ne-esque visual: This is basically David Cronenberg directing Wayne's World so watch the "Steambreather" video above.

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2019

3.0

March 14 (Reuters) - BF SpA: * REPORTED ON WEDNESDAY FY PRODUCTION VALUE OF 78.6 MILLION EUROS VERSUS 45.1 MILLION EUROS A YEAR AGO * FY NET LOSS OF 308,000 EURO VERSUS A LOSS OF 179,000 EURO A YEAR AGO Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage: (Gdynia Newsroom)

finance

euros

(eur , million euros , euros , euros year , gdynia newsroom , gdynia , fy , year ago , h1 , euros versus)

2019

2.0

New York (CNN Business)Forget about Hasbro, Mattel and Lego. The hottest toy company just might be Funko, the maker of pop culture figures with heads that bobble. You've probably seen (and maybe even own) one of the company's Pop! Vinyl figurines for Marvel superheroes, including Captain America and Thor. Funko also reproduces Star Wars characters like R2-D2 and C-3PO, Eleven from Netflix's (NFLX) Stranger Things, and even real life athletes from the NFL and NBA. They're popular with kids as well as serious collectors. Fans love Funko (FNKO) toys. And so do investors. The company reported sales growth of nearly 25% in the third quarter of 2018. Back in November, it also raised its revenue and profit outlook for the year. Funko will report its results for the fourth quarter February 28. Analysts expect sales to have risen nearly 20% from a year ago and for earnings per share to have more than doubled. Funko's stock is up more than 40% this year. But shares have been extremely volatile since Funko went public at a price of $12 in November 2017. The stock plunged more than 40% on its first day of trading to about $7 because of concerns the company was a fad. But it rebounded, surging above $30 last September. Shares traded around $19 on Tuesday. It looks like Funko is doing just fine. The company was founded in 1998 with what it describes as a focus "on low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys." There clearly is a market for it. Wall Street is predicting that sales will hit nearly $740 million in 2019, up about 15% from last year. And now Funko is hoping to branch out further. Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy thinks it will get a boost from new Pokémon toys this year thanks to the release of the "Pokémon Detective Pikachu" movie in May and the animated "Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution," which will be released in Japan in July. Murphy wrote in a report that Funko has already had strong engagement on Instragram for posts about its toy for the Bulbasaur character. And she estimates that Pokémon toys could eventually pull in $50 million in annual sales for Funko, a level on par with how much it makes from Star Wars figures. Funko has also started to make T-shirts, hoodies and other clothing, and it has a studio that produces short cartoons. The hope is to sell even more Funko products to pop culture-obsessed kids and young adults. Funko looking to diversify like other toy companies With the studio, Funko is also taking a page from Hasbro (HAS) and Lego, which both have had success with animated movies and TV shows. Mattel (MAT) is looking to branch out into entertainment too, having inked deals with Warner Bros. to produce Barbie and Hot Wheels movies. (Warner Bros., like CNN, is a part of AT&T (T)-owned WarnerMedia.) Funko also announced last week that it was buying board game maker Forrest-Pruzan Creative LLC, a company that has developed pop culture games centered on Disney villains, Harry Potter and even the late artist and TV host Bob Ross, who was famous for painting "happy little trees." Funko president Andrew Perlmutter said in a press release that the acquisition lines up with the rest of the company's strategy. "The games category is another avenue to deliver pop culture to our ever-growing fan base," he added. The toy retail industry is in flux though, which could pose problems for Funko. Despite reporting a solid holiday a few weeks ago, Mattel shocked Wall Street on Friday with a warning of weak results for 2019, in part due to the bankruptcy of Toys "R" Us. Still. Funko didn't have nearly the same level of exposure to Toys "R" Us as its larger toy rivals. Funko said in its most recent annual report that sales from Toys "R" Us accounted for just 3% of overall revenue, compared to nearly 10% for Mattel and Hasbro. Instead, Funko relies more on specialty retailers such as GameStop (GME) and Hot Topic, mass-market retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), and e-commerce sites — most notably Amazon (AMZN).

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2017

6.0

With last fall’s formation of Group Nine Media, four digital media organizations (Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo and Discovery’s Seeker) came together under a single corporate umbrella. Now the company says it’s seeing real success connecting with readers and viewers, with 114 million social media engagements in May — up from 70 million in January. As Group Nine CEO Ben Lerer (pictured above) put it, “We smoked it.” But how meaningful is that number, especially since it includes everything from likes to comments to shares? “Every engagement isn’t created equal,” Lerer admitted. Still, he argued that “more engagement is better than less.” And he said the numbers show that “people aren’t just sitting on their phones and aimlessly scanning” on social media: “People are stopping and paying attention and taking an action at an enormous scale.” This also ties into one of frequently repeated mantras in online publishing — the need to focus on engagement rather than pageviews. In this case, Lerer said he isn’t trying to make the argument that “We’re not big, but we’re good.” In fact, the company points to data from video analytics company Tubular showing that it’s one of the top 10 media and entertainment properties online, with more than 3 billion views on Facebook alone in April. (And while Group Nine ranks eighth out of 10 when it comes views, it has the highest engagement rate among the properties in that top tier.) “Instead of just saying, ‘Hey, look, we’re big,’ we’re unpacking: Well, why are we big?” Lerer said. He added that the focus is less on having a few big viral hits, and more on “raising the floor” so that none of the publications are spending time on content that doesn’t get significant engagement. “We’ve always talked about the idea of not having virality be a strategy, but having it be an outcome of good strategy,” he said. And just as all engagement isn’t created equal, the same is true of the various properties that make up Group Nine. Different publications do better on different platforms — for example, Seeker performs better on YouTube while NowThis is stronger on Facebook. Lerer said that while he wants to ensure that “the editorial soul of each brand lives entirely at that brand,” the company is also working to “create a center of excellence to take those learnings and transfer them to the other brands so all the brands get smarter.” This leads to another big question: Is it dangerous for a media company to rely too heavily on other platforms for distribution? Lerer said publishing on social media is important for reaching users where they are, rather than trying to “swim upstream” — but he also said there’s opportunity for real ad revenue, both in the present (“We happen to be focused on making large amounts of money on these platforms”) and in the future. “I don’t think that the advertising solutions that exist on these platforms and the sort of profit sharing and partnerships that exists between distribution platforms and content creators … are the ones that are going to exist in the future,” Lerer said. “I think there will be more value coming downstream to content creators as time goes on.”

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2018

3.0

Foreign governments are threatening to launch stiff retaliatory measures against the United States if President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump pushes back on recent polling data, says internal numbers are 'strongest we've had so far' Illinois state lawmaker apologizes for photos depicting mock assassination of Trump Scaramucci assembling team of former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump MORE carries through on his threats to impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and an 10 percent tariff on all aluminum imports to the United States. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a German television station that Europe would retaliate against the sanctions with tariffs of its own. “We will put tariffs on Harley-Davidson, on bourbon and on blue jeans — Levi's,” he said. Those tariffs may have been designed to send a message to leading Republicans, who may still prevail upon Trump to change his mind or soften his approach.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump faces crucial decisions on economy, guns Are Democrats turning Trump-like? House Democrat calls for gun control: Cities can ban plastic straws but 'we can't ban assault weapons?' MORE hails from Kentucky, where the bourbon industry exported $154 million to the European Union last year alone, according to figures cited by CNBC. Harley-Davidson’s headquarters are in Milwaukee, Wis., House Speaker Paul RyanPaul Davis RyanEmbattled Juul seeks allies in Washington Ex-Parkland students criticize Kellyanne Conway Latina leaders: 'It's a women's world more than anything' MORE’s home state. Levi-Strauss blue jeans are headquartered in the blue state of California, which is also home to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyI'm not a Nazi, I'm just a dude: What it's like to be the other Steve King Trump finds consistent foil in 'Squad' Tlaib says she won't visit Israel after being treated like 'a criminal' MORE. In previous trade standoffs, Junker threatened tariffs on Wisconsin dairy and Florida orange juice. Canada, the largest source of U.S. steel imports, noted that the steel trade was a two-way street. “The United States has a $2-billion surplus in steel trade with Canada. Canada buys more American steel than any other country in the world, accounting for 50 percent of U.S. exports,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in response to the threatened tariffs. Last year, U.S. exports of goods and services accounted for 12 percent of the entire economy, so a broad-based reaction from U.S. trade partners could hit the economy hard.  One major U.S. export sector that could be targeted if the tariffs go ahead is agriculture.  “When you’re talking about sectoral actions, the vulnerable industries are the ones that are dependent on exports, and that’s a lot of agricultural products,” said Jeff Schott, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Canada, South Korea and Japan, all major steel exporters to the US, are also big importers of U.S. agriculture, he noted. “If they’re looking for ways of inflicting pain on the United States, then agriculture is going to be a prime target,” he said. Agriculture is also a major contributor to key red states, which could put pressure GOP politicians. “What they’ll be looking for are products where they think there will be a political impact. If you look at agricultural products, they’re all around the Midwestern states, which are Republican states,” said Claude Barfield, an economic expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Countries that want to send the U.S. a strong message on trade could easily hit the aerospace industry by targeting Boeing, which employs nearly 150,000 Americans. Not only would the company suffer from higher steel prices, but foreign buyers hoping to hit the U.S. could simply opt to buy from Boeing’s European competitor, Airbus. Beyond concerns over U.S. soybeans, pork and planes, Barfield said that Trump’s decision to sidestep trade law by invoking national security could open up a longer-term threat to U.S. trade. “Where the U.S. is also in danger right now is that we are setting a terrible precedent on invoking national security for trade,” he said. U.S. trade partners could easily follow America’s lead and claim all sorts of industries in their countries need protection for national security reasons. In 1975, for example, Sweden invoked national security when it imposed quotas on footwear, claiming that its army’s need for shoes made the industry critical. China, in particular, is adept at using national security arguments to shape their trade and manufacturing policy, said Barfield. “This is just a gift to the Chinese,” he added. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

trade

tariffs

(tariffs , steel , aluminum , steel aluminum , trade , imports , tariff , eu , impose , imported)

2018

3.0

* UK lender raises €4.75bn of debt despite challenging backdrop * Transaction highlights evolution in funding costs By Alice Gledhill LONDON, March 2 (IFR) - Royal Bank of Scotland priced the biggest financial trade in the euro market for more than a decade on Tuesday, raising €4.75bn across three tranches and marking yet another milestone in its turnaround since the crisis. Other financial trades from Commerzbank, Macquarie Group and even Lloyds have struggled to generate momentum as market conditions slacken, but RBS - once the black sheep of the UK banking sector - had no such problem, generating books of over €6bn. The bank remains 72% owned by the UK government after receiving a £45.5bn bailout, but has fought hard to put legacy issues behind it via a multi-year restructuring. “There aren’t many days where that volume is taken from the euro market,” said Scott Forrest, head of debt capital markets and capital strategy at RBS. “We’ve had a good story to tell, about simplifying the bank, and then delivering on that plan.” A multibillion-dollar misconduct case with the US Department of Justice remains unresolved. It has steadily built capital, however - the group’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio has jumped to 15.9% from 8.6% in 2013, and it posted its first annual profit in a decade last week. Moody’s upgraded RBS Group’s long-term senior unsecured rating to Baa3 from Ba1 last year, making it investment-grade at all three major agencies. That upwards trajectory set the stage for Tuesday’s transaction, allowing the bank to load up on funding and beef up its loss-absorbing buffers in one fell swoop. It managed that despite choppy conditions in the euro market and the relentless noise around Brexit, and in a pivotal year for UK banks as they embed new ring-fenced entities designed to separate retail and investment banking activities. The lender’s turnaround is reflected in its credit spreads. A €1.5bn 1.75% eight-year non-call seven tranche from the holdco priced at 100bp over swaps, some 90bp inside where a €1.5bn 2% six-year non-call five came last March. That bond was bid at 55bp over at Tuesday’s open on Tradeweb. “We’ve been pegged back for a considerable period of time relative to our peers,” said Forrest. “ trades were priced broadly in line or slightly back of Barclays, but at holdco level they’re rated up to two notches higher than we are, so I think there’s been excellent progress there.” The holdco deal was rated Baa3/BBB-/BBB+. RBS combined the holdco offering with two tranches - a two-year floater and a four-year fixed - from Royal Bank of Scotland plc, the first time it had sold opco and holdco debt together. That continued a theme of recent years, when banks have raised short-dated funding from the opco to minimise costs while issuing longer-dated holdco paper to build buffers of loss-absorbing debt that will retain regulatory value for years to come. The €1.75bn floater priced at three-month Euribor plus 22bp and the €1.5bn fixed at mid-swaps plus 40bp, carving out much of RBS’s £2bn to £4bn annual opco target. The opco bonds have held in better than the holdco tranche, which was bid 9bp wider on Friday as the market sold off. The amount raised through the opco tranches is a step up from the £1.1bn-equivalent of opco senior it sold in 2017, reflecting changes to the balance sheet due to ring-fencing. It also aims to issue £4bn to £6bn from RBS Group. Despite concerns this two-pronged approach risked cannibalising demand, Chris Agathangelou, head of financial institutions syndicate at NatWest Markets, said the issuer had chosen very different maturity buckets to mitigate those fears. “By doing a triple-tranche we wanted to be as open, honest and fair as possible,” he said. “I think it just gives people a bit of choice, and it’s a much cleaner way to do it than splitting up holdco and opco over two days.” The RBS transaction continued an active start for the UK banking sector in 2018. It took combined issuance in euros and sterling to more than €15bn-equivalent, including trades from Lloyds and Nationwide this week. The Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme - from which UK banks have taken some £115bn - ended last month, shifting the focus back to the wholesale funding market in a year when UK bank spreads could well come under pressure. “We’re at extremely tight levels on a historic basis, so as an institution it makes sense to get ahead of your funding plan given there are uncertainties ahead,” said Agathangelou. Still, RBS found plenty of interest, despite misgivings among some investors. “UK banks are definitely lagging and less-loved, I think mainly because of Brexit concerns,” said Matthew Rees, a portfolio manager at Legal & General Investment Management. He said the 5bp to 10bp new issue premiums were not enough given the deal’s size and general malaise towards UK banks. “It’s pretty interesting of the UK banks to all issue within a few days of each other, just as the Brexit negotiations turn detailed.” (Reporting by Alice Gledhill, editing by Sudip Roy, Julian Baker)

banking

Lloyds Banking Group

(rbs , lloyds , pounds , billion pounds , bank scotland , royal bank , rbss , mcewan , ppi , bank)

2019

12.0

One of the biggest trends in the world of financial technology has been an ongoing push towards consolidation, where larger fish are snapping up smaller fish (including a proliferation of interesting startups) to get improved economies of scale in a business model where every transaction brings incremental returns. But today, a startup that has built the concept of consolidation into its basic DNA has raised another round of funding to continue doubling down on its business. Rapyd — a London-based startup that has built an API that lets customers tap into a range of financial services spanning payments, checkout, funds collection, fund disbursements, compliance as a service, foreign exchange, card issuing and soon logistics across a wide range of geographies — has picked up an additional $20 million. Rapyd’s valuation with the funding is now at $1.2 billion (up from just under $1 billion in October). The $20 million comes from new investment firm Durable Capital Partners. Notably, it was only in October that Rapyd announced a $100 million raise. CEO and co-founder and Arik Shtilman said that Rapyd has now raised $180 million in total, with previous investors in the startup including Oak HC/FT Tiger Global, Coatue, General Catalyst, Target Global, Stripe and Entrée Capital. (Stripe, itself a fast-growing fintech upstart, remains only a financial investor in the company, Shtilman confirmed.) Durable is the firm founded by Henry Ellenbogen, formerly a star investor at T. Rowe Price, in what Rapyd said was the firm’s first investment. (Note: Durable was also announced earlier as an investor in Convoy’s $400 million round, some clear signs that it’s open for business now.) With Rapyd only recently raising a round, Shtilman said that the reason for the — err — rapid follow up was because the company is gearing up to make some acquisitions, as it too moves in on the consolidation trend by adding in more tools into its “Swiss Army Knife” of services. “We’ve started to look at two acquisitions that were bigger than what we originally planned, with prices more in the range of $100 million,” he said. Up to now, Rapyd has largely built its technology from the ground up, but this will be about “getting at new business very quickly,” he added. Both deals are in progress now and are likely to close in February / March. One is of a card issuing platform (a la Marqeta), and the other is of a company based in Asia Pacific that is a significant player in payments in the region. The focus on Asia Pacific both for testing out new services and acquisitions is in part because this, along with Latin America, have shaped up to be important geographies for the company. In the last three months, Rapyd has signed on 20 additional large-scale companies, Shtilman said, with several of them based out of, or serving, customers out of the two regions. In fact, Rapyd doesn’t talk much about actual customers, but they include e-commerce merchants, gig-economy platforms — including Uber — financial institutions, and technology providers. The basic pitch is that financial services are complex, and providing one like payments often means having to offer others. Building these from scratch if this is not your core competency can be time-consuming and costly, and so that is where a company like Rapyd steps in with its API. This is what attracted its newest investor, too. “Durable Capital Partners LP has a vision to identify and invest in promising early stage growth companies and invest in teams that have bold ideas but can also execute at a world-class level and build much larger companies,” said Ellenbogen in a statement. “I believe the Fintech-as-a-Service category has tremendous potential as companies seek to embed financial services as an integral part of the next generation technology stack. I believe Rapyd is very well positioned to drive this trend and I believe Arik’s track record in scaling cloud-based businesses will deliver success in this sector.” When we last talked with Rapyd in October, we asked Shtilman about whether the company would ever move into logistics as part of its range of tools. After all, when you think about the complexities of procuring, storing and moving goods, it’s clear that logistics is one of the cornerstones you need to get right in an online business. He said that this was on the company’s roadmap, and now Rapyd is in a pilot in Indonesia — an interesting test bed, considering that the country’s is spread across thousands of islands — where it has integrated a logistics service and given access to a single merchant as stage one of its closed beta. It’s also in discussions with other companies about how it can incorporate their services into the Rapyd platform to provide further “logistics as a service” to customers. He also confirmed the Durable has been a help here, by making an introduction to Convoy as part of that wider strategy.

business

venture capital

(venture , startups , founders , startup , vc , venture capital , ventures , capital , vcs , fund)

2016

7.0

Breakingviews Verizon is continuing to invest in ancient web history. The telecom company on Monday said it was paying $4.8 billion to buy Yahoo’s core business. It effectively justifies rival T-Mobile’s tongue-in-cheek claim earlier this year that Verizon is having a midlife crisis. The Verizon boss, Lowell McAdam, after all, is betting the deal will help attract digital advertisers by meshing the internet-search firm with AOL, another 1990s highflier that Verizon bought last year. It is an appealing idea. Yahoo brings with it not just its search and advertising units, but also content like sports and finance that could play well with AOL’s assets like The Huffington Post and TechCrunch. Verizon will also get its hands on Yahoo’s 600 million monthly mobile users. Yahoo shareholders, though, have an exceptionally gloomy view of the business. It does not help that the division’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, is likely to be just $770 million this year, according to Thomson Reuters data, down from $2 billion a decade ago. But investors do not even reckon the units being sold are worth anything. The overall company has around $5 billion in net cash and owns stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan that are worth some $41 billion, yet Yahoo’s market value is just $37 billion. Mr. McAdam’s vision ought to resonate on Madison Avenue. Advertising executives are nervous about the twin powers of Facebook and Alphabet’s Google, which are expected to account for more than half of the American digital advertising revenue this year, according to the research firm eMarketer. They have shown little inclination to send more business to either of Verizon’s dot-com 1.0 duo. Yahoo and AOL’s collective slice of the $69 billion digital-ad market is expected to be 5.2 percent this year, eMarketer forecasts, and is likely to decrease to 4.8 percent in 2017. That has allowed Google and Facebook to gobble up most of the digital-advertising market. It may be that Tim Armstrong, who will run the combined AOL-Yahoo business, has a great plan to turn these two internet also-rans into a formidable force. History suggests otherwise.

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2020

3.0

On this date in 1965, Amelia Boynton nearly died as she tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., a day that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Boynton wasn’t a random marcher; she was a pioneering voting rights activist and organizer. It was she who asked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to come to Selma to help organize civil rights marchers. Though the march was stopped that day, the struggle continued and, ultimately, the marchers made it from Selma to Montgomery — and the Voting Rights Act was passed.  Boynton went on to make history as the first black person to run for Congress in Alabama. Before her death in 2015, she joined President Obama and others to commemorate the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. That day in Selma, many women who are now nameless and faceless marched and organized to push for voting rights. Black women too often are the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement; they’ve always led the charge for justice and equality. Historically, the story of the civil rights movement is dominated by black men and the story of the women’s rights movement is dominated by white women, which pushes the leadership and contributions of black women to the margins of history books. But no longer. This Bloody Sunday anniversary comes on the eve of International Women’s Day during Women’s History Month, and on the heels of Black History Month. The timing presents an opportunity for a reckoning of history and for justice in the moment. We need to set the record straight and acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of black women, who have been the leaders of every successful human rights movement in our country. But perhaps even more importantly, we must respect the leadership of black women today and heed our call for justice. During this highly polarized time in our country, black women leaders are carrying both the water — as we do the hard, unglamorous work of organizing in and nurturing our communities — and the torch, as we inspire the country to see past the darkness to a just future. As we engage in a renewed fight for basic human rights, including the resources and freedom to raise our families with dignity, black women are calling out the problems and demanding action. Just as it was in 1965, our energy must be focused on our right to vote. The 2020 election will hinge as much on the attacks on voting rights as it will on voter turnout. White conservatives have been systematically dismantling voting rights and erecting barriers to voters of color — note the unfair voter ID laws, the illegal purging of people of color from the voting rolls, and the closing of voting locations in communities of color — and we are committed to making our voices heard. Across the country, black women are working to mobilize black voters and ensure that our votes are counted. We must continue to knock down the barriers. We didn’t march and die fighting for our right to vote in the 1950s and ’60s only to have that right denied us unscrupulous politicians whose goal is to stay in power. We must continue to reject any attempt to turn the clock backward. Fifty-five years after Bloody Sunday, we find ourselves struggling to cross another bridge, one that will carry us over the modern abyss of voter suppression. Our path is clear: We must fight to stop losing ground, and to ensure that our children and their children will not have to fight this battle again. We must meet our would-be oppressors at polls across the country on Election Day. And like the marchers in Selma, we will meet them with strength, resilience and pride. We cannot rest until our country lives up to the constitutional promise of liberty and justice for all. Black women are leading the way — and we invite you all to join us. Marcela Howell is the founder and president of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda. Follow her on Twitter at @BlackWomensRJ. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2020 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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2017

6.0

UNITED NATIONS — A French-American standoff over the vast, dangerous Sahel region of Africa is over: On Wednesday, after weeks of tense negotiations, the Security Council approved a resolution welcoming the deployment of a new multinational military force to fight terrorist groups operating in the area. France had pushed for the force, from five African countries, to combat terrorism, drug traffickers and people smugglers thriving in the Sahel. The French ambassador to the United Nations, François Delattre, on Wednesday called the resolution of approval a “landmark” that would need the world’s financial support in the coming months. The United States had objected to giving the force the authority to “use all necessary means,” which is the most robust form of Security Council authorization. The Americans argued that the mandate was too broad and that it was not legally necessary — and in the final text, adopted unanimously, that language was dropped. The counterterrorism force is to be made up of 5,000 troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The next French-American diplomatic battle could be over who will finance the mission. For now, the money will not come from the United Nations peacekeeping budget. The United States pays the largest share of that budget, and the administration’s envoy to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, is pushing to reduce it. United Nations peacekeeping forces are already operating in Mali, which has been racked by a domestic ethnic rebellion and by groups linked to Al Qaeda. Many countries in West and Central Africa are former French colonies, and France has deep economic and security interests in the region. Both France and the United States maintain a military footprint in the Sahel, where groups linked to Al Qaeda proliferate. The latest terrorist attack came Sunday on a resort near Bamako, the capital of Mali, killing five people. “We wish to move quickly,” the ambassador of Mali, Issa Konfourou, told the Security Council on Wednesday, “because the terrorist groups will not wait.”

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2018

1.0

Nicole Cushman is executive director of Answer, a Rutgers University-based program that provides and promotes comprehensive sex education, and adviser to AMAZE, which creates age-appropriate animated videos for adolescents and provides sexual health resources to parents and educators. The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers. (CNN)The black dresses symbolizing a stand against sexual harassment and assault we saw at the Golden Globes will make another appearance at the State of the Union, putting the nation on notice that Time's Up for inappropriate behavior. We can't expect President Donald Trump to speak to this crisis -- nor does he have the credibility given his track record. But the onus is on all of us to transform the culture of sexual harassment and assault across America. We can change our culture for future generations, but this requires education, starting early -- for children and teens, at school and at home. Harvey Weinstein said, in response to allegations of sexual harassment and rape, that he came of age at a time when "all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then." While this was a pathetic attempt to deflect responsibility, it's clear that some of Weinstein's perspective is still implicitly or explicitly infused into our culture today. If young boys learn that taunting and teasing is a good way to show interest in girls, for example, will that behavior be left behind on the playground or will it subconsciously become the foundation for adult attitudes about women? Sex education should be an educational priority, along with other critical subjects such as math and history. When done right, it's not just a semester during PE freshman year; it's an ongoing process throughout a student's entire educational career, covering communication and decision-making skills, sexual orientation and gender identity as well as the basics of reproduction and contraception. It may feel difficult to talk to very young children about sex and relationships, but this is imperative. And we can start by equipping them with knowledge about their bodies, the characteristics of healthy relationships -- romantic and platonic -- and what to do when lines are crossed. This knowledge and approach can have an incredible impact if practiced at a national scale. Imagine if every school across the country taught inclusive, comprehensive sex education, and if every family helped children to understand their bodies and their rights, and the breadth of different kinds of gender expressions, family structures and relationships. We would be raising a generation that could change our world for the better. This dream is possible, but right now a lot of barriers stand in the way. We have a patchwork of state and local sex education policies and programs that vary widely across the country -- some leaning on abstinence-only instruction, reinforcing Weinstein-esque (or worse) gender norms, and lies about the efficacy of birth control. Too many young people are forced to resort to internet searches and rely on rumors for supposed information about sex and sexuality. What they end up finding can be dangerous and misleading. In this moment of reckoning about sexual assault and harassment, young people crave accurate information and want it on their own terms. An animated video created by a program I work with, AMAZE -- titled "What is Sexual Assault?" -- had its views spike above 100,000 after #MeToo took hold in the media. There are some terrific resources out there to help parents, teachers and teens fill in the gaps, but they need additional resources to cut through a saturated media landscape. Sex education that covers not just the birds and the bees but also teaches skills for establishing boundaries, consent and healthy relationships is key to dismantling a culture that allows sexual harassment and assault to persist throughout every industry, street and school in America. This isn't a pipe dream; it's becoming the reality in places like California, where the recently enacted Healthy Youth Act requires comprehensive sex education in schools across the state, complete with factual and inclusive information about sex, consent, and healthy relationships. Unfortunately, this is not the sex education most of our children receive. Far too many students face abstinence-only curricula that shame anything other than strict heterosexuality and gender conformity. Studies show that abstinence-only programs don't delay sexual activity, but do give young people false and dangerous perceptions about sexual health and relationships. Just last year, an abstinence-only program was banned from a New York district after it compared a girl's virginity to chewing gum and asked boys if they would want used gum. This common tactic used in abstinence-only programs spreads fear and stigma and fuels a harassment culture by promoting gender relations that devalue women and police their sexual activity. Now they're resurging under the Trump administration, which hired a crusader for rebranding abstinence-only with a euphemism: "sexual risk avoidance." But make no mistake; these are the same old ineffective programs masquerading under a benign name. While it may seem impossible to gain support at the federal level for high-quality sex education, we can make big changes closer to home. More states can follow the lead of California and implement policies that require comprehensive, inclusive sex education. Others can find courage in New York's example and challenge dangerous, misleading programs masquerading as sex ed. We can create a demand too big to be denied. Our country is at a crossroads, and our children are watching closely. During Tuesday night's address, they'll see that some of our national leaders are taking the #MeToo conversation seriously. This conversation needs to happen at home, too. Now is the moment to make an impact on how young people approach interpersonal relationships for the rest of their lives. Let's not let them down.

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2019

8.0

(Adds share movement, analyst's quote) Aug 28 (Reuters) - Fitbit Inc on Wednesday launched its latest smartwatch, Versa 2, adding Amazon.com Inc's voice assistant Alexa, online payments and music storage in a bid to compete strongly with Apple Inc's smartwatches. Shares of Fitbit rose as much as 5.6% to $3.01. Pre-orders for Versa 2, which is priced at $200, will start later in the day, the company said, adding that the smartwatch would be available in stores on Sept. 15. Fitbit has struggled to gain a foothold in the smartwatch category as Apple and Samsung have cornered a bigger share of the market with more sophisticated devices, while its dominant share of the fitness tracking sector continues to be chipped away by cheaper offerings from China's Huawei and Xiaomi , among others. Fitbit last month cut its 2019 revenue forecast, blaming disappointing sales of Versa Lite smartwatches, a cheaper version that lacked features such as the ability to store music. "While Versa Lite received good present consumer reviews, we saw that consumers were willing to pay more for a smartwatch with additional features," Chief Executive Officer James Park said on an earnings call with analysts earlier this month. The company separately launched Fitbit Premium, which will give its users personalized coaching including health reports, workouts and sleep features at a cost of $9.99 per month, beginning September. Versa 2 and Fitbit Premium are steps to upsell to its existing base of 27 million users by adding more features, according to Scott Searle from Roth Capital Partners. Searle added that Fitbit Premium provides sleep guidance and insights enabled by 10.5 billion nights of sleep data gathered from its previous models that give it an edge over Apple's watches. Fitbit provides five days of battery life on an average against Apple's watches that only have a day of battery life and loses sleep data as it is charged overnight, he added. The San Francisco-based wearables pioneer, which has seen its shares sink in the past two years, has been looking for new avenues to boost sales. Last week, it signed a contract with the Singapore government to provide fitness trackers and services in a health program it said could reach up to 1 million users. (Reporting by Neha Malara in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr, Anil D'Silva and Maju Samuel)

Watches

Smartwatches

(fitbit , apple watch , watch , smartwatch , watches , apple , fitness , heart rate , smartwatches , wearable)

2016

11.0

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Global Logistic Properties : * Global Logistic Properties Limited (News Release - Glp Announces Strategic Sale Of Greater Tokyo Asset) * sale price of jpy8.2 billion (us$72 million * sale of glp narita to a private equity fund * sale price equates to a 4.9% cap rate and represents a 12% premium to book value Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

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2019

8.0

Oddur Sigurðsson, a geologist in the Icelandic Meteorological Office, declared the largely vanished Okjökull glacier dead in 2014.  Five years later, on August 18, Sigurðsson and others will hike to the summit of the cone-shaped volcano where the glacier once thrived and leave a metal memorial in its place. Okjökull is recognized as the first Icelandic glacier lost to climate change. But for those of us who can't make the hike, satellite image comparisons taken by the U.S. Geological Survey's Landsat satellites show Okjökull's dramatic recession between 1986 and 2019. The glacier's disappearance, however, isn't unique. Glaciers are retreating all over Iceland (and, it should be noted, the world). "The condition of the glaciers is getting poorer and poorer," Sigurðsson said. He has now documented the disappearance of 56 of the 300 smaller glaciers in the northern part of Iceland. But Okjökull is by far the largest of these glaciers to vanish, he noted.  On August 18, 2019, scientists will be among those who gather for a memorial atop Ok volcano in west-central #Iceland. The deceased being remembered is Okjökull—a once-iconic #glacier that was declared dead in 2014. https://t.co/IbwDha54cB #NASA #Landsat pic.twitter.com/pSFD08UohO — NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) August 12, 2019 Okjökull in September 1986. Okjökull in August 2019. Glaciers are in retreat in almost every portion of the world on every continent except Australia, which has no glaciers. As temperatures warm, notably at lower elevations where it's naturally warmer, the rivers of ice predictably recede and thin.  "We’re not trying to figure out whether the glaciers will melt in the future," Alex Gardner, a NASA glaciologist, told Mashable in June. "We're just trying to find out how much and how fast." Eighteen of the 19 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. June 2019 was the warmest June in 139 years of record keeping. And this July was likely the warmest month ever recorded, according to European Commission data.   Icelandic geologists estimate that Okjökull occupied around 16 square kilometers (6 square miles) in 1890. By 1945 it dwindled to 7 square kilometers. "By 1973 it was 5 [km]," said Sigurðsson. "2000 was 3.4. 2012 was 0.7." (NASA refers to a 1901 geological map for different historical glacier estimates, but Sigurðsson noted that the map isn't reliable). Two years later, he declared Okjökull dead. The crater atop the volcano is still filled with snow this August, some of which has melted into a light blue pond. The glacier once existed north (or to the top) of the crater, which is visible as a solid white patch in 1986. Now, just fragments of ice and patches of snow remain scattered around the slope, said Sigurðsson. "It's hard to imagine Iceland without glaciers." Sigurðsson plans to hike up to the summit area on August 18, and expects that some 100 people will attend the glacier memorial.  There may be more eulogies to come.  If warming trends continue as they are — meaning carbon emissions continue unchecked — Iceland glaciers will likely decrease in number by 40 percent by the century's end, and "virtually disappear by 2200," according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  "It's hard to imagine Iceland without glaciers," said Sigurðsson. Still, he noted that at least many glaciers will be around, though retreating, throughout this century. But as Okjökull shows, they've already started dying.  Sigurðsson spends his days tracking active glaciers. But he's taking on a new job. "I am becoming a glacier historian," he said.

environment

ice

(ice , arctic , sea ice , glaciers , sea , glacier , antarctica , melting , antarctic , ice sheet)

2018

5.0

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of U.S. troops stationed in the South is unrelated to any future peace treaty with North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed. “U.S. troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties,” said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, citing President Moon Jae-in. The Blue House was responding to media questions about a column written by South Korean presidential adviser and academic Moon Chung-in that was published earlier this week. Moon Chung-in said it would be difficult to justify the presence of U.S. forces in South Korea if a peace treaty was signed after the two Koreas agreed at an historic summit last week to put an end to the Korean conflict. However, Seoul wants the troops to stay because U.S. forces in South Korea play the role of a mediator in military confrontations between neighboring superpowers like China and Japan, another presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity earlier on Wednesday. Presidential adviser Moon Chung-in was asked not to create confusion regarding the president’s stance, Kim said. The United States currently has around 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, which North Korea has long demanded be removed as one of the conditions for giving up its nuclear and missile programs. However, there was no mention in last week’s declaration by Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea. Kim and Moon Jae-in pledged to work for the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula. U.S. troops have been stationed in South Korea since the Korean War, which ended in 1953 in an armistice that left the two Koreas technically still at war. Moon Jae-in and Kim have said they want to put an end to the Korean conflict, promising there will be “no more war” on the Korean peninsula. Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Paul Tait

politics

North Korea

(korea , north korea , north , korean , kim , north korean , koreas , missile , nuclear , pyongyang)

2017

1.0

Based off the nonfiction book of the same name,  Hidden Figures tells the story of Katherine Johnson and her two friends and colleagues Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson working at a racially segregated West Area Computers division of NASA in the 1960s. Each woman contributed to NASA in a significant way; Johnson calculated the trajectories to help John Glenn orbit the Earth, Vaughan was the first African American woman to be Head of Personnel, and Jackson served as the Federal Women's Program Manager in the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs.It's easy to write off  Hidden Figures as a run of the mill, feel good award season bait, but the film tells a necessary and important story not many are familiar with already. While their accomplishments are significant (Katherine Johnson has a building at NASA named after her), none of these women are household names.  Hidden Figures goes deeper than merely telling a story of how three black women overcome endless obstacles to accomplish their dreams—it explores a deep and supportive friendship between women who find ways to lift each other up in the face of adversity.Allison Schroeder, who co-adapted the screenplay alongside director Theodore Melfi, tells Broadly what it meant to bring such an important story to the screen and how her own personal experiences as a woman in STEM brought the story to life.Read more on Broadly

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2016

4.0

Rep. Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithWarren's pledge to avoid first nuclear strike sparks intense pushback Landmark US-Russia arms control treaty poised for final blow Young Democrats look to replicate Ocasio-Cortez's primary path MORE (D-Wash.) offered and withdrew an amendment to an annual defense bill Wednesday that would have allowed the Pentagon to carry out another round of base closures. “The central cloud hanging over this committee is we don’t have the resources to do what we have to do,” said Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. “In a situation like that, you try to save resources wherever you can save them. [Base closures] would be one way of doing that.” Smith withdrew the amendment to the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act because of procedural issues, but said he wanted to offer it nonetheless to urge the committee to continue assessing the issue. Right now, the 2017 National Defense Authorization would explicitly prohibit a new round of what’s known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). The Pentagon recently submitted a report to Congress arguing for another BRAC, saying it will have 22 percent excess capacity by 2019. The last round of BRAC was in 2005. Lawmakers have repeatedly denied requests for another round because of the potential for negative economic effects on the communities around bases, making the prospect politically unpopular. “I know the committee by and large is not fond of the b-word, but if we’re looking at saving money in a responsible way, it’s better than the ad hoc way the military is doing it now.” Under Smith’s amendment, base closures would have been allowed if the Pentagon submitted a report to Congress, the Defense secretary certified they are necessary, an independent commission reviewed the recommendations and Congress didn't block them, among other steps. The process would have differed from the 2005 in areas such as providing Congress a chance to block the process after the Pentagon’s report and placing an emphasis on cost savings after five years instead of 20. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the chairman of the committee, said he believes the Pentagon hasn’t provided enough information to support another BRAC. “I don’t personally have the information I need to say, ‘Yes, we need another round of BRAC,’” he said. “I don’t know anybody that wants to repeat 2005. We have not yet broken even from the cost of the 2005 round of BRAC. We’ve got to do better than that if we’re going to have it. So I certainly have not ruled it out, but my personal opinion is we do not yet have the information we need to authorize it.” View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

defense

defense spending

(defense , budget , pentagon , armed services , ndaa , defense spending , defense budget , spending , oco , military)

2016

7.0

Linda Cox overcame discrimination, ridicule, and explosives to become the military’s first female bomb technician over 40 years ago. Just don’t call her a feminist role model. Read it at BuzzFeed News. On the eve of Angels in America 25th anniversary, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois present an exhaustive oral history of the play, tracing its history and legacy. “Angels is too American not to be timeless.” Read it at Slate. Patients get beaten. Their assailants walk free. New York’s special agency dedicated to preventing abuse has vast prosecutorial power – and hardly ever uses it, reports Ben Hattem. Read it at BuzzFeed News. Anna Clark recounts the twenty-year saga of Ardelia Ali: A sexual assault survivor whose hard-won pursuit of justice sheds light onto a startling trend. "There are no consistent federal requirements for law enforcement to track rape kits that haven't been tested." Read it at Elle. Michael Katze, famous for his studies of Ebola and the flu, ran a lab at the University of Washington where intoxication and sexual harassment went unchecked, and where he misused public resources for personal gain, according to two investigations obtained by Azeen Ghorayshi. Read it at BuzzFeed News. When investigative journalist Suki Kim returned from North Korea, she expected to sell a book of journalism. But what people wanted was memoir. "As an Asian female, I find that people rarely assume I’m an investigative journalist; even after I tell them, they often forget." Read it at The New Republic. Across the country, writes Esther Wang, LGBT communities are struggling with the aftermath and implications of the Orlando club shooting. In Jackson Heights, Queens, the queer Latino immigrant community is finding a way to organize. Read it at BuzzFeed News. Issac Bailey grew up idolizing his older brother in South Carolina. But after his brother was given a life sentence for killing a man, Bailey had to find a new way to understand him. "I was ashamed of myself for being ashamed of Moochie for so many years." Read it at The Marshall Project.

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2017

6.0

Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, a vice president at New America and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. He is the author of "United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists." (CNN)The attack early on Monday morning near a mosque in North London targeting Muslims who were celebrating the holy month of Ramadan reminds us that terrorism comes in many shapes and forms. Because of the 9/11 attacks, the framing of terrorism by politicians, the media and the public too often in the past decade and a half has been that it is Islamist political violence that is the terrorism we need to be concerned about. But a spate of recent attacks underline that this framing is too narrow in scope. The commonly accepted definition of terrorism is that it is politically motivated violence directed at civilians by entities other than a state. These kind of attacks can come from the far right, the far left, racists of every stripe, as well as jihadists. Monday's attack at the mosque in London, for instance, was clearly an act of anti-Muslim terrorism. A 48-year-old man was arrested after a van ploughed into worshippers near the mosque; one man was killed and 10 were hurt. British Prime Minister Theresa May called the attack "every bit as sickening" as the London Bridge and Manchester jihadist attacks. And London Mayor Sadiq Khan said anti-Muslim crimes have increased sharply since the London Bridge killings. Last week 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson III attacked congressional Republicans practicing baseball in Alexandria, Virginia, injuring five including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. Hodgkinson was shot by police officers and died shortly after his attack. Hodgkinson was a rabid critic of President Trump who posted on Facebook: "Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co." Before he carried out his attack, Hodgkinson had asked two Republican congressmen who were at the baseball practice, Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan, if the players were Republicans or Democrats. Duncan said they were Republicans. Hodgkinson's attack was clearly an act of leftist terrorism. Two months ago, on April 18, in Fresno, California, Kori Ali Muhammad stalked three white men with a revolver before shooting and killing them. On social media, Muhammad had called white people "devils" and posted about black separatism. Muhammad's father told the Los Angeles Times that his son believed that he was part of conflict between blacks and whites and "a battle was about to take place." Muhammad's attack clearly was a terrorist attack motivated by racism. The reason that attacks by American terrorists who are not jihadist militants are sometimes not called "terrorism" is, in part, because in the United States terrorism is a crime which has to be in some way be associated with a "designated" terrorist group such as ISIS. These groups are designated by the U.S. State Department and are invariably foreign terrorist organizations. Belonging to such a group is a crime in the United States, but because the First Amendment protects all kinds of hateful speech and ideas, neo-Nazi groups or other organizations based in the United States that espouse hateful views are not as a legal matter considered terrorist organizations, even if their adherents sometimes conduct acts that amount to terrorism. It is perhaps not surprising that in an age of polarization where anti-immigrant sentiment is strong in some Western countries and where political emotions run high (be it over "Brexit "in the United Kingdom or over President Trump in the United States) we are seeing acts of political violence emanating both from the far left and the far right. They come in addition to the attacks by jihadist militants -- which remain, of course, a very real concern.

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2020

2.0

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German authorities are ruling out that the man who plowed a car into a carnival parade on Monday, injuring some 60 people including children, was driven by a political or ideological motive, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Wednesday. A spokesman for prosecutors said they were still investigating all possibilities. Reporting by Hans Seidenstuecker; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michelle Martin

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2017

11.0

The Story of The Face, writer and curator Paul Gorman's homage to the iconic youth culture publication, couldn't come at a more interesting time. The magazine industry is at a turning point: British Vogue is entering an exciting new era with Edward Enninful at the helm, while other titles are closing down in the face of a growing digital content landscape. Meanwhile, the independent zine scene is thriving, as creatives seek an outlet for expression. Running from 1980 to 2004, The Face showcased world-class photography from industry giants such as Nick Knight, Corinne Day, and David Sims, era-defining graphic design from people like Neville Brody, and faces including Kate Moss, Boy George, and David Bowie. And whether or not you've ever actually picked up a copy, you'll likely recognize its aesthetic — you might have even Pinned a photograph from one of its editorials, or seen one of its feature headlines referenced online. Earlier this year, the magazine was acquired by Wasted Talent Ltd., which plans to relaunch the brand in 2018. Ahead of its return to the publishing zeitgeist, we spoke to Gorman about The Face's lasting legacy on popular culture, the boom in indie publishing, and what its revival might look like in the age of Instagram.

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2019

6.0

PARIS (Reuters) - Renault sees the strengthening of its Nissan alliance as a priority after a project to merge with Fiat Chrysler failed last week, the French car maker’s chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Wednesday. “The priority now is to make the alliance successful, efficient and strong,” Senard said during the company’s shareholder meeting in Paris on Wednesday. “There won’t be any success for Renault if there is no success for the alliance.” Senard said a strengthening of the alliance would require efforts from both sides. Even though trust between the two partners had deteriorated, nothing was beyond repair, he said. The alliance between Renault and Nissan had already been shaken by the ousting of chairman Carlos Ghosn, who is facing financial misconduct charges. Ghosn denies any wrongdoing. Senard, who succeeded Ghosn as chairman, has been working to repair relations with Nissan. But Nissan refused to study Senard’s proposed full merger with Renault and Renault has blocked governance changes at Nissan and demanded more seats on Nissan’s committees. French President Emmanuel Macron has turned down a request to meet Senard, who is furious over the government’s interference at the carmaker, sources told Reuters, raising questions over Senard’s future. Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, Editing by Inti Landauro/Richard Lough/Jane Merriman

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2018

4.0

April 18 (Reuters) - Wynn Resorts Ltd: * WYNN RESORTS LTD - HAS EXPANDED ITS BOARD TO 11 MEMBERS * WYNN RESORTS LTD - APPOINTMENT OF BETSY ATKINS, DEE DEE MYERS AND WENDY WEBB AS INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY * WYNN RESORTS LTD - WYNN RESORTS BOARD NOW COMPRISES 36% WOMEN * WYNN RESORTS LTD - CO IS SETTLING 6 YEARS OF LITIGATION WITH UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT FOR $2.4 BILLION, AN EFFECTIVE REDEMPTION PRICE OF $78 PER SHARE * WYNN RESORTS LTD - LAUNCH OF NEW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, SUCH AS PAID PARENTAL LEAVE Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

gambling

Wynn Resorts

(wynn , wynn resorts , resorts , steve wynn , wynns , mr wynn , casino , allegations , sexual misconduct , misconduct)

2017

7.0

On Friday, Senate Republicans' plan to overhaul the US healthcare system came to a dramatic end as leaders failed to garner enough votes to move forward legislation. President Donald Trump was quick to comment, tweeting on Friday that Republicans should "let ObamaCare implode, then deal." There are a few ways the Trump administration can make such an implosion more likely. One of those ways involves payments for which the administration is responsible that help offset costs for insurers as well as members of Congress and their staff. Trump referred to these payments as "bailouts" as he continued tweeting about healthcare on Saturday. "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!" Trump tweeted. Trump reiterated his concerns Monday, tweeting, "If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn't it hurt the insurance companies & why should Congress not be paying what public pays?" The uncertainty around whether the Trump administration will continue these payments — known as cost-sharing-reduction payments — has left insurers jittery and contemplating leaving the individual insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Trump has put CSR payments on the table in an attempt to persuade Democrats to negotiate with him on replacing the ACA. But cutting off the payments could mean higher premiums and a dearth of choices for insurance, experts say. "Ending the cost-sharing payments would be a clear signal from the Trump administration that they are not aiming to run the ACA marketplace effectively, so insurers would likely just throw up their hands and leave the market," Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-policy think tank, told Business Insider in April. "The uncertainty and ambiguity is already giving insurers pause about staying in the market for 2018." What are cost-sharing-reduction payments? Cost-sharing-reduction payments are made to insurers to offset some of their costs for providing discount insurance plans to Americans who earn up to 200% of the federal poverty limit. Under Obamacare, plans on the individual exchanges must cover a minimum set of healthcare procedures and contain some pricing limitations. That helps ensure that out-of-pocket costs aren't astronomically high for poorer people — and that the plans have a minimum standard of what they cover. The requirements, however, mean insurers typically lose money on these plans. To help offset this, the ACA provides about $7 billion to insurers to incentivize them to continue to offer the plans to lower-income people. House Republicans sued the Obama administration over the plans, arguing that the funding was illegal because it had not been appropriated by Congress. A judge ruled in favor of the House in 2016, but an appeal filed by the Obama administration allowed the CSR payments to continue as the case moved its way through the courts. Trump, however, has the option to drop the appeal in the case — now called House v. Price, referring to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. That move would end the CSR payments immediately. In May, the two sides asked for a 90-day delay on the appeal. Senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said over the weekend that Trump would make a decision this week on the payments this week. Why Trump's actions could affect Congress' healthcare coverage Under the ACA, members of Congress — as well as their staff — get health insurance through the exchanges. Right now, the government covers about three-quarters of those premiums, while the lawmakers and their staff members pick up the rest of the tab. Trump's tweet suggest that the government could stop paying to subsidize those premiums, leaving the employees — about 11,000 people are enrolled— with much higher expenses. "What he's saying is, look, if Obamacare is hurting people, and it is, then why shouldn't it hurt insurance companies and, more importantly perhaps for this discussion, members of Congress?" Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. What would happen if CSRs go away? If the CSR payments were to disappear, it would cause chaos in the healthcare marketplace, Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation said. "If cost-sharing subsidy payments are pulled, insurers would still have to provide lower deductible plans to low-income consumers, but they wouldn't get paid the $7 billion a year it costs to do that," Levitt told Business Insider in an email. "In theory, insurers could raise premiums to make up the losses, but there would be uncertainty associated with that." According to an April study from Kaiser, to make up for the loss of CSR payments, insurers would have to raise premiums by an average of 19% more than the current projected increase for 2018. That would vary widely by state — from 9% over the current baseline in North Dakota to 27% above current projections in Mississippi. A deadline for 2018 coverage Insurance companies have until late September to raise rates and finalize their coverage areas for 2018. If there is not more clarity on what the administration will do, a large number of insurers will most likely abandon the market, and the 12.2 million Americans in the exchanges will be left with little choice for coverage in 2018. On Wednesday, Anthem, the second-largest insurer in the US, said it might leave more markets in 2018. At the same time, there's also a chance that insurers might enter markets lacking marketplace coverage. Having clarity around whether CSRs will be paid out could help in those decisions. "The ACA depends on the participation of private insurers," Levitt said. "If there are no insurers, there are no premium tax credits and no way for lower income people to get coverage." "Most marketplace enrollees," he added, "would just end up uninsured."

healthcare

Affordable Care Act

(obamacare , repeal , insurance , premiums , insurers , health care , care act , affordable care , health , health insurance)

2019

1.0

* Russian rouble dips, stocks flat as oil falls * Turkish lira eases after Wednesday gain By Aaron Saldanha Jan 17 (Reuters) - Emerging market stocks slid off a more than six-week peak on Thursday amid cautious risk sentiment among investors, while developing world currencies weakened against a resolute dollar, losing all ground gained over the past two days. Emerging market equities from China and Hong Kong to South Africa dipped, while South Africa’s rand softened ahead of a central bank meeting where borrowing costs are unlikely to be tweaked. MSCI’s indexes of developing world stocks and emerging market currencies each dipped 0.1 percent. Weakness prevailed in China as local stocks dipped and seasonal support from corporate demand for the Chinese yuan faded. “Cautious market participants are still weighing in on emerging markets,” said Bianca Botes, corporate treasury manager at Peregrine, adding that continued strong U.S. jobs data could boost the dollar. The rand was 0.2 percent softer, on pace to slip for the first time in six sessions. The South African Reserve Bank was expected to leave its key rate unchanged on Thursday, according to all 27 economists polled by Reuters, after having raised it to 6.75 percent in November. South African stocks dropped 1 percent. Retailer Mr Price Group Ltd led the losses, shedding 13.4 percent after posting slower sales growth for the third quarter. Russia’s rouble eased, backing away from an over one-month high hit on Thursday. A 0.6 percent fall in prices of oil, a key Russian export, tempered gains among local equities. Moscow-listed shares of aluminium giant Rusal rose 3.5 percent after the U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected legislation to keep sanctions on firms linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Turkey’s lira eased half a percent, giving back a chunk of Wednesday’s 2.1 percent gain, which came after the Turkish central bank (CBT) kept borrowing costs intact and issued an outlook deemed to be hawkish. “We had expected CBT’s language to move in a dovish direction - indeed, there were forecasters predicting a rate cut already yesterday based on similar expectations - but this did not happen,” Commerzbank analysts said in a note. The lira’s strength on Wednesday, its best day in close to two weeks, was attributed to expectations of a more hawkish CBT stance, the analysts said. For TOP NEWS across emerging markets For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo in Johannesburg Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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2018

3.0

Facebook pledged to put in place concrete actions to address potential past abuse of its platform, and stronger protections going forward. Why it matters: Facebook is in the midst of one of its worst weeks after as it struggles to contain the fallout from improper use of data by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that worked for the Trump campaign in the 2016 election. The social media company is trying to shore up user trust and show its stakeholders that it knows it needs to do better. What it's doing: In a post Wednesday, Facebook said it was going to "set a higher standard for how developers build on Facebook, what people should expect from them, and, most importantly, from us." It pledges to: Conduct a full audit of any app with suspicious activity, and remove developers that misused personally identifiable information. Also investigate apps that had access to large amounts of data before Facebook tightened guidelines in 2014. Inform people if their data might have been accessed inappropriately through an app. Turn off an app's access to your data if it hasn't been used within the last three months. A new version of Login will reduce the data that an app can request to a user's name, profile photo and email address. More data will require Facebook's approval. Make it easier for users to see what apps connect to their accounts and what data they've allowed those apps to use. Expand its "bug bounty" program to reward people for finding misuses of data by app developers. More coming: Facebook says some of these steps were already in the works before this week's fire drill, and it will roll out more efforts "to put people more in control of their data."

social media

facebook

(facebook , zuckerberg , facebooks , analytica , cambridge analytica , cambridge , ads , users , mark zuckerberg , privacy)

2018

9.0

(adds quotes, background) By Marc Jones LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Chile’s central bank is wary about the possibility that China’s trade war with the United States and the risk of a sustained fall in copper prices could make raising interest rates in the coming months an uncertain task. The world’s largest copper exporter currently has interest rates at 2.5 percent, and with economic growth and inflation forecast to climb following a 13 percent currency slump this year it is signalling it will soon be ready to start nudging them up. “We don’t want to get behind the curve in relation to inflation,” Central bank governor Mario Marcel told Reuters in an interview, saying that the baseline scenario was that the move would begin in the next few months. “The sooner we start (raising rates) the more gradual it can be,” he said. However, with its biggest export partners China and the United States locked in a trade feud and cooper prices down now around 20 percent this year there is a need to tread carefully. “Contractionary shocks coming from an economic deterioration of the country’s trade partners’ or a lasting copper price fall would impose downward pressure on inflation,” Marcel said. “It would widen the output gap, and it may generate an expansionary response of monetary policy or an extension of the current stance of monetary policy.” Meanwhile the sharp slide in the peso, against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year is serving as a buffer for the economy, the governor said. Highly dependent on copper exports and having a wide open economy, Chile is well used to wild currency swings. The peso slumped 50 percent between 2014 and 2016 when commodity prices plunged. “We have been managing a flexible FX rate for 18 years now, and we have been avoiding intervening,” he said. “The exchange rate is our shock absorber.” (Additional writing by Karin Strohecker, Editing by William Maclean)

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2019

2.0

The blue-slip rule — a precedent upheld by Senate tradition — has historically allowed a home-state senator to stop a lower-court nominee by refusing to return the blue slip to the Judiciary Committee. How strictly the precedent is upheld is decided by the committee chairman, and enforcement has varied depending on who wields the gavel. But it's emerged as a flashpoint during the Trump administration as several Democratic senators have refused to return their paperwork on circuit court nominees from their home states, setting up a round of fights between Democrats and the White House. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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2019

4.0

When Brunei put harsh new laws in place this week that made adultery and gay sex punishable by stoning, it focused international attention on the country’s sovereign, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 72, whose vast wealth and family spending have landed his name in the tabloids for decades. The sultan, as the main enforcer of religion in the Southeast Asian country, has in recent decades advocated a hard-line vision of Islam that is at odds with the royal family’s opulent lifestyle. Here is a look at his powers, his background and the international condemnation of Brunei’s new laws. In Brunei, a tiny sultanate on the island of Borneo, Sultan Hassanal has many more roles than monarch. He is, according to his official biography, also prime minister, defense minister, finance minister and foreign minister. He became crown prince at 15, in 1961, and was crowned Brunei’s 29th sultan in 1968, the year after his father abdicated. Sultan Hassanal ascended to the throne while Brunei was still a British protectorate, and he studied at a military academy in Britain before becoming sultan. (He also studied in Malaysia.) By the time Sultan Hassanal took over from his father, Brunei was already fantastically wealthy thanks to its oil resources. When it gained independence in 1984, the country had one of the highest per-capita incomes of any nation, about $48,650 a year in today’s dollars. Powered by the oil company Brunei Shell Petroleum — Brunei was nicknamed the “Shellfare state” for its entitlement programs — the country of about 430,000 people remained relatively secluded compared with its neighbors. “Brunei has been religiously very conservative and highly restrictive for a long time,” said Amy Freedman, a research scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. “In the 1990s, when it felt like Malaysia and Indonesia were seeing more relaxed attitudes about social conventions, Brunei was already exercising very tight state control over religious interpretation and practice.” For decades, Sultan Hassanal was regarded as one of the world’s richest men, and he spent accordingly. He amassed the world’s largest collection of rare cars, including a gold-coated Rolls-Royce; built an extensive polo complex, with around 100 ponies and a stud farm; and constructed a 1,788-room palace, Istana Nurul Iman, the largest private home in the world. For his 50th birthday, he hired Michael Jackson to perform. VIETNAM THAILAND South China Sea CAMBODIA BRUNEI MALAYSIA SINGAPORE BORNEO Indian Ocean INDONESIA 400 miles By The New York Times Some of Sultan Hassanal’s relatives have shown a similar propensity to spend. Prince Abdul Mateen, one of the sultan’s 12 children, regularly posts images of himself on Instagram in gilded halls, playing polo and appearing with a tiger cub and other tokens of wealth. Prince Azim, another son, was reported in 2007 to have flown jewelry to Mariah Carey on a private jet. Prince Jefri Bolkiah, the sultan’s younger brother, built an amusement park that was free to visitors, purchased hotels around the world and gained a reputation in Western tabloids for mansions and mistresses. He spent so freely in the 1990s — during a financial crisis in Asia — that in 2000 the sultan sued him, accusing him of misspending billions on 2,000 cars, 17 airplanes, several yachts and a variety of investments. (It was only the start of a long-running feud between the brothers.) The Brunei Investment Agency, an arm of the government, owns nine of the world’s most exclusive hotels, including the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, the Dorchester in London and the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris. Homosexuality was already illegal in Brunei when the country first announced the new penalties for gay sex, adultery and theft — which include amputation as well as stoning — six years ago. International outrage at the time, though, prompted the nation to delay them. Similar condemnation followed the recent announcement that Brunei would go ahead with the laws, which took effect on Wednesday. Celebrities and Los Angeles officials called for boycotts of the hotels, and students at King’s College London and Oxford have asked their universities to strip the sultan of honorary degrees. The United States, Britain and other countries also denounced the penalties. On Friday, most of the nine hotels in the The Dorchester Collection, which is owned by Brunei’s sovereign wealth fund, curtailed their presence on Twitter and Instagram by removing accounts or making them private because of what it said was “personal abuse directed at our employees.” Public pressure is unlikely to convince the sultan to change his mind now, said Francisco Bencosme, the Asia-Pacific advocacy manager for Amnesty International. “The more international outcry there is, it makes the sultan look more like he’s the defender of conservative Islam,” he said. Still, by targeting Brunei-linked hotels and businesses, activists could put financial pressure on the sultan, Mr. Bencosme said. “It’s not only a moral thing or a commitment to international law,” he said, “but it’s also going to impact the businesses of many of these particularly middle- and upper-class people of Brunei.”

religion

Islam

(brunei , sultan , stoning , bruneis , adultery , dorchester , hassanal , bolkiah , hotels owned , sharia)

2016

2.0

A federal appeals court just cast doubt on the legality of Maryland’s 2013 assault weapons ban, one of the strictest such laws in the nation. The ban, passed after the mass shooting that killed 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut, outlawed the purchase of semiautomatic weapons that can fire more than 10 rounds at a time. (Under the ban, owning the gun used by the Newtown shooter, an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle that can fire up to 30 rounds at a time, would have been illegal.) The Fourth Circuit Court didn’t exactly strike down the ban. Instead, in a 2-1 decision released on Thursday, it sent the legal challenge to Maryland's gun law back to a lower court so it could be analyzed using a more stringent constitutional standard known as "strict scrutiny." Maryland's law was challenged by a group of gun store owners and individuals who said the weapons are less dangerous than those used in the military and are used for lawful purposes, including hunting and self-defense, according to the Washington Post. While that question is being reconsidered, the ban will stay in place. But this is the first time a court has demanded that "strict scrutiny" be applied to an assault weapons ban – and it may imperil the constitutionality of similar bans across the country. Strict scrutiny is a legal doctrine that demands, whenever a law is passed that abridges a constitutional right, it meet a "compelling governmental interest." Normally when a law is passed, courts only require that the legislative body approving the law have good reason to think it will have a positive effect. But when a law strays into the territory of one of our legally defined "fundamental rights," people defending that law need to show that it is both very necessary and as limited an encroachment as it could possibly be. So in strict scrutiny cases, a court assumes that a law encroaching on a "fundamental right" is unconstitutional unless proven otherwise, rather than vice versa in cases with looser levels of scrutiny. Until now, gun laws were assessed using these less stringent approaches. "Fundamental rights" are a broad and ever-changing category, but the rights to privacy, free speech, and freedom of religion are a few of the categories protected. In this case, the Fourth Circuit Court has defined the "right to own a gun" as yet another fundamental right, the first time any federal court has made that determination. We don’t yet know whether the district court in Maryland will actually invalidate the state’s assault weapons ban now that it’s required to apply strict scrutiny. But either way, yesterday’s decision opens the door to other courts (especially in more conservative jurisdictions) to apply strict scrutiny to tough gun laws and use it to invalidate them. Right now, aside from Maryland, six other states and Washington, DC, have similarly strict laws in place. Those states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. Other federal appeals courts across the country have upheld similar bans before, in conflict with this decision. In 2011, the DC Court of Appeals upheld DC's weapons ban, and last year, the Seventh Court of Appeals upheld a similar ban in Illinois. The Supreme Court declined to hear that case in December. "To put it mildly, it troubles me that, by imprudently and unnecessarily breaking from our sister courts of appeals … we are impeding Maryland’s and others’ reasonable efforts to prevent the next Newtown," wrote Judge Robert B. King in a caustic dissent. Because the appeals courts were in agreement on this issue before the Fourth Circuit Court decision, the Supreme Court has so far declined to hear challenges to the constitutionality of such an assault weapons ban. But since this decision creates a disparity in the way that appeals courts have decided the issue, the split will now likely require the Supreme Court to step in.

guns

gun control

(gun , guns , nra , gun control , gun violence , parkland , firearms , shooting , background checks , shootings)

2019

10.0

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he was still a “generous-hearted” person, responding to a question about whether the pressure of Brexit and the country’s top job had changed his personality. “All those who wish to see, as it were, a return of the old, generous-hearted, loving, caring Mayor of London, that person has not gone away,” he told the BBC. “But we are in a position where the only way ... we can unite our country again is to get Brexit done.” Johnson has been criticized, including by his own sister, for the language he has used while debating Brexit in parliament and elsewhere. Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan, writing by William James, editing by Estelle Shirbon

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2019

6.0

KARUIZAWA, Japan, June 15 (Reuters) - Energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies have shared concerns over attacks on tankers in the Gulf and will collaborate to maintain stability in the oil market, Japan’s Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said on Saturday. Two tankers, one operated by a Japanese shipping company, were attacked on Thursday. The United States blamed Iran for the attacks, raising concerns about a confrontation and driving up oil prices. “The most important thing was that we have shared an understanding among energy ministers that we need to work together to deal with the recent incidents from energy security point of view,” Seko told reporters at a meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers being held this weekend in Karuizawa. “Same thing happened at our bilateral meetings,” he said, referring to talks with officials from several countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told Seko in their bilateral meeting that it took recent events, including a May 12 attack on four tankers off the United Arab Emirates, “very seriously.” The recent attacks were more harmful than physical damage to the ships as they affected global confidence in energy supply security, he said. “The Kingdom is committed to ensuring stability of global oil markets,” he added. Dan Brouillette, U.S. deputy secretary of energy, also condemned the attacks. “We stand firmly with Japanese and everyone else,” he told a news conference on the sideline of the G20 ministerial meeting. A G20 summit is to be held in Osaka on June 28-29. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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2016

2.0

CHENNAI, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The government plans a five-fold increase in compensation given to rescued bonded labourers, but campaigners said more must be done to ensure vulnerable people receive the money soon after being rescued, so they can start new lives. The revised guidelines, awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, would increase compensation to a minimum of 100,000 rupees from 20,000 rupees, a senior ministry official said. The first revision of the scheme since 1999 also creates special categories to compensate young children, including orphans, disabled people and girls rescued from begging rings and brothels. A category for transgenders, who often end up begging on the streets, has also been created and they will be provided with the maximum compensation of 300,000 rupees. Almost 36 million people are enslaved worldwide, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labour, stuck in debt bondage or born into servitude, according to the 2014 Global Slavery Index. Nearly half - 16 million - are in India. Many are lured from poor, rural areas with the promise of good jobs or marriage, but then sold into domestic work, prostitution, brick kilns or textile industries. Most are unpaid or held in debt bondage. More than a quarter of a million bonded labourers have been compensated since the scheme was put in place in 1978, according to government figures. Until now, each identified bonded labourer is given 2,000 rupees immediately after being rescued and sent back to their home with the promise of an additional 20,000 rupees. “It’s too little and often comes too late,” said S. Vasanthi, member of the Thiruvallur district Released Bonded Labour Association in Tamil Nadu. “Some of us have waited for nearly two years for this amount, which doesn’t really help us. How can anyone start afresh with just 20,000 rupees?” Between 1978 and 2015, the union and state governments in India have collectively spent nearly two billion rupees on rehabilitation assistance for those rescued from bonded labour. But with only 18 of 29 Indian states following the scheme, a substantial proportion of funds are unspent. The ministry official, who declined to be identified by name, said the central government would take over the scheme to ensure payments were made swiftly. Part of the funds would be put in an annuity scheme for rescued workers to provide a monthly income. State governments would continue to provide shelter and livelihood options, he said. T. Kuralmuthan of the non-profit organisation International Justice Mission said the slow moving wheels of Indian justice were also hampering efforts to help victims. “The release of compensation is linked to the registering of an official complaint and the following police investigations,” he said. “In Tamil Nadu for instance, our case studies show that it takes an average two years for a case of bonded labour to reach the courts.” In most cases, full compensation is only released only after this process is completed. Reporting by Anuradha Nagaraj, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking and climate change. Visit www.trust.org

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2017

7.0

July 7 (Reuters) - Bonjour Holdings Ltd * ‍group is expected to record a substantial loss for six months ended 30 june 2017​ * Expected result due to realized loss on disposal of available-for-sale financial assets of approximately hk$10 million Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

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(hy , attributable , million versus , profit attributable , fy , versus , attributable owners , hy revenue , eikon company , million source)

2017

12.0

Dec 27 (Reuters) - BN Rathi Securities Ltd: * APPROVED PROPOSAL TO COMBINE UNIT B.N. RATHI COMTRADE WITH CO Source text - bit.ly/2BGURVd Further company coverage:

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2018

8.0

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a $140 billion budget to ensure our $1 trillion dollar food and agricultural sector feeds our citizens and people around the world. To help inform its policies and decision making, the department has the Economic Research Service, an $86 million dollar agency producing data and analyses relating to farming and the food supply, natural resources, rural economies, farm income and nutrition. Fitting for the central importance of food and agriculture in the United States, the Economic Research Service is ranked No. 3 in research quality among more than 2,500 academic and government agricultural economics institutions worldwide. Agriculture Secretary Sonny PerdueGeorge (Sonny) Ervin PerdueUSDA eases relocation timeline as researchers flee agency The Hill's Morning Report - How will Trump be received in Dayton and El Paso? USDA office move may have broken law, watchdog says MORE announced earlier this month that he wants to relocate the Economic Research Service outside of the Washington area to save federal funds. Many of the 330 staff are not likely to make the move, and the loss of their expertise will jeopardize the quality, relevance, and timeliness of the agency’s products. Some budget savings are sure to be made through resignations and early retirements, but the move will come at a much greater cost to the public by weakening the evidence base for food and agricultural policy in the United States. One might reasonably ask whether, by the secretary’s logic, we should also move the Congressional Research Service—and any number of other evidence and information providing entities--to a location with a lower cost of living? The Economic Research Service should stay in the Washington area with its primary customers. It is not a “farmer-facing” agency, but rather supports congressional and administration policy officials as well as the program agencies of USDA that deliver key farm, environmental and food services. Plus, its analysts collaborate with counterparts in the department’s other research agencies. These same analysts meet regularly with visiting representatives of interest groups and firms that rely on the agency’s data and analysis in their own decision making. In addition, the Economic Research Service is one of twelve principal federal statistical agencies (including the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, among others, all in the Washington area), and it relies on direct interaction with the professionals in this community to develop best practices and adopt efficiency measures. The agency’s presence in the Washington metropolitan area also enhances its ability to recruit and retain the top-flight economists so critical to its work. The secretary also proposes to move the Economic Research Service from the research part of the Department that informs policy to the chief economist’s office, which must support the secretary’s policies. Such a move jeopardizes the independence, credibility and objectivity that has defined the work of the Economic Research Service. As a principal federal statistical agency, its charge is to produce independent, relevant and timely reports that are respected by all sides of a discussion. The Economic Research Service should stay in the research arm of the Department of Agriculture. There, the agency would be under the direction of a policy official entrusted with sustaining applied research and ensuring balance between serving to support the secretary’s policies and more broadly informing policies for customers in the public and private sector. USDA is moving with uncharacteristic speed to implement this plan. An Aug. 15 Federal Register notice has a Sept. 14 deadline for receiving expressions of interest in hosting the ERS and its sister research agency, the National Institute for Food and Agriculture. Moreover, there has been no consultation with those who use and rely on data and analysis from the Economic Research Service despite the secretary’s stated intention to improve customer service. It is perhaps ironic that the notice regarding potential sites for relocation was immediately adjacent to that soliciting nominees for USDA’s research advisory board, which has not met in 18 months. On the assumption that awarding a state the relocated agencies before the November elections is not a consideration, time can be usefully spent in careful examination of this surprising and hastily-assembled plan. Congress should require USDA to provide a full and public justification for the realignment and relocation and hear testimony from the beneficiaries of the work of the Economic Research Service as well as from the agency’s collaborators in universities and research institutes. Good government and evidence-based policy demand no less. Susan Offutt was administrator of the Economic Research Service under Presidents Bill ClintonWilliam (Bill) Jefferson Clinton3 real problems Republicans need to address to win in 2020 Buckingham Palace: Any suggestion Prince Andrew was involved in Epstein scandal 'abhorrent' The magic of majority rule in elections MORE and George W. Bush. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

agriculture

farmers

(perdue , usda , ers , agriculture , perdues , relocation , farmers , sonny , agriculture secretary , farm)

2018

5.0

Travelers Companies Inc: * TRAVELERS NAMES ABBE GOLDSTEIN HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

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2019

10.0

Former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenPompeo says Trump-Zelensky call was 'consistent' with administration policy Alyssa Milano to co-host Biden fundraiser next month House panel advances resolution outlining impeachment inquiry MORE has an 11-point lead over the next closest contender in South Carolina, but recent gains by Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenOvernight Health Care: House Dems clash over Pelosi drug pricing bill | Senate blocks effort to roll back Trump ObamaCare moves | Number of uninsured children rises Sanders aide says heart attack 'personalized' health issues for voters Krystal Ball: Bernie seems 'to have a little extra mojo post heart attack' MORE (D-Mass.) and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegAlyssa Milano to co-host Biden fundraiser next month Buttigieg campaign draws comparisons to Obama ahead of key Iowa event Biden's lead atop Democratic field slips: poll MORE (D) have cut into his advantage, according to a new poll. The latest Post and Courier survey finds Biden on top of the crowded Democratic field in the Palmetto State at 30 percent support, followed by Warren at 19 percent, Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersSanders campaign hits back at Biden: 'He is once again peddling dishonest insurance company talking points' Overnight Health Care: House Dems clash over Pelosi drug pricing bill | Senate blocks effort to roll back Trump ObamaCare moves | Number of uninsured children rises Sanders aide says heart attack 'personalized' health issues for voters MORE (I-Vt.) at 13 percent, Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisBiden's lead atop Democratic field slips: poll GOP senator: Pelosi impeachment timeline intended to help Joe Biden Harris to cut some staff, redeploy others to Iowa in campaign shake-up MORE (D-Calif.) at 11 percent and Buttigieg at 9 percent. Biden is down 6 points over the same poll from August, while Warren has moved up 2 points and Buttigieg has gained 4 points since August. In May, Biden led the next closest contender by 31 points. That advantage dipped to 20 points in June, 19 points in August and now 11 in October. Biden is running near the top in the three other early voting states as well, but South Carolina is viewed by many as his firewall, as he continues to lead the field among black voters, who make up about two-thirds of the Democratic primary electorate in the state. But the Post and Courier survey found that Biden’s decline in South Carolina has largely been driven by African American women. Biden has lost 13 points month-over-month among that important voting bloc, and he has lost 10 points among women overall. The Post and Courier-Change Research survey of 731 likely Democratic primary voters in South Carolina was conducted between Oct. 15 and Oct. 21 and has a 3.6 percentage point margin of error. View the discussion thread. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2019 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

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2017

3.0

HEIDELBERG (Reuters) - HeidelbergCement is not throwing its hat in the ring for a contract to build U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned border wall, the German cement maker’s chief executive said on Thursday. “We are in principle a materials supplier and not a construction company, that is why we do not take part in such tenders,” Bernd Scheifele told journalists at a news conference after HeidelbergCement published 2016 financial results. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has said it would accept proposals this month for the design of a wall to be built near the U.S.-Mexican frontier, a first step in picking vendors for the wall. Trump wants Congress to shell out $1.5 billion for the border wall with Mexico in the current fiscal year and a further $2.6 billion in fiscal 2018. Reporting by Sabine Wollrab; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde

politics

the wall

(wall , border , border wall , construction , build wall , mexico , fencing , barrier , southern border , usmexico)

2016

9.0

By Alexander Hübner, Jan Schwartz and Andreas Cremer FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) trucks division is close to announcing a partnership with U.S.-based rival Navistar International Corp (NAV.N), three sources told Reuters, in the latest example of a deal driven by emissions regulations. Volkswagen has agreed to supply engines to Navistar in exchange for a 19.9 percent stake in the truckmaker, one of the sources, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Volkswagen will pay around $16 per Navistar share or about 200 million euros ($223 million) in total, the source said. The deal will be announced as soon as Tuesday, the sources said. Volkswagen and Navistar declined to comment. The financial burden of developing next generation engines to meet new emissions standards is forcing several vehicle makers to pursue partnerships and technology deals. In May, Nissan (7201.T) took a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T), while in 2013, Aston Martin agreed to sell a 5 percent stake to Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler (DAIGn.DE) in exchange for delivering next generation engines and electronics that meet the latest emissions rules. Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles division is trying to build itself into a global truck manufacturer having absorbed Germany’s MAN (MANG.DE) and Sweden’s Scania [SCVSA.UL], while Navistar is looking for a technology partner to build engines that can meet ever more stringent emissions rules. For Volkswagen, Navistar is seen as an attractive target because it has a large North American dealer network, something the German company lacks. Navistar, which has a market value of around $1.15 billion, has been on the lookout for an engine partner since 2010 when it failed to get approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its heavy-duty diesel truck engine. The two companies have been in talks about a potential tie-up for years, but Volkswagen has been distracted for much of the past 12 months by a diesel emissions test cheating scandal that has seen several top management departures. Additional reporting by Edward Taylor, Irene Preisinger and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Alexander Smith and Mark Potter

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2019

12.0

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The original Olympic manifesto outlining the foundation of the modern Games shattered the world record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia sold at auction, fetching $8.8 million on Wednesday. Experts had expected the item to sell for up to $1 million, but the artifact climbed in price after a more than 12 minute-long bidding war between three international buyers, according to auctioneer Sotheby’s. The Olympic manifesto, penned by International Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin in 1892, advocated the resurrection of the ancient Greek Games and was the precursor to the competition’s debut four years later in Athens. “Today’s record result stands as a testament to Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of more than a century ago, and the reverence with which the Olympic games are still held,” Sotheby’s senior specialist Selby Kiffer said in a statement. “This marks my highest price on the rostrum in more than three decades at Sotheby’s.” A New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth was previously the most expensive item of sports memorabilia, selling for $5.64 million in June. Items of historical significance are popular among sports collectors, with James Naismith’s Founding Rules of Basketball selling for more than $4 million in 2010. Reporting by Amy Tennery, editing by Ed Osmond

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2019

6.0

WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The Trump administration has moved ahead with a surveillance drone sale to four U.S. allies in the South China Sea region as acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Washington will no longer "tiptoe" around Chinese behavior in Asia. The drones would afford greater intelligence gathering capabilities potentially curbing Chinese activity in the region. Shanahan did not directly name China when making accusations of "actors" destabilizing the region in a speech at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday but went on to say the United States would not ignore Chinese behavior. The Pentagon announced on Friday it would sell 34 ScanEagle drones, made by Boeing Co. to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam for a total of $47 million. China claims almost all of the strategic South China Sea and frequently lambastes the United States and its allies over naval operations near Chinese-occupied islands. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims. The Pentagon said Friday's sales included spare and repair parts, support equipment, tools, training and technical services and work on the equipment was expected to be completed by March 2022. As many as 12 unarmed drones and equipment would go to Malaysia for about $19 million. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country would buy eight drones, the Philippines eight, and Vietnam six. In 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration rolled out a long-awaited overhaul of U.S. arms export policy aimed at expanding sales to allies, saying it would bolster the American defense industry and create jobs at home. That initiative eased rules for exporting some types of lethal as well as non-lethal U.S.-made drones to potentially dozens more allies and partners. There is no armed version of the ScanEagle, but Insitu, the division of Boeing that makes the drone, also makes the RQ-21A Blackjack which is an optionally armed drone used by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; editing by Grant McCool)

geopolitics

South China Sea

(china sea , south china , sea , islands , china , freedom navigation , spratly , south , chinas , disputed)

2017

12.0

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - State-controlled oil company Petrobras’ fuel distribution unit priced its shares at the bottom of the pre-established range for its IPO but still raised 5.02 billion reais ($1.5 billion) in one of Brazil’s biggest stock flotations of the year. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, priced shares in the subsidiary at 15 reais, at the bottom of the suggested price range, with concern about presidential elections next year and struggle to approve much-needed macroeconomic reforms weighing on investors orders, according to people close to the deal. Petrobras opted for a lower price, but increased the size of the offer, with investors exercising the 15 percent “greenshoe” option for an over-allotment of shares. Petrobras Distribuidora SA’s IPO was the largest since the 5.12 billion reais listing of the local unit of retailer Carrefour SA (CARR.PA) in July. Carrefour´s listing was the biggest in four years. According to one person with knowledge of the matter, Petrobras Distribuidora was valued at around seven times its expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operational profitability known as EBITDA. Private sector rivals such as Ultrapar Participações SA trade at multiples above 10. The long-awaited transaction has been discussed between the oil company and the banks for at least two years. Asset sales and spinoffs are being used by Petrobras to trim the largest debt burden of any major oil company, at about $95 billion. Renewed demand for emerging market assets, and a nascent economic recovery have fostered demand for Brazilian assets following the deepest recession in a century. Brazil is going through one of the busiest weeks for capital markets this year, with four transactions. Companies are rushing to complete the deals and avoid expected market volatility ahead of a wide-open presidential campaign next year. ($1 = 3.3099 reais) Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer, Flavia Bohone, Bruno Federowski and Brad Haynes; Editing by Christian Plumb and Lisa Shumaker

Finance

Brazilian Economy

(reais , petrobras , sa , billion reais , paulo , sao , sao paulo , brazilian , brazils , million reais)

2018

4.0

Yahoo — or rather, the shell company holding on to its remnants — will have to pay a $35 million fine for failing to disclose a 2014 data breach in which hackers stole info on over 500 million accounts. The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Altaba, which contains Yahoo’s remains, agreed to pay the fine to settle charges that it misled investors by not informing them of the hack until September 2016, despite knowing of it as early as December 2014. The SEC goes on to admonish Yahoo for its failure to disclose the breach to investors, saying that the agency wouldn’t “second-guess good faith exercises of judgment” but that Yahoo’s decisions were “so lacking” that a fine was necessary. Yahoo isn’t being fined for having poor security practices, not informing users, or really anything related to the hack happening. The SEC is just mad that investors weren’t told about it, because — as Yahoo even noted in filings to investors — data breaches can have financial impacts and legal implications. With a breach this large, the SEC believes that was obviously a real risk. “Public companies should have controls and procedures in place to properly evaluate cyber incidents and disclose material information to investors,” Jina Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office, said in a statement. The SEC released guidance to public companies on what to disclose about data breaches earlier this year, which could help to avoid similar situations in the future. The hack is said to be done by Russian agents and other criminals, who the US Justice Department is attempting to prosecute. They obtained data from Yahoo including usernames, email addresses, encrypted passwords, birthdates, phone numbers, and security questions. Yahoo revealed the breach shortly after reaching an agreement to be purchased by Verizon in July 2016. That acquisition has since closed, but Verizon didn’t purchase all of Yahoo. And apparently it left behind the portion that was liable for this failure. That’s likely because the Yahoo that Verizon purchased (which contained basically everything you would publicly identify as Yahoo) was spun off of the original company. At the same time, the original company was renamed from Yahoo to Altaba. Altaba is largely just a holding company for Yahoo’s valuable investment in Alibaba. It appears that the Yahoo owned by Verizon could still be liable for the data breach, though. Last September, a judge gave the go-ahead to lawsuits released to that and one other hack of the company.

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2018

11.0

Jim Cramer's job is to keep in touch with what's hot and what's not on Wall Street and to help investors make sense of the stock market's swings. And recently, technology play Twilio has really impressed the CNBC host. "Some companies are so incredibly well-run that they can triumph even when the Wall Street taste-makers are against them," Cramer said on "Mad Money" after a notable marketwide sell-off. Last week, the stock of Twilio — which helps companies like Uber and Airbnb develop and deliver push technology through their apps and connect with customers — surged 35 percent in a single day after the company reported a blowout earnings report. Even Cramer didn't expect results that strong. The best part, he added, was that Twilio's software-as-a-service story is "still in its very early innings." "But thanks to the latest marketwide turmoil, ... Twilio's shares have pulled back dramatically from their highs, falling from $98 and change … to $84 as of today," Cramer said. "To me, it feels like a real bargain at these levels, although, of course, I'd like it lower, particularly if people keep talking about the bear market." In his decades of investing, Cramer hasn't just seen bear markets like the one that dragged stocks lower on Wednesday — he's also encountered a real bear. Once, when the former hedge fund manager was on a hike, a bear found its way to his tent. Instead of running, Cramer stood his ground and used what he had. He put some M&Ms in a can of Spam to bait the bear, then doused them in Tabasco sauce and ran. The distraction worked, and when the bear tasted the red-hot Tabasco, it ran off. "Now, I'm not saying you can outrun a bear. You can't. I'm not saying you should let him eat all your food and then hope he doesn't turn on you," Cramer said. "I am saying that you have to be clever. You have to think, 'OK, I'm not going to panic, I'm going to use my head and I'm going to outsmart the darned bear.'" The same principle can apply to the stock market, the "Mad Money" host said. Here are his three tips for investors to protect their portfolios from being mauled. $8 billion of SurveyMonkey competitor has breathed new life into the survey software space, Zander Lurie, the CEO of SurveyMonkey parent , told CNBC on Wednesday. "SAP's a big company, and I think this $8 billion acquisition validated just how big this category is," Lurie told Cramer in an exclusive interview. "This is a multi-multi-billion-dollar global category. There are hundreds of thousands of organizations who need to buy enterprise software to measure the sentiment of their employees [and] their customers." Speaking after sent shares of the software provider in Wednesday's trading session, Lurie added that he was "all in favor" of the price SAP paid for Qualtrics. Click here to watch and read more about his interview. Things may be looking up for U.S.-China trade relations, which in turn is good for networking hardware colossus , Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins told CNBC on Wednesday. "We're beginning to hear some positive sound bytes around this," Robbins told Cramer in an exclusive interview. "I'm optimistic that we'll get to some resolution that is good for both and really allows us to continue this global expansion of the economy that we've all been enjoying for the last few years." Robbins may have been referring to top White House economic advisor to CNBC's David Faber on Tuesday, which confirmed reports that U.S. and Chinese officials had restarted trade talks ahead of the G-20 summit at the end of the month. Click here to watch and read more about his interview. Six Flags' third-quarter earnings may have been affected by bad weather, but the company's growth drivers far outpace its business pressures, Chairman, President and CEO Jim Reid-Anderson told Cramer in a Wednesday interview. The theme park operator's report missed earnings and sales estimates, taking "a big hit" due to bad weathe, Reid-Anderson admitted. Weather-related issues also affected earnings at competitor Cedar Fair. But Six Flags' seasonal passes, price increases, membership growth and focus on efficiency can save the company from future earnings roller-coasters, the CEO said. Click here to watch his full interview. In Cramer's lightning round, he flew through his take on callers' favorite stocks: : "Now, I've got to tell you, one of the reasons why natural gas has spiked is we're sending off a lot of natural gas overseas. Tellurian's got a very good setup, but if you want to get income and growth, yields 6.7 percent and I like that one more. " : "That quarter was a bad quarter. It really shocked me. The stock's all the way back down at $17. Probably overdone, but you know what? Do we really need that when we get , , and ? " Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Cisco and PayPal. Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

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None

()

2018

8.0

Datree, an early-stage startup based in Israel, wants to help companies create a set of policies for their applications, and apply them in GitHub before a commit goes live. Today, it announced $3 million in seed funding from TLV partners. The check was actually written last September, according to the founders, and they are making the investment public today. Like many Israeli startups, before they wrote a line of code, they did their research talking to 40 companies, and found a common pain point in modern development techniques. Code was being committed ever faster and teams were more widely distributed. Instead of a monolithic application, you had containerized microservices, often being built by disparate teams. All of this came together in GitHub . The team decided that the best way to deal with this kind of chaos was to try to bring some order to it by creating a catalogue of development teams and their work. The idea was to bring these teams and their work together in a central place, then apply a set of internal best practices to their code to catch any policy violations before they committed the code. It’s important to note that they only extract metadata to build this catalogue. Datree Smart Policy Editor. Screenshot: Datree Datree Smart Policy Editor. Screenshot: Datree If you can use Datree to confirm that each pull request in GitHub complies with a set of internal policies in an automated fashion, you could potentially save your development teams a lot of pain trying to track down issues after the commit. This is of course, the whole idea behind the DevOps model. The developers develop as fast as they can and operations is responsible for making sure the code is in decent shape, secure and complies with company policy before it gets published. Datree has created a report engine to scan all this code and report on what aligns with the policies and what doesn’t in an automated fashion. They also recognized that not every policy is rigid and that there will be exceptions, and they allow for that too. Right now, it’s early days and the company consists of the three founders and 5 additional people “in a garage in Tel Aviv.” They are working with six design partners including HoneyBook, SimilarWeb and PlayBuzz on early versions of the solution, but they have a vision, and they have $3 million to build it out and see if it has a market fit. They plan to split their time between San Francisco and Tel Aviv as they attempt to expand their market.

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None

()

2020

2.0

Macy's is getting out of America's weakest shopping malls. "We see a bifurcation of malls," Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette told investors Wednesday during a meeting at the New York Stock Exchange. "The lower-tier malls continue to decline rapidly." The meeting came a day after Macy's announced it will close 125 stores over the next three years, most in so-called C- and D- rated malls, which bring in fewer sales per square foot than A- and B-rated properties. Macy's said its stores in A-rated malls, along with unrated properties, represent about 49% of stores today and 66% of sales. As Macy's shutters unprofitable shops, those percentages are expected to grow over time. "We see many malls that are thriving," Gennette said. "We believe the best malls have a real and growing place in U.S. retail. ... We believe these malls are here for the long run." As it looks to open some new stores, Macy's will be growing outside of shopping malls. It is testing a new smaller-format shop, called Market by Macy's, in open-air shopping centers. The first opens Thursday in Southlake, Texas, and includes a restaurant and sells a mix of up-and-coming brands — like sock maker Bombas and children's apparel line Rockets of Awesome — along with some of Macy's private labels. Macy's is also planning to open more freestanding Backstage locations in shopping centers. Backstage is Macy's off-price concept that competes with the likes of T.J. Maxx, Burlington and Nordstrom Rack. Macy's has more than 200 Backstage shops within Macy's stores today. It will open seven Backstage locations outside of Macy's stores in 2020, bringing the total of freestanding Backstage shops to 13. But even with the closures, Macy's will be left with about 500 department stores in malls, which one firm says is still far too many. That is "a number that we believe is too high in a world where mall traffic continues to decline," Citi analyst Paul Lejuez wrote in a note to clients. Macy's said that by 2021, its top 250 stores will represent 78% of sales. Those are the locations receiving upgrades such as self-checkout kiosks, new lighting and fresh flooring. Some U.S. mall owners have been echoing Gennette's sentiment. "Over the past 10 years ... we have seen the heightened value and improvement of the best centers, and a substantial deterioration of everything else," mall owner Taubman COO Bill Taubman told CNBC late last year. "What was good is even better, and what is not good has gotten much worse." Within the roughly 1,110 malls in the U.S., 80% of "mall value" is at properties rated A- to A++, according to an analysis by commercial real estate services firm Green Street. "Accelerating department store closures over the next decade seem inevitable, which imposes a sizable capex burden on landlords," Green Street analyst Vince Tibone said. "Reinventing the mall with new anchor tenants will be a significant challenge." Macy's shares were up than 2.7% at midday Wednesday. The stock has fallen more than 36% during the past 12 months. Macy's has a market cap of about $5.2 billion.

shopping

department stores

(macys , kohls , nordstrom , stores , penney , department store , retailers , offprice , jc penney , jc)

2017

6.0

More than one million people in the United States have HIV, and the CDC estimates that one in seven don't even know it. While HIV is far from the death sentence it was in the 1990s—thanks to viral suppression therapy and other medical advances—it's still surrounded by a cloud of stigma, with state laws that criminalize exposure. When you're trying to find the one, encountering misinformation and cruelty from prospective partners can be both frustrating and heartbreaking. We talked to several HIV-positive heterosexual men and women about what it's like to date while living with a virus that rarely gets discussed in the straight community. Joshua Middleton, 27, California HIV is not as talked about in the heterosexual community. I've had girls say they were interested in dating me, and then when things kind of seemed like they were getting more serious, they started to push back because of things friends would tell them, and things they didn't understand. For me, that's a way to filter out who's really able to be in a relationship with someone who has HIV. If they're not willing to give me the time of day, there most likely would be other issues. Disclosure can be hard, and everyone has a different way. I usually let a person get to know me first, to learn that I'm more than my HIV. One big thing many people don't understand is that an undetectable viral load for at least six months means you're practically uninfectious. Some people think people should just serosort, positive with positive and negative with negative, but people need to look beyond their HIV status to see who they really want to be with. We deserve to find love with other people, regardless of their status. Hydeia Broadbent, 33, Las Vegas Sometimes I have to deal with rejections and people being afraid of me. A lot of times online, people say: "You should not have children, you shouldn't date." They're afraid I'll infect somebody else. It's not somebody like me, who is aware of their status, who is the risk. It's the people having sex and dating who aren't being tested that you need to be aware of. I think people need to know that I can get married and have children without infecting my future husband or my future child. The majority of people who know their status do everything in our power to protect others. We don't want this to happen to somebody else. But responsibility should go both ways. I disclose because that's the kind of person I am, but even if you're HIV-, bringing up HIV should be part of your dating routine, and testing is something you should require. More From Tonic: The End of HIV? The Truvada Revolution Robin Barkins, 32, Los Angeles I'm originally from New Orleans; I moved to California nine years ago. I was diagnosed with HIV in 2000. I'm currently a jewelry designer, as a means of income and awareness. The stigma is very real. I had a friend I knew for over 20 years who outed my status to someone I was sexually active with in the past. When we reunited, she disclosed to him and he blocked me, he just never talked to me again. I was a ghost. I've used a lot of sites to try to date. I'm not like most people; I don't settle. There's somebody out there for me. But disclosure can be really hard. Especially for someone like me that self-stigmatized for over ten years, it makes it hard to face rejection. When I go on those dating sites, I talk to someone until I feel comfortable enough to disclose my status. Many people aren't aware that we can have regular sex, that HIV+ women can have a normal pregnancy without the baby being infected. As long as we're virally suppressed, taking care of our bodies, doing right by ourselves, we can live a long, healthy, and happy life. Derek Canas, 32, Georgia I was diagnosed in 2001, when I was 16. It was very shocking, because I had always grown up with medical issues. I had open heart surgery when I was three months old, and had blood transfusions, which is how I got the virus. I've had good and bad experiences with dating, which is expected for anybody, I guess. I tell people to just be completely honest, with yourself, and your partner, and work through it together. My experiences have been mostly good, but every now and then, you run into bad situations. I had one where I was in a relationship with a girl and her family found out about me and it all fell apart, because of stigma and not knowing current facts when it comes to HIV. There really is a lack of information. It's extremely shocking, what people don't know about HIV. If you're dating someone, you should ask as many questions as you can. Somebody that has it has spent hours with doctors and learned so much about the virus. They're going to be the best source of information for anyone. There's always this kind of superman complex that negative people have. Kind of an ignorance is bliss, especially when it comes to HIV testing. I always encourage everybody: Know your status. Nestor Rogel, 27, Los Angeles Dating is a little bit more difficult for me, in the sense that I have a tattoo in big letters that says I'm HIV+. People ask me about the tattoo and obviously I tell them why, but having a tattoo like that on your body in such huge and visible letters, it kind of makes you virtually undateable, because there's such lack of education. Most partners are not very well informed. It kind of kills the mood when I have to give a whole class every time I meet someone. A date can turn into more of an information session. I think that it's important for people who are negative to have some understanding. Disclosure is not easy for anybody. It's a huge risk. There's fear of rejection. Now, you're not only just letting this person know, you're trusting them with something important and personal, trusting them to not use this information against you. I use my virus as a way to weed out the people I don't want to know. There are people out there that aren't very good for you. Being positive makes it easy to identify those people you don't want to be a part of your life. I have learned to change my own self-perceptions. I actually got the pleasure of dating very kind and understanding people who I wouldn't have met otherwise. Connie "Cricket" Rose, 42, Las Vegas I was taught in my health class that I wasn't in a risk group to acquire HIV. The year after high school, I acquired HIV from the second man I dated. At the time, I hadn't thought to question my sexuality—I was raised heterosexual, and it was only later that I began living as polysexual. At 19, in Indiana, nobody understood that, and when I dated multiple people I was called "slut" and "whore." Dating was very hard until I just became very honest. Whenever someone would want to date me, I would go on one date, I would see if I liked them enough and trusted them, and then I would tell them. People will say hurtful things like "no one will want you," but from 21 to 42, I've only had one man turn me down—and it was because he was married, not because I had HIV. My advice? To protect each other, and respect each other. That's the only way the men and women I dated stayed negative, because I protected them and respected them. People don't get tested because they're afraid. No matter when you live in this world, I don't care how rich or how poor you are, you are at risk for everything that can happen to a human. Read This Next: We Asked People Which STI They're Most Afraid Of

healthcare

HIV/AIDS

(hiv , aids , prep , living hiv , hivaids , antiretroviral , truvada , virus , infections , treatment)

2016

10.0

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Nantong Fujitsu Microelectronics Co Ltd : * Expects net profit for 2016 to increase by 0 percent to 30 percent, or to be 147.3 million yuan to 191.5 million yuan * Says the net profit of 2015 was 147.3 million yuan Source text in Chinese: goo.gl/NyBV0w Further company coverage: (Beijing Headline News)

None

None

(million yuan , yuan , net profit , yuan says , profit 2015 , profit 2016 , says net , yuan comments , forecast source , sees net)

2019

6.0

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Thursday called for unity in the country after the Constitutional Court confirmed his re-election in April’s presidential race. A panel of nine judges dismissed allegations of cheating made by challenger Prabowo Subianto and upheld official results released last month by the General Elections Commission which showed Widodo had won the race to lead the world’s third-largest democracy with 55.5% of votes. “I urge all Indonesians to reunite to advance the country,” he told reporters at an airport in Jakarta before he was due to depart for the G20 summit in Japan. Reporting by Maikel Jefriando; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Ed Davies

politics

presidential election

(jakarta , indonesia , indonesian , widodo , indonesias , joko , prabowo , papua , purnama , basuki)

2017

9.0

Patrick Chappatte Angela Merkel won a fourth term as chancellor in Sunday’s election, but her victory was overhsadowed by the entry of the far-right party, Alternative for Germany, into Parliament for the first time in more than 60 years. OpinionRoger Cohen OpinionThe Editorial Board

politics

germany

(spd , merkel , merkels , afd , cdu , chancellor , germany , coalition , csu , germanys)

2019

9.0

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday policymakers could not accept the emergence of parallel currencies such as Facebook’s (FB.O) planned Libra, adding that Berlin would reject any such plans. Facebook’s planned Libra is the most well-known of the stablecoins, a certain form of cryptocurrency backed by assets such as traditional money deposits, short-term government securities or gold. “We cannot accept a parallel currency,” Scholz said during a panel discussion in Berlin. “You have to reject that clearly.” The German cabinet is expected to adopt a comprehensive blockchain strategy on Wednesday which aims to boost the digital transformation of its economy but also tackle the risks stemming from such new technologies. In its blockchain strategy, Berlin says it will liaise closely with its European and international allies to prevent stablecoins from becoming alternative currencies, according to a government document seen by Reuters. “The Federal Government will work at European and international level to ensure that stablecoins will not become an alternative to official currencies,” the document said. Berlin will intensify its existing dialogue with the Bundesbank, Germany’s national central bank, about digital central bank money in order to explore the current state of developments and address possible risks, the document said. The German government also aims to propose legislation this year which would allow the introduction of blockchain-based electronic bonds, the document showed. France and Germany on Friday said Facebook’s Libra currency posed risks to the financial sector that could block its authorization in Europe, and backed the development of an alternative public cryptocurrency. The criticism came as the European Central Bank said it was working on a long-term plan to launch a public digital currency that could make projects such as Libra redundant. On Tuesday, ECB board member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said stablecoins like Facebook’s Libra highlighted gaps in rules and the media giant’s payments project faced a tough regulatory approach. Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Paul Carrel and David Evans

cryptocurrency

libra

(libra , libra association , cryptocurrency , facebooks , calibra , digital currency , facebook , marcus , currency , cryptocurrencies)

2017

1.0

2015 Heisman winner Derrick Henry made a cameo at the National Championship game Monday night ... but that hair, tho.

beauty

hair

(hair , skin , makeup , beauty , lip , skincare , lipstick , acne , products , sunscreen)

2019

1.0

Common Sense Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, may be the first billionaire couple with a huge stake in an enormous technology company to announce their divorce. They won’t be the last. The surprise announcement last week that the Bezoses would divorce after 25 years of marriage instantly raised questions about the future of their 16 percent, roughly $140 billion stake in Amazon. As its founder, chairman, chief executive and largest shareholder, Mr. Bezos exerts almost complete control over the company he created. The big question is, now what? Will Ms. Bezos sell her portion of the family’s vast Amazon holdings? Will she seek a seat on the company’s board? Will she push for big strategic or management changes? The Bezos divorce could have consequences for investors in other companies with billionaire founders — Google, Facebook, Groupon and Snap, to name a few. Unlike Mr. Bezos, who owns Amazon shares with ordinary voting rights, these tech entrepreneurs wield control of their companies by holding special classes of shares that confer extra power to their owners. To put it more explicitly: What would happen if Mark Zuckerberg and his wife filed for divorce? That’s not to suggest there’s anything amiss in the relationship between Mr. Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, or with the marriages of controlling shareholders at any other giant tech company. [Who is MacKenzie Bezos? Her private life has become a public fascination.] But more such breakups are inevitable — after all, the divorce rate in California is about 60 percent, and many of the founders of high-flying Silicon Valley companies are only now reaching the age for the proverbial midlife crisis. The phenomenon of tech companies with controlling founders is still relatively recent. Google set a trend when it went public in 2004 with dual-class shares that enshrined Sergey Brin and Larry Page as the controlling owners. In the ensuing 15 years, about two-thirds of initial public stock offerings backed by venture capital funds have involved similar super-shares, according to Dealogic. The fate of such controlling shares in cases of divorce is, or should be, of intense interest to investors. David F. Larcker, director of the Corporate Governance Research Initiative at Stanford’s business school and a co-author of “Separation Anxiety: The Impact of CEO Divorce on Shareholders,” said his research showed that “shareholders should pay attention to matters involving the personal lives of C.E.O.s and take this information into account when making investment decisions.” The law doesn’t explicitly require controlling shareholders to disclose prenuptial or other agreements that could affect the disposal of their company stakes in the event of divorce. But some experts said they would support such a requirement. “It’s absolutely material, and as a result it should be disclosed,” said John C. Coffee Jr., director of the Center for Corporate Governance at Columbia University. In theory, he said, any provision that would reassure investors would lead to a higher share price. “There’s no question it’s in the best interests of shareholders,” he said. Charles M. Elson, a professor and director of the corporate governance center at the University of Delaware, also supports the disclosure of prenuptial agreements. “No one thought a Bezos divorce was a risk factor” for Amazon, Mr. Elson said. “Now no one knows how this will turn out. From a shareholder perspective, it’s certainly material.” Mr. Larcker said requiring public disclosure might be going a little too far, considering the privacy issues involved. But he agreed that, at the least, a board needed to be kept fully informed. “Once a divorce settlement is underway,” he said, “the board needs to think about whether the ex-spouse will demand a board seat, whether they are planning to liquidate their shares or perhaps sell as a block to an investor, maybe an activist. All of these actions can have a real impact on shareholder value.” So far, investors have hardly reacted to the Bezos breakup — Amazon’s shares are up slightly since the announcement. That might be partly because the couple went out of their way to characterize the split as amicable, saying they plan to “continue our shared lives as friends.” When many billions of dollars are at stake, amicable divorces are rare, even when they start out that way. “Most divorces start out contentious and end contentious,” said Samantha Bley DeJean, a matrimonial lawyer in San Francisco, who has worked with many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and represents Angelina Jolie in her custody battle with Brad Pitt. “When they start out amicably, you hold out some hope that they’ll stay that way, but in my experience it only gets worse.” In 2017 Mark Pincus, the billionaire founder of the internet game company Zynga, and Alison Gelb Pincus filed for divorce. The two had a prenuptial agreement, which hasn’t been made public, but presumably addressed the issue of Mr. Pincus’s 70 percent voting stake in Zynga. In an interview with The New York Times last year, Mr. Pincus said the split was amicable. After the couple filed for divorce, Mr. Pincus converted his super-voting shares into ordinary shares, reducing his voting control of Zynga to about 10 percent. He told The Times that the conversion had nothing to do with the divorce. Ms. Pincus is an entrepreneur in her own right: she helped found the online retailer One Kings Lane, which was sold in 2016 to Bed Bath & Beyond for nearly $30 million. The Pincuses quietly finalized their divorce last year on terms that haven’t been made public. Zynga hasn’t disclosed any changes in Mr. Pincus’s shareholdings since then. A spokeswoman for Zynga, where Mr. Pincus remains executive chairman, declined to comment. Ms. DeJean, who represented Ms. Pincus, said she couldn’t discuss the case. But in general, she said, the fact that both spouses are extremely wealthy typically doesn’t change the dynamics of a divorce. “It becomes a matter of principle,” she said, “and principles can be dangerous in these situations, especially when there’s enough money to litigate them.” In their 2010 divorce, Steve and Elaine Wynn, the founders of the casino company Wynn Resorts, each received half of the couple’s 36 percent controlling stake in the company, valued then at $1.4 billion. To maintain Mr. Wynn’s control, Ms. Wynn agreed to vote her shares along with her ex-husband. At the time, the arrangement seemed amicable: Ms. Wynn warmly described Mr. Wynn as her “partner of 41 years and father of her children,” and Mr. Wynn said he was delighted that his ex-wife would remain on the company’s board. That didn’t last long. After two acrimonious years, Ms. Wynn was forced off the board and sued to regain voting control of her shares. The animosity only deepened after The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Mr. Wynn had repeatedly sexually harassed Wynn employees and had paid a manicurist $7.5 million after she told others that Mr. Wynn had forced her to have sex. That led Mr. Wynn to step down as chief executive. He sold his shares, leaving his former wife as the company’s largest shareholder. Since peaking in 2014, Wynn shares have fallen by more than half. Mr. Larcker’s research found that among 24 chief executives who got divorced between 2009 and 2012, seven (29 percent) stepped down within two years of the divorce settlement. Ms. DeJean said she had recently drafted numerous prenuptial agreements for young entrepreneurs. Negotiating them is delicate: It’s not especially romantic to be discussing the disposal of assets in a divorce proceeding in the middle of a courtship or engagement. The idea of making those prenuptial terms public could be anathema to such clients. Still, Ms. DeJean said, “I can see why investors would want to know.” An earlier version of this column paraphrased incorrectly Mark Pincus’s comments about the conversion of his shares in Zynga. He said the conversion of his super-voting shares into ordinary shares had nothing to do with his divorce from Alison Gelb Pincus; he made no reference to a lawsuit.

people

jeff bezos

(bezos , mackenzie , jeff bezos , mackenzie bezos , richest , net worth , jeff , gates , richest person , divorce)

2018

1.0

To that great floating map of unreal estate — the one where you find Shangri-La, Brigadoon and Emerald City — you can add the village of Ballyturk. That’s the title of the dark and enigmatic cosmic farce by Enda Walsh that opened on Sunday night at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. And it’s quite a place to spend — and, if possible, stall — time. To be clear (or as clear as it’s possible to be in discussing a chimera), Ballyturk is not quite the setting of “Ballyturk,” which is directed with rabid verve by Mr. Walsh and features a highly expressive cast of three. That quaint, gossip-clotted town doesn’t really exist, except in the imaginations of a fraternal pair identified only as One and Two. One (Tadhg Murphy) is the younger of them, a reedy and anxious being prone to seizures and terrors. Two (Mikel Murfi) is of a heartier constitution, and steadier on his feet, at least marginally. There’s a touch of both Laurel and Hardy and Cain and Abel to these overgrown boys, who sometimes dream of fratricide. By and large, though, they get along. They have to. For all intents and purposes, they’re the sole inhabitants of their very limited universe. Which would appear to be a single warehouse-cum-bunker (Jamie Vartan is the designer) that looks uncompromisingly bleak, though it has a few tricks up its walls. Aside from some unexplained red balloons on the floor when the show begins, the room’s main decorative accents are wall-filling, smudged scribbles and drawings of half-formed faces. Such is the lads’ own portrait gallery, which depicts the townsfolk of Ballyturk, whose doings Mr. Murphy and Mr. Murfi’s One and Two act out again and again, with jaw-dropping virtuosity, in what feels like an eternal soap opera. What sounds like an intricate radio drama from the world beyond (Helen Atkinson is the sound designer) occasionally penetrates their activities, as do shards of crazy pop hits and tidal waves of somber, romantic music (by Teho Teardo). But One and Two are so removed from what we think of as reality, that when a buzzing housefly invades their precincts, One doesn’t have a clue as to what it is. People familiar with other work by Mr. Walsh, whose early “Disco Pigs” opened recently in a revival at the Irish Repertory Theater, may sense that they’ve been here before. A dramatist of ferociously specific imagination, Mr. Walsh revels in placing bewildered but feisty characters in hermetically sealed environments, creating what might be described as ontological equivalents of the locked room mystery. His “The Walworth Farce,” in which an Irish family of men repeatedly acts out the same play in a crumbling London flat, is the most obvious forebear of “Ballyturk.” Seen at St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2008, “Walworth” was a wild ride of a play, for sure, with its author’s distinctive cocktail (Molotov) of madcap stagecraft and verbal fireworks. But “Walworth” was — to use a metaphor Mr. Walsh’s agoraphobic characters would no doubt recoil from — a walk in the park compared to “Ballyturk,” which was first staged in Galway, Ireland, in 2014. The head-scratching ghost of Samuel Beckett, and the more sinister spirit of Harold Pinter, haunt “Ballyturk,” which traffics unapologetically in literature’s biggest theme. I mean the point or pointlessness of life in the face of death, and how we avoid and embrace our ultimate ends. And, particularly, how people block the view of mortality with small talk and its physical equivalents. As Two observes toward the play’s conclusion, all he and One have been doing with their elaborate fantasies of their fantasy village has been “filling a room with words.” By that time, One and Two have been forced into a reckoning of sorts by the arrival of a suave stranger in a trench coat. Call her Three; the script does. Embodied with the silken swagger of a film noir villain by Olwen Fouéré, Three makes one hell of an entrance. She also talks like an infernal angel, shifting to song (the nightclub standard “Time After Time,” with good reason) when a microphone drops from the skies. What she has to say — about giving “life purpose by reaching its edge” — is pure poetry and oh-so alarming to a pair of chaps who have been doing their best to sustain their daily rituals of make-believe. “Ballyturk” is so verbally dense that it’s possible to be hypnotized, if not numbed, by some of its lush spoken arias. Even at 90 minutes, it would be better shorter. Fortunately, Mr. Walsh’s plays by no means live exclusively by the words he so adores and reviles. As a director, he knows how to weave a web of images that defy language. And he infuses them with a kinetic charge that equally brings to mind the mayhem of Mack Sennett and the shadows of Ingmar Bergman. (The crucial lighting is by Adam Silverman.) For a spirited summing up of the frantic emptiness of our daily routines, it’s hard to match the sight of Mr. Murphy and Mr. Murfi (even the actors’ names match the vaudevillian sensibility) going through the morning motions of getting dressed, having breakfast, cleaning up and exercising. This is all conducted at a fast-forward tempo with the 1982 ABC pop hit “The Look of Love,” and it is pure, moronic bliss. It’s hard to imagine a successful version of “Ballyturk” without Mr. Walsh presiding, obsessively, as director. As it is, the line between his characters marking time and a writer filling space can feel irritatingly thin. But no matter your immediate response to “Ballyturk,” it is likely to take up residence in your thoughts after you’ve seen it. I’ve been finding it hard to banish that first, icy image of Three, seen as if at the end of an airless and light-stripped tunnel. For all the teetering towers of language that the boys of “Ballyturk” build for themselves, the last word here, as it is in life, is beyond words. This information was last updated on Aug. 27, 2018

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2016

10.0

At their best, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette result in one happy relationship between a man and a woman. This is the hopeful love story people tune in for, and it's served the hugely successful franchise well so far. But two former contestants on the Aussie Bachelor rewrote that tired, traditional script when they found love — by ditching the Bachelor and dating each other. Megan Marx, 27, and Tiffany Scanlon, 30, met on the show earlier this year, where they and 23 other women were vying for the adoration of designated Bachelor Richie Strahan. For the past few months, the ladies have both been posting romantic pictures of themselves on Instagram, sparking rumors that they were dating. This week, the two shared how they fell in love with adorable snaps from an island vacation they're on together for Tiffany's 30th birthday. "I met Tiffany in a very strange situation. Well... we were kind of dating the same guy. And it was filmed and put on TV," Megan wrote. "From that first cocktail party, it was like this instant calibration between souls, as if we had known each other once before. Friendship ripened into something bolder, trust in a very strange situation was formed, and now every adventure we have rivals the other." She continued with a gushing note about all the reasons she adores her girlfriend. Tiffany also posted a sweet picture about their stay on Abrolhos Island off the coast of Australia. "Meeting Megan this year felt like destiny," she captioned the photo. "The past few months with her in her hometown of Geraldton have been bliss and today's adventure was the cherry on top. I know we will have many more adventures for many years to come and when she turns 30 i will have to try to top this! Thank you my darling." Can we just say how damn refreshing is this? It's so exciting and heartening to see two women connect so organically in what is a very odd and in many ways artificial environment. The fact that they had their sights set on the same man and ended up finding each other is not only unexpected and amazing — it blows every other Bachelor "twist" we've ever seen out of the water. And here are some more snaps of the couple's beachy, beautiful life together Down Under.

television

The Bachelor

(bachelor , bachelorette , paradise , hannah , bachelor paradise , colton , contestants , viall , arie , jojo)

2018

8.0

Johnny Manziel says he's feeling a helluva lot better after taking that BRUTAL hit in a CFL game earlier this month ... but he doesn't know if he'll be starting for Montreal this week. Manziel got rocked at the goal line of his last start against the Ottawa Redblacks -- his body went limp, he fumbled and he looked woozy -- and he was placed in concussion protocol just a few days later. The ex-Heisman Trophy winner missed the team's next game against Edmonton while still recovering. Johnny says on his "Comeback SZN" Podcast with Barstool Sports he's physically feeling "back to normal" now ... but it's all up to the docs if he gets his starting job back in time for Montreal's next game. "I feel like I'm just jumping through the necessary hoops as far as concussion protocol," he says. The Alouettes have a Friday night tilt this week against the Toronto Argonauts and, judging by Johnny's comments on the protocol process, don't hold your breath on seeing the comeback this week. "I wish it was progressing faster," he said.

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None

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2017

9.0

Keith Curry-Pochy wades in the pond of the Butterfly Rainforest and captures butterflies that will be kept safe during Hurricane Irma. While millions of Florida residents evacuated in advance of Hurricane Irma this weekend, many others stayed behind to make sure that the some of the state's more delicate animals stayed safe. Employees at the Florida Museum of Natural History, in Gainesville, carefully captured up butterflies in the museum's Butterfly Rainforest, a screened in outdoor enclosure that is usually open to the public. Though the habitat is designed to handle strong winds, "we took precautions for the butterflies by bringing them indoors," said Geena Hill, a research assistant at the museum. "We also wanted to ensure that none of the butterflies escaped since many of them are non-native species." Jonathan Bremer captures butterflies that will be kept safe during Hurricane Irma. There are about 1000-1200 adult butterflies in the Butterfly Rainforest on any given week, Hill told BuzzFeed News, and about 80% had to be rescued Friday afternoon as Hurricane Irma made its way toward Florida. Captured butterflies in flight cages that will be kept safe during Hurricane Irma. The butterflies, which are also used for research, are currently being kept in flight cages and are being cared for by Butterfly Rainforest staff. They will ride out the worst of the hurricane safely in the museum's "rearing lab," and will be released back into the enclosure after Hurricane Irma passes, Hill said. These rescued butterflies are safe from Hurricane Irma's winds. The museum is also protecting two "critically endangered butterfly species" in captivity in the lab, the Miami Blue and the Schaus' Swallowtail, both of which are are only found in the Florida Keys. "We are not sure of the current status of the wild populations and their habitat. The current populations occur on remote islands in the Keys," Hill said. "Hurricane Irma may have done a significant amount of damage to them." Two types of endangered butterflies call the Florida Keys home; their habitats might have been severely damaged by Hurricane Irma. Butterflies can be excellent predictors for assessing climate change impacts and environmental changes, added Hill, who is currently studying the Miami Blue Butterfly. Hill, who lives in Gainesville with her partner and two dogs, said she prepared for the storm herself by piling sand bags by her front and back doors. "The inside of our house is currently a jungle since we brought all of our potted plants indoors," she said. The museum is scheduled to reopen on Sept. 13.

insects

spiders

(spiders , spider , ants , insects , species , butterflies , beetles , insect , termites , monarchs)

2018

3.0

March 6 (Reuters) - Jensyn Acquisition Corp: * JENSYN ACQUISITION CORP. STOCKHOLDERS APPROVE EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLETE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED BUSINESS COMBINATION WITH BAE ENERGY MANAGEMENT, LLC Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:

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None

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2017

10.0

When Paul D. Ryan, the House speaker, rose to deliver the keynote address at the Al Smith charity dinner on Thursday night, he immediately let it be known that he wouldn’t shy away from jokes about a president who doesn’t react well to jokes. “Enough with the applause,” he told the annual white-tie gathering of New York’s political and Roman Catholic elite, which raises money for needy children. “You sound like the cabinet when Donald Trump walks into the room.” With that, Mr. Ryan began a spirited 17-minute roast that included jokes about his home state of Wisconsin, the news media, Hillary Clinton’s election loss and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. But his edgiest zingers were aimed at President Trump, who just a year ago was himself a speaker at the dinner and who shocked the lighthearted gathering when his jibes about Mrs. Clinton quickly turned more cruel than funny. “The truth is the press misunderstands and never records the big accomplishments of the White House,” Mr. Ryan said, for a second agreeing with the president. “Look at all the jobs that the president has created. Just among the White House staff!” “Every morning I wake up in my office and I scroll through Twitter to see which tweets I will have to pretend I didn’t see later on,” he added. “Every afternoon former Speaker John Boehner calls me up, not to give advice, just to laugh.” Mr. Ryan’s address was the highlight of the event, officially the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, which raised $3.4 million for charity but which at times lacked the panache and elegance of past years. For the first time since 1945, the annual dinner was not held in the classic Art Deco ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, which is under renovation. Instead, it was a few blocks away at the less glamorous New York Hilton Midtown. “We are going to try to get back there as quickly as we can,” Mary Callahan Erdoes, the new vice chairwoman of the foundation, told the more than 800 guests in a near-apology. Also missing were the political jabs of Alfred E. Smith IV, the great-grandson of the dinner’s eponym, who stepped down as master of ceremonies after last year’s dinner after serving in that position for 35 years. This year’s host, the actress Patricia Heaton, was unfailingly nice, which meant she was shocked by how aggressive some of the jibes from the dais were. “I am from Ohio,” she explained. “We are all so nice to each other!” The two United States senators from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, were missing from their seats on the 50-member dais, because they had a vote in Washington. But Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and former Mayors Michael R. Bloomberg and David N. Dinkins were there, along with numerous Catholic leaders and local dignitaries. Mr. Bloomberg got a particularly warm round of applause when he was introduced. Mayor de Blasio, however, got repeated boos from a moneyed crowd that was not shy about identifying as Republican. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York and a host of the event, and Mr. Ryan, a fellow Roman Catholic, go way back. By Cardinal Dolan’s telling, they have been friends since 2002, when he became the archbishop of Milwaukee and Mr. Ryan was a representative from his Wisconsin district. As a result, he has unfailingly spoken highly of Mr. Ryan over the years in public remarks, even when liberal Catholics have taken Mr. Ryan to task for supporting policies they feel would hurt the poor and vulnerable. Thursday night was no different, with Cardinal Dolan calling Mr. Ryan’s virtue and sense of duty uplifting. Outside the event, meanwhile, protesters made themselves known. About 50 denounced Mr. Ryan on the issue of immigration, criticizing him for failing to support the continuation of DACA, which shields undocumented immigrants who arrived as children from deportation. Another group of about 100 protesters marched by the hotel, chanting, “You build that wall, we’ll tear it down.” Being Republican in a town not used to them was another theme in Mr. Ryan’s remarks, which were met with appreciative laughter. He joked about how amazing Ms. Heaton was, as a Republican in that most Democratic of elite worlds, Hollywood. “Patricia Heaton is a Hollywood Republican, a Hollywood Republican,” he repeated. “That is an oxymoron, which clearly was the word that Rex Tillerson was searching for.”

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2016

12.0

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Makers of the Snuggie blanket and other products sold mainly on TV have sued Amazon.com Inc, accusing the internet retailer of trademark infringement for letting an “astronomical” number of counterfeit products to be sold through its website. The lawsuit was filed on Monday night by Allstar Marketing Group LLC, Ideavillage Products Corp and Ontel Products Corp, which respectively sell such products as the Snuggie, Copper Fit compression sleeves and Magic Tracks toy racetracks through so-called “As Seen on TV” advertising. It was filed three weeks after Seattle-based Amazon filed two of its own lawsuits in a Washington state court, targeting vendors it said were selling counterfeit goods on its website. Amazon spokesman Erik Fairleigh declined to comment on Tuesday, citing the pending litigation. Allstar, Ideavillage and Ontel said they have lost profits because Amazon has let its product display pages be “hijacked” by counterfeiters, which offer impossibly low prices and confuse consumers into thinking their products are the real thing. The plaintiffs said counterfeiters from China, Japan, Thailand and other countries are taking a “free ride” on their reputation and goodwill, while many consumers leave bad reviews about fake products on the hijacked pages. “Amazon has taken no action to prevent the sale of such counterfeit products despite having the knowledge, opportunity and means to do so,” the plaintiffs said. The lawsuit also accuses Amazon of copyright infringement, and violating New York state false advertising and unfair competition laws. It seeks to recoup unspecified sums in the millions of dollars, including lost profits and punitive damages. The plaintiff’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment. Allstar is based in Hawthorne, New York; Ideavillage in Wayne, New Jersey and Ontel in Fairfield, New Jersey. Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting policy says that “customers trust that they can always buy with confidence on Amazon.com,” and that counterfeiters can have their selling privileges revoked and inventory destroyed without reimbursement. The lawsuits filed by Amazon on Nov. 14 in the Superior Court in King County, Washington targeted makers of what it called fake versions of Forearm Forklift straps, which help people lift heavy items, and TRX exercise products. In July, the German shoemaker Birkenstock Orthopadie GmbH decided to stop selling on Amazon because of counterfeiters. The case is Allstar Marketing Group LLC et al v Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-09376. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Alan Crosby, Bernard Orr

e-commerce

sellers

(sellers , amazon , amazons , merchants , thirdparty sellers , thirdparty , seller , marketplace , counterfeit , ebay)

2017

8.0

On Baseball The race for the second American League wild-card berth has been a slog of the mediocre. Teams get hot, then fade, but never really fade away. At the start of play on Wednesday, six teams clustered on the edge of that spot, like a pack of wounded and wailing dogs just outside the playoff door. For months, the Yankees have tuned out the noise. But the incessant scratching is growing louder, and the Yankees cannot escape it. They have not clambered up the stairs to a loftier perch in the standings. Maybe such a journey is beyond them. After falling twice to the Cleveland Indians in the Bronx on Wednesday, the Yankees are 70-62, losing their grip on the top spot and the chance to host the wild card game for the second time in three years. Since June 13 — for more than 11 weeks, that is — their record is 32-39. As the Boston Red Sox arrive for a four-game weekend series starting Thursday, the Yankees still must prove they are up for the fight. “The calendar’s gonna flip to a new month here pretty soon, and we’re running out of time to catch those guys,” outfielder Brett Gardner said. “So obviously, we’ve got a big series coming up.” Even Manager Joe Girardi, who specializes in the art of the qualified response, acknowledged the importance of this weekend. The Red Sox lead the division by five and a half games after a three-game sweep in Toronto. “I’m not gonna downplay the magnitude of this series,” Girardi said. “I’m not going to. It’s a really important series for us.” True enough, but only in a last-chance kind of way. The Yankees are much closer to the gang behind them than to the Red Sox above them, which means next week’s series in Baltimore could matter more. The Orioles (68-65) have won seven games in a row and finally have their best hitter (Manny Machado) and elite closer (Zach Britton) healthy and performing well. The Minnesota Twins own the second wild card now, and the Yankees host them Sept. 18 to 20, right after another series with the Orioles. Who knows how the standings will look then, but the Los Angeles Angels, the Kansas City Royals, the Texas Rangers, the Seattle Mariners and the Tampa Bay Rays also have hope. “We’re in charge of our own destiny, and we have to win games,” Girardi said. “But it’s impossible not to look at the scoreboard. It’s right there. I’d have to really have my head in the sand not to see the scores of games. But we have to worry about ourselves.” The Yankees had not been swept at home all season, though there is no shame in losing to Cleveland. As the Indians defend their A.L. crown, they are a season-high 20 games above .500, even with five important players on the disabled list: outfielders Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall, second baseman Jason Kipnis, starter Danny Salazar and the relief ace Andrew Miller. Yet the Yankees could hardly muster a fight on Wednesday. In the opener, they got four walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter from Indians starter Trevor Bauer, but managed just one run. They looked helpless against Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen, who baited Aaron Judge — in a pinch-hitting role — with five curveballs before blowing a high fastball past him to end the game. The final score, 2-1, made the Indians’ first run stand out, as it came on a passed ball by catcher Gary Sanchez. Starter Jaime Garcia gamely blamed himself for the tricky movement on his pitches, and for giving up hits. But Sanchez’s defensive adventures have become a persistent, discouraging theme. So has Judge’s disappearance in the second half. He started the second game of the doubleheader — his first start of the series — but could not do much to prevent a 9-4 thrashing. He reached on an infield single and scored, then struck out, walked and flied to right. “If I’m swinging at the right pitches, taking my walks, I feel like I’m in a good place to hit,” said Judge, who has refused to blame an unspecified shoulder injury for his slump. “Gotta just build off that and take it into tomorrow.” Judge is hitting .181 since the All-Star Game, roughly the same average of his confounding cameo at the end of last season, when his tantalizing power was often hidden under an avalanche of strikeouts. By spending the first half of this season as the best hitter in the A.L., Judge carried the Yankees. Now he is lost again, like Matt Holliday, whose second half has produced a .136 average, one home run and one lingering back injury. The Yankees also missed Starlin Castro for most of two months until he returned from a hamstring strain last week. “If you’re gonna rely on one or two guys during the course of the whole season,” Girardi said, “you’re gonna be in trouble, probably.” The Yankees have a sturdy enough rotation, with C. C. Sabathia, Sonny Gray, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino lined up against the Red Sox this weekend. General Manager Brian Cashman, meanwhile, is in Japan to scout Shohei Otani, a two-way sensation who could arrive in the majors next season. The pursuit of Otani, 23, fits with the long-term vision Cashman explained last summer after trading Miller for prospects. The goal, he said, was not to simply prop up a roster in hope of squeezing into the playoffs. “The one thing the Yankees have always stood for, and do stand for, is the effort to try to become a superteam,” Cashman said. They were never going to achieve that in one season, despite the giddy illusion of April and May. The Yankees are on the right path, but building and sustaining a superteam takes patience, and the Yankees are not there yet. Even a sweep this weekend would leave them behind Boston. Of course, the Yankees might still have their wild-card spot by the end of the series — but then again, they might not. They have time to pull away from the middle, but for now, the middle is where they belong. That is what their summer has revealed.

baseball

yankees

(innings , inning , yankees , runs , hits , mets , homer , sox , home run , baseball)